MS Symptom Thesaurus: Trigeminal Neuralgia

We’ve been on this ‘MS Symptom Thesaurus’ for a while now and many of you are stepping up with your experiences.  These simple little phrases with which you describe your symptoms have helped many others to explain how they are feeling to doctors and to family. Today, we take on a particular kind of painful MS experience; Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN) also known as tic douloureux. This shooting facial or jaw pain can be quite debilitating and, while I have never experienced it, have heard many people describe their agony at living with the excruciating pain. I have heard it described as a “nuclear toothache”, “electrical rot” and “blinding” pain.  It can be “shooting”, “stabbing” and “stripping” radiating along the jaw, face, nose, mouth and ear.  I’ve Had it explained to me as driving someone to their knees (and in one case a friend had to pull over, while driving, and call for help to get him home) and “stunning” in the sense of being hit with something large and hard. After hearing those descriptors, I have to say that I’m happy to not (yet?) have experienced TN. Now your turn; if you’ve ever had an episode of trigeminal neuralgia, please share how you would describe the experience so that others may learn to illustrate to others.  I’ve heard so many times how helpful your entries into the MS Symptom Thesaurus have been to our community. Time to take the mystique out of TN. Wishing you and your family the best of health. Cheers Tre...
Source: Life with MS - Category: Other Conditions Authors: Tags: MS multiple sclerosis community Living with MS MS pain MS symptoms Multiple Sclerosis Thesaurus Source Type: blogs