Trigeminal neuralgia

(Pat) #1

Hi
Does anyone else suffer from TN? I’ve had it since i was 20 and every flare up seems to coincide with something stressful happening in my life ie new job, pregnancy, death, etc. doctors have not given me any thing to take for it in the past until about 7 years ago when a Dr gave me prednisone which took the pain away quickly. I’ve had a flare up about 4 times since then and I’ve just taken the prednisone. Last year i had another flare up and the Dr referred me to a neurologist who prescribed carbamazepine which made me really drowsy. I also had a lung infection at the time which i don’t think helped. Now I’ve got it again and I’ve also broken my wrist. Anyway i just wanted to know if anyone else has it and how do you cope/manage?

(Edith) #2

There was a person on the forum many years ago with that. Unfortunately, she no longer visits the forum, but I recall her keeping her trigeminal neuralgia under control doing a very strict, as in therapeutic ketogenic diet, bordering on the PKD (Paleolithic Ketogenic Diet), promoted by Paleomedicina.

If you do a search on Trigeminal Neuralgia you should see some of those posts pop up.

(Bob M) #3

If TN is inflammation-caused, then keto should help.

Also, have you tried MCT oils/coconut oil? If not, I’d be interested to see whether those help. (They raise ketones for a short time, and ketones have an anti-inflammatory effect, in addition to being a second source of energy for the brain.)

(Pat) #4

I haven’t tried anything different as yet, but I’m about to, just got to get myself sorted. The last time I had TN was just after I broke my wrist in August, so I started taking the carbamazepine which didn’t work, so I upped the dose as instructed by the doctor. I was very ill and vomited almost non-stop. that was a Friday night so I had to get an out of hours doctor to prescribe medicine to stop the vomiting. My face was swollen and red and my skin was dry and flaky, side effects from the carbamazepine. So I told my doctor I am not taking those tablets again and would she give me some prednisone. She gave me a script, reluctantly, but it’s the only thing that stops the TN. Anyway, I shall go back to being fully keto as I have slipped for a couple of years.

(B Creighton) #5

Sorry. Never had it. It supposedly is typically caused by the nerve being pinched or compressed by an artery or being slightly mispositioned. Keto may help to the extent that one loses fat from the face, which may help the compression. When I did keto I lost fat in my face, neck and probably my throat. Various foods were getting caught in my throat, and sometimes I had to dislodge it by sticking my finger down my throat. Since first doing keto 3 years ago, this problem has totally resolved.

If prednisone is helping, maybe a peptide would help. You might consider BPC 157. I am not saying this applies to you, but people on long-term doses of steroids like prednisone, typically get joint failures in old age - primarily hip and knee replacements.

(Edith) #6

Since the trigeminal nerve connects to the spinal cord, I would imagine anything you can do to bring down inflammation is a plus. Any inflammation around your vertebrae can exacerbate the problem. Have you ever looked into the possibility that food intolerances may be causing inflammation? I have an intolerance/allergy to dairy. It makes me itchy and my joints ache, especially my back.