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1

Hello all,

My doctor just pulled me out of work for a week till im able to see my nerolagist. He think nerves may have something to do with the pain. He put me on a downer called ALPRAZOLAM. It is for panic disorders and anxiety. How do u all think this is related and how do you all work if you work? I was just diagnosed with TN by my primary doctor and the ER the week of March 18th. So this is all new to me. Please if anyone can help me understand that would be great. They also have me on tegretol and vicodin.

2

Hi Dawn,

I also have Alprazolam as one of my meds, yes it's primary function is for treating panic disorders and anxiety and I appreciate having it in my med kit. Stress is something we do suffer with attacks of severe pain, and in the case of TN many here find that their stress they get once they feel the pain, can make an attack of TN worse, I find that myself. I take the medicines as I'm prescribed. So, if your doctor has prescribed this medicine, then I hope you find it beneficial! It is very mild but sure tastes yucky, lol.

Best wishes Dawn! I wish for us to have pain free days ahead!

Kerry.

3

"nerves", stress, anxiety, depression.

these are all too common answers given by medical practitioners to females suffering from unexplained pain. it's perjorative and it's offensive. anxiety does not cause pain, nor does stress or depression or "nerves." this is antiquated patriarchal jargon. your pain may be neuropathic, it may even be TN, but it has nothing to do with your emotional state. refuse to let any practitioner tell you otherwise. be aware: the medication your doctor gave you has anti convulsant properties in it; it may help your pain but it does NOT mean anxiety is causing it. tegretol is textbook for treating TN pain, vicodin is an opiate; it has secondary pain relieving mechanisms, but as a rule does not work directly on nerve pain. mixing meds when first showing symptoms of facial pain is tricky; best to try one drug at a time so you know which one works and which one doesn't. if it's TN, the anxiety med, although somewhat helpful, won't be enough. advocate for yourself, get a referral to a competent neurologist or pain management specialist who will treat your pain organically and with appropriate medication. get a "thin slice" MRI. say this to your neurologist, he will know what it means.

i am not a doctor. speak to your own about what i have said here.

good luck,

vesper

4

Thank you for your comments, Im going to try the meds for a week. I guess at this point it wont hurt. As for my job I am a asst. Manager at a large hardware store. So when Im there Im the only one there so I have a real hard time to leave when I have a trigger. Then I am told If im in too much pain I have to find someone to cover for me or I cant leave. As you all know when It happends I just have to try and walk it out ,go to the bathroom( because I dont want anyone to see me), lay my head on the counter and just rub it. I have tryed the best I can to get them to go away but It dont seam to help. The last from 30seconds to almost 20 min. Does anyone have any surgestions to help me with this, or how I should handle my employer?

5

Dawn,

I am glad to hear that your employers seem caring about your condition. I worked at a high stress, desk job for 7 yrs. with ATN. Looking back, I don't know how I did it. I remember rubbing the side of my head a lot, as if it would help, and watching the clock for my next dose of Diazepam. You see, I was misdiagnosed with TMJ. They thought it was due to long hours, job stress, a long commute and that my late husband suffered with a mental disorder, which we found out later was bipolar. He passed away in '06, a victim of an auto accident.

From my perspective, I can honestly say, I do not know if I would have had a career during those years if it weren't for Diazepam and Alprazolam, which are both closely related benzodiapines. I kept telling my GP, then later my Psychologist, when my GP retired, that most of my stress was not due to the factors that they were attributing it to, but to the level of facial pain I was experiencing.

I find that Diazepam helps more with my pain meds to reduce the pain of ATN. I take it daily. It has a slight muscle relaxant property that Alprazolam (Xanax) doesn't have. However, both work well with controlling the anxiety caused by working with a chronic pain disorder, I believe.

If your position involves a lot of deadlines, as mine did, just make sure that you don't become too relaxed to be mindful of them. Overall, I believe that anyone working with TN or ATN, should have a benzo in their "med kit", as Kerry stated that she appreciated. (Of course, as with any med, there are people who are exceptions, those, who do not tolerate it well. Luckily, I was not one of those individuals. I tolerate benzos fine.)

I am not certain if the combo of Alprazolam with Tegretol would increase drowsiness. I was never on both simultaneously, while working.

But, yes, to sum it up, Diazepam, which often substituted for Alprazolam, on it's own, for years, eased my tension caused by chronic pain, just enough so that I could work.

I can think of one particularly well-respected woman I worked with, who was head of her department, who was not chronic pain, but a chronic anxiety sufferer who took Alprazolam for in the workplace.

Good luck. I hope this helps.

Stef

6

it sounds as if Dawn's employer is not caring about her condition. retail is an environment of high employee turnover; workers are usually treated as commodities and less like people. i speak from experience, having never fully recovered from a terrible summer job home from college one year.

i digress.

i would suggest looking into your employee rights and company policy, first look through the company handbook specific to your place of business. try to locate this on their website if they have one. if this is not applicable, ask your superior for a hard copy. this should be made available to every employee upon hire; don't let them give you the run around. if they stall you, find a contact for an HR person and request one through them.

if you're a full time employee, you have the right to a predetermined amount of sick time. read the contract for anything regarding short-term on long-term disability, and see if the company offers this to employees. if they do, begin speaking to your doctor about a short-term disability approval and then get your ducks in a row to file paperwork with your employer. note: these benefits may only apply to full-time employees, but not necessarily.

your employer cannot fire you or otherwise retaliate against you for claiming a disability. this is illegal and the consequence to them would be, in a word, costly.

start with the company handbook and then go on the Internet to look up employee rights for your particular state of residence. arm yourself with knowledge and then go to your employer once you have the support of your physician on paper. you can file a claim for at least the short term which will alleviate some stress for you in the near future.

good luck,

vesper

7

Correction to my statement. I see that her doctor pulled her out of work for a week until she could see a Neuro. I misread this thinking that she had "paid time off", when she did not make mention of her employers stance. Apologies, Dawn.

Yes, Vesper gives good advice. The below comment sounds like a sound plan of action regarding addressing your rights as an employee.

8

Im worried about my employer. They dont care about anyone but the o mighty dollar. I guess that is the way most big companys are. I look at it till soneone walks in our shoes with this pain maybe they would understand. Im going to ask my neourolisgist about what I should do with work. I would think he would know. I know the laws are diff. in every state. I am in Wisconsin so if there is anyone out there on this group from the Cheese state maybe you can help me. Yhank you so very much!!

9

Good luck, Dawn. Hang in there. Yes, it is sad how employers can afford to be so insensitive these days.

10

Thank you all!! Im just tying to hang in there to get some answers from the neuroligist. I just hope he can answer them for me. My mother-in -law just moved in with us from Knoxville a few days before I got diagnosed. I understand God does things for a reason and I sure think he was looking out for me! She has been a helping hand to help me thru this.