Phenytoin for trigeminal neuralgia
Common Questions and Answers about Phenytoin for trigeminal neuralgia
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These symptoms are pointing towards trigeminal neuralgia, which is a nerve disorder causing a stabbing or electric shock like pain in parts of face. This can affect part of or all of face and surface of eye. Trigeminal neuralgia may be caused by multiple sclerosis and pressure on the trigeminal nerve from a swollen blood vessel or tumor.
In all probability, you are suffering from trigeminal neuralgia. For medical treatment of trigeminal neuralgia several types of drugs are tried either singly or in combination. These are anti-epilepsy drugs such as valproate, carbamazepine, lamotrigine, phenytoin, gabapentin, and pregabalin; muscle relaxants such as clonazepam and baclofen; tricyclic antidepressants such as carbamazepine, amitriptyline, and nortriptyline.
It has a similar pain sensation as that of trigeminal neuralgia but in a different location. This type of neuralgia is rare and is usually one sided. The pain can be felt in the throat, tonsillar region, back of the tongue (not front), and even the ear and neck. The pain can be triggered by various activities such as laughing, chewing, coughing, speaking, etc.
The treatment is similar to that of trigeminal neuralgia. Medicines such as carbamazepine and phenytoin have had some success.
Regarding the symptoms that you have, they sound like a neuralgia, and more specifically a trigeminal neuralgia. Without being able to get a detailed history an examine you I cannot give you an exact diagnosis. Trigeminal neuralgia is pain that presents in a paroxysmal fashion in the distribution of the trigeminal nerve (frontal region, maxillar region and mandibular region).
Sharp pain in the side of face could be due to injury to a nerve or pinched nerve, an infection or a trauma. Hence it could be Trigeminal neuralgia, abscess in tooth, exposed root canal, internal ear infection, maxillary sinusitis, TMJ, migraine, herpes (recurrent) without rash or fibromyalgia localized to face.
If the pain is due to TMJ, you will find it linked to either opening your mouth wide or to chewing. Also, touching the swelling on the joint aggravates the pain.
my daughter has had 2 surgeries for pituiatry tumour, radiotherapy, she still has remnant tumour, (Acromegaly) but also has facial ear and neck pain, which prof says is because tumour is pressing on trigeminal nerve, tried amytrplin, never worked, 3 weeks ago prof put her on Pregabalin, small dose then up to 300 a day, within a few days of upping the dose, she has been in more pain than ever, crying, agitated, and said she thought she had pain before, but now this is unbearable, they have told
For those of you with trigeminal neuralgia, would you mind me asking you what it feels like? I have been assuming, for a while, that what I have in my face is bilateral trigeminal neurlagia. But, perhaps I'm wrong.
Sounds like Trigeminal Neuralgia Type 1 or Atypical. There is help for this! Same needs used for seizures help condition and pain attacks. Tegretol is one but many more. Thank you
Neurologist treats TN. Studies happening now.
Carbamazepine (Tegretol) was first used to treat trigeminal neuralgia in the 1990s. Because of its success in treating that painful condition (which is very difficult to treat), it was then used to treat all kinds of neuropathic pain.
While it may be useful, there are more modern medications that may help if you have a neuropathic pain problem -- for instance, Neurontin (gabapentin) and Lyrica (pregabalin).
What I really meant was some medications such as tegretol, anticonvulsants,for example,neuron tin are very promising to treat trigeminal neuralgia. In addition, surgical procedure known as microvascular decompression is promising and yields long term therapeutic effect. you do need to see a neurologist to be fully informed of all available treatment options.
Dear,
Trigeminal neuralgia is a neuropathic disorder of the trigeminal nerve that causes episodes of intense pain in the eyes, lips,
There are some things that you can do to minimize the frequency and intensity of TN attacks:
Apply ice packs or any readily available source of cold to the area of pain. Cold often numbs the area and will reduce the pain.[citation needed]
Get adequate rest in normal rest cycles.
Manage your stress well and keep stress levels low.
Hi, Thank you for your question. This may be Trigeminal neuralgia as you have typical one sided facial pain extending to temple and eye( ophthalmic branch of trigeminal nerve may be involved) and sore gums of the teeth of same side (maxillary branch of 5th nerve). Trigeminal neuralgia may have a triggering factor like recent history of tooth extraction, touch, cold breeze or hot sensation etc. which you need to evaluate and avoid.
After several different doctors, I was told that I had trigeminal neuralgia as well as a deviated septum. I eventually had laser surgery for the trigeminal neuralgia, but the a facial pain continues. The nerve pain has subsided, but I continue to have facial pain on my left side. The pain seems to get worse if I lean my head to that side. This occurred a few years ago, and after several months of taking seizure medication and lortab, I was not getting any better.
Your symptoms do not exactly match the clinical picture of trigeminal neuralgia but you should continue with the treatment and do notgo in for complicated details.The treatment consists of medicines, surgery, and complementary approaches.
For more information refer http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/trigeminal_neuralgia/detail_trigeminal_neuralgia.
As for me, my trigeminal neuralgia is always one sided, and "usually" extreme pain is with it. Sometimes it is just "regular" pain, other times it is severe, but it is always painful for me.
Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) rarely occurs with sinusitis but it has been described. The persistent congestion and your severe headache suggest that, despite the "clear" sinus x-rays you may have sinusitis or an infection of the sinus that has extended beyond the sinus walls.
That you are still ill suggests a possible infectious complication. You would do well to consult with an ENT specialist and have a CT scan of your sinuses and the adjacent areas.
Good luck.
Hi,
The common causes of shooting pains on right side of head are trigeminal neuralgia, temporal arteritis, tension headaches etc.In trigeminal neuralgia there are successive bouts of face pain. This pain occurs when a blood vessel compresses the trigeminal nerve as it leaves the brain stem. Temporal arteritis is caused due to inflammation of medium and large sized arteries bringing blood to the head.
Hi, Thank you for your question. Trigeminal neuralgia may be presented with typical one sided facial pain extending to temple and eye( ophthalmic branch of trigeminal nerve may be involved) and sore gums of the teeth of same side (maxillary branch of 5th nerve). Trigeminal neuralgia may have a triggering factor like recent history of tooth extraction, touch, cold breeze or hot sensation etc. which you need to evaluate and avoid.
Thank you for your question. Trigeminal neuralgia may have a triggering factor like recent history of tooth extraction, touch, cold breeze or hot sensation etc which you need to evaluate and avoid, , but hardly varies with age. Drug of choice for trigeminal neuralgia is carbamazepine but as the dose may vary according to severity therefore I would advise an oral medicine specialist consultation or at least a physician to confirm this diagnosis and get you treated accordingly. Take care.
I know someone who was recently diagnosed with TN and also has a lot of pain. It is a difficult condition.
There is a forum on medhelp for Trigeminal Neuralgia where you can find support and hear others' stories. Just click on Forums in the blue menu bar up top, and scroll down to the Ts.
I hope she finds relief soon!
Sounds like trigeminal neuralgia type 2 (which is the constant aching, burning, stabbing pain of somewhat lower intensity than type 1). The underlying cause of any type of neuralgia is damage to a nerve. Causes include shingles, syphilis, MS, Lyme Disease, vitamin B12 deficiency, pressure or injury to nerves due to a slipped discs or tumour to name a few.
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