trigeminal neuralgia youtube Archives | Trigeminal Neuralgia Treatment

Trigeminal neuralgia medication-how to take them?

Posted on September 19, 2020 | by Dr. Jaydev Panchwagh | 45 Comments

Trigeminal neuralgia medication, at least the majority of them, are anti-convulsants.

“How to take them-Trigeminal neuralgia medication?”

Can I take TN medication when I feel the pain coming on?

Can I add more drugs during a Trigeminal neuralgia attack?

Do I have to continue taking the Trigeminal neuralgia medicines even if I have no or minimal pain?

These are all questions that frequently come to the patients’ minds.

What is essential to understand is that TN medicines are not straight-forward pain-killers. They are primarily anti-convulsants or brain numbing medications. Once the first pill is consumed, it takes a few hours to reach the blood. The liver simultaneously metabolizes the drug, while some of it also reaches the brain to act upon. So in effect, the blood level reduces. Over a period of the next few hours, the blood level will become zero. Before this happens, we need to consume another pill to increase and maintain the blood level. If this does not happen, there is no effect on the pain as well.

In short, regular medication is essential to maintain a particular blood level of the drug, so that it calms the brain/ nerve. This calming effect means that they do not respond to pain signals, and therefore have a neuralgic-pain-reducing effect.

Another key point to be noted is that the dosages need to be very gradually increased (and decreased also).

What happens if I take too many TN pills?

Well, you will certainly start manifesting all the side-effects of these anti-convulsants, like drowsiness, dizziness, imbalance, mental clouding, memory loss, depression etc. This is why, their dosages have to be adjusted by your doctor, who will determine what is right for you. One typically starts with the lowest dosage twice or thrice a day. This may be increased to maximum doses four times a day.

What happens if I miss a couple of doses of TN medication?

The blood level reduces, and you may experience break-through pain.

Allergic reactions to Trigeminal neuralgia medication

When starting off drugs to control TN pain for the first time, one has to be aware of and be on the lookout for allergic reactions. Though rare, it is not unheard of. I have come across a few patients in my practice. Typically they are in the form of skin rashes. These may be the harbinger of a very serious and potentially fatal Stevens-Johnson syndrome. If one notices skin rashes on consuming TN medication, please inform your doctor immediately and stop taking it.

What are the commonly used medication for trigeminal neuralgia?

What other drugs than anticonvulsants are useful for TN pain?

Is TN permanent?

What are some of the FAQs about TN?

Is there a cure for Trigeminal neuralgia?

Who is Dr Jaydev Panchwagh?

Youtube videos explaining in detail about Trigeminal neuralgia

Can I hear some patient testimonials? MicroVascular Decompression surgery to cure Trigeminal neuralgia.

How do I contact Dr Jaydev Panchwagh?

Trigeminal Neuralgia Patient Testimonial | Laxminarayan Gogineni

Posted on August 30, 2020 | by Dr. Jaydev Panchwagh | 31 Comments

I suffered from Trigeminal Neuralgia and this is my patient testimonial:

I suffered from Trigeminal Neuralgia for five years before my Microvascular decompression surgery. Symptoms of TN for me was a severe shock like pain along the lower jaw.

Continue reading →

Is trigeminal neuralgia permanent?

Posted on July 30, 2020 | by Dr. Jaydev Panchwagh | 43 Comments

Is Trigeminal neuralgia permanent? This is one of the first questions patients ask, upon learning their diagnosis. It is natural to want to know how long they have to face these facial pain-attacks.

The pain of a TN attack is itself not permanent, but comes intermittently most of the times. In a few patients this pain, especially in those who have had it for a long time, may last a few hours at a time.

Does the pain of Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN) ever go away?

Unfortunately, no. The pain attacks keep appearing. Initially, the attacks are infrequent, later they become more severe and frequent or even continuous. the timeline varies for every individual who suffers from this.

There are periods, sometimes for months when the pain does not re-appear. It is called pain remission. Some people have short remission periods, and for others it’s longer.

As the condition progresses, the remission periods shorten and the attacks become more frequent. Very rarely, there may be near-permanent remission.

How long does the pain of Trigeminal neuralgia last?

The actual pain attack of TN may last a few seconds to a few minutes. The actual condition is unlikely to ever go away. Most patients need a combination of medications to keep the pain under control. Non-medical therapy helps in managing pain, and living with it. Surgical procedures give longer pain relief. Microvascular decompression surgery is the main option available for a possible permanent relief from the pain of Trigeminal Neuralgia.

Dr Jaydev Panchwagh and his team at the Centre for Trigeminal Neuralgia Treatment by Microvascular Decompression surgery have an experience of more than a thousand MVD procedures, in the last twenty years. The centre is known for the best treatment of Trigeminal Neuralgia.

Dr Jaydev Panchwagh is a renowned neurosurgeon in Pune, India and has many referrals from international patients as well. Plenty of video lectures delivered by Dr Panchwagh on the subject, are available on YouTube.

Calming an attack of trigeminal neuralgia

Posted on July 29, 2020 | by Dr. Jaydev Panchwagh | 41 Comments

One of the most important questions I am asked, or rather one of the important phone calls I handle are tips on calming an attack of Trigeminal neuralgia. In other words:

How do I deal with a TN attack?

Well, primarily, it means that you have been diagnosed, and you recognize an attack. But before we learn how to deal with an attack of TN or learning how to calm the trigeminal nerve, we should first check that we have a few things in place.

Do you keep a pain diary?

This is very important to recognize what events led up to the attack, its duration, frequency etc.

Have you noticed any trigger factors that bring on an attack?

There are different trigger factors for different people, but the commonest are touch, brushing, eating and talking. Maintaining a pain diary helps identifying trigger factors.

Have you noticed any actions that may reduce your pain?

Again, being observant and trying different remedies at home in the initial phases when the pain is not so severe can help.

Have you noticed any foods that may bring on an attack?

Writing down in a pain diary will help narrow down pain-triggering foods. One of the problems of Trigeminal neuralgia medication is that there is an obtundation of memory and recall. Writing down helps recall, and can help others also analyze the things that led up to the attack. Also, identifying pain-safe foods for you will help ward off an attack.

Simple measures that may help calming down a Trigeminal neuralgia attack

Hot water bottles / cold presses
Pressure of entire palm on affected side: cupping the face with palm
Medication like Tegretol, especially if you have forgotten to take a dose
Capsaicin or hot pepper creams
Seeking a calm atmosphere
Going indoors and avoiding breeze
Avoid long journeys
Drink from a straw, eat soft foods so you don’t have to chew
Light exercise to release natural pain-relieving hormones (for some, exercises like walking can worsen an attack).

My Trigeminal neuralgia attack keeps coming back. What do I do?

Unfortunately, if your TN attacks are non-responsive to medication and other measures, you might have to consider Microvascular decompression surgery. This is one of the treatment options, which when considered early on in the disease, can lead to a potential cure.

Dr Jaydev Panchwagh is a renowned neurosurgeon in Pune who is an internationally recognized surgeon for Trigeminal neuralgia treatment in India. he has performed over a thousand MVD procedures with a 98% success rate. He has an international patient service to help those patients coming from outside India.

He has a You Tube channel, Dr Jaydev Panchwagh, if you are interested in watching his lectures on Trigeminal neuralgia. There are also many patient testimonials, which help in allaying fear and anxiety about surgery. Our team has one of the best results in trigeminal neuralgia treatment in India.

You may contact the team which will lead you to avail of all our services.

Trigeminal neuralgia patient testimonial | Ketan Dixit

Posted on July 21, 2020 | by Dr. Jaydev Panchwagh | 26 Comments

Trigeminal neuralgia patient testimonial

I am Ketan Dixit, and I suffered from Trigeminal neuralgia. This is my testimonial of the treatment I received from Dr Jayadev Panchwagh, an Indian Neurosurgeon famous for trigeminal neuralgia surgery in Pune, India.

I would like to share my Trigeminal neuralgia patient experience with you all. I suffered from this horrible disease for nearly four years before I got operated. I was on Trigeminal neuralgia medications like carbamazepine etc, for many years. Continue reading →

Trigeminal neuralgia patient story. Maria from Mauritius.

Posted on July 16, 2020 | by Dr. Jaydev Panchwagh | 12 Comments

In this section we shall be presenting a series of ‘Trigeminal neuralgia patient story’. The first is Maria from Mauritius.

This is the story of a woman, Maria, who lived in Mauritius. She was 45 years old when she came to us. She had been suffering from pain near her eye from 7 years. Initially she used to massage the area, and then noticed that massaging increased her pain. It used to come in short bursts, for a few seconds, like an electric-shock. She observed her pain for a few months, while her family members dismissed it as something that was not very serious. Over a period of the next few months, the pain spread to the lower part of her eye, near her nose and cheek, and came in more frequent bursts. Unable to tolerate this any longer, she visited her family physician, where she was prescribed many painkillers. They did not help and made her nauseous.

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Doctor heals Mauritian of chronic facial pain (Trigeminal Neuralgia)

Posted on July 6, 2020 | by Dr. Jaydev Panchwagh | 23 Comments

pune doctor sets mauritian free from chronic pain — Trigeminal neuralgia coverage

This is an article on Chronic facial pain (Trigeminal Neuralgia) from Times of India, Pune, published on May 7 2018.

For five years, 60-year-old Sawmy, a Mauritius national, suffered from severe pain in his face. Sawmy is an agriculturist by profession. He is married and has triplets.

The condition, Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) was such that he would go without eating for days together. Medicines would prove useful only for short periods of time. As is common in cases of TN, he was caught between the side effects of the high-dosage medicines and attacks of severe pain.

Any severe pain that remains untreated or partially treated for a prolonged period of time gets complicated, and its intensity worsens. This is termed chronic pain syndrome. In Sawmy’s case, the syndrome had turned his life upside down.

“In his desperate search to find a cure, Sawmy had gone to France — his sister lives there — where he consulted a number of doctors, to no avail. “I was on high doses of medicines. They were mainly three types of pain modulators. I developed drowsiness, forgetfulness and loss of balance due to the prolonged use of the drugs,” he said. All the doctors in France did was prescribe more medicines, which only worsened the side effects for Sawmy. “The repeated attacks of pain caused personality changes — they made me more irritable,” he said.

He eventually found relief in Pune, while browsing on Youtube and the internet. Though he didn’t have any acquaintances in India, Sawmy visited Pune after contacting Dr Jaydev Panchwagh over Whatsapp. “I contacted him for trigeminal neuralgia surgery. This alone speaks about the severity of pain I had, and how desperate I was to get rid of it,” he recalled. He now says that Dr Jaydev Panchwagh is one of the best neurosurgeons for trigeminal neuralgia surgery.

Explaining this unusual case, Dr. Jaydev Panchawagh said, “The drugs prescribed to patients suffering from Trigeminal neuralgia are mainly pain modulators. They are of different varieties or groups. The problem with the drugs is that they don’t target the Trigeminal nerve where the pain originates. So they (the drugs) act on the entire nervous system and cause neurological side effects.”

He added: “In simple words, these medicines numb the nerves. The drugs do not target the basic cause of neuralgia, which is vascular compression on the nerve as seen in majority of the cases, Dr. Panchawagh said.

“A very important aspect is the fact that chronic pain (if persistent for a year or more) can lead to permanent changes in the brain, including shrinkage, especially in the setting of neuropathy. Widespread impact on memory and cognition, sleep, sexual function, and development of hypertension are other important consequences. The psychology of chronic pain can best be understood as ‘learnt helplessness’, that is, the psychology of a person who is trapped in a situation from which there is no escape.”

Microvascular decompression surgery, or MVD surgery, is the most beneficial surgical treatment for permanently treating trigeminal neuralgia, claim doctors. “It is the only procedure which treats the basic cause of the trigeminal neuralgia,” said Dr Jayadev Panchawagh, who carried out the surgery on Sawmy. He has operated on more than 950 other patients since 2005.

Sawmy underwent the surgery under care of Dr Jaydev Panchwagh in Pune. “It has been 22 days now with no attacks of pain. I don’t have to take any medicines post-surgery. It is a huge relief. Surgery has proved to be a boon. I wish I knew about it earlier,” he said, when interviewed after his MVD operation for Trigeminal Neuralgia.

ABOUT THE CONDITION

There are two nerves-one on each side of the face-that carry the sensation from the face and gums to the brain. They are called trigeminal nerves. Sensations from the right side of the face are carried by the right trigeminal nerve. Neuralgia means nerve pain. Compression by a pulsatile blood vessel causes trigeminal neuralgia in a majority of the cases.

How patients describe the pain due to TN

* The worst pain experienced by mankind

* The pain you would not wish even on your enemies

* Death is better than this suffering

* Pain of 1,000 knives piercing the face

* A hot ‘chilli bomb’ exploding on one side of your face

This is a potentially misunderstood medical condition. The behavioural and emotional changes in the patient is difficult to understand for others. It is also a condition that can be diagnosed if one is aware of its existence.

* Trigeminal neuralgia is also known as the ‘suicide disease’ because of the intense pain triggered by talking, eating or even a breeze.

* A study has revealed the 92% of patients were unaware of the diagnosis prior to their doctor telling them..

* Most of them were treated for dental or jaw pain, migraine or even psychiatric illness

* The reason for misdiagnosis is low awareness of the condition.

http://https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/city-doc-sets-mauritian-free-from-chronic-pain/articleshow/64056058.cms

Trigeminal neuralgia patient testimonial 1 | Mr HariKrishna Pillai (Harry Sawmy)

Posted on July 5, 2020 | by Dr. Jaydev Panchwagh | Leave a Comment

My background

My name is Harikrishna Sawmy Pillai and I live in Mauritius. I am in the agriculture business and need to drive heavy vehicles like tractors around. And it involves a lot of hard work.

How the TN pain began

I first noticed this pain five years before my surgery. The first time I went to see my neurologist in Mauritius, I told him my problem and he gave me some tablets.

Continue reading →

Trigeminal neuralgia testimonial of Dinesh Mishra

Posted on July 5, 2020 | by Dr. Jaydev Panchwagh | 1 Comment

Trigeminal neuralgia patient testimonial — Dinesh Mishra

Undergoing Microvascular Decompression surgery for Trigeminal Neuralgia: My story

I am Dr Dinesh Kumar Mishra from Gwalior. And I am an associate professor in mathematics. I have been suffering from Trigeminal Neuralgia for the last 3 years.

The pain was in my right side forehead region. specifically, it was in the right side of the eyebrow. It was an electric shock like pain.

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Trigeminal neuralgia-Patient Testimonial |Deemawatee Seetohul

Posted on July 5, 2020 | by Dr. Jaydev Panchwagh | Leave a Comment

Trigeminal neuralgia patient testimonial- Deemawatee Seetohul

My name is Seetohul Deemawatee. I am from Mauritius.

I had Trigeminal Neuralgia, and I suffered from this for nearly 6 years. The pain would aggravate when I swallowed, or talked or drank water or brushed teeth or even when the breeze of the fan used to touch my cheek. The pain was electric shock-like kind of pain. I was recieving medical treatment for my trigeminal neuralgia for many years, but I still had pain.

Continue reading →