please help
 

hi my husband is 32 years old he started with facial/head pains twelve months ago.
he had a CT scan which was clear didn't show anything. he was referred to a neurologist at Liverpool hospital, they started him on steroids which took the pain away over a few weeks. he was seen again by them which by that time the face/head pain was no longer,

well that was a year ago and he now has been suffering for 4 weeks with intense pain in his face this attack of pain happens about three times a day, he is currently taking carbamazepine he has been increasing the dose slowly over the week. he hasn't shown any sign of improvement yet.

how long should we wait to go back to the GP? the GP feels that this is trigeminal neuralgia. the GP is happy to treat my husband for this, but I'm thinking that it'll be better if we see the specialist neurologist again. do you agree? and also do you think requesting an MRI scan would be useful to check all is ok?
does anyone know if its typical of TN to return at the same time of year?
I would be so grateful for any reply, it is heart breaking seeing my husband in so much pain.

Hi,

I am so sorry that your husband is going through this and that you have to watch him suffer. I have Atypical Trigeminal Neuralgia so my pain is probably quite different from what he is experiencing.

First of all, yes it is common for "attacks" to subside and come back. For some people it is a matter of days in between, and for some it is a matter of weeks, months or even years. Since he has isolated attacks that come and go I would say he has classic Trigeminal Neuralgia, or Type 1. All of the medications used for TN do take some time to start working. I think about four weeks. So, he really needs to give it some time. There are many medications used, so he has options if that one doesn't work. Here is a link to a VERY helpful website. This link is for the medications page. You should join and post a new thread there with all of your questions. It is the largest community of TN sufferers that I have found.

http://www.livingwithtn.org/page/info-8

As for medical help--YES! He should see a neurologist asap. He should have an MRI to rule out other possibilities, such as MS or a tumour. And he needs to make sure he finds a medication that works for him. The first line of meds for Type 1 TN are Tegretol, Trileptal and Neurontin.

Good luck to you and yours