Yesterday was a very rainy, gloomy, and cool day.
Today we are having thunderstorms.
Two perfect days for staying home and resting.
A year ago I suffered an injury to my trigeminal nerve when I had a deep dental cleaning.
There is a reason they call trigeminal neuralgia the suicide pain. It is the most excruciating pain I have ever felt.
After two months the pain was completely gone and I was hoping that the nerve was healed.
Last week after ten months of being pain-free the pain suddenly came back.
At first, it wasn't as bad as last year, but in the last couple of days, it has really escalated.
Chewing, sneezing, talking, brushing my teeth, drinking water, and blowing my nose (it's allergy season) all bring on a terrible attack.
Of course, my doctor is away this week so I am trying to soldier on until she gets back and we can figure out a way to treat it.
I now know that it is never cured.
It can go into remission for months or years, but it will keep coming back.
There are treatments ranging from medications to surgeries for it, but even the surgeries don't last forever.
My dad had this. He had MS and it is fairly common for MS patients. He had some kind of surgery.
My mom's dad had it and he had the nerve cut, which left his face numb on one side. That was in the 1960s.
Trigeminal Neuralgia is most common in women over the age of 50.
I am trying to remain optimistic and I am hoping that this flare-up will go away.
While I wait I am working on my Etsy shop, reading, and watching TV.
Life sure can throw some curveballs.
Oh Laura I am so sorry your pain has returned. Praying you can hold on until your doctor is back in town and then there is something you can do to help calm it down quickly. xoxo Kris
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry too Laura. It sounds awful. Do you know what causes it? Is it the dental work? Remind me to never get a deep cleaning if it is. I recall that Brenda, from Cozy Little House, had it also a couple of years ago, and seems like it was after she went to the dentist. What do you do for the pain??? Years ago, I had such ear pain that I could hardly stand it. I of course, went to doc to see if it was an ear infection, but it wasn't. It was there a good year.. and never an ear infection. I wonder if that is what I had. Was on the side of my face by my ear, and all around my ear. My solution was to use magnets. Yup.. magnets placed in front of and behind my ear.. all around it. I was a Niken distributor and they have little gold magnets, so I could tape them all around my ear, and they have bigger ones, and I would place the big one right on top of my ear opening. It sounds corny, but it is the ONLY thing that worked! I was so thankful. That pain comes back now and then, but not very often, and when it does, I get out the magnets and tape them on again, and the pain is gone. I'm not a distributor anymore, but I swear by the magnets for different things and for areas of pain. Maybe it would be a solution for you. You look up Niken distributors in your area. They are always such nice and helpful people. I also use a magnet wrap for my knee when it has flared up.. and it helps immensely. I swear by it also. Maybe this would help with this awful pain. I couldn't really take pain pills as they cause me such nausea. I hope your doc gets back and can help you. praying for you! Marilyn
ReplyDeleteOh Laura, I am so sorry to hear about this. I know you must be in terrible pain and I hope and pray you get something to help you manage it. Life is hard enough without being in such pain. I'm keeping you in my prayers. (my Dad had MS too and I know how hard it was on him. I didn't know that your Dad did too) Hugs, Diane
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry, Laura, that's terrible. I sometimes get a nerve pain in my face and tooth, but it's not that bad. My mom had Parkinson's and she had the same. It was awful to watch. This weekend, I fell down the stairs, while planning a DIY. It was a curveball for sure. I spent the whole weekend nursing a bruised shoulder instead of working on my renovations which I really wanted to do. Soldiering on and "shouldering" on!! Feel better!
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine how painful that must be. Hope your doctor is able to provide you with some relief. Ever since the opioid epidemic (and all the lawsuits that followed) it is almost impossible to get a painkiller. I have a lifelong back condition but all my orthopedic doctor recommends is Aleve. When I needed to create a unique password for a medical portal, I chose Nopainkiller4U.com -- Sometimes it helps to laugh!
ReplyDeleteOh, Laura, I'm a few days late in reading this post, so I'm hoping by now you've had some relief. Those kind of curve balls we don't need!
ReplyDeleteI had excruciating nerve pain in my left temple and top of my head in December. Came out of the blue, no rhyme or reason. Continued all through the night and my husband had to take me to the ER. I've never had such horrendous pain in all my life, even with surgeries and accidents and childbirth. I've had a CT scan, MRI's of my brain, trigeminal nerve and the arteries in my brain, and all the test results came back "unremarkable". The neurologist thinks I might've had a cluster headache. After reading about them, I don't think that was it. The nerve pain continued for 3 weeks on the top of my head. To this day, I still get a dull, burning, slight nerve pain in my left temple once in awhile. I am wondering if I had shingles with no lesions/rash and have leftover nerve pain from that.
ReplyDeleteMy heart truly goes out to you because nerve pain is the worst. I've read a lot about trigeminal neuralgia because I thought that was a possibility what I had, and I know the treatment plans can be complicated. I hope you can get on some kind of maintenance med that will help you. {{hugs}}