I fell asleep last thursday night waiting up late for my husband.
I woke up at nine with a slight headache, but had laid my head on my hand and felt it was from my knuckle pressing on the side of my face.

At two am I awoke and my cheek and browbone felt like someone had taken a hammer to them both. I had visions of the bones actually breaking down.
I kept saying my skull hurts my skull hurts. I took excedrin migraine but it did not help. I put ice on it, and then laid on a bag of frozen peas till I woke in the morning. It was a little better, so I groomed one dog and stopped for the day.
It came back that afternoon worse than ever. I called the doctor who gave me some fioracet (which did help the pain) and nasal spray as all he could think of was sinus. I knew that was not the problem, but though perhaps I could try it.

That night was bad again, and so the next morning called and asked for a referal to a neurologist. They called back and my docs older partner (my doc was off till this week) told me to come in no matter what.
I went in and he said he knew what it was, and that it was TN. He has prescribed prednisone desending dosage for six days, and an anti seizure drug for the pain. It is still trying to start now and then, but is not getting full blown. Can work fine.
Question. could this have been brought on by laying on my hand that night.?could I have injured the nerve that much by doing that? They are talking mri' 's and such and I don't know what to do. I can't afford it even with insurance , and especially if its my own fault and its really a pressure irritation, and not the real TN. Would love some input.

I frequent a website with TN patients and haven't heard of the pain coming on this way. Doesnt mean it is impossible! An MRI sounds like a good idea!

I don't know if that could be the cause, but I can understand your feeling of wondering if it is. When I was a kid I used to bang my head a lot, and that could've accelerated the process of developing the pain. But there's no use beating yourself up over it, literally or figuratively.