April 23rd

It's been a little over 3 weeks since I've been Oxcarbazepine. I have noticed a vast improvement in the amount of pain. The last time I had blood work done, doctors noticed elevated liver enzymes and attributed it to the Carbamazepine I had been taking. The Ox has had noticeably fewer side effects (actually, I can't seem to think of any I've experienced), and I've been able to control the neuralgia with a low dose. Currently, I take 400-600mg of Ox and 1200-1800mg of Gabapentin. The higher dose of Gabapentin makes me sleepy but a low dose makes me hyper. I haven't found the happy medium yet.

April 1st

Still having pain. Had about 3 days without really bad pain - just the kind that's easily ignorable.

Dr B. prescribed me oxcarbazepine (Trileptal) instead of carbamazepine (Tegretol). If you recall, the carb. was elevating my liver enzymes. The ox. definitely has less noticeable side effects and is good for the pain, but I am taking 200mg up to 4x a day right now and am still taking 300mg gabapentin (Neurontin) up to 4x a day too.

Right now I am having burning pain (about a 7 on a scale to 10) on both the upper and lower teeth and deep inside my ear. I have noticed a new shocking pain in my lower jaw, about where my cuspid is. It's triggered by chewing or yawning, any kind of action that makes me open my mouth too widely. Sometimes just turning my head in the opposite direction sparks it too.

I am going to take another pill and try to head to bed. Just wanted to give an update.