Trigeminal Neuralgia - Thank God for Dr. Jonathan Larson

Lots going on with regard to the TN fight. Had an appointment with my regular doc on Friday, and here's the latest:

• Given my response to the Carbamazepine, he's pretty confident in his diagnosis.
  With the symptoms I've had, he's made the decision to boost the prescription. We're doubling where I'm at, which is a good thing because I had a really bad attack yesterday afternoon. It was killer. However, I'm afraid of the side effects, but we'll just have to cross that bridge when we get there.
• He agreed to the MRI, and now we're just waiting for my insurance company to agree as well. The doc doesn't envision any problems, but we just need to wait.
• I'll be happy once the MRI is complete as it should lay out some reasons for what is causing this and will rule out any really nasty stuff. I hope to get it completed next week, and will get the results for my appointment at Mayo in October.

I'm really thankful for my doctor, Jonathan Larson of the Lakeview Clinic. He was all over this diagnosis immediately, and is quite learned in TN. Had he not been, and had I not stated the Carbamazepine when I did, I'd hate to even think of where I'd be right now. The misdiagnosis rate on this is very common, and sufferers can find themselves in a very bad place before finally striking on their proper track of treatment. I'm lucky to have avoided all of that, and have Dr. Larson to thank.

The fight continues.