Trigeminal Neuralgia: One-Month Progress Report

So, if you remember, I finally got a diagnosis of trigeminal neuralgia and was put on medication a month ago today.

Life has been…interesting. I’m on a schedule – I take a half a pill at 9am and again at 9pm. I have alarms set on my phone so I don’t forget. I also need to eat something with it so I need to always have some type of food handy. I try to eat healthy things.

The nausea has gone away.

The only lingering thing is breakthrough pain. They started me on the smallest dose and they warned me that I may have it. It seems that I get it about an hour before my next dose. When it rains. When I’m stressed. Sometimes for no apparent reason. But it’s no longer constant. I’ve only needed a loopy pill twice so far (when it used to be almost every day).

But most of all, I feel better. More positive. Freer. My life is no longer just a string of episodes of agony. I get tired from the medication but it’s nothing like constant pain.

I’ve started editing for fellow writers again, something I wasn’t sure I could handle before. I’m getting into photography again. I’m living life, not worrying about when my next pain attack will be. It’s…amazing. It’s something I never thought would happen. It’s a miracle.

Do I have setbacks? Absolutely. Some days are still rough. I’ve been having vertigo attacks which may or may not be related to the medication. Sometimes the tiredness is severe. But I can cope with all this if I’m not in pain 24/7. It’s manageable. It’s far better than the alternative.

It took me 2 1/2 years to get to this point, to finally be able to enjoy life again, and I plan on staying here awhile.

Also, as an aside, I’ve been busy busy busy. So busy that in order to get this post written up, I had to type it up on my phone at work during a slow period because I have a bunch of editing to do like, right now. It’s nice to be busy again, even if things get wonky. Better than the alternative.