Saturday, February 4, 2012

Trigeminal Neuralgia w/Headache Diary: 4 Months, 4 Weeks Since Onset

Update: Was hitting new nines on a scale of 1 to 10 yesterday...

Apologies for not posting much lately. I expected to do more of a day to day type thing, but life, career, pain, fatigue, etc. has been getting in the way. Yesterday was one of the worst days I have experienced so far. Those of you that follow me on Facebook or follow a_Cuppa_Coffee on Twitter might have seen how my day began. For those who didn't, I was high-beamed on my way to school yesterday at least a dozen times...and I was driving with my low-beams on. I have very little need for high-beams anymore with my extreme sensitivity to light. Drivers do not do that to me everyday, I am not sure why yesterday was so different.

What began as an uncomfortable commute, soon turned into a new symptom/event in my journey through Trigeminal Neuralgia w/constant, daily headache(TN Type 2). The high-beaming already had my right eye throbbing and had escalated the right-side headache. By lunch the headache had spread from its normal place just behind my right ear, and added this sort of swirling, twisting pain in my right temple region. It was literally like someone had pinched my skin and muscle and had begun to twist it in a clockwise manner. By mid-afternoon, the new nines began. It started with the surface of my right eye getting warm, then very hot. It was not physically hot, but was experiencing a hot seering pain. One of my students asked me at the end of one of my classes why I was hiding my pain and continuing to teach on a Friday. I said it was because I have to teach...it's what I do. She advised me that the whites of my eyes were not white, but rather a pink color. Said that was how she could tell it was a bad day for me. I went to the restroom at the beginning of the next period (my planning period) and indeed the whites of my eyes were completely hued light pink. It was not really an appearance of "blood-shot", just more of an all over pink that I have not seen before.

That seering warmth in my right eye soon spread to my entire eye socket and on to my right cheek bone. At that point, it intensified to what can only be described as a smoldering fire. I taught 2 more classes with the sensation of my eye, the socket, and my cheek bone (honestly) smoldering at the edge of a fire. This is a new one, and it was PAINFUL. It can only be compared to the jabbing pains I get that last for a second or so. Only, it just...kept...going. I ended up hanging out in my room/ the office/ my neighbor's classroom until dusk as I did not think I could deal with the smoldering fire pain, the afternoon sun, and people's headlights. I chose smoldering fire pain and near dark for my commute home. It did not let up until late yesterday evening, though did not completely go away.

The smoldering fire subsided to my cheek bone only late last night, but then my headache came on in full force. Within being up for a few hours today, the right corner of my mouth has an almost numb feeling to it, my right temple hurts, and the outside corner of my eye feels like it is beginning to get that smoldering sensation from yesterday. Glad it is Saturday and I can better control my environment. If I were near fluorescent lights right now, even though they are now in the hall instead of my room at school, this would be so much worse already...I know it. So glad it is the weekend.

I am going back to my neurologist later this month. This will be something to definitely tell him about. If I cannot get the appointment moved up I will be visiting him on February 24th.

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