[sage]

Hello all, first post here. I am a 25 year old male looking for some more answers and information on the condition I am suffering from.

I have had some rather severe pain in my sinus areas for about a year now. I would describe it as a burning, aching, dull pain nearly always on both sides of the area just under the eyes and on the top of the nose. It comes on at different times of the day and stays for hours, sometimes the rest of the day, until I take enough meds to calm it down.

At first it was thought to be a sinus infection but a CT scan was fully clear so I was sent to a neurologist who diagnosed a form of 'Neuralgia', nothing more specific than that. Was advised to take Gabapentin in increasingly higher doses until the pain was controlled to the point I did not need too many opiate painkillers (was taking hideous amounts of tramadol before this which was barely helping!).

The Gabapentin is now up to a fairly high dose and was controlling it fairly well for a couple of months until a few weeks ago when I had a sudden attack of pain one morning and it has been back ever since. So back on the codeine/tramadol regularly now which I was trying to avoid.

I have come across a term called 'Atypical Trigeminal Neuralgia' which would seem to fit somewhat since it is a very constant pain most of the time in the trigeminal nerve area. As well as the constant dull, burning pain I also get sensations that an electric shock is running through my face, there is even visible twitching and shaking when this happens.

So, are there any other signs of this particular condition which would help to firm up the diagnosis? I would think that the effectiveness of Gabapentin confirms the neuro nature of the pain, but I'm trying to get something more specific. Furthermore, what other meds should I ask for with regards to this kind of pain? Lyrica sounds like it might be better.

Thanks in advance for any replies