Subscribe
After more than three months, a dozen specialists, and lots of grief…its seems I have a diagnosis for my dental pain. Yes, I know this is my back pain blog, but just like back pain. You cannot just ignore this kind of trouble.
I submitted to an MRI brain scan last week. My neurologist who first suggested I had trigeminal neuralgia, a chronic condition… now believes I am suffering from a kind of atypical facial nerve pain that should improve over time.
He recommended Trilipital 300 mg. An hour after taking one pill I felt the same symptoms as when trying Lyrica for the first time. Major frontal headache. sparks of nerve pain in my arms and legs. Less facial pain though. I guess it spreads the nerve pain out.
Lyrica became easier to tolerate over time and helped numb my sciatic pain and widespread neuralgia. But I think I can manage this pain better with Alleve as needed. This drug, Trilipital, may work similar to Lyrica.
I took me almost 6 weeks to titrate down from Lyrica. My facial pain level is around 3 to 6 at any given time. Better than the 8 ti 9 initially.
I had a permanent filling in the root canal tooth and I could feel the tooth still vibrating into the next day. Very sensitive, my teeth and facial nerves are…now I’m speaking like Yoda !
Gotta admit, I was on edge from the pain. Finding relief, but not knowing where to turn to find answers was maddening. I first turned to my PCP, when the dentist found nothing to explain my pain.
I phoned her office to complain of severe facial pain and described my symptoms. I wanted to see her, but her office manager, “Bob” said it sounded like a dental issue and denied me a PCP appointment.
I know it is “Bob”’s duty to weed out the patients when the call, to manage her workload and accept patients based on urgency.
But had I visited the PCP, she may have sent me to the neurologist and saved me from having a root canal, two more months of suffering and nearly $2,000.
This incident is not a one-time deal. Previously I had left messages with her answering service complaining of severe pain. “Bob” says he never got the message.
The PCP was a good one – when i actually saw her, but something wasn’t working so i switched to Dr. W who ran a full workup on me and actually called me on the phone twice to review the latest blood analysis reports. Imagine that !
A doctor who speaks with you over the phone and stays on top of things! a miracle.
As far as back pain goes. i thought I ruptured my L4-5 disk again after carrying heavy items last week. The pain woke me from my sleep. The sciatic nerve shot pain down to under my right foot. A horrible feeling and reminder of the not too distant past.
But I stretched. Used the inversion table and the pain is better now. This week I plan to swim, work out, try and strengthen up. Get some sun as well.