Quote:
Originally Posted by Rum River
I'm brand new here.
I was originally diagnosed with TN by a TMJ specialist my dentist referred me to when I saw him for what I thought was tooth pain.
My dentist correctly realized I had no tooth issues, but suspected TMJ. The TMJ specialist recognized TN from the journal I provided detailing my symptoms over a 4-5 week period. He suggested I see a neurologist, so I went to the same one who had diagnosed my Charcot-Marie-Tooth fifteen years ago.
My neurologist confirmed the TN diagnosis, and I've been on Gabapentin since mid-April. I started out slow at 300mg daily, and plateaued at 900mg daily. The side effects weren't bad, and I got significant relief.
In the last week though, the symptoms have returned, and I've gone up to 1800mg daily. (The max my prescription allows.) The gabapentin doesn't seem to offer any relief, and the side effects are more noticeable.
What is the experience of others here? How often do your symptoms ease when taking 1800mg Gabapentin? Have your doctors said why the medication doesn't seem as effective?
Another thing, how fast does TN manifest itself? My first twinge of "tooth pain" was in late February. Here it's only May and I can't remember the last good night's sleep I had.
Sorry if I've repeated what is common knowledge to the rest of you, but I figure I have to start somewhere.
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Hi I'm new here too. I had TMJ after my dentist pulled or actually had to break all 4 of my wisdom teeth to get them out. They were causing terrible headaches, eye problems etc. Anyway, the TMJ went on for weeks I thought it was just part of the healing process because my cheeks and chin were bruised badly and I had numbing in my lips and nose...the nerves run very close to the root of my teeth. Anyway I finally, after taking tons of pain meds went to a chiropractor who showed me how to align my jaw back using pressure points next to your jaw bone. I started doing it at home and after a few months I was back to normal and have not had any great problems since. If my jaw clicks while I'm eating I just do the pressure points and it puts things back into alignment and I'm okay...sometimes I think it has a lot to do with my sinises, seasonal allergies or even a cold. I hope this help you.