Dr. Elizabeth Bagley at Vital Force Upper Cervical Clinic in St. Louis is amazing! She really cares and is so down to earth. She has helped me tremendously, such a lifesaver!
Lucky for you to have found such a person;
thanks for sharing this info; unfortunaly , not valid for me, as I live in Belgium;
have a nice week end
I am a TN patient living in New Jersey, USA and I too have been receiving Orthogonal Chiropractic (Upper Cervical) care since early February of this year. It seems to help, but I am still in low level pain, with some higher level pain episodes sprinkled throughout the past several weeks. My Atlas bone (C-1) and also my C-2 and C-3 bones were many degrees out of alignment and I am only now beginning to "hold" the adjustments for a few days at a time,during the past two weeks. I know there is definitely something to this and I will continue this therapy for the foreseeable future.
Another therapy I will begin on Monday is Orthomolecular Nutrition Therapy. It consists of Vitamin B12 shots and other vitamin and mineral supplements and an exclusionary diet. I have found a Functional Medicine M.D. who is willing to help me in this manner. Please read "The New Orthomolecular Nutrition" by Abram Hoffer, M.D. and "Facing Facial Pain" by Gerald Lemole, M.D. Several TN patients have gone into complete remission following the doctor's plans that involve intense nutrition.
I am not a doctor, just another TN patient who has been reading everything available to help myself and others struggling with this beast of a disorder. You can Google Functional Medicine and find many MD's who are trained in nutrition and complimentary medicine. These doctors utilize the best that mainstream medicine has to offer, but believe that if the body if given what it is lacking nutritionally, it can then very often heal itself over time.
Dear Adele,
I have TN, and now I just had an MRI that is showing I have a problem with my C4 and C5. I had MVD surgery, and I think my neck is out of whack because of the way they positioned my head and neck during the 6-hour surgery. The surgery did not work, at all. My pain is worse than before I had it. I asked my neurologist if this could be part of the cause of my TN, and she said "no." My pain is now diagnosed as Atypical Facial Pain as it is constant, gnawing, burning, aching, etc. Do you think or have you heard that neck problems are related to facial pain? Mine is in V3 all down my jaw line. I have an excellent diet; however, I am going to check out the book by Hoffer you suggest in your post. Thank you!
Adele Capozzoli said:
I am a TN patient living in New Jersey, USA and I too have been receiving Orthogonal Chiropractic (Upper Cervical) care since early February of this year. It seems to help, but I am still in low level pain, with some higher level pain episodes sprinkled throughout the past several weeks. My Atlas bone (C-1) and also my C-2 and C-3 bones were many degrees out of alignment and I am only now beginning to "hold" the adjustments for a few days at a time,during the past two weeks. I know there is definitely something to this and I will continue this therapy for the foreseeable future.
Another therapy I will begin on Monday is Orthomolecular Nutrition Therapy. It consists of Vitamin B12 shots and other vitamin and mineral supplements and an exclusionary diet. I have found a Functional Medicine M.D. who is willing to help me in this manner. Please read "The New Orthomolecular Nutrition" by Abram Hoffer, M.D. and "Facing Facial Pain" by Gerald Lemole, M.D. Several TN patients have gone into complete remission following the doctor's plans that involve intense nutrition.
I am not a doctor, just another TN patient who has been reading everything available to help myself and others struggling with this beast of a disorder. You can Google Functional Medicine and find many MD's who are trained in nutrition and complimentary medicine. These doctors utilize the best that mainstream medicine has to offer, but believe that if the body if given what it is lacking nutritionally, it can then very often heal itself over time.
My Orthogonal Chiropractor told me that he has several TN patients that have been greatly relieved or have even been completely relieved of their pain through upper cervical care. Different chiropractors work differently, that is, they perform adjustments through different means and techniques.
After reading Dr. Hoffer and Dr. Lemole's books, I now have some real hope that I and many other TN patients could greatly improve or go into remission if we apply the protocols outlined.
I am sorry that the MVD didn't help you Denine. Please know that the TN Association in Gainesville, Fla. is working on a cure as we speak. They have some of the best pain research and clinical pain docs working on isolating a gene that they think exists that predisposes some people to experience the pain of TN. (Many people have injury to their trigeminal nerve but do not go on to develop the pain syndrome of TN...that is why they think there is a defective gene involved) Once a gene is isolated they can develop targeted therapy or possibly even a cure for all nerve related pain syndromes. That is the hope of the TNA and they think a curative therapy could be found by 2020. In the meantime, there is hope for you and me and everyone with TN.....and it is laid out in plain English in the books I refer to above. Hope you can find a good Functional Medical M.D. to help you.
I was glad to read that there are others being helped by an Upper Cervical Chiro. My doctor is Drew Hall in Carson and Los Angeles.I have been seeing him since August 2013. It hasnt been overnight but I'm much better without meds. Like a fool I went to Universal City and rode rides and knocked my upper cervical out and had to see him today. When I do get zaps they are a "5" instead of "10". He is only happy when I'm at "0" pain and I'm having more and more days like that.
Thank you for the information. What exactly does the treatment consist of?
muckluck said:
Thank you for the information. What exactly does the treatment consist of?
The first appointment he did X-rays which showed my upper cervical was out of adjustment. Something like not having your headon straight. The adjustment consists of me lying on my side and he positions my head where he needs to and then one quick press there and he is done. When he said he could help me I thought it was too good to be true, but for me it works. The hard part apparently is holding the adjustment so I do see him still a couple of times a month. It is expensive and my insurance doesn't cover it. It is good not to have to take meds since they mde me so dopey. In the book "Striking Back" they have a section on chiropractic for face pain. That book is very helpful for anyone dealing with TN.
I hope you find something soon to help you.
muckluck said:
Thank you for the information. What exactly does the treatment consist of?
I just saw this email. I had a NUCCA specialist realign my upper vertebrae. They have been terribly misaligned due to accidents, I think.
I have a severe case of TN. I have pain in all 3 branches of my right face and also the back of my head. It has been really rough. After my alignment I started to get slowly better. I was off all fentanyl and down 10 other pills. It was like a miracle.
Then I fell. Everything went back to its old placement and I got worse again. I had a rotator cuff surgery and had to wait but after I was realigned back the same thing... I am getting better again. It proves to me that this really works.
I read something about a diet and I am very interested in doing that also. Help?
Update: unfortunately earlier this year I had to stop seeing the UCC doc. My pain was progressively getting worse after each treatment. My pain doctor at the time ordered a c spine MRI that showed three herniations and arthritis at several levels. She said if it is getting worse to stop. That was honestly the start of a rapid downfall in my neurological health.
I know it helps some people. But it isn’t the cure all it’s portrayed as