Side Effects

There are certain medications that have been documented as having a huge impact on the pain of Trigeminal Neuralgia. As no two people with TN have the very same symptoms, medications will effect everyone differently.

I have tried lots of different ones. Tegretol was the worst. I did notice some improvement with pain, but the side effects were ridiculous. I started off on a fairly low dose, but it did not agree with me. My GP informed me that it might take a few weeks for my body to adjust to Tegretol, but after two months the side effects were worse. I couldn't drive, I was always stumbling, my balance was gone, I was talking complete nonsense most of the time and my memory was bad, really bad. If I needed to drive somewhere, I couldn't take my tablets, or I had to wait about 3-4 hours after taking them to drive.

That is no way to live life.

I was taken of Tegretol and having already tried Lyrica and Baclofen(that made me collapse), my neurologist wanted to give Lyrica another try. As I have mentioned before, I have been on a very low dose and I am slowly increasing it. There is to date, NO DIFFERENCE in my pain. Over the counter and prescription painkillers have little effect on my Trigeminal Neuralgia pain, they make me sleepy so I don't take them. I am also afraid of becoming dependant on them.

Are the medications worth the side effects? There was a subtle difference on Tegretol, but my stupid body can't tolerate it, even in small doses.

My GP knows that I am sensitive to meds, and I highly am allergic to quite a few, so he is very reluctant to change my meds. I am STILL waiting for an appointment with the pain clinic in Beaumont Hospital so hopefully they will find a miracle drug for me.