February

It's been going well since my last post, except for the last 4 days. I have been in pain. It hasn't been as bad as the Thanksgiving debacle but it's been pretty consistent. On top of that, today I am feeling extremely exhausted, very weak, and overall yucky. I have not been taking the Neurontin on a regime, only as needed. I had scheduled visits to both my neurologist (Dr. B) and neurosurgeon (Dr.C) this month, as well as repeat blood work to recheck my elevated liver enzymes. Dr B told me to stop taking the Tegretol for attacks and rely on just the Neurontin since the Tegretol was the suspected culprit. Dr C and I talked about other options for treating the TN if the attacks get much worse and the medication proves to be too hard on my system and too much for me to handle. We both agreed that I should save any procedures (Gamma Knife, etc) as a last resort. TN sufferers know that the more procedures you have the less effective they are and there are only so many that can be done. In my case, a repeat MVD will unlikely help since my problem was due to a large vein and the position of part of the vein in an inoperable area.

Anyway, I am just trying to get past this attack. It's not bad enough to take Dilaudid...yet.