About 3yrs ago I got a terrible headache. I could not touch my head. In all of my 82yrs I never got a headache like that, in fact I never get many headaches so this was very surprising to me. I decided to make an appointment with a neurologist. He gave me an MRI and came up with the conclusion that I had trigeminal neuralgia. I did not know what that was so I started to read and try to discover what this disease was all about. He prescribed Lyrica and not long after my pain was gone. I was very surprised and happy. But about 8 months later I got a pain in my jaw. It was much worse than the one in my head. I could not eat and the pain got worse. I had two events where the pain was horrible. It had me in tears. I could not believe it. So back to the neurologist I went. He explained how this nerve comes down from your head to your jaw. He prescribed carbamazepine. At first it helped some but later I had to take more than one and I still had the pain. I could not chew and could not drink anything cold. I did not want to go anyplace for fright that I would get that horrible pain. I notice that in the summer the pain goes away but returns in the winter.

At first, it was misdiagnosed as burning mouth syndrome. Then, after two years of workups by various specialists, a neurologist diagnosed it as trigeminal neuralgia. One symptom I have not seen mentioned is thick mucus with a postnasal drip.

My symptoms first started years ago , which was a stabbing pain in my top back teeth then slowly would spread through my face and temple , never going past the centre of my face(I only suffer on the left side). A cold breeze or brushing my teeth would make it ten times worse. I always thought it was a dental problem til I went to the doctor thinking I had an infection, which is the first time I`d ever heard of trigeminal nerve. At the moment I've only taken pain medication which makes me sick. I find a heat pack on the face helps a lot. My episodes can last up to two weeks so, if anyone has got any suggestions for managing the pain that would be awesome. I find this condition debilitating at times.

I've suffered with this condition for about 5 years now. It started when I was 39. My pain is not on my face. Mine is around my head with very sharp pains that last about 60 seconds at a time and sometimes staying for a week or more. It's very uncomfortable, though pressure seems to help a bit.

I have had pain since I was 50. No one could diagnose it until 12 years later. No Doctor can give an answer the pain goes to my neck and into my chest.