Recovery Day 98 - 25th March 2013

Today is recovery day 98, my jaw is healing really well. Most of the swelling has gone down apart from a little bit on either cheek and the majority of my feeling has come back apart from the right hand side of my lower lip which is still completely numb. I get increased swelling if I've been particularly smiley or chatty. 

I am still having issues with my Trigeminal nerve and the Trigeminal neuralgia. I'm still getting awful pain / sensations whenever I move or touch my chin. This includes any movement whatsoever by talking, laughing, smiling, eating, drinking or brushing my teeth and I have constant pain in my teeth. 

I went back to the doctors on Thursday because this was the two weeks of taking the Gabapentin tablets and i'd had no improvement. The doctor said I was to up the dose and include a midday dose. This meant I was taking 1-1-2. She said if there was no improvement after 3 days to up the again to 2-1-2, then if no improvement after that that dose up the again adding 1 tablet each time until the tablets either work or I reach the top dose of 9 tablets a day. I really hope they work soon because I need some relief from these sensations and teeth pain soon. The pain is literally draining. 

I upped the tablets to the 2-1-2 dose yesterday and I was quite poorly. I had a headache and felt sick and dizzy. The doctor said this may happen when I'm upping the doses and said that I should avoid driving. Grrrrr I hate it when I cant drive, I tried a little test drive, driving 3 minutes up the road to my mums the other day and I really didn't feel right so I'm going to take the doctors advice. I felt so awful yesterday after upping the tablets, I spent the day in bed. The dogs and my husband were very supportive and also spent the day in bed. They claim they were looking after me but I think they were being lazy! 

In regards to eating I'm doing really well. I can eat things that are reasonably soft such as noodles, rice, pasta, vegetables. I can't eat anything that requires biting or chewing because that movement effects the Trigeminal neuralgia. It's not really my jaw that's effecting the eating at this stage it's the Trigeminal neuralgia. I went out for the first time on Friday for a friends birthday on Friday. It was nice to get dressed up even though applying make up is painful. But picking food in the restaurant was hard work. There were so many yummy things I wanted to eat and couldn't manage. It was a nice evening but I was swollen and sore on Saturday as a result of all the chatting, smiling and laughing. 

In regards to the Eustachian tube dysfunction, I'm still a bit deaf when I wake up and my cheeks often ache. I also get shooting pains, mainly in my right ear. I'm going for a CT scan on 31st March to have a look a what's going on with the tubes and sinuses. 

I literally can't wait for this Trigeminal neuralgia to go away, its really annoying and can get you right down in the dumps. If it wasn't for that I'm sure I'd  be feeling great, the lasting side effects of Eustachian tube dysfunction, limited swelling and numbness are liveable and in a way expected to still be flaring up at the this stage of the recovery every now and then. Fingers crossed over the next few weeks I'll find my dose of medication and the Trigeminal Neuralgia will be in hand.