Oh dear God, the pain! I have had the odd flash of trigeminal neuralgia pain over the years generally lasts a few months Unfortunately today, out of the blue whilst talking on the phone I had such a terrible attack of nerve pain in my face I actually dropped the phone and ended up on my knees It couldn’t have lasted more than 3 minutes but It is to date the most excruciating pain I have ever had The pain has stopped now but the whole side of my head and face is numb I am terrified of getting it again I really am not brave enough to cope with that again! Looking up information on the internet “Doctor google” was utterly depressing What do I do if and it doesn’t go away can you go to A&E or is that not a good idea Any advice appreciated Thanks in advance
My sister and father had this condition , so I know how debilitating and painful it is.
If it drags on and on for hours , or becomes unbearable I would start with calling you own doctor …they might be able to help with pain . If the surgery is closed, they have out of hours surgery doctor , who will talk to you by telephone, and if they need to see you, they will come to your house.
There are some things that you need to consider with hospitals.
If with any form of emergency , you have to remember to take into account the waiting time for a & e. Here in uk, people can wait any time between 4 to 8 hours before they are seen. …unless of course it’s a major life or death emmergency. Quite often when you call emergency line, it’s the paramedic who comes to your house via car first , that decides to make call whether you need ambulance into hospital. Sometimes the paramedic can give you instant pain relief, something to tide you over till the morning. Most often they will ask if you can wait to see your own gp in the morning, if they know the doctors can help you.
At one point I watch my sister scream in pain in a & e, when it wouldnt go away. Eventually they helped her , with morphine. But even my own g.p has prescribed morphine to help with various pains. You would be surprised how much help ordinary g.p s can give you. They work hard to treat us as much as possible , to save us going to hospital.
After seeing and talking to your gp, they might refer you to a specialist . This can takes weeks or longer, and in the meantime the gp can help you manage the pain with medication. The specialist will then come up with better ideas and more long term solutions. My sister used to see a specialist in london for your condition. They even sent an ambulance 200 miles to pick her up as she was too ill to travel .
In uk, the emergency rooms will only see people that are at risk of dying. Even as I found out when I had my latest severe asthma attack, the ambulances are only ever kept for heart attacks. Category 1. It’s crazy I know . They say if you are conscious and havent stopped breathing, are not having chest pains , then you have to wait. …and by wait , this can mean hours. If you are lucky and really desperate you get a paramedic who calls by, to check on you…but no ambulance. There are not enough ambulances or staff. So we are all told they can only be called as a last resort. I guess every country is different though. My next door neighbour is a paramedic, its crazy I’ve never even gone to him for help in emergency …not yet anyway.
It might be best to ask your gp first what to do when you get your next attack. I’m sure they will help you. Better that you do it now , as soon as possible. Take note on what type of pain you feel etc…what triggers it…
Dont forget to consider the risks of covid. Going out and exposing yourself to highly infected areas…like hospitals, will be risky. Everyone here are using phones, photos and face call to get medical advice now, from just their local doctor and even the local pharmacy. The hospitals will only look patients who have an emergency .
I hope this helps. And sincerely hope you can find a way to get your painful attacks under control.
Thank you so much for your reply I will ring my Doctor tomorrow I couldn’t believe the human body can come up with so much pain even after 4 children no pain relief burst ovarian cyst pulmonary embolism and of course, all the usual delights of MS Your advice is very helpful, sensible and practical Thanks again
Mully, very good advice from almondowl.
I do sympathize. I have had tn more than once. Lasted for weeks. The doctors told me they call it the ‘suicide pain’ as it is excruciating. I hope you get some relief soon. Let us know.
Anne
I get it and its the worst pain ever it really is.Like you i had where i dropped to the floor it was in my tooth at the time.I get it from time to time for short bursts,thank god it doesn’t last too long.Sorry no advice what to do for pain relief.
I used to get it a lot and the pain was awful. I used to cry when the pain was really bad. My doctor prescribed amitriptyline. I only get it occasionally now and the pain is nowhere near as bad as it used to.