I was jst diagnosed with this horendous disorder and since the day I had that fiirst twinge in my cheek about a year ago. Now two weeks ago it came on full bore and has never stopped hurting. The pain is so awful, it just diesn't let up. My Neuro is doing a MRI tomorrow to try to determine the cause as it may be autoimmune related. To top it off, I have a strange break out on the same sime of my face. Not like shinges but acne that is sore to the touch and hard to treat...anyone have this?

Yep I deal with that all the time. A dental procedure set off my TN pain, although mine is atypical and related to those sores. Similar to shingles, HSV1 (herpes simplex 1 - cold sore virus) actually can settle into your trigeminal nerve. When I get the outbreaks they follow my one of the paths of my trgeminal nerve.

My doc gave me valtrex to keep them under control as they make appearances quite often. For me the trigger can be stress or sunlight or even hormones. I have learned and am still learning to control them.

You can go to CVS and get some abreva and try it on them. Try not to scrath them or tough them and then touch your eyes.

Also working in L-lysine into your diet (I do 500 mg twice a day) helps control them.

You doc can actually swab them and culture it to see what it is. Or you can ask for a blood test HSV1 IGM and IGG and see if your antibodies are high and fighting the infection.