I've just joined this forum, and I hope someone will have an answer for this. I had a thalamic stroke in August 2009. At first, I experienced burning and tingling on my entire right side, including the inability to walk (lack of strength) or use my right hand or arm. Gradually, after a lot of strengthening PT and OT, I'm doing much better. What remains is tingling in the fingers of my right hand and a lack of strength, and really troubling, the right side of my mouth - which has gotten worse. I can not whistle (not that I want to, but I'm unable to do that), and I can't pronounce certain sounds unless I hold my mouth to help it. My mouth feels as though I've received a shot from the dentist, my taste buds don't work on the right side, and my inner mouth also reacts to food, toothpaste, etc. When I eat, my mouth feels swollen. It takes rinsing with water to calm down my mouth. Neurontin didn't help. I take a 325mg aspirin once a day, 88 mcg synthroid once a day, and Lyrica 50mg 3x a day. I don't know if the Lyrica is helping. I've been taking it for about a month. Does anyone have any idea of how I can stop this from getting increasingly worse? I've been doing "mouth exercises" to try to use the muscles in the mouth, but I don't know what else to do. By the way, I'm a 76 year old woman stuck in the body and mind of a 45 year old. Please help!

-- as if you may have a form of Central Pain Syndrome, which is very common after thalamic strokes, in people with subacute combined degeneration from B12 deficiency, and in some mutliple sclerosis patients, among other conditions.

Take a look at:

http://centralpain.org/

http://www.painonline.org/intro.htm

Thank you for your reply. I've read the articles you suggested, and yes, this is exactly what my fingers and my mouth are feeling. It is a dichotomous comfort, because I am glad that someone knows what it is. Resolving the problem is obviously another matter. Does the B12 deficiency require injections such as those given for pernicious anemia?..or can B12 capsules be taken? In any case, thank you so much for this. It's much appreciated!

--B12 taken orally in megadoses, preferably the methylcobalamin form (designed to be already in usable methylated form and bypass any genetic defects in that chemical process that some people have) would be a convenient, and likely cheaper, way to go. I'd start with at least 5000mcg/daily and have B12 levels (and homocysteine and methylomaic acid levels--the latter are more accurate indidcators of B12 deficiency) taken right before, if I could, and then have those repeated regularly.

One side note--even if you fix the B12 deficiency (assuming that's what you have, and it's causing the symptoms--you really need a good medical work-up), central pain tends to be a recalcitrant beast.

cacky, I agree with Glenntaj that you may be experiencing a Central Pain Syndrome from your stroke. A Physical Medicine and Rehab physician with an emphasis on treating stroke patients would be the best physician resource for your care