Trigeminal neuralgia

[Susan712]

Diagnosed yesterday by neurologist in Heraklion hospital. Perscribed gabepentin 300mg 3 x daily. He said i need to have an mri done when i return hime to England. Due home tomorrow evening. I am in absolute agony dont know what to do with myself , painkillers not touching it. Any idea's to stop the constant pain 24hous now non stop.

[whisperit]

You must be in agony - I can't speak from personal experience, but TGN is notorious for how painful it is. As far as I know, the main treatments are drug based - including gabapentine and (often) tegretol, but I don't think they work immediately. A quick web serch doesn't throw up any brilliant ideas, but several sources just say that it can ease if you avoid some of the triggers like heat or cold eg drinking through a straw etc. Whenever I have acute pain, my 'go-to' is ice - but that might be exactly the wrong thing for you. Sorry I can't offer any practical help. Lots of sympathy and a virtual hug though. Let's hope it settles very soon x

[Susan712 in reply to whisperit]

Thank you so much whisperit. I went back to medical centre and they were going to give me intravenous pain killer but then said they couldn't do it because of lupus and apixiban blood thinners. They gave me a strong tablet dont know what it was but did the trick and knocked me out . Had some sleep and pain free for now .

[whisperit in reply to Susan712]

it worked! Best wishes for a peaceful night x

[Foggyme]

Hi Susan712. When I suffered from trigeminal neuralgia which wasn't controlled by medication, I was offered a 'nerve block' injection. This involved injecting local anaesthetic and steroids into the trigeminal nerve (done by a neurologist but also understand that they are also performed in pain clinics).

The first injection reduced the pain considerably and the second banished it...several years ago and (fingers crossed) I'm still pain free (at least in that department 😉).

There are also a number of other surgical options for those who are in severe pain that doesn't respond to medications. Here's a link to further information: nhs.uk/conditions/trigemina...

Not sure if these procedures are contraindicated because of your blood thinnners, but worth investigating if things don't become more bearable.

Please you had a pain free night and fingers crossed that things continue in this vein. Trigeminal neuralgia is the pits...to put it mildly.

Good luck 👍

[Susan712 in reply to Foggyme]

Thank you so much foggyme for your response. Still pain free apart from a few twinges thank god . The meds doc gave me are making me feel a little drunk , i can cope with that for now. Hope it doesn't start up on plane home but staying positive. I had a good read of info you sent thank you so much xx

[Foggyme in reply to Susan712]

No problem Susan712.

Hope you have a safe and pain free trip home xx