Hi everyone, I look in now and again but at the moment need a bit of advise if anyone can help. For the last 4 hours I have been having shooting pains behind my left ear on the bone. They last at least 10 to 15 seconds and my question is if any of you have had this then should I expect it to continue for A while and start taking my gabapentin now or wait to see if it passes. The gabapentin was prescribed last year for similar pain but it knocks me for six. Any advise appreciated, I am diagnosed since October 12 and I’m on rebif. Thanks Sonia x
Hi Sonia, Maybe a good idea to have a word with your MS nurse or gp… I have had similar pain but it turned out to be something else, so I would defo’ speak to your gp to be on the safe side. Hope this helps. Janet x
Thanks Janet, was the something else sorted quickly as this hurts lots. Sonia x
Hi Sonia, No I’m afraid it wasn’t as it turned out to be another autoimmune disease So please see your gp and get it checked out. Do let me know how you get on. Sending (((((HUGS))))) Janet x
Sorry to hear that but thanks for the reply. I went to the GP who straight away said do you think it’s to do with your MS. How I didn’t laugh I don’t know. I told him I’d had aches and pains for about 3 weeks but this pain I couldn’t cope with. His answer was to look in my ears and tell me to increase Amitriptyline up to 50mg slowly over a few days. I was a Zombie this morning and the pains are still here though do seem to be getting less frequent so fingers crossed. Thanks Sonia x
Let’s hope over the next few.days the pain will subside and increasing the drug works for you without the zombie affect. Good luck Janet x
Hi Sonia, Might it be a Trigeminal neuralgia associated pain? There are various different types of neuropathic pain associated with MS, trigeminal nerve issues can cause facial pain, and pain in the extremities is also common. Have you tried regular painkillers? I found ibuprofen combined with codeine to be quite effective for some of my aches and pains. Co-codamol may be worth a try too. You can combine a full dose of paracetamol with a dose of ibuprofen safely - best to take after you’ve eaten something though. Standard GP approach is amitriptyline up to 50mg then add in gabapentin up to 3600mg a day if needs be. Amitriptyline is quite the sleep aid I found - I took it around 7.30pm so I didn’t struggle too much the next morning - the morning hangover feeling definitely lessens with time. The fact that it’s helping a little already is a great sign, as you need to wait til you’re at the max dose for at least 2 weeks before you can be really sure if it’ll work or not. Good luck!
Gabapentin will help if this is neuropathic pain but if it is not helping then it might be TN.
If it is TN different meds are needed.
Teresa.x
my last reply was useless! sorry! lol!!
what i wanted to say was… I think Tegretol is the med needed if it is TN!
T.xxx
Hi all, thanks for the replies. Touchwood I have mostly overcome the pains for now, only 1 bad one today so a big improvement. Not sure about the sleepiness the amitriptilyne cause though as I was zonked. Unfortunately I am unable to have ibuprofen as I am on Lifelong Warfarin for my other illness. Thanks again Sonia x