Laughing/ Smiling = pain

[allih]

What do you do when just the simple act of laughing or smiling brings on a flare of burning pain across your face? I know this is really a rhetorical question. The best answer I've come up with so far is not to laugh or smile.

Before this affliction attacked me, I was a happy person. I laughed all the time. Now every time I laugh or smile I know that I am going to pay for it with a flare of pain that is going to last for a good 20-30 minutes.

This just sucks so much that it is all I can do not get even more depressed than I already am. I don't see any improvement or any hope for a solution that doesn't include more drugs or god forbid, surgery, which would be my 10th (for various problems).

I've ordered the book Striking Back (I'm waiting impatiently for it to arrive) and I am hoping to God that it will have something in it that will help me to either figure out how to medicate properly or at least deal with this better.

Right now I feel hopeless and angry.

Alli

[BONNIE S]

Hang in there! I'm new to this site, but I fortunately had great success with my MVD. I just posted my first thread with my ONE YEAR success story.
I am glad you are getting the book "Striking Back". It has so much info in it and it will help you find answers to alot of questions I'm sure you have. I don't know your medical history, but I am a firm believer in MVD. Please know that I will add you to my prayer list.:)

[baywatcher]

Laughing, smiling - and talking. Talking is just such an important part of my life. Don't laugh, I know how funny that sounds, but talking expressively or convincingly was a part of my professional life, my civic life and my family life. I could hardly believe that suddenly it was a cause of terrible pain. And laughing, laughing is spontaneous, laughing is social, laughing is a way of bonding and communicating. Bam! Hits you where it hurts, and I don't mean just in the face. I'm lucky in that the Trileptal has given me back that which the tn (and - unfortunately - the tegretol) had taken away. Perhaps there will be one of the meds that will open the door to talking and smiling for you. We do, all of us, realize how difficult this condition is for those around us, our families and those who love us, and certainly the resistance to talking or smiling has to be a big part of that. And for those who have had successful surgeries, it must be like opening a door and finding one's own true self there, the smiling happy self, ready to emerge.

One way or another, I'm sure you'll laugh again. Meanwhile, hugs, many of us here understand how you feel. Nancy

[EE03]

Talking is a really big trigger for me and I can only echo what Nancy has already said. I've found that I have become somewhat reclusive and don't socialize much anymore. Talking is an intrinsic part of life for us all. I'm sure laughing and smiling could also be triggers for me, but I seem to be relieving some of the pain through the latest combo of meds. I don't want to be full of doom and gloom, but my life has been turned upside down by all of this and I know i'm not alone.

Hang in there and keep us posted! Ellena

[Grant]

My TN is now at the stage where I can't talk pain free so I feel a great sense of empathy with my fellow sufferers.

I find that ironically, constant talking actually helps, if you can get through the minute or so of agony before the attack subsides. It seems as though the nerve that is misfiring runs out of fuel after a while. In the gap between the attacks I can talk normally and drink/eat relatively pain free too. This approach only works for a while, but may be worth trying. Also, chewing gum all the time has helped me too.

Hang on in there - you are not alone.

Cheers,

Grant

[gidge]

Hi All, I get some WHOPPERS from laughing.....I feel it's just the price I have to pay for a little bit of joy..it's like if I don't stay as still as possible in aft/eve and move around or god forbid have dinner to celebrate someone's birthday..I know I"m going to pay for that too, the next day will be extra painful...but it's the price I'm willing to pay.

it's weird my neurosurgeon mentioned something about "nothing I do is going to make my symptoms worse then they are" and I couldn't disagree more plenty of things make/trigger my TN to make it worse....but I could have misunderstood his statement...it was afternoon afterall and I make less sense then due to meds:p

we all just have to do the best we can I think, bear what we can and avoid what we can't bear and thank god we have each other to compare notes with!:o

[allih]

Thanks for your replies... It makes me feel a bit better knowing that you understand what I am talking about. I've tried to explain this to my boyfriend but he really doesn't get what I mean when I say my face hurts. This constant burning and the flares are just so hard to explain to anyone who hasn't felt it.

Soooooo. I'm hanging on as best I can...
Alli