Greetings.

I'm new to the forum and am glad we found this resource.

My DW had PMR (Polymyalgia Rheumatica) in 2005/6 ... Steroids took care of it. She is now experiencing pain in her right temple that extends to right forehead and ear at times. From reading she thinks it might be temporal arteritis. She went to a doctor who had blood tests taken. Her sed rate and other blood work was normal. She had a CT scan of the head without contrast and they found no abnormalities. Another doctor she visited has said it is trigeminal neuralgia. She put her on gabapentin. Has anyone had trouble diagnosing between these two conditions?

Thanks.

heyjude19,

It is great to have you come and be with us. You will fine a great number of dear friends to listen when you are in need of ears. Please, just let us know how we can help you out. You will find out we are supportive and relaxing place.

Sad to hear about what is going on with your DW. Here a forum that you will find some dear friends to assist you in questions.

Trigeminal Neuralgia:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum26.html

Please keep us up to date on your situation. Again welcome, looking forward to seeing you around. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Greetings,

Thank you for the welcome and the link. Both are helpful.

We're just getting started with what is either Trigeminal Neuralgia or Temporal Arteritis. We have to find out what DW has in order to know which treatment to pursue.

heyjude

hello there ive just joined this forum seeking advice for my son and i happened to see your query about trigeminal neuralgia. My dear mother suffered from this for years and used to take Tegretol which is effective and the usual treatment of choice by most doctors
This has been described as the worst pain known to man..its other name is tic douloureux, so called because of the severe spasms or tic some just lasting a moment and sometimes going on for hours.
its very distressing ..my mother could go for months without an attack then it would start up again.
for cases unresolved by the use of medicines the nerve can be cut or sometimes injected with alcohol which lasts about 6 months . My mother refused these procedures but she had a really bad time and i felt so helpless watching her in pain.
i hope you will find out whats wrong and get some relief.


from what you say i dont think you have temporal arteritis this is also