Trigeminal Neuralgia Update

I had a doctor appointment Monday to discuss trigeminal neuralgia and its ongoing problems. One of the medications had side effects that did not work with my MS. Another one prescribed did not help the pain. The doctor had mentioned I was on a very low dose of Gabapentin, the first medication I was on.

The result of the visit is that I have a much higher dose of gabapentin now and it seems to help with the pain with very little side effects. The only side effect is a little bit of sleepiness but not much. It has not totally eliminated the pain. Before gabapentin the pain was a 8 to 12 on a 10 point scale. I say 12 because the pain was beyond anything I imagine possible. We used to have a very old-school dentist and he would often drill after the Novocain wore off. The pain with trigeminal neurology was beyond the pain I experienced from that!

Now the pain is from a three to an eight. It seems to be decreasing as the higher dose has longer time to work. I’m hoping the pain is taken care of soon. If not the pain is tolerable now but not ideal. It hurts when I drink anything. It also hurts when I talk. Sometimes it doesn’t hurt at all. Last night I had almost no pain while I slept.

My primary care physician Dr. Roof, is going to contact my neurologist and discussed options for the future. I had read on the Internet there are couple procedures that somehow kill the nerve and relieves the pain permanently. The doctors are going to discuss it and see which way to go. Hopefully the Gabapentin will work enough in the interim.