Information and opinions on health from beachtiglet at HealthCentral.com. HealthCentral.com is one of the top health destinations on the Web, with more than 35 condition-specific, wellness and general health Web properties. http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/55883/index http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/55883/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/55883/index http://www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain/c/55883/18068/chapter Wed, 19 Dec 2007 11:41:00 -0500 beachtiglet Well, this was an interesting neurologist appointment to say the least.  A lot of my problems related to occipital neuralgia and  TMJ were probably from the Trigeminal Neuralgia.  Now we have to get the nerve issue suppressed (I was still at below therapeutic levels of the seizure med my doctor chose).  Thankfully, most of the preparation for Christmas is complete, so being a zombie once again isn't a disaster.  And... http://www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain/c/55883/18068/chapter http://www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain/c/55883/17559/spouse-ive Sun, 09 Dec 2007 13:20:00 -0500 beachtiglet First, we've learned that communication is key to surviving this, as people and as a couple.  That communication may be spoken or unspoken.  He's getting much better at picking up on the unspoken.    My spouse has learned that I am a very stubborn person. That if he waits for me to realize that I can't do something (like work full-time) and waits for me to approach him about it, it goes a whole lot better... http://www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain/c/55883/17559/spouse-ive http://www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain/c/55883/17427/needed Thu, 06 Dec 2007 19:16:00 -0500 beachtiglet Sometimes you don't realize what a simple "hello, I've missed you, how are you" can do for a person.  For anyone, but especially for a person who is in chronic pain.   I experienced that gift this week, when this site basically gave me back my best friend, right when I needed her most.  I'm housebound, in a drug fog from the trileptal; so even when I feel up to doing things, I can't quite figure out... http://www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain/c/55883/17427/needed http://www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain/c/55883/17343/sulfa-based Wed, 05 Dec 2007 07:39:00 -0500 beachtiglet I have developed a sulfa allergy after many years on antibiotics (so many that we don't put me on them unless absolutely necessary).  When you think of a sulfa based allergy, you think of penicillin, biaxin, etc.; but did you ever think of lidocaine?  This is a general anesthetic they use before blocks, before root canals or other shots in the mouth, before iontophoresis, before giving you anesthesia for surgery and in patch form... http://www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain/c/55883/17343/sulfa-based http://www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain/c/55883/17273/seek-opinion Mon, 03 Dec 2007 16:36:00 -0500 beachtiglet It's a question that all chronic pain patients face. We don't want to be seen as drug seekers or doctor hoppers, yet sometimes situations warrant a second opinion. For instance, I know of someone with trigeminal neuralgia who is at a high dose of the relief meds without relief. One week of intense pain and two weeks off were just unacceptable; so they decided to seek a second opinion. The second opinion, without requesting a new... http://www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain/c/55883/17273/seek-opinion http://www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain/c/55883/17135/neuralgia Fri, 30 Nov 2007 15:26:00 -0500 beachtiglet I suppose that since Trigeminal Neuralgia is rather rare, not many people are aware of what it is or how it's treated. It's an inflamation of the 5th cranial nerve, which goes to the eye, the cheek and the lower lip (it has 3 main branches and is the largest cranial nerve).  The problem can be post-herpetic, or cause by a compression of the nerve by a blood vessel or idiopathic (meaning they don't know why the nerve is... http://www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain/c/55883/17135/neuralgia http://www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain/c/55883/17115/facial-edema Fri, 30 Nov 2007 11:07:00 -0500 beachtiglet Well that wasn't too difficult to discover.  According to Algorithmic Diagnosis of Symptoms and Signs by R. Douglas Collins, facial pain is one of the causes of facial edema and one of the most common causes of facial pain is trigeminal neuralgia.  While I don't know that I agree that TN is one of the most common causes of facial pain or that the attacks can last up to 15 minutes in length, my doctors were not alarmed at the... http://www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain/c/55883/17115/facial-edema http://www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain/c/55883/17113/night-task Fri, 30 Nov 2007 10:15:00 -0500 beachtiglet I had trouble falling asleep last night.  Probably because the trileptal makes me so drowsy during the day that it's disrupting my sleep patterns.  So i finally do fall to sleep and hubby finally comes to bed at 2, TWO AM!  Well of course there's no place for him in the bed cause I've tossed and turned, but he wakes me anyway.  I never really get back to sleep and get up at four and talk to a friend online until... http://www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain/c/55883/17113/night-task http://www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain/c/55883/17089/back-square Thu, 29 Nov 2007 18:17:00 -0500 beachtiglet Like most people here, I am the 1 in a million for so many different things it's not even funny.  I once told my neurologist to just chop off my head and everything would be fine (he didn't get the joke).  :P  Funny thing, is that I was dealing with everything just fine, working part time (as my doctors appointments did NOT coincide with a full-time teaching schedule).  I was coping, and helping others cope, and being... http://www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain/c/55883/17089/back-square