Hi, are you still having problems with your jaw. I am the same age as you and have the exact same problems. Let me know


QUOTE=cloudsnapper;967770]I've been to the neurologist and she said that I did have Trigeminal Neuralgia. My general practitioner had put me on 300mg gabapentin 3x a day. That had made the shooting pain attacks go away, so the neurologist kept me on that medicine. She said that because I'm 27 and pretty young to have it, it would likely go away on its own, and wanted me to stay on the medication for 3 months and then go back to her and they'd try to slowly take me off the medicine and see if I was better.

That was about 1.5 months ago. 2 weeks ago, the gabapentin stopped working so well. I didn't have the pain attacks, but my jaw hurt constantly and was incredibly tender. To the point I gave up eating many meals halfway through. I went back to the neurologist and she upped my dose to 400mg 3x a day. But she still thought that it would go away on its own.

I did get an MRI done a few months ago, because before I had standard facial pain, I was getting migraines. We are pretty sure they were caused by the TN since as soon as I got the face pains they completely stopped, and I'd never had a migraine before then. The MRI was done without contrast, and I've heard that ones without contrast don't show small problems. The neurologist looked at the MRI and said she didn't see any problems. She said there are no tests that can be done besides the MRI.

I'm not sitting here thinking that I know more than a specialist doctor. But nothing I've read suggests that this normally resolves on its own, and she said that it would the majority of the time. I don't want to stay on the medicine too long because I'd like to start trying for a baby later this year. The medicine has pretty bad effects on a baby, but having terrible pain and anxiety of waiting for the attacks would also be bad for a baby. So I want to get this fixed.

Do you guys think I should find another neurologist? My mom does, but she's a nurse who gets very worried about me. I was referred to the ENT to see if there's a "structural problem," but after that, I don't think the neurologist has any ideas to do anything.

Well, any insight would help. Or if you know anyone who had this resolve on its own. I know people wouldn't still be on this site if it fixed itself, but maybe they told you before they left. Thanks![/QUOTE]

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My TMJ pain on left side is gone. I had some clicking and soreness and was treated by a special dentist. Jaw is ok, esp. on left side.

My ATN (trigeminal nerve ) pain on right side is still there; treated by a good neuro....now more manageable. That pain is hideous when active. I had two MRIs and an MRA. I had at least one MRI with contrast.
However, the Desipramine tablets I take plus the specially formulated cream I use 4-5 x a day, keeps the pain reasonably manageable.
Two separate things....my right side is clearly the nerve pain. $@&#
I was fortunate in that the neuro who treats my ATN pain was willing to talk with a compounding pharmacist....that special cream plus the Desipramine tablets helps me.m I have strong meds for breakthrough pain, but I try hard to very rarely take this medication.

Hello,

I first started experiencing TN when I was a junior in college at age 22. I thought it was due to my wisdom teeth because the pain would always start in my jaw and radiate upwards through my temple and forehead, but it was only on my left side. After getting my wisdom teeth removed, the pain went away, but after a year and a half, the pain came back for 3-4 weeks and went away. The attacks were severe and came and went no matter what I did. I'm 26 now and have been experiencing the same attacks for the last 3-4 weeks which is usually how long it lasts before going away again. The reason for my reply is that I was told that it would never go away and the relapse times would only get shorter for me. Right now, I can manage the pain through medication, but I fear I'll eventually have to look at surgery for it.

I Had ATN for 5 years and luckily had a really early diagnosis. After 5 years on MANY medication regimens, I stopped having breakthrough pain, decided to wean myself and after stopping meds, no longer had the daily pain. I haven't seen Neuro Doc in 2 years. Now i am having severe stabbing Tooth pain and the Department head at Research hospital told me there is NO WAY it is TN because it cannot present in a tooth. My pain started as extremely sharp, shooting from upper tooth to brain. Before when i had it, the pain was mostly in my face, eye and stabbing pains in my ear, but periodically it would bother my teeth.
So the good news it can spontaneously go in to remission, but I don't know what to do with this tooth, because the Dr. is a Maxillofacial surgeon and he told me that about the teeth. I don't know what to think. The scan and 3 separate xrays all show nothing is wrong with the tooth.

I have only 1 opinion so far, but have read a bit. I think I am atypical because my symptoms are so strange, like feeling that I have fur on my tongue. Concerning the MRI it is commonly used to look for a blood vessel pulsing against the nerve root near your ear, but they need to do thin sections and a negative result doesn't mean the blood vessel ain't misbehaving. I have not had one yet. My ENTs both said its not their specialty even though it started up after an ENT procedure called a Sialendoscopy. I theorize that the general anesthesia relaxed the blood vessel into the wrong position. The Neuro wanted the ENT to "fix" my parotid glands, but they are no longer operable, except to remove them. The ENT said the parotids will go downhill from here on out and I have gotten 5 years of improvement which is better than what most get. I went from carbamazepine to amitriptyline to lidocaine to butalb-acetaminofen-caff as needed. I was allergic to carbamazepine and amitriptiline caused urinary retention, and I am allergic to most stickums in patches. I had one ER visit for my bladder. But I am in remission from most of the pain now, only suffering from weird tinnitus, strange vertigo-like symptoms, and insomnia on occasion. I am in week 1 of almost no drugs, but fell out of my chair today and had to take the as needed med for neck pain from the fall. I want to pick my opinion 2 carefully because I doubt the diagnosis. Forgot to mention I walked into a wall with my nose (3 ER visits) and ended up with a nasty infection that lasted for 6 months after a balloon catheter procedure in my left nostril, where I also had surgery to repair more cancer treatment damage. The urologist put me on "super" acidophilus after basically years of antibiotics and "super" cranberry. Both pricey but I feel better this week than I have in 2 years prior. Each acidophilus pill has 20 million live organisms. I feel like cancer and over zealous antibiotics prescribers ruined my immune system. Its difficult to find a PCP with a long enough attention span to even take a proper history.