Hi, Angel! Hang in there. You are not alone. Unfortunately, you are in good company here. So far, I have managed to hold off severe pain. But, I can relate to the zombie effect of the drugs. It IS depressing, I know.

From what I understand, a compression of the TN nerve is the root cause in most cases. There are surgical options, but no guarantees. I think the lack of a promising cure lies in the fact that doctors just don't know enough about the nervous system yet. I hang onto the knowledge that ten years can bring great changes in the medical field. I think that in our lifetime we will see a cure.

It is promising that you will be seeing another doctor on Monday. Let us know how it goes. I hope your meds bring you relief any minute now.

Bluemom

HI Blue

Thanks for your encouraging words.I did have a MRI two yrs ago but the said nothing showed but the fact that tegretol takes my pain away must tell them that there is a nerve problem going on.Please excuse any typos but at tis point I can barely see straight and feel like I'm on a different planet.I don't like not being in control of myself, it's very frustrating and the thought of being on this drug for yrs scares me to death.I can't imagine going through life feeling the effects, it's awful but not as bad as the facial pain. I'll admit there have been days where I just wanted to give up and leave this world because I couldn't deal with the pain any longer but I am one stubborn woman and thats what has kept me plugging along.I just hope there is an end to all of this so I can get back to living my life, thats all I want.
I weaned myself of tegretol and neurontin after being on them for 6 months a few yrs ago and the pain was gone only too come back a few weeks ago and I believe the trigger was the cold air on my face while at the lake on a cold day. I did have twinges of pain during the time I was off the drugs but it wasn't anything I couldn't deal with. I also had three of my molars taken out when there wasn't a problem with them but I could handle the electric shocks any longer...is there an end to all of tis or will I spend my life fighting this paina nd being drugged and feeling like a zombie?

Hi Borderline Angel,
When I had my first MRI, the doctor said that it was 'clear' and showed no impingement of the nerve. Fortunately, the neurologist that did the MRI finally sent me to a neurosurgeon. The NS immediately sent me for a "Thin Slice Fiesta MRI" (I have no idea what the Fiesta means, maybe it's an anagram for something). The thin slice part means that the MRI will take pictures that are much closer together, so, say a regular MRI will take 30 slices - a thin slice will take maybe twice as much. (I hope that I am making sense). So anyway, when they did the thin slice MRI, they found compressions and immediately scheduled me for an MVD. Apparently the compression was 'hiding between the slices' of the normal MRI.
So perhaps this is worth a try.
Best of luck on your journey, and i wish you many no pain days.
Lily