I totally understand your jumping at the chance to do the MVD. When I made up my mind that it was really the only option left, it seemed to take forever to get scheduled. Then I worried that I would get sick and wouldn't be able to have the surgery when planned (and the surgeon was planning to have knee surgery shortly after doing my surgery and would be out for awhile). For weeks I didn't go out in public unless I had to for fear of getting a cold.

I don't have anything that feels like weakness. I do have soreness in areas where I had the radiofrequency rhizotomy in 1998 and the soreness around my eye from the balloon procedure in 2008 is coming back (which no one understands because I never had TN pain up there).

Yesterday I reduced to 500 mg of Tegretol, after a week on 600. Does that seem fast? It seemed like forever before my neurosurgeon let me start reducing it at all (it was several weeks). Only had twinges that one day - and it was a day my band performed at a lunch, so I was singing and being more active than I really felt ready for. I was also tense before we started performing. I've been fine since then except that I have a sinus allergy problem. Felt awful yesterday. Today I'm somewhat better.

I'm glad you aren't having twinges now that you have slowed down the reduction. I hope I don't have to slow down - at least until I get a bit lower when the side effects will be less noticeable.