Hi! My name is Melissa and I was in search of some information. A few days ago I went to the E.R. because I found my face had suddenly gone numb for no apparent reason. The E.R. physician said she suspected it was either Trigeminal Neuralgia or Bell's Palsy (except I had no paralysis, just numbness). However, I also had no accompanying pain to the numbness that would confirm it as TN. She prescribed Motrin 800 mg and told me to go see my general doctor. In the time between my visit to the general doctor I noticed an increase in the numbness and also I noticed some moderate pain (although nothing compared to what the ER physician seemed to portray it as!) The general doctor said it was definetly TN, and prescribed me Prednisone, 10 mg. He said also, that it was a temporary condition and would resolve itself in a few weeks. So, here are my questions-

1. Is it uncommon for someone to present with TN but mainly numbness and only moderate pain?

2. Is the condition truly temporary (as in, will this be a one time occurence in my life)? and

3. Why did the doctors prescribe motrin and prednisone?

I thought I would ask. I just turned 18 in January and for once in my life, despite my many medical adventures, I find myself completely lost! Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Melissa

welcome Melissa, Glad you found us. My suggestions to you is to read the stickies on the top of our forum. I am kind of new here to so I wouldn't know why they prescribed those drugs. They are usually not the ones I hear of with trigeminal neuralgia. I have some facial numbness also but I also have the typical trigeminal shooters that are associated with TN. I can not answer if it is temporary. From what I understand it is a progressive disease, but it can stop for long periods of time. I suggest you go to a neurologist for a complete neurological exam to satisfy all your questions and get some answers. You are very young so it may be something else, but a good neurologist is a good start. The trigeminal neuralgia association has a lot of good information for you and can give you some doctors in your area if you need help. Let us know how things go and ask as many questions as you like. Jen