There was life before TN

So, as I prepare to impersonate a pin-cushion, I think "Why me? Why do I get these terrible electric shocks that are destroying my quality of life? And most importantly, will this visit to an acupuncturist get rid of the pain?"

It all started just over four years ago towards the end of 2003 - but I didn't know it was trigeminal neuralgia - never heard of it. Most people haven't. Not surprising really given that only 1-5 people in 100,000 suffer from it. Put another way, about 1 million people worldwide suffer from it - so at least I'm one-in-a-million :-)

I stepped into the shower and as the water hit me, a bolt of lightening shot from the tip of my nose to the top of my head - POW!!! What the hell was that? I touched my nose - POW!!! I had no idea what was happening, but I finished my shower without letting the water touch my nose. And for the rest of the day I tried to avoid touching my nose - but have you noticed how when you know you shouldn't do something, you have a fascination with doing it? I would keep touching it - just to check if it still hurt - it did. And then it would itch and I would touch it again.

Next day it had gone. And all was well until about 6 months later. But this time the sensitive spot was just above my top lip. So I walk around with stubble on my top lip that day. Next day - same problem. But next day - gone. And so it went .. months would pass between each bout, and each time the bout would get a little longer and with a different trigger point each time - but always on the right hand side of my face.

I now understand that this sort of occasional appearance of the pain in the early stages is fairly normal for TN sufferers. But at that time I had no idea what was happening. Each time I put it down to tiredness, or working too long on the computer, or the stress I was feeling in my work and personal life at the time - and because I never seemed to have the time, I never went to see the doctor about it.

At one point the pain seemed to come from my teeth. So this time I made time and I went to the dentist. She identified a couple of minor fillings and then said "Well - the good news is that your teeth are fine. The bad news is that they're not causing the face pain".

In October 2006, I suffered a really sustained bout that rendered me unable to eat or talk without pain. I was dining with a group of colleagues. Well - they were dining - I was merely trying to eat some food without too much pain. Suddenly I got a bolt of lightening, whinced and stopped eating. The colleague to my left (who just happened to be a psychiatrist) asked what was wrong. I tried to explain - and he immediately said "Sounds like you're suffering from trigeminal neuralgia". "So, can it be treated?" I asked. "Yes" he said "you can take tegretol".