The acupuncturist and the dentist

On February 4th I had taken three tegretol tablets starting in the afternoon as soon as the doctor had given the go ahead to come off the Lyrica. So by the next day, I think that increased dose was already improving things in that the attacks, though still occurring, were not sustained/repeated spasms and not as violent. I actually ate (more like gulped without letting it touch the front of my mouth or tongue) a bowl of porridge in the morning without too much pain. And I was managing to drink easier - all I had been able to drink all the day before was two cups of warm milk - couldn't manage anymore, so was quite dehydrated as well.

So I am already feeling a little better on February 5th as I sit in the waiting room of the acupuncturist with about four other people. It is clear from all the wall charts that this person is not just an acupuncturist - he also practices chiropractic, kinesiology, natural medicine and clinical nutrition forms of health care. Altogether - a holistic natural health care.

I guess because this was the first meeting with the acupuncturist, there were no needles - just tests. He said he couldn't cure the TN 'coz I'd had it so long, but he thought he could alleviate it. He thought one problem might be an uneven bite so he asked me to go for a "bite test" with a dentist first. So no relief - in fact aggravation 'coz during the consultation I realised that I still couldn't talk without causing the pain - and he asked me to bite on a stick - and wow!! did that hurt.

Took me awhile to calm down when I got back home. Was still shaky - part of the problem was I had very little and only intermittent sleep the night before - which I later realised was probably the withdrawal symptoms of coming off the Lyrica.

The next day I went to see the dentist. An interesting "holistic" sort of dentist - the first question he asked me was - what was I feeling guilty about or not communicating. He said it was time to let it go and that we punished ourselves far too much. Interesting thought that connected with my friend's comment about "unresolved issues". But I thought that all my issues had been resolved. I now had a new love in my life - someone with whom I shared so many interests and who was a really good friend as well as a lover.

The dentist pressed his finger against my jaw joint and asked me to open my jaw. Bolts of lightening shot through my head. I sat up in the dentists' chair and held my head, panting short breaths through my mouth, tears in my eyes. After a minute they subsided and slowly I relaxed again. He then attended to making the mold for the orthodontic splint.

For the next week or so, the acupuncturist or "natural health care specialist" increased the number of visits. Finally, February 15 was the day for real serious treatment - but not pins. Instead his female assistant used a laser on the same points - temple, eyes, left ankle, wrists, ear lobe and tip. Not sure why I get laser rather than pins - but if it works, who cares?

Living with TN

Were all the issues resolved? Not sure. Not that I had any really serious episodes between December 2006 and February 2007 - but I did have this weird pain in my tongue which seemed to me to be a remnant and a constant reminder that they might come back. And sure enough, they did. This time it was cleaning my teeth that triggered it. So I finally gave in and accepted that I must start taking the tegretol.

And so it started - a small daily dose of tegretol to try to keep these terrible pains at bay. I felt really tired for the first few days, but that soon passed. Then in mid-March I felt constant pain in my teeth. So I went to the dentist and she identified a suspect tooth (or two) that might have a dead or dying nerve. She gave me a course of antibiotics which she said would determine if this was the case and hence if this was causing the pain I was feeling. As it turned out, one tooth did have a dying nerve and rather than risk any further pain (and likely triggers for the TN) I asked her to extract it. It seems that many TN sufferers have teeth removed in the early stages. Amazing how we all go through the same thought processes. Under different circumstances we might have tried to save the teeth, but with the fear of triggering further electric shocks, and also the hope that this might be the "cure", we get them extracted. In any event, the pain in my teeth continued even after the extraction. Of course, it wasn't toothache at all - it was TN masquerading again.

In those early days, the pains (both the lesser background pains and the violent electric shocks) went away completely for short periods and I would actually stop taking the tegretol for a week or two. But then they would return - and even when they didn't, there was the terrible feeling of dread, of anxiety, that at any moment a violent attack was going to start. The slightest twinge in the face created terror - and this was how it went for most of 2007.