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blessed relief! Naproxen

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Posted 8/21/2009 2:15 PM (GMT 0)
My PCP (a nurse practitioner) squeezed me in yesterday for my facial pain. Thank heaven is all I can say! It had been aching all day again, in varying degrees, with a couple bad waves of pain. He examined me, went over my dental history, dentist appointments, etc., and mentioned trigeminal neuralgia. He said that last summer, he had mentioned it to the doctor supervising him, but he said no way I had it. The pain wasn't severe enough, it was bi-lateral, adn I described it as cutting and boring rather than electrical. Well, yesterday he went back to a new doctor that he works with, and right away she agreed that it may very well be TN. She was booked solid, so couldn't examine me herself, but I have an appointment to see her on Tuesday. In the meantime, they raised my amitriptyline to 50 mgs from 30, and gave me a wonderful script for Naproxen.

As I drove to work yesterday afternoon, my background ache was revving up into bad pain again. I didn't know if I should work. Even if it eased up, my attacks were getting closer together. I waitress, so it's not as if I can take a break whenever I want. I picked up my script on my way. I took it before I started, and within 15 minutes I was almost pain free!!! OMG!!!! It lasted about 4 hrs. After that I had some pinching and ache, but very minimal. I ate my snack comfortably, without having sharp pain going into my head with each bite. After 6 hrs, the pain started coming back, but bearable. Normally I would have tried an Advil at this point, but I don't think I can with the Naproxen. Then last night I had 2 strong attacks, but they didn't last as long. And I slept for most of the night without jaw pain. I'm very hopeful for today. I took another this morning, and I have only mild discomfort.

Anyone take Naproxen? What can you tell me about it? Do the effects wane over time? How do you get a firm diagnosis of TN? Thank you so much for reading adn any info you can give me. smilewinkgrin
Posted 8/21/2009 3:32 PM (GMT 0)
I think a neuroligist can give the 'firm' dx. But my internist and the research I've done confirm it enough for me.

How many mg of Naproxen are you taking? Its like Aleve. I think uping your amitriptyline would be a help, being it is used for neuropathic pain.

Please, check out the website www.endthepain.org (TN Association) and check out the Diagnostic Questionnaire. You'll probably be amazed with your answers. I know I was.

Keep up with what your doing. Sounds like you are getting some good relief to work. I talk with customers (via phone) all day and some know me so well they can tell the difference in my voice if I am not doing to well. Having to look at customers face to face like you do has got to be real tough. You must have a good game face. :-)

Take Care,
Posted 8/21/2009 5:06 PM (GMT 0)

I have never taken naproxen but my husband did.  It was called naprosyn and he took it for inflammation of rheumatoid arthritis.  It did help him. 

Doctors say that fibromyalgia is not an inflammatory illness but I know ibuprofen has been a God-send to me and that is for inflammation.  So, who knows?  They just might find that inflammation is a problem. 

I'm so glad you are getting relief!  That's the bottom line, isn't it?

Here is a link about naprosyn from the Physician's Desk Reference.

http://www.pdrhealth.com/drugs/rx/rx-mono.aspx?contentFileName=Nap1283.html&contentName=Naprosyn&contentId=374

Sherrine

Posted 8/21/2009 5:29 PM (GMT 0)

I'm so glad that you are feeling better (and you don't have to have a root canal :-) ).  I hope you get a firm dx, and I'm happy that you've found something that helps with the pain.

I take a prescription NSAID (not naproxen, but similar) for sacroiliitis.  It has been a God-send for me.  Right now, I wouldn't be able to walk without it.  The only side effect I have is an increase in reflux, but that is manageable.

Hugs - Austen

Posted 8/21/2009 5:33 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you Lori, for this link. After the questionaire, my result was TN2. This will be helpful when I see the doctor on Tuesday. But OMG, not a very bright outlook, is it? I remember the very first pinch I had... a few weeks before Mother's Day last year. It was a small area that felt like a bruise on my left cheek. Now to have progressed to mind numbing pain... I can't imagine if there is worse, it terrifies me. The attacks I have now scare me! When I feel one starting, I moan out, no, no, no, please no. Then just like a contraction, it builds and builds. Good game face? I don't think so. I have been able to work through the background ache, but I've been lucky I haven't had a full flare at work. I can't talk through those. I pace and sway adn try to go to my happy place.

Thanks for your reply, Sherrine :) Do you know I often think of you and all the help you've given me last year? I 'thought' I was cured this spring, and I came off my meds and the malic acid too. I'm back on the amitriptyline, but still debating if I want back on the malic acid. It's nice to *ahem* only go to the washroom once a day ;) I have days I feel weaker, but for the most part I'm dealing with exercise adn stretching :) Hope you are surviving your summer, it's almost over!
Posted 8/21/2009 5:37 PM (GMT 0)
thanks for the replies, Dani and Austen :) I've had a few times this afternoon where the backgroudn pain wants to flare up, but then it goes back to sleep. I've even allowed ds to have a friend over today!

Austen, I still do need either a root canal or an extraction. That one tooth I broke is decayed, adn there is a hole that goes right up. But if the nerve is inflamed, then maybe it might explain the extra pain I have during freezing, and that the tooth itself won't freeze. Anyway, I will talk to the doctor about this before I get my work done in October.
Posted 8/21/2009 6:37 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you so much for your kind comments.  I do try to help as much as I can.  That's my whole reason for being here.

 

You know, perhaps that tooth will take the novocaine this time.  I had a tooth years ago that they just couldn't numb.  They used so much novocaine that it caused my heart to race to they rescheduled.  The next time I went, things went perfectly!  So, you just might be fine.  I've had five root canals in my life.  Not fun but definitely not like Johnny Carson used to joke about.

 

Sherrine

Posted 8/21/2009 8:16 PM (GMT 0)

Sorry, I spoke too soon.  But I agree with Sherrine; a root canal really isn't that bad, especially if it relieves some of the pain.  I've had 6 of them, and it's really no worse than getting a crown done.  I wish you luck and relief from pain. :-)

Hugs - Austen

Posted 8/22/2009 1:50 AM (GMT 0)
Mamanan: I've taken naproxin without side effects. The amatriptolyne made my hair fall out (bad side effect)

Austin: check into Essiac Tea for the acid reflux. I  know several people who use it and  it works. You can get it

in varoius forms. It's an herbal concoction of Burdock Root, Sheep Sorrel, Slippery Elm and Indian Rhubarb.

Posted 8/22/2009 4:00 PM (GMT 0)
Ok, here comes Jeannie with her THUNDER CLOUD of bad warnings. The over-the-counter form of naproxen sodium is Aleve and it may also be found under the generic or store brand for less money, often less than your prescription cost. Please read your labels. This wonderful drug is a excellent pain reliever and anti-inflammatory but it has one very serious side effect which I learned about first hand.

My Mom-in-Law was in the end stages of Parkinsons and had severe degenerative arthritis. Naprosyn was new on the market and by prescription only at the time. Because of the great pain relief she received she was taking them more frequently than prescribed without our knowledge. She also had a minimal appetite and wasn't eating well. She was on a ton of other medications and on Christmas day she was gyrating all over the place, almost spastic, and in and out of awareness of her surroundings. We hustled her off to the hospital and after four hours of intense diagnostic tests and seeing almost every physician in that place they determined that she was bleeding internally. Her low blood levels had intensified the effects of her other meds which had really saved her life. She was given four units of blood and returned to the land of the living. Doctors told us that if she hadn't reacted to her other meds she would have just gone to sleep and died from the blood loss.

So here's the deal. TAKE THIS MEDICATION WITH FOOD!!! Not just a glass of milk or a cracker, serious food. Because of the analgesic effect of this med it can make a really big hole in your stomach and you won't feel a thing. She never had stomach pain at all.

Watch your stool color. She had been having "coffee ground" colored stools for weeks and never mentioned them to anyone. If your stool turns black, tarry, or looks like coffee grounds it means that you are bleeding internally and digesting your own blood.

Take your med as prescribed.If it says every 4 hours, take it every 4 hours with food. Try not to let the pain get really bad before you take it again.. in other words don't wait 6 hours thinking you will "tough it out". Fibros tend to "burn in" the pain response over their nerve pathways and keep on reporting pain even when it's no longer there. This is one pain you don't want to burn in.

And finally, I'll remember you in my prayers. This is a really bad pain situation and can eat up your life if you let it. Take care.
Posted 8/22/2009 6:19 PM (GMT 0)
Funny you should have posted this, Jeannie. I don't seem to be tolerating the drug after all. :( What a mess. I want my Mommy!!!!

nice to hear from you, I hope you are doing well!
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