Severe teeth, gum and jaw pain (non-dental)

[Everything]

Hi!

My name is Steven.

My mother has been suffering chronic pain in her lower and upper teeth and gums since the 27th January 2008 (I can remember the date as it was the day I got baptised that it started). The pain is located on the right side of her jaw (her right), and she says it feels like a nagging, drawing ache which feels like it is coming from the gums and/or the bone on the upper and lower teeth on the right side.

Obviously she thought it was a dental problem. She has been to four/five seperate dentists, who have all said after close examination and X-rays of the upper and lower teeth that it is not a dental problem. She has had her lower right wisdom tooth extracted since the pain, as she was convinced that was where the pain was coming from, but the extraction site healed perfectly well, and she still has the chronic discomfort. She has been to an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist who found nothing to be wrong in that field, and an Orthopedic specialist who after a quick inspection found nothing.

I was wondering if it could be nerve related, or if someone could give me and her some advice on what it could be.
To add, if it helps, she has had a chronic discomfort, which she describes as someone wiggling a thick pencil up one side of her head, for 15 years. She has been to multiple doctors who have not been able to find out what it is. She has had an MRI scan two years ago which showed there to be slight degeneration of the C3 to C7 disks/nerves.

Despite all of the people she has been to, she has never been to a Neurologist.

I would appreciate it if anyone could offer any help. She cries nearly every day, and as I speak, she is crying herself to sleep. I don't want to see her in this agony any more, as she shouldn't have to go through this pain every day - no one should.

Thank you for any help that I recieve,

Regards, and God bless you always,

Steven.

[SanjpatelMD]

Thanks Steven,

Do you know whether your mother has any "electric shock"like pains that come and go quickly in short stabs?

Irrespective of the cause of her pain there are many ways of helping her deal with it.

Please could you give me a list of any / all pain meds / other methods that have been tried

all the best

[Everything]

Thanks for the response!

She has no electrical, stab like pains. That is a sign of trigeminal neuralgia, isn't it? Nevertheless, her doctor has prescribed her pills to cure Trigeminal Neuraligia I think. Here is all the medication she has taken;

[*]Pain Killers (Ibroprofen, Anadin etc.)
[*]Pregablin
[*]Amityptiline (no longer takes it I think)

Thanks again for the response!

- Steven.

[SanjpatelMD]

Sorry about the delayed reply...I was at the AAN meeting and have been snowed-under since.

I think that a trip to the neurologist would certainly be advised. If no physical cause of the pain is present then she may have a type of trigeminal neuropathy that may be causing her pain. This can occur in a variety of conditions including autoimmune conditions such as Sjogrens syndrome.

In terms of the symptomatic relief, there are some other possibilities around these days, personally I have had very good results with cymbalta (duloxetine) in this sort of situation. It may be worth asking about this drug.

Let me know how it goes.

SP