Trigeminal Neuralgia Support Group

What a weird topic subject! Anyway, I was in so much agony--you've all been there--and was at this point where if someone told me drinking vodka would help (maybe it would have, haha), I would have drank it. So I decided to check out the local health food store. They have this gigantic ailment encyclopedia--it's typical in most health food stores--and thought maybe they would have something. They didn't. The only nerve pain remedy they had was for shingles and that was peppermint leaf extract.

So I remembered reading how shingles, left untreated, can, rarely but surely, lead some to TN. My pain at that time was what I consider the worst: burning. I felt that if nothing else, the extract might feel nice and cool. A few bucks poorer, I dashed into the car and didn't even bother getting home to make a mouthwash of it--I just used the dropper and let some of it fall onto my teeth on that side along with the inside of my mouth. Relief! At first, the burning just weakened and felt odd and then it almost stopped entirely. I can say with all honesty that I was at a 9 on the pain scale (I was edging well-concealed hysteria) and the extract knocked me down to a 4. A half hour later I had to take more and then it calmed down for the night.

For those of you who have just really rough patches that can last for a bit longer than seconds or minutes, I think you may find this immensely useful--if it works for you.

I may be crazy! It's no permanent fix. Don't toss our your Neurotin and Tegretol yet! I'm not alone in this either, though. I discovered someone here who said peppermint flavored gum worked for them. But I'm swearing by the extract myself. I bought some peppermint flavored mouthwash and I didn't like it. Plus, any amount of swishing is uncomfortable for me.

If any of you try this... please let me know. I'm really curious to know the results people have. It could just work for those with standard TN or atypical. I cannot say for certain. I'm not quite sure which category I fall under and find the differences becoming more and more obscure the more they uncover about TN.
Posted on 01/05/08, 11:01 pm