My TN, facial pain and Anesthesia Dolorosa are the result of a trigeminal brain tumor and the surgery to remove it. I have noticed, in reading the Living with TN site, that many folks developed TN from dental procedures or unknown other causes. And a lot developed AD from procedures they’ve had done in attempt to eleviate TN pain. I’m curious to know the statistics…has anyone figured out the percentage of us who have TN from various initial causes?
My Bilateral TN came out of no where…
During recent MVD on left side, NS found artery above, artery below and large vein compressing my trigeminal nerve.
No compressions were ever seen on MRI.
Not sure about right side TN as it is quiet on meds.
Mimi
I think Red has a report on here somewhere!
some are born with it, some genetic, some happened in the dentist chair, falling on a head or face, car wreck, whiplash....
I think I got mine from sedation/oral surgeon for real bad bone/wisdom tooth ordeal.... I believe he whiplashed my anatomy somehow - I was in the ER the same day with lightning....... TN was the opposite side of the face that he hurriedly messed with!
Kinda the chicken or the egg -- I have had over 4 whiplash in my life - then this one -- may have been the straw......
The lady that he done this to a year before me - she lost in court - because the oral surgeon had a lawyer that made the TN patient a nutcase --- case closed!
It began after a car accident, ear infection and sinus infection. I had head trauma. I still don’t know if that is where it came from though.
In my 59 years i've banged my head around a lot.Couple of motorcycle crashes,football,drunk fights and falls for unknown reasons( i quit drinking),other stupid stuff..But it wasn't until my TN developed and i had extensive testing they discovered a AVM.Arterial Venious Malformation.Like a bulging vein they say i was born with.They think this is "tickling" the Trigeminol nerve.In a way,im lucky to have had the TN pain as until i had the AVM treated with radiosurgery i was at a 10% risk per year (accumulative) to have a bleed(stroke).Last MRI showed no change,but it can take up to 3 years to show change.Our community site here is sad sometimes,but the AVM community is tragic with many terrible stories.Most of the members there are young with small children ect..Or parents of AVM sufferers seeking answers as to why their son / daughter died so young and suddenly.I really can't look at it much.I recently had a (fingers crossed) successful Gamma knife treatment for my TN.Pain is gone except for an occasional small shock cheek to eye usually.Almost off of the Carbamazepine.Down from 800mgs to 200.Feel Good! ( : Peace to all,Don
I fell really bad 4 yrs ago in my front yard ( a real klutz) fx my cheekbone and then I had a whiplash from a car accident 6 mo ago
I wish I had a reason but mine really just started one day, I've never had dental problems, no trauma either but I do have lymph node on my jaw that I keep trying to blame this on but the doctors won't let me. Weird coincidence if you ask me though. I'd be curious to find out if anyone has a hardened lymph node on the side they have the pain on actually. I've been on a quest for three years now. Thought I was going crazy. Diagnosed this spring/summer so I'm sorting a lot out right now. I continue to learn a lot from these posts.
No obvious reason that I know of. Have had symptoms for about 10 years and went to dentist who said no problem with teeth but thought may be TN and to consult G.P. if problems reocurred. Was quiet until early this year and had forgotten this episode until I saw Neurologist who was taking history. He did not think that was related but did diagnose TN. After MRI was informed had compression on TN on opposite side from pain but nothing found on pain side. (Bells incidently had unknown virus 6 years ago and was admitted to hospital with Cerebral irritation and have had enlarged lymph nodes since.)
Do you happen to have any lymph nodes that are on your jaw by your trigeminal nerve? Mine is actually in front of my ear on the side of my face right where the long part of the branch is. I had an MRI in 2011 to see what it was. It's hard and fixed so it still kinda freaks me out sometimes. It is on the same side that I have the TN. It's been there for years now along with the nerve issues but the oral surgeon is sure it has nothing to do with my pain. Just seems weird to have that where it is, have nerve problems and have them be unrelated. If you look up preauricular lumph nodes you'll see where mine is at. I'm just curious to know if anyone else has this issue and if they found that it was the cause. If it's not the cause then my face problems just came out of nowhere...It seems that most people that have replied to this post do have something that they can connect this to.
anan said:
No obvious reason that I know of. Have had symptoms for about 10 years and went to dentist who said no problem with teeth but thought may be TN and to consult G.P. if problems reocurred. Was quiet until early this year and had forgotten this episode until I saw Neurologist who was taking history. He did not think that was related but did diagnose TN. After MRI was informed had compression on TN on opposite side from pain but nothing found on pain side. (Bells incidently had unknown virus 6 years ago and was admitted to hospital with Cerebral irritation and have had enlarged lymph nodes since.)
We don't know yet as an MRI has not been performed to see a compressed nerve or not. However, the pain started 6 days after dental work, therefore, my oral surgeon things that dentist's anesthetist caused it.
I’ve not had a MRI yet, but my pain started 11 days after I had 3 fillings. After the filings my face was swollen for 3 days, and before that I had never had a filling that made me swell like that!
Mine began after bells palsy. The actual onset of bells was so excruciating I thought my head was exploding. That was 3 yes ago, I’ve been in pain since. X
My neurologist believes my TN is caused by dental procedures. I found myself in a dental nightmare situation over the years leading up diagnosis. Why or why did I let them keep working on me? I started out with no significant dental problems. They just kept trying to fix their own destruction. Also, I have excellent dental insurance so when I came in for cleanings they would schedule me for crowns (I guess I paid their kids college tuition), saying better crown the teeth now before you have problems. Every crown I had blew up with pain and turned into a root canal. That root canal would turn into a do over root canal. Even an extraction. It's such BS.
Can't look back, only forward.
mine started 3 months after i had a stroke, I had a small clot on the right side of my brain, and the pain is on the left side, also i have had a lot of dental work, and good teeth removed and none of the dentists could tell me the cause of the pain I had in my teeth and gums, until I was finally referred to a face pain consultant and he has told me he dosen't think i have TN, but he has put me on 300mgs of Lyrica and that has helped somewhat,, thanks to all for all the great info. and encouragement on this forum
I have had TN for as long as I can remember (both sides). Th doctors are stumped because it doesn't run in my family and I didn't have any sort of trauma to cause it. It has gotten worse though ever since my car accident in March.
As far as I can tell, my TN started with a very loud noise emitted from a television.
Absolutely no reason for mine, that i know of. Just creeped up on me over the years; a zap here, a zap there...increasing and increasing in duration and frequency, until it reached a point of near constant and developed into a deep burn to go along with the zaps.
I had a shunt placed in my head 7yrs ago and while the neurologists says absolutely that had nothing to do with it..i wonder.
Anyway, as i said...no definite reason.
Guess i just wasn't unique enough...lol *shrugs*
Wishing us all peace and a pain free day
~Mistee
Thank you all for replying to my question! I would find it tormenting to have this horrible condition and not be able to pinpoint a cause. It’s been a rough 15 years and all curative surgical interventions have been ruled out for me, but, after reading what you’ve all written, I find myself feeling strangely “lucky”, at least I have the brain tumor and surgery to point too. Like most of you, I’ve had my share of doctors who know nothing about TN and who’ve done and said stupid and insensitive things, but at least I can show them an MRI, with damage to the trigeminal nerve, and prove there’s something going on. Blessings to you!!! Mara
Could you possibly elaborate?Just curious.
Michaelg said:
As far as I can tell, my TN started with a very loud noise emitted from a television.
Dentist. Lost a tooth over it. Permanent pain. Angry as heck.