Trigeminal Neuralgia Update – December First

I heard from my doctor on Monday. He discussed my pain with my neurologist. The conclusion is that the Gabapentin at its highest dose is the best my primary care physician can do for me. The neurologist expressed doubt there was any kind of procedure to eliminate the pain permanently. I’m supposed to make an appointment with him.

I’m now on the maximum dosage allowed of Gabapentin since last Friday. I still have a significant amount of pain but it seems to be held at bay somewhat after I get going in the morning. While I eat breakfast the pain is excruciating. The more I move my mouth seems to decrease the pain. If I go for more than 10 minutes without moving my mouth the pain reverts to the same as if I just gotten up.

When I first went on gabapentin it took 2 to 3 weeks to become effective. Hopefully this high dose leads to elimination of this pain. I’m going to make an appointment with my neurologist but he has already said procedures for this condition are very rare. He tends to be a bit of a Butthead so I have very little hope he will help me.

This brings up something I found out on Thanksgiving. There was a new wine there called Pozzan. It was a red wine that was neither dry nor sweet. I’ve never tasted the wine this good. Long story short, I drank a little too much wine. I think I was enabled by my wonderful sister-in-law’s. I was warned that the little kids would think I was drunk uncle Phil. The problem was I found this red wine helped with my mouth pain. I certainly can’t drink that much wine each day to help with the pain. “I did try singing a little of John Denver’s “sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy”. Of course my singing is awful so I was asked to quit!