Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

Is there any dietary angle to trigeminal neuralgia?

Having been diagnosed with a mild form of the condition, being on this WOE has seemed to help. By my experiences are merely antidotal. And like I said my form is very mild . Medically, I don't think anyone has made a diet-disease connection, but there are lots of sites that say a good diet (Mcdougall) helps.

j

I think that we've got a handle on the trigeminal neuralgia. The afflicted person is feeling much better and has stopped saying the "s" word (suicide). The problem only seems to crop up in the winter. When I started researching the condition, I found that his case is atypical for trigeminal neuralgia but fits in better with a condition called SUNA, which hasn't yet been differentiated from SUNCT in the International Headache Society's diagnostic manual. I found an article that said that SUNA could be seasonal, which suggested to me that his problem could be a result of sunshine deficiency. I suggested that he start using a phototherapy light box and go to the tanning salon. He started feeling much better within 24 hours of starting the light therapy. He has been largely pain-free all day unless he absent-mindedly rubs his face, but he is still getting a blast of unprovoked pain at about 11 pm. Against my advice, he has postponed his appointment with the neurologist. He wants to wait and see how much better he feels after a few more tanning sessions. I want him to talk to the neurologist about indomethacin, intranasal lidocaine, and a TENS unit. I found a clinical trial that showed that people with trigeminal neuralgia benefited from using a TENS unit. I also found one case report of a patient with trigeminal neuralgia who got complete, long-term relief after getting one unintentionally large zap from a TENS unit.

bluestocking wrote: Against my advice, he has postponed his appointment with the neurologist. He wants to wait and see how much better he feels after a few more tanning sessions. I want him to talk to the neurologist about indomethacin, intranasal lidocaine, and a TENS unit. I found a clinical trial that showed that people with trigeminal neuralgia benefited from using a TENS unit. I also found one case report of a patient with trigeminal neuralgia who got complete, long-term relief after getting one unintentionally large zap from a TENS unit.

I am confused. Are you an MD? Has the Trigeminal neuralgia been diagnosed by a Neurologist? Was a brain MRI done?

j

His neurologist diagnosed trigeminal neuralgia and did an MRI last year, but it didn't show anything interesting.

His case doesn't quite fit the criteria for classical trigeminal neuralgia because it affects the first branch, rather than the second and third branches, of the trigeminal nerve:
http://ihs-classification.org/en/02_kla ... lpain.html

It's not SUNCT because his eye on the affected side doesn't turn red:
http://ihs-classification.org/en/02_kla ... uster.html

SUNA hasn't yet been incorporated into the International Headache Syndrome's classification system, but it provides a perfect fit with his symptoms:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18325769

His red blood cell count is a bit low and the mean cell volume is a bit on the high side. The doctor prescribed some extra folic acid because the medication he's taking to relieve the neuralgia interferes with folic acid metabolism somehow. I insisted on a B12 test, which showed that he had low B12 but not an out-and-out deficiency. He wasn't taking a B12 supplement because he's not a vegan. I got him some high-potency methylcobalamin lozenges. Then I found this:

http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/2167-0846.1000109

"Researchers now propose that the current
standard norms of vitamin B12 levels are too low and the criterion for a low vitamin B12 syndrome should be increased
at least to 205 pg/mL, if not to 350 pg/mL. It is possible that low vitamin B12 levels fails to sustain the demand
of repair to the myelin from a nerve that is continuously being traumatised and may be one of the explanations
why trigeminal neuralgia pain is intermittent. Vitamin B12 supplements may therefore have a role in the treatment of
trigeminal neuralgia."