Hi there, my name is Mel and im 25. Been suffering from atypical trigeminal neuralgia for aboutttt...8 years now, i was only officially diagnosed 6 months ago.

Many times during this years i have felt my pain might go, or i was positive of cures and such. Recently i have come to the realisation finally that this will likely affect me my whole life...others just dont understand and feel i am being negative. I am new here and just want to speak to others who know how i feel. I have almost constant aching and pressure in my upper and lower jaw, makes me want to rip my teeth out, also severe migraines, i also get shooting pains at random times in the affected areas..there are no triggers...its just there whenever it wants to torment me. I was told since i was a teen it was my teeth that were bad and have had much dental work (all upper teeth on the right side have nerves removed) but things only got worse, then i thought maybe i was mad..im just recovering from a caldwell luc and FESS surgery to remove a huge cyst that was found in my maxillary sinus on the same side of the pain, they found large areas of bone missing too .
I always remember describing my pain as..'i just feel like my face is dieing' to which many doctors sort of scoffed. Apologies for the whining, ive never joined a forum before and today has been a hard day. I hope all people here who are unwell and those joining can find support in one another, peace

p.s The above is a random-ish summary of the ATN, i have no idea how this forum thing works, i'd love to chat to others with similar issues and figure this is how i start *shrug*

Oh, by the way,

Have any of you experienced the pain spreading to other regions of the face with time or after an oral or intra-nasal surgery?

Since my op, after the general pain was gone where incisions where made, i now have pain in areas of the nerve that i did not have before .
The surgeon said to me ' Dont worry its probably because you stopped taking your tegretol since the op.'
I did not stop taking my meds after the op, only one single dose prior..so i've no idea why he thought that.

I would not say it was more painful than other affected areas but obviously i notice it alot more because its new for me.
I also have a large section of gums that feel numb, sort of like when you go to the dentist. I am less concerned about that as i know numbness can be a temporary side affect of a caldwell luc procedure.

any thoughts appreciated

Hi Mel, I was intrigued by your post 8 years and you were only diagnosed 6 months ago, my heart goes out to you. I thought suffering for nearly a year was bad. I have recently been diagnosed with TN after months of endless doctors visits and being told I am exaggerating and a liar. *moderator edit*
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