Trigeminal Neuralgia - A Sufferer's Perspective

I was diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuralgia today. Thank God it has a name and is not one of the specters of horrific diagnoses that I had lurking in the back of my mind.

It started out about two months ago with a horrific, stabbing headache that felt like someone was stabbing me in the temporal area of my brain. While it only lasted a couple of seconds, the pain was obscene. Literally, my description is what it felt like, without exaggeration.

I've four horrible episodes since, and to say that they're scary is an understatement. I'm suffering white-hot stabbing pain in my brain, and immediately question if this is an aneurysm, stroke, or other life threatening malady. Let's just say it is not too fun. I've also suffered many minor ones, including toothaches that would last for 10 minutes then go, a painful jaw for no reason, etc.

After suffering a bad one two days ago, I immediately booked an appointment with my doctor. It just so happened that the morning of my appointment I was awaken by the pain of what can best be described as an eye and cheek that have recently been punched in a fight.

Fortunately, my doctor is familiar with Trigeminal Neuralgia, and we did a quick x-ray to rule out anything too nasty. He feels pretty confident that this is what it is, and has prescribed Carbamazapine, an anti-seizure medication, in a low dose which has shown effectiveness. The first two pills today have taken away nearly all of the minor tweaks, although my eye still feels really sore.

To the extent that I can Search Engine Optimize this and future posts to the top of the search heap, I hope my story will be found by other suffers so they don't feel alone with this pain. I'll keep you updated of my story - I follow up with the doc next week, provided I don't have an episode where I need to see him immediately. In the mean time, I am a 100% believer in the power of prayer, and during the next time you hit your knees if you could please offer something on my behalf to request that the bad headaches were kept at bay, I would be in your debt.

Some would argue that I don't have enough rolling around in my head to hurt. Trust me, it may not be a lot, but it can hurt like a son of a gun.