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| Thank you Rebecca Thorpe. |
Trigeminal neuralgia is a chronic illness my husband (J) was diagnosed with 6 years ago.
Here are 3 Things I want you to know:-
1. Trigeminal
Neuralgia is a brutal, relentless, unpredictable disease with no
permanent cure.
What
is trigeminal neuralgia (TN)?
TN is an
excruciatingly painful and debilitating condition, known as "the suicide
disease."
It is regarded as the
most painful condition that is known in the medical world. It is more painful
than kidney stones, giving birth or a heart attack.
It is a disorder of
the trigeminal nerve in the face which results in its overreaction to everyday
stimuli, such as talking, eating and light touch.
TN triggers a
violent, electric shock-like pain which can last for a few seconds to a few
minutes and repeat in episodes lasting weeks and months.
The pain can also be
described as stabbing, shooting, burning, excruciating, and unlike any other
pain previously experienced.
Normal painkillers,
even morphine, have no effect and initial treatment with anti-convulsant drugs
can have very unpleasant side-effects.
When these
medications cease to be effective, or the side-effects become intolerable,
various types of surgical procedures are carried out but to date there is no
known cure.
Although uncommon, children and babies can also have TN.
2. My husband is still living with a
form of this disease.
He had brain surgery 3 years ago to put an end to his TN which was no longer responding to strong drugs of any kind. I wrote in my
updates at that time, that the surgery had successfully taken away the
brutal stabbing, electrical pain that he was experiencing in his face 24/7 without a break before the surgery. Thank goodness that still holds true and we
are extremely grateful for that outcome.
However
TN is a dark enemy....
