Friday, November 21, 2008

Too Early

It is too early in the morning for me. I just went to bed 5 hours ago. I am in so much pain right now. I popped 2 hydros and am doing some heat therapy. No relief yet. If it doesn't work soon I will try getting in a hot bath and soaking my face...

5 minutes later - the pain is gone.

Thank goodness.

Sometimes I question my diagnosis. Is it a toothache or is it TN? THIS SITE gave some reassuring information.

"Pretrigeminal neuralgia, an early stage of trigeminal neuralgia, is characterized by intermittent, aching pains that last minutes to hours and perfectly mimic toothache or temporomandibular joint disorder,” Graff-Radford said. This pain confuses patients and dentists alike."

I noticed that many TN sites talk about pain lasting seconds to minutes. It's comforting to know that it can last for hours because sometimes my pain goes on for up to two hours.

Also:

"The source of the problem can often be traced by injecting anesthetics into various parts of the nerve, and can be treated with anticonvulsant drugs or surgery on the nerve."

At my first dentist appointment in August, Dr. H had to drill into the bone and inject anesthetic directly to the nerve because I couldn't get numb and the nerve pain was so severe. I think there were a combination of things that cause this problem. And no, I do not blame Dr. H. He is a FANTASTIC dentist and I will continue to be a patient in his office.

Alrighty, back to bed. Wow, an attack that lasted about 15 min. Very promising. Maybe the neurontin is starting to work?

Oh, I forgot to mention. I got into a neurologist on Dec. 1st! Dr. C had an opening due to a cancellation when I called to make the appt. I am so excited!! (I was previously told it would be after the new year before I could get in.)

I'm also not sure if I mentioned it but I know stress to be a huge trigger for me. I have been trying to pray on it and give it all to God. It seems to be working some. I have been grinding and clenching my teeth at night too. I have a night guard that I should be wearing. Tomorrow night I will, and we'll see if I have minimized episodes over the night.

3 comments:

Kimi said...

Misty,

I am so sorry you are going through this. I hope you can get some relief soon! You are in my prayers.

Jess NBP said...

Glad to her you are getting help for that. Sounds really bad. Chris has had to have 8 teeth pulled b.c of peridonatal desease.

HUGS I hope you are feeling better today.

dee dee said...

I noticed in a more recent blog you had also mentioned using a night guard. Since having TN pain, I have been clenching my teeth terribly! I'm afraid using a night guard, specifically REMOVING a night guard, would trigger pain. Do you have any problem with yours?