Trigeminal neuralgia and gca

[Charkha]

Hi everyone, when I was first diagnosed with gca had jaw claudication for quite some time which is now resolved on 50 mg prednisone and hoping to taper to 40 mg shortly. However, have recently experienced acute extremely painful episodes of throbbing jaw/facial pain right side of face that has woken me in night and symptoms appear to mimic trigeminal neuralgia. I did look at some of the posts on facial pain. Does trigeminal neuralgia develop with gca and, if so, is it responsive to prednisone. I also have MS and I think it can go along with that. I finally got appt with rheumatologist this week but had to postpone as I just got Covid!!! Thankfully the Covid has been very mild and I am getting better although wiped out of course! Never a dull moment!

[Charkha]

Thanks for the helpful information and the links to the articles. So far the episodes are at night and have only had a couple. I guess we will see how things go from here.

[Nextoneplease]

Sorry,I don’t know anything about trigeminal neuralgia. Just wanted to say I’m sorry you have Covid and hope your rheumatology appointment can be rescheduled soon.

Hope your symptoms continue to be fairly mild and that you’re better soon xx

[Charkha in reply to Nextoneplease]

Thank you!!! It is so encouraging to have words of encouragement from people like you who understand what it is like to live with these wretched diseases. It means a lot. Xx

[jrsteiger9]

I was diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuralgia and tried at least 5 different medications. Nothing worked until I started taking Lyrcia (generic name is pregabalin). It went away on this medication. Whether or not the meds had anything to do with it, I don't know. It started when I was taking a shower and this pain shot up my face that caused me to jerk my head and grunt. I thought I was having a stroke. It came "out of the blue" and lasted 3 weeks. It was the worst experience of my life. I could not talk, sneeze, brush my teeth, eat or touch my face without having this pain shoot up my face. I was like a zombie and afraid to move because the pain was so terrible. My daughter was taking me to the doctor when I answered a question she asked and I realized that I didn't have any pain shooting up my face. That was it! It left the way it came -- "out of the blue". That was the most intense pain I have ever experienced. I wish you well and hope that you find a med that helps you. I still take Lyrcia today. I really don't know if that's what helped me or not but not taking any chances. It has been several years since then and I thank God every day for letting me get better.