Eliza1853
28-04-21, 23:45
I recently found out about trigeminal neuralgia and now I'm terrified.
First of all, even if I never get it, I'm horrified to find out that it exists. TN is nicknamed the 'suicide disease' because it's so painful that lots of people who suffer from it commit suicide to escape the pain. It's one of the most painful conditions there is.
For years I've occasionally had tingling/ a strange sensation on the left side of my face. When I get headaches, it tends to be on the left side- it feels like the same set of muscles or nerves as what's involved in the tingling. Also, when I have visual migraines (which only happens a few times a year), there is sometimes tingling on the left side of my face in the days before and after. So clearly something's going on with the left side of my face, and based on what I've read online, this means something's going on with my trigeminal nerve. Does that mean it's likely it'll develop into TN someday? I have no idea- I hope not. I hope it's just TMJ or anxiety. But I'm so, so scared when I think about the possibility of someday having TN. There are medication options and surgical options, but based on what I've read online, these options work great for some people and don't help much at all for others.
In the past few days the tingling/sensation has been a lot more prominent than usual and I also have some minor tooth pain in a tooth that got a filling about a month ago.
The idea of experiencing the pain even ONCE is terrifying, much less the idea of being one of the unlucky TN patients for whom medication and surgery don't help. I try to focus on two things: 1) not EVERYONE who gets TN commits suicide, so live is still worth living in most cases, and 2) medical science is advancing all the time- maybe someone will come up with a more reliable treatment option soon.
First of all, even if I never get it, I'm horrified to find out that it exists. TN is nicknamed the 'suicide disease' because it's so painful that lots of people who suffer from it commit suicide to escape the pain. It's one of the most painful conditions there is.
For years I've occasionally had tingling/ a strange sensation on the left side of my face. When I get headaches, it tends to be on the left side- it feels like the same set of muscles or nerves as what's involved in the tingling. Also, when I have visual migraines (which only happens a few times a year), there is sometimes tingling on the left side of my face in the days before and after. So clearly something's going on with the left side of my face, and based on what I've read online, this means something's going on with my trigeminal nerve. Does that mean it's likely it'll develop into TN someday? I have no idea- I hope not. I hope it's just TMJ or anxiety. But I'm so, so scared when I think about the possibility of someday having TN. There are medication options and surgical options, but based on what I've read online, these options work great for some people and don't help much at all for others.
In the past few days the tingling/sensation has been a lot more prominent than usual and I also have some minor tooth pain in a tooth that got a filling about a month ago.
The idea of experiencing the pain even ONCE is terrifying, much less the idea of being one of the unlucky TN patients for whom medication and surgery don't help. I try to focus on two things: 1) not EVERYONE who gets TN commits suicide, so live is still worth living in most cases, and 2) medical science is advancing all the time- maybe someone will come up with a more reliable treatment option soon.