Pain is gone after neck massage

So...Lord knows I've been suffering but low and behold the Carbamazepine and neck massage has my pain gone.

When I went to the doctor she suggested massage. I didn't think it would work but it did. She said the muscles near that nerve were very tense and massage would help. I put myself on a relaxation regime with zen music and I also tried a hot shower. Any relief of pain is welcomed by me. Yes!

Dr. Agrees its Trigeminal Neuralgia

I went to one of my doctor's today and she agreed that the stabbing pain in my head is caused by the Trigeminal Neuralgia I've been dealing with since November 10th 2017.

Trigeminal Neuralgia is really getting on my nerves... literally. Now that I know what it is definitely, I'm going to monitor if Carbamazepine is helping any. On the way home I noticed that every bump in the road gave me the stabbing pains. Doc says I need to massage the base of my head and my neck to get some of the tension out because I must have jerked my head in the wrong way to cause it to flare up again (which is true).

I have had no headaches so that's good, just the periodic stabbing/shooting pain. I'm glad that a lot of doctors know about Trigeminal Neuralgia or at least have heard of it.

UPDATE 1-30-18 It wasn't Trigeminal Neuralgia, 

https://supportmsawareness.blogspot.com/2018/01/head-pain-gone.html

Latest MRI explanation; right sided

  My latest MRI showed evidence of a prior lesion in the area of my brain that is consistent with my right hand issue I had Summer of 2017(  http://supportmsawareness.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-relapse-rrms-and-how-it-affects-me.html?m=1 ). It's amazing to me how the brain functions even with the flaws in mine as well as equipment used to scan it. I'm humbled.

The MRI scan did not see evidence of the Trigeminal Neuralgia though, so perhaps that was a one time thing. Initially I thought that condition was due to a medication but now I've been assured that it's just a part of having MS.

Carbamazepine

Dr. Brandon prescribed me Carbamazepine for the pain in my jaw/gums. I thank God there was something that could help. The excruciating pain that I was going through was mind boggling.

Carbamazepine has a lot of listed side effects but when I spoke to my other doctor she assured me that this was a good treatment.

Carbamazepine is used to prevent and control seizures. This medication is known as an anticonvulsant or anti-epileptic drug. It is also used to relieve certain types of nerve pain (such as trigeminal neuralgia). This medication works by reducing the spread of seizure activity in the brainand restoring the normal balance of nerve activity.

Now I have less pain. The pain isn't all the way gone but it is manageable. I'm making sure not to eat anything that is too hard for my teeth. I can tell once I have low Carbamazepine because the pain comes back. I think I'm.hoing to also see another Dentist because I'd like a second opinion.

I have a MRI scheduled for November 29th. I have to get blood drawn prior to that to ensure that the contrast MRI is fine  for me.

More nerve pain - Trigeminal Neuralgia

My gums made me want to physically pull every tooth I have in my mouth to avoid anymore pain, especially the bottom row. But...this is not a dental issue. It's a nerve issue stemming from my right temple to my lower right jaw throughout my gums. I feel like it's killing me. I've had Bursts of tears so forceful that I feared my head would explode. Loud sobbing and even near screaming. It's horrible. For hours my gums hurt, it hurts and I keep putting ambesol in my mouth, I brush my teeth with a soft brush with organic toothpaste, I take Tylenol, and a heating pad. I even more weed. I'm feel like I'm about to pull my hair out...but I won't because All of this is very temporary.

Trigeminal neuralgia is a kind of nerve pain which can give stabbing or burning sensations down the side of the face, usually on one side only. The pain may only last a few seconds or minutes but may repeat many times during an attack. For some people the face pain is present all the time. Trigeminal neuralgia can be excruciatingly painful.

Trigeminal neuralgia is more common in multiple sclerosis than in the general population and can be confused with dental pain. If you are experiencing these symptoms, you should be assessed to see if it is a symptom of your MS especially before you consider any major dental work. The dentist says it may be MS related.

The pain can be triggered by every day activities such as eating, shaving, talking or by being out in even a light breeze. Noticing any triggers can help you manage the pain by avoiding them where possible. Treatment is usually with a drug called carbamazepine to begin with. If drug treatments are not working, surgery may be an option.

I'm going to call my Dr and/or nurse this morning to see what can be done about this. I'm going to specifically ask about carbamazepine because this is no way to live and I've got to be here. I want to be here. I'm fighting to live. Please support MS awareness.

Down Two

Well...I'm down to 114lbs.  Yes, that's a lot of weight loss in two months.  HOWEVER, I can eat with "meal prep", so my caregiver is with me full time in order for me to eat.  And I'm eating. I'm cute and all but 114lb is not the move, not when two months ago I was 130lbs.  I have no "desire" to eat but I'm hoping that with no stress and assistance in eating, the weight will pick back up.  I still have tingling in my legs and feet and hands and arms nearly everyday and that has not changed, my fatigue is great, but I'm not having as many MS symptoms as I've had in the past...symptoms that I believe came from being triggered from all of the medications that MS patients take. And I'm so upset because when I went to the MS clinic, they were not willing to talk to me about organic options to treat MS.  It was basically "You can take one of two medications to stop the progression of MS, but MS cannot be cured".  I'm so annoyed at this point.




So now I'm on an eating plan.  My caregiver is here and my case manager brought me some raw foods so i'm going to work on my book and try to force myself to eat.  LOL Funny story, which I may do a story time about ( I don't know ) is that the other night my caregiver gave me some food to eat while I was really sleepy (my fatigue and the meds that I am on make me sleepy a lot anyway) and I was eating it while sleeping.  Too funny. See, I'm still trying to smile through all of this.

What I do realize about MS is that as a neurological disease, and that controls every aspect of your life.  Including your appetite. I never really feel hungry.  Ever. Initially I thought it was an aspect of my depression which is common with depression, but this is more than that.  I can go days without eating and I know that If I'm not monitored, I won't be bothered with eating.  When I went to visit my children last Sunday, my son actually fixed my plate for me and that's what made me eat it.  It was delicious (my grandson's mom is a wonderful cook and I promised her I would eat the meal she was preparing).

For some reason, I feel like even moving around decreases calories, and so because I walk two to three times a day, and not eating well, it's not looking good.  I know that once I'm full, I'm pretty much full for a long time and my bowels are not really consistent and I'm constipated a lot...so I know my system is a bit slower than others.  I've been noticing that.  Like even when I was on the all liquid smoothie raw diet, I still wasn't only defecating out liquid like one would think.  I was still having constipation, probably from weeks ago.  It's so weird.  Oh yeah, sometimes my appetite will kick in and I'll be super hungry, but then it floats away again for weeks on end. It's not healthy.

There are MS patients who go through this who are on medications for MS and also there are MS patients who go through this who are NOT on medications for MS.  There is no cure for MS so taking the MS Medications won't solve this issue, we can only treat our symptoms.  And because anything organic is basically on my own dime.  smh I'm going to look into getting some Zinc, etc, and continue to live in my zen environment.  My psychiatrist is working on getting me a medication that may trigger my appetite, as well.

As always, I'm keeping GOD first in my life and i'm thankful for the food that I do have available and I pray I'll eat it, even if it depends on someone else making sure I'm being fed.  I'm eating to live.