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Jolted Awake

Messages
29
I don't have many questions, and no insights, but maybe someone has suggestions, or can relate??

I have hardly slept a wink in the past 6 weeks due to "Atypical Face Pains" [like Trigeminal Neuralgia].

Within 20 minutes of falling asleep I am jolted awake by these severe pains on the left side of my face. They come on sometimes when I am awake, but mostly after I fall asleep. I have tried to sleep in my recliner but it also happens there.

Sometimes I catch 3 or 4 hours, but usually just the 20 minutes.

I am getting paranoid, confused, stressed, and just plain mental. I startle easily now.

I see the Neurologist after I get all my tests done, but I don't see any resolution in the near future.

I am AFRAID of taking sleeping pills because these pains are so severe that they would wake me up from a coma, and so I would just be more zombiefied if I take sleeping pills, right? Or, that maybe I would sleep longer and that might make the pains worse before I wake up.

Any ideas?
 

Wayne

Senior Member
Messages
4,298
Location
Ashland, Oregon
"Atypical Face Pains" [like Trigeminal Neuralgia]. .......... Any ideas?

Hi Noah,

Sounds like a really difficult thing you're experiencing. I'll make a couple of suggestions for you to consider.

1) St. John's Wort (SJW) Oil - Made by soaking SJW flowers and buds in olive oil for several weeks. Eventually turns a dark purple color. This is good for any type of nerve or pain condition. Tends to "calm" things down, and reduces pain. (BTW, SJW grows wild where I'm at, and I would be happy to send you (at no cost) some of the surplus SJW oil I"ve made and have on hand).

2) I'm not sure whether it's known what causes trigeminal neuralgia, but I would certainly consider whether your cranial nerves (Trigeminal is one of 12 cranial nerves) are being impinged at the location your upper most cervical vertebra (called the atlas). The cranial nerves exit the brainstem and go right through the atlas, and if the atlas is significantly misaligned, it can cause a lot of problems.

I myself had a procedure done called Atlas Profilax which significantly shifted things for me. By the symptom improvement afterward, it seemed clear my vagus nerve had been hugely impacted for most of my life, starting with a major head injury/whiplash as a teenager. Chiropracters, even ones that specialize in atlas adjustment, do not know how to do this specialized atlas adjustment. I've posted about this a quite a bit; let me know if I can answer any questions for you.

Good luck in finding some answers for yourself. Pain and lack of sleep can be such a difficult combination. I hope you can find something that helps out.

Best Regards, Wayne
 

jenbooks

Guest
Messages
1,270
Strange it happens after falling asleep. That is actually encouraging, because it suggests it is intermittent.

I would think benzo sleeping pills would help, especially a muscle and nerve relaxant like temazepam. Or klonipin, which yes is addictive but helps a lot of stuff. I'd try it. If you lay awake groggy, big deal. But it might quiet the firing of the nerves, and sooner is better than later, before your nerves get into some kind of independent feedback loop.

Also, have you had any dental work lately? Or are there any tooth problems or root canals on that side?
 

Marg

Senior Member
Messages
343
Location
Wetumpka Alabama
I have found that 1 mg up to 3 mg Ativan over a period of hours can help me a lot..calm anxiety, calm that electrial feeling in the muscles and body and helped me sleep. I stopped a while ago to try some differernt things. Flexeril...made me feel so terrible at 1/4 tablet, I gave it up. Trazadone was okay really did not do the job of staying asleep without feeling terrible in the morning and the driest mouth. I had no signs of withdrawal from Ativan nor has this scrip changed in many years well until I thought I could find something better a couple months ago. I have tried all the herbals, interestingly some of them make me very hyper..valarian and melissa were terrible and they are calming herbs. So may things are the opposite of what they should be with me. I did take klonopin years ago but gave it up..I think it is a lot like Ativan anyway. I have used 1/4 the lowest dose Ambein too and it worked well. I stopped with no problem I imagine the key is low dose and I can never take a full dose of most things. I have read that people do not become addicted to meds they are using for pain, when the pain stops they no longer need them. I gues that is not troe in all cases though.

I have been taking LDN for over a year and now it has started helping with sleep. It has helped pain but not totally, time they tell me and as long as 2-3 years. I know it helped my immune system. We are all different and it takes a lot of triall and error. When you kind the right thing or combo you will know and I wish I had left things alone.
 
Messages
29
Wow, this is terrific, thanks for the ideas.

Just to clarify -

I had all my teeth removed when I had these face pains in 2002, and the face pains stopped then. There is a pain now with these attacks that is right where a molar tooth would be. The face pains are actually small sites of pain, not the whole face. It strikes where this tooth was, and on the side of the nose, below the cheekbone, and the temple, eye, and sometimes ear [all on the left side only].

I have found some minor relief with Acetominophen but I am afraid to keep taking it due to liver damage it is known to cause. I am also taking Nortriptylene and occasional Gabapentin [just 100mgs at a time].

I was given the standard treatment for Trigeminal Neuralgia, a pill called Tegradol {carbamazapine} but I had a bad reaction to it and ended up in the ER and was admitted for a day. It was ug-ly, passing out and heaving and so on. I am very sensitive to so many pharmaceuticals.

I was hoping for some ideas about naturals such as SJW. Thanks for the offer, but maybe I should just get it locally Wayne. We have a good store for herbs here.

As for the cause, in most cases of these conditions no cause is ever found. I have had MRI and CT and Ultra Sound tests, but not all the results are in yet. It does seem likely that the Trigeminal nerve is being pressed on or otherwise interfered with somehow.

It goes from the face to the base of the brain - such a short distance is probably why the pain is so extreme. The side of my face gets very hot when the attacks happen.

I have had trouble with my neck for many years. I was in a bad auto accident years ago. There is a spot on the left side of the neck at the base of the skull that is associated with headaches I get, and now it is involved with these face pain attacks. I hope the scans show something there.

As for hope, I keep in mind that it could all stop just as inexplicably as it started. Even the individual attacks are like that, they can just disappear.


Thanks again for the ideas
 

jeffrez

Senior Member
Messages
1,112
Location
NY
Lobelia and other herbs are nerve healing and anti-spasmodic, and herbs like white willow bark are analgesic. A combination of something like that, perhaps along with some passiflora extract as an effective benzo substitute might help. I would definitely try nervine and other herbs before automatically going for benzodiazepines, which can be addicting and don't address the root of the problem. Maybe a good dental surgeon would have some insight or be able to help.
 

Wayne

Senior Member
Messages
4,298
Location
Ashland, Oregon
Maybe a good dental surgeon would have some insight or be able to help.

I have to second this thought. Noah, from your latest description, it sounds as if any number of infections may be going on for you. Could range anywhere from sinus infections to focal infections at different areas in your mouth where extractions were performed. So cavitation surgery may very well be something that might help you.

I actually have some minor pain syndromes in my mouth that may be related to the same issues I just described. Though I want to take steps to try to track down any infections for myself, I feel I'm keeping things at bay for now by holding SJW oil in my mouth for about 20 minutes 5-6 days/week. SJW is anti-infection in many ways, and as I mentioned earlier, calms down nerves and soothes pain. My mouth always feels better after doing this.

I then follow this with putting a bentonite clay solution in my mouth for the same period of time. This pulls toxicities that have been drawn into the oil cavity by the "oil pulling". I believe it also continues to pull any infection from any focal infections that may be lingering in my mouth.

I think I've written other posts where I describe this in a little more detail, but not sure where at the moment. Let me know if you would want me to elaborate on any of these topics.

All the Best, Wayne
 
Messages
29
That just might be it Wayne. I dropped the ball after the tooth extractions, even tho I was aware of cavitation issues. Actually, I just never found a dental surgeon who would even discuss cavitation treatments. {I am in the Kootenay region of BC, Canada in case anyone knows of such a dentist??}

I have been taking Colloidal Silver - maybe I should hold it in my mouth for 20 minutes? Also, I did do the sinus wash with salt water a few times when this first hit, but it didn't stop the attacks.

And just for discussion, not that I doubt you -
So you think it sounds like infections even though I get the pains all through the Trigeminal Nerve, including eye and temple... I suppose an infection anywhere along there would cause the whole thing to be affected, right?
Actually, maybe that explains why "they never do find the cause for most cases of Trigeminal Neuralgia" - because they do not consider infections of the cavitation etc.??
 

rlc

Senior Member
Messages
822
Hi Noah_Scape, it's sounding alot like cavitation to me often occurs when molars are removed and some of the tooth gets left behind, i've seen several cases on the net of people being diagnosed with CFS and it turned out to be cavitation.

It dosen't always show on scans but there a new scan called cavitat thats suposed to be brilliant at picking them up. Sorry i live in New Zealand so don't know where you'd go to get one, if it dosen't show up on the scans you've had done. This site has lot's of information on it http://y2khealthanddetox.com/cavitations.htm

All the best