Hi Melissa! I can understand your fear, but really a diagnosis is helpful because then you know what you are dealing with and can get treatment.

Your dentist obviously doesn't understand whatever you have and that is probably why he blows you off. (He's also probably done work you didn't need and doesn't want to face that.) It's a shame more dentists are not educated about TN so that they know when to refer someone and where.

Any good doctor will take you seriously. If you go to one who does not, keep looking. The Internet is helpful for educating ourselves, and no one should make you feel bad for seeking information online, but you need a doctor (Internist or Neurologist) to make a diagnosis.

As for looking like a drug seeker, the drugs used for treatment (and diagnosis) of TN are anti-seizure medications. Those are not drugs that people use for fun or to satisfy an addiction. Yes, narcotics can be used for breakthrough pain if the anti-seizure meds aren't enough, but they are not the primary treatment for TN.

You are suffering and you need to get help! In fact, the sooner the better. My doctor always said we needed to stay ahead of the pain. Once the pain takes hold it is harder to get under control and takes a higher dose of medication.

The pain of TN (and probably other similar things) can escalate FAST. In the few days between my Internist telling me what he thought I had and my having an MRI to rule out other causes of my problem, my pain went from a few bad jabs a day to constant pain so severe that all I could do was to lie in bed and breathe deeply. I had to go to the emergency room to even get to sleep.

Take this seriously and get help now. It's better to know what's going on and get some treatment than to wonder and suffer! Let us know how it goes.