Hi, I have been reffered to have more tests, but have been told today my debilitating shock pain's weren't my decayed wisdom tooth after all and is highly likely to be Trigeminal neuralgia
I had been suffering severe shock pain in my left side for 8 long and painfull months and my dentist arranged for a decayed tooth to be removed. Two weeks ago it was and all pain stopped (I was elated!) but the last 3 day the tell tale tingle and twinging in my jaw has started as had the temple pain, and i am petrified that the shocks/intense pain will kick in again, in the months i suffered the pain's i'd lost 1st which isn't a good thing for someone who was only 7st 12lb to begin with :-(
as well as lack of sleep, blurred vision, headaches ect, those 8 months were the worst time i could ever think of and the thought that it'll happen again has put an immense fear into me? As soon as my dentist said he's almost 90% i just had this horrible feeling and wanted cry.
so, sob story aside is there anything that can help relive symptoms before my refferal comes thru to help with the attacks? as normal painkillers/ice pack ect have no effect.
Many thanks
Redz

Some quick basics,,,,

Start taking a good vitamin B complex (B vitamins help rebuild the mylean sheath around the nerves). also a good multi vitamin with high doses of Selenium

Get rid of all aspartame, MSG, caffeine and as much sugar as possible..they all contribute to the frequency and severity of attacks...

Common sense,,eat healthy avoid processed foods and drink lots of water..

Get lots of sleep,, your body heals itself when you sleep

Avoid stress (stop laughing!!) as much as you can,,, you will learn what your specific stressers are and how to deal with them,, but that will take some time..

Get rid of all products that say tooth whitening,,they over sensitize the nerves and increase the amount of pain and the frequency of attacks...if you are concerned about white teeth,,,use peroxide and baking soda a few times a week,, works fine

Also if you smoke now's a good time to quit,,smoking and TN do not go well,,if you can't consider switching to the electronic cigarettes,,, it's a good compromise,,they are what I use,

The one that no one every listens to,,,,learn to meditate,,get a cheap cd on relaxation and breathing and even if all you do is learn to breath through the pain when you have an attack or not tense up during an attack,,,either way it helps..
If you are religious/spiritual adding another meditation along with the relaxation one is a good thing. I don't do both every day but some days I do and for ME it does help a great deal...

And I know that you are in the Uk and the health care system is different but if the pain becomes really unbearable before you get back in to see your doctor,,you can try getting the gel from your dentist,, they have a stronger one that they use to numb your gums before the do an injection ,,,,sometimes they will sell you a jar or give you some to see if it helps....

If that doesn't work maybe your doctor can prescribe some 4% oral Lidocaine,,you put it on a cotton ball and put it on your gums and it can numb things up pretty well for a few hours,, enough to eat at least!!!

If the pain is not oral then the only other suggestion I have is to see if your MD will prescribe the blister pack of Prednisone that you take over like 5 or 7 days and the first day you take a bunch and then over the time it goes doen to the last day being one pill.....that's the only thing I have ever found that consistently worked to cut my pain when I needed it too (my daughter's wedding,,things like that) strong steroids,,,,Toradol (again you can only take for a few days) stuff like that

So maybe someone else will have some advise for you that might help more,,,I hope I've given you a place to start....feel free to private message me if you want or come back and let us know how things are going for you Beth

Hey there how are you getting on today? sounds like tn to me, in my experience no medications worked or gave me any relief whatsoever. i do get some relief from cannabis however i do understand the issues that go with this. but as far as i'm concerned whatever will give me any relief from the pain i will do. i've had between 8 or 10 different meds all with nasty side effects. at the end of the day you have a problem which only you can decide what to do to relive it. meds may work for you. side effects may be ok for you. its a personal journey which you have to go on. i had tn solid for two years and only went out of the house for dr appts or hospital appts. this affliction is extremely painful and very emotional/ psychologically damaging as well. my tn disappeared for 9 years and 4 months ago came back.( although i've had it with tn, tn has not finished with me just yet ) i'm the type of person that does not do hospitals very well but am avidly seeking the mvd route as a viable option. i am and will be terrified. ellas diary on post op recovery has been an enormous help to me. i live in cambridgeshire and are always willing to help anyone deal with this, though thankfully its quite rare. finally i've trawled the net seeking an alternative to conventional surgery, and there are a lot of great sounding professional looking companies on line willing to supply you with herbal wonder drugs and laser treatments. BE MASSIVELY AWARE THAT THESE COMPANIES FEATURE HEAVILY ON SCAM WEBSITES. i nearly parted with over 5 grand for laser treatment in the us untill i found a lot of people saying that it never worked for them, although testimonials on the website would have you believe otherwise. tn is the pits.
any questions you have i'd be happy to share my experiences with you, good luck,
trevor.

Hows thing with you redz? better i hope and not worse.

I have had TN pain for more than 20 yrs and know just how painful it gets. Like Beth suggests, I would suggest the meditation. Sometimes it is the only thing that provides me with relief, except sleep. If I feel the pain coming on, I can sometimes simply lay down for a nap and when I wake up the pain is often gone. I take Lyrica daily for my pain. I was in pain daily for weeks at a time before Lyrica, now I have occassional pain, generally not as severe. But there are days the only thing I can do is meditate. It takes a little practice. If you're uncomfortable with the idea of meditation, call it prayer, its the same process of clearing your mind and learning to accept the pain. It really works, but you need a quiet place.

In the meantime, I hope you find something that works for you.