So I'm back from the ER

[cornerofmadness]

but this trigeminal neuralgia has gotten so painful I'm going to the ER to see if they can do something about it. Naturally I wasn't symptomatic when I was in town earlier today

Four hours later....with a script for steroids I'm unlikely to take, a script for gabapentin which I despise and a script for a muscle relaxer I asked for to release my jaw spasms.

He did have a good suggestion. He did a big blood work up (my thyroid levels are okay so if that is a lump in my thyroid they scanned it's not doing anything) but says I need to have B12, Folic acid and Vit D levels pulled (all of which have something to do with nerve health).

None of this will help me sleep tonight and it woke up last night around 330 so I've been awake nearly 24 hours now. But our small country hospital does not have a 24 hr pharmacy in it so no meds tonight.

He was also excited I was a podiatrist (it came out when I was whining about gabapentin's uselessness) as he's trying to start up a company like the one I worked 30 years ago doing nothing but nursing homes and providing full care (podiatry, eye, dentistry) I have his cards now to direct toward the schools. We need more podiatrists around here.

So I wasted 4 hours of my life but managed to read a novel entirely (an arc of a Golden Girls mystery which was weird as you might imagine) There was a family there with 3 kids under the age of 7, running around like mad. the middle child, a girl, was why they were there with 'an ear problem' I have to admit I was a little weirded out by the fact that they only settled down once they were all three given screens and head phones.


My face hurts too much to sleep. And my bills need to get paid including my two charity auctions for fandomtrumpshate

Comments

[spikedluv]

Damn! I'm sorry that's still bothering you and it got worse! I was hoping it had lessened and maybe even gone away. I'm sorry there is little that can actually be done for it, even with the meds they gave you. I hope something helps.

I know I have to take B12 while I'm on metformin, but I didn't know it had anything to do with nerve health. (I'm also taking Vit D, but not folic acid.)

[cornerofmadness]

short of destroying the nerve there isn't much you can do other than put it in remission

thanks

yeah B12 is said to slow neuropathy from diabetes. I am hit and miss with mine

[sysann]

*hugs* I am so very sorry things are this bad. :(

Now this is likely too late and you hopefully already have the meds you were prescribed by this point, but just in case - would applying warm or cool pads or ointment help as a short term solution? I know it's not a replacement for actually doing something about the problem, but to ease pain it might work?

I'm really glad he did a big blood! Hopefully that'll help find better ways to treat this from the meds you're unsure or unhappy about once the results are back. Best of luck in any case!

[spikedluv]

B12 is said to slow neuropathy from diabetes

It's amazing the amount of stuff I don't know about this disease.

[cornerofmadness]

there's a lot the doctors don't know yet.

Also keep in mind I was a diabetic wound care doctor so...

[sylvanwitch]

Ugh, that all sounds very stressful (and, obviously, painful). I hope that something has helped ease the pain by the time you read this comment.

[cornerofmadness]

thanks. yeah I put off the ER a couple nights trying those things. didn't help, rarely does with nerve pain unfortunatley. Have the meds. Not taking them but I have them. I told him that when he gave them to me

[cornerofmadness]

thanks appreciate it