Trigeminal Neuralgia (Facial Nerve Pain) (cont.)
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Medications
Doctors use 3 main drugs to treat trigeminal neuralgia-baclofen (Lioresal), carbamazepine (Tegretol), and phenytoin (Dilantin).
- Baclofen is the safest of the 3, though less effective. Many doctors begin therapy with baclofen and monitor its results over a week's time.
- For years, carbamazepine had been the mainstay for treating this disorder. In fact, many experts believe that if you get no relief from 2 days of carbamazepine treatment, doctors must reconsider the diagnosis of trigeminal neuralgia.
- The side effects of this drug include dizziness, sedation, confusion, and rash.
- The doctor likely will complete a series of blood
and urine tests before beginning treatment to establish a baseline of
laboratory values.
- Carbamazepine in unusual instances causes a rare blood disease known as aplastic anemia.
- Frequent blood monitoring avoids this problem. You can expect to take consistent doses of this medicine for about 6 months before your doctor reconsiders the dosing schedule.
- The side effects of this drug include dizziness, sedation, confusion, and rash.
Learn more about medications like baclofen (Lioresal), carbamazepine (Tegretol), and phenytoin (Dilantin) on RxList.com.
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Important Safety Information
Vimpat (lacosamide) is a medicine that is used with other medicines to treat partial onset seizures in patients 17 years of age and older with epilepsy. Vimpat is generally well-tolerated, but may not be for everyone. Ask your doctor if Vimpat is right for you. Antiepileptic drugs, including Vimpat, may cause suicidal thoughts or actions in a very small number of people, about 1 in 500. Call your healthcare provider right away if you have new or worsening symptoms of depression, any unusual changes in mood or behavior, or suicidal thoughts, behavior, or thoughts about self harm that you have never had before or may be worse than before. Please see additional patient information in the Medication Guide at the end of the full prescribing information. This information does not take the place of talking with your healthcare provider about your condition or your treatment. Please see additional Patient Safety Information
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Trigeminal Neuralgia »
Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a common and potentially disabling pain syndrome, the precise pathophysiology of which remains obscure.
