I have had tn for most of my life - it started when I was teenager, about 25 years ago. It is not chronic - it is sporadic. Sometimes it lasts for a few hours, sometimes a couple of days, and once for three weeks. I also sometimes go for long periods of time with no episodes. It is agony every time I get it, and I live in fear of getting it. I take tegratol when I do get it, and this sometimes works.

I have always tried to figure out what my triggers are. I have a couple of things that seem to be linked (plane trips, bike helmets/tight sunglasses) but the one thing I have definitely linked is scratching the inside of my ear. What I mean by that is inserting finger (or Q-tip) into ear and scratching. I tend to have very itchy ears and unfortunately it took me a number of years to figure this out. Even now and then when I am not thinking I catch myself doing it but then quickly stop.

Anyway, my question is if this is a normal trigger? And why? In my lay person's understanding, it seems that perhaps I have accidentally put pressure on the nerve, but I really don't know.

Any thoughts or comments?

I appreciate it!

Fran, I think everyone has some similarities in their triggers but there isn't any hard and fast rules about them and there are some, myself included, that can't identify some of their triggers. I get a lot of ear pain with TN, and I've seen others say the same thing via forum posts, but I haven't read of anyone complaining of ear scratching as a trigger. I have read of others who complain about airline travel and extreme changes in altitude while in a vehicle triggering episodes. We're all wired differently, and I sometimes wonder if TN'ers are wired a lot differently than non, but thats just my frustration speaking. Take care and enjoy your remissions and pain free times.

Thanks, that is interesting. Particularly about altitude as I have often thought that may be one of my triggers - based on the number of times I have gotten TN when on vacation (after plane rides or driving through the mountains). I also hate flying and find it very stressful so I have also wondered if it could be the stress that causes it afer plane rides - but who knows.
I get the ear pain as well and went many years to drs and ENT specialists for my "ear problems" before finally someone guessing it may be TN.
Take Care

Stress plays a big role in this condition and triggers pain for me. Since blood vessels are usually the culprit its easy to understand, at least for me. I wasn't diagnosed for a long time and it was my ENT who finally figured this out and suggested it to my PCP. If you haven't already got the book "Striking Back" you may want to check it out. Its available through the TNA website and it seems as though someone mentioned getting it through Amazon too. Check out the stickies at the top of the thread for a link to the TNA if your not already familiar with them. Take care