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Trigeminal neuralgia: What helps stop the pain?
Brain & Nervous System | Last Active: 12 hours ago | Replies (161)Comment receiving replies
I have had severTN for3 years.It was from shingles. it affects the entire left side of my head and face, even into my mouth and nose. I have tried everything I have heard of or told about by near pain management doctors, but nothing has worked. Does anyone know anything about the surgery that Mayo info talks about. The surgery that goes thru small hole in skull and put buffers between the trigeminal nerve and the others on top of it. This info said that was the only cure. I am praying for death I am in such pain. Only the thought of my dog being alone keeps me alive. If you know anything that has helped ANYoNE with this ,please let me know
Replies to "I have had severTN for3 years.It was from shingles. it affects the entire left side of..."
THANKS AGAIN, THIS MEANS A LOT. IT IS MY LAST CHANCE FOR AN ORDINARY END OF MY LIFE. I WILL TRY TO GET TO SOMEONE HERE WHO KNOWS THIS PROCEDURE. ALTHOUGH, I HAVE BEEN TO 3 DIFFERENT NEURO SURGEONS, AND 2 PAIN MANAGEMENT HOSPITALS AND NO ONE MENTIONED THIS. I HOPE YOU FIND SOME PEACE FOR YOUR PROBLEM. I HOPE THE TN DID NOT COME BACK AS SEVERE AS THE FIRST TIME. YOUR INFO MAY HAVE SAVED MY LIFE...I KID YOU NOT! SUSAN LURDING
I hope you find relief. Have you tried spinal adjustment? I have found the NUCA chiropractic adjustments to be helpful. I am not a fan of chiropractic methods but I was desperate due to stabbing pains, and could not tolerate the anticonvulsant drugs. This method is very gentle and aligns your atlas to better allow blood flow. I have been pain free for about a year after starting this treatment. Just recently in the last two days started having the numbness and burning sensation in lower jaw. Hoping my next visit will alleviate this. Anything to avoid that surgery, which in some cases does not work.
I understand your pain, I had TN for a year and a half and it was the absolute worst pain imaginable. I used Dr. Lee at the Ft. Worth Brain and Spine, he performed the microvascular decompression surgery (cutting the hole in the skull and wrapping the nerve in Teflon) it has truly been a live changer for me. I no longer have the electrical shocks.
The surgery you mentioned is MVD-microvascular decompression. It only works if the TN is caused by a compression of the nerve. This is determined by an MRI. The MRI should be read by a neurosurgeon, not a neurologist, as the surgeon is more experienced in finding compressions.
I'm not sure you are a candidate, because your TN came from shingles. I also have TN caused by shingles. The shingles virus has damaged our trigeminal nerve. So, as far as I know, our TN is not caused by a compression on the nerve.
I had horrible attacks of excruciating pain until the gabapentin dosage was raised to 1800mg a day (2 300mg x 3 times a day). I still feel the nerve, like it is moving from my eye to the back of my head), but there is no pain.
I would not hesitate to have an MVD for TN if I had a compression, as I had an MVD in 2005 to cure hemifacial spasm where a blood vessel was compressing the 7th cranial nerve. TN is the 5th cranial nerve. I flew to Pittsburgh from Texas to have the developer of the MVD to do the surgery, Dr. Peter Janetta.
I see you wrote your message way back in September 2024, so hope you found relief.
Sincerely, Kathleen
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there is certainly a lot of noise pollution out there. Hope you feel better soon