Bathing my Brain

Yesterday was a weird day. I had a nice morning...some french toast with Laura before school, an episode of The West Wing while I cleaned up the kitchen, a warm bath, a good long phone call with Sarah. And I found my mother, who really was gallivanting and heading to a casino on her way home from up north...

Then all hell broke loose when my pain ramped up to an unbelievable level. It was the worst it's been since April, 2008. One thing that is true of people with TN, from what I've read, is that we all know exactly the date and moment that pain first struck. For instance my very first shock happened on the Sunday, Sept 2 (Labor Day weekend) in 2007...but I digress.

Back to yesterday--because I could not put my lips together without severe pain, I was unable to speak. I could not drink because the touch of the liquid inside my mouth was setting off those triggers. The shocks were repetitive and paralyzing, and I was really and truly beside myself. I made myself get really calm and sat in the recliner and tried to doze, and when Jeff came home from work in the early afternoon, and I wrote down everything that was going on and he called my neurologist's office to inform them and ask what to do. The other option was going to the ER, and I was really considering how nice some sedation would be. But, Dr. R called back himself, and he and Jeff had a thorough conversation about what to do.

Now I am taking 200mg of dilantin 3x per day (up from 400) and adding an extra 600 of the carbatrol per day (he actually recommended an additional 1200 per day, so there is still room to go up if needed). This is a huge jump, but within a couple of hours I was so much more comfortable and was then able to have a nice evening. It continues to amaze me that two pills made so much difference so fast. Now I have to keep taking them so the blood levels stay high enough to knock down the pain.

Of course, I am kind of stoned. I move slowly and am a bit off kilter. I took a walk with Chance this afternoon since it was almost 50 degrees and it seems like a waste if I don't go out in that. I tried to walk a straight line but was not really too successful. Surprisingly I've been awake all day, just puttering, even though I feel like I could drop off at any moment. My thought processes are slowed down quite a bit. It's taking a really long time to write this... Still getting some shocks but they range anywhere from 2-5 as opposed to the 10+ kinds I was having yesterday. I can live with that.

So the moral of the story for today is more medicine = less pain.