Today, for the first time in a while, my Trigeminal Neuralgia is raging. It's been flaring for over a week, which is fun enough, but today I woke up with a migraine I couldn't head off. It triggered the face pain, I got frustrated, I cried, which caused my sinuses to close up and swell.....BAM, worse case scenario ensues.
I'm writing this to vent it out and to put it out there on the interweb, so that if someone googles & finds this, they may see what got me through on one day. What it looks like for one other person.
Trigeminal Neuralgia is not well studied at this point in time, it is not well understood. There is no cure, the treatments are limited and often ineffective, it's diverse in its presentation and our 'specialists' are few in this world. Many neurologists are not TN endorsed & we are left to do a lot of research on our own to get through.
To try describe a flare, or worse, a rage, is near impossible, but if you were to imagine the simultaneous occurrence of unmedicated crowning of a baby but in your face + dental work before you were numb + being bludgeoned in the head with name your blunt force object (all of which I have indeed experienced separately), that might come close. Add migraine.
There wasn't a way to talk, to move from the spot I was at, to swallow meds. The whole thing had me shaking, writhing my feet, goosebumps & dehydrated. It wasn't just a 'my face hurts' ordeal.
It worsened in waves. I ended up muttering peppermint oil to my husband who found it for me. I lathered that stuff all over my sinuses, undiluted....feel the burn. It did 2 things for me. First, it made an intense burn on my sinuses, which diverted it for just a moment from the entirety of my migraine and my trigeminal nerve as a whole came down one notch. But mainly, it did get my sinuses to drain to be able to breathe and have the drainage quit going down my throat making me more nauseous as well as to relieve pressure of my sinuses on my trigemninal nerve.
Once that was established, I was able to swallow pain relievers to take the edge off the migraine. Acetaminophen and caffeine in large doses can do this if you're lucky enough. Any little bit at this point was a win.
Once that kicked in I was able to sip water & use some more supplements (magnesium, oils, turmeric) to bring down the TN a bit more. 10:30- 4:30pm was how long a laid thrashing & crying & grasping whatever was close with my head wrapped in a blanket not to let the slightest light or touch through. An entire day wasted. But it was just one day. There are more days.
Even through this episode, I cannot get myself to surrender to the anti epileptics. It was just one day. To trade in the freedom of any other good day I may have feeling myself....not worth it. Meds are everyday. I can't do their side affects every day. This was just one day. Some days are better than others. It was just one day.
A glimpse: https://youtu.be/rWCdXy6TYUE
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