Treatment
Medications are the typical initial treatment for trigeminal neuralgia.
Medications are often effective in lessening or blocking the pain
signals sent to your brain. A number of drugs are available. If you stop
responding to a particular medication or experience too many side
effects, there's always the potential to switch to another one.
The
medications used to treat trigeminal neuralgia include:
-
Carbamazepine (Tegretol, Carbatrol).
Carbamazepine, an anticonvulsant drug, is the most common medication
used to treat trigeminal neuralgia. In the early stages of the
disease, carbamazepine controls pain for the majority of people.
However, the effectiveness of carbamazepine decreases over time.
Side effects include dizziness, double vision, sleepiness and
nausea.
-
Baclofen (Lioresal).
Baclofen is a muscle relaxant. Its effectiveness may increase when
it's used in combination with carbamazepine or phenytoin. Side
effects include confusion, mental depression and severe drowsiness.
-
Phenytoin (Dilantin, Phenytex).
Phenytoin, another anticonvulsant medication, was the first
medication used to treat trigeminal neuralgia. Its effectiveness may
increase when it's used in combination with carbamazepine or
baclofen. Side effects include severe drowsiness.
-
Oxcarbazepine (Trileptal).
Oxcarbazepine is an antiseizure medication. Side effects
include dizziness and double vision.
Some
people with trigeminal neuralgia eventually stop responding to their
medications or they experience side effects. For those people, surgery —
or a combination of surgery and medications — may be an option.
