Hello Sarah,

That's a very hard question to answer as TN effects everyone in a different way. I am in the US and I know over here they will not do an MVD if there is some relief thru medications. I also had TN and I did not respond to any of the 3 medications prescribed. Gabapentin I could not tolerate. Both Trileptal and Carbamazepine did not work. I went thru 12 months of switching meds, ramping up doses and then ramping down etc to start another one. It was pure hell. Finally my Neurologist referred me to a Neurosurgeon and they scheduled an MVD. By that time I was not able to eat solid food without having a severe "episode". In my case, the MVD surgery literally gave me my life back. That was 5 years ago and so far so good. The recovery from the MVD was trying for a couple of weeks but well worth it in my case. I too had multiple blood vessels "tangled" with the nerve.

I think if I could have controlled my TN with low doses of a medication, then I probably would have waited to have surgery but I would not have lived the rest of my life as a zombie which I was at maximum dosages of the medications.

Ken