Facing Neuralgia , livre ebook

Title Page






FACING NEURALGIA






Wendy Evans




Publisher Information


First published in 2006 by
Apex Publishing Ltd
PO Box 7086, Clacton on Sea, Essex, CO15 5WN, England
www.apexpublishing.co.uk


Digital Edition converted and distributed in 2011 by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com


Copyright © 2006 by Wendy Evans
The author has asserted his moral rights


All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition, that no part of this book is to be reproduced, in any shape or form. Or by way of trade, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser, without prior permission of the copyright holder.


Production Manager: Chris Cowlin
Cover Design: Andrew Macey




Introduction

I was told I needed a psychiatrist, but what I really needed was a brain surgeon! How wrong could the doctors have been?
After eighteen long months of disbelief and frustration, a diagnosis of “glossopharyngeal neuralgia” was made – a painful nerve disease, which left me depressed and at times suicidal.
However, five years after the onset of my symptoms, I am now in control of the disease, and back in control of my life. It has been a long and arduous journey, and not one that I would wish any other human being to endure.




Acknowledgements

Dr. Kevin Soh
The complexity of my symptoms left my doctors unable to reach a definitive diagnosis for almost eighteen months. As my illness was relatively rare, there were few people who shared my painful condition.
When I first came across Dr. Soh’s paper on Glossopharyngeal Neuralgia I was convinced that this was what I had been suffering from for some time. I wrote to Dr. Soh in order to seek his opinion regarding my problematic symptoms. He was kind enough to reply sharing his experience of patients with similar painful symptoms.
Over the torturous months that followed, in my darkest hours of despair, Dr. Soh became my lifeline. When my own doctors failed to offer me sanctuary from this painful condition, Dr. Soh assured me that this nerve disease could be tamed through various surgical procedures.
I wish to acknowledge Dr. Soh’s kindness and sincerity during an extremely difficult time in my life. His knowledge and empathy for Glossopharyngeal Neuralgia remain unequivocal.

Ian Barber
The results I achieved through alternative treatments have been life changing to say the least. When I began receiving Bowen and Craniosacral Therapy, I was a little sceptical. Even my therapist, Ian Barber, humbly told me to expect nothing. However, as the months passed by, the weekly treatments I received from him began to make a difference. My progress was slow, but noticeable nonetheless.
Ian’s treatments enabled me to wean myself off a concoction of pain killing and nerve suppressant drugs. For me, this truly was a miracle. Ian, however, insists that he was merely a catalyst for the achieved results.
I owe Ian Barber much gratitude for his compassion and honesty, moreover, his knowledge and skilful application of these truly miraculous therapies.



The Onset of Symptoms

We all take our health for granted; that is, until something goes wrong. For me, it went frightfully wrong. I became a teacher who could no longer teach, a singer who could no longer sing. I had lost my way in life – my career had been cruelly cut short, and my talent for singing was lost.
This was all due to a very rare nerve disease called “glossopharyngeal neuralgia” (GPN). However, this diagnosis was only considered after eighteen long months of disbelief and opposition from the medical profession. It was an extremely frustrating time for my family and myself.
In March 2000 I developed laryngitis as a result of using my voice excessively in both teaching and singing. I had suffered from laryngitis twice in the past, and consequently I was aware of how important it was to rest my voice. After several weeks my voice improved, but did not fully recover. I continued to teach and sing, which, in hindsight, was a huge mistake.
In July 2000 I suffered a second bout of laryngitis; however, this time I lost my voice fully for about a week. It was a further two weeks before I could speak again, but my voice remained very weak and I knew I needed to see a doctor.
My GP arranged a consultation with an ear, nose and throat (ENT) Specialist, Dr Bayliss, who performed an endoscopy. He assured me that my vocal cords were fine, but a little strained, and suggested voice therapy. I attended weekly voice therapy sessions for approximately eight months and, although my voice improved, I still found it very uncomfortable and difficult to talk. My voice remained weak, and I had then developed a problem with swallowing on the right side of my throat. There was persistent discomfort – as though something was lodged in my throat.
I decided to seek a second opinion, so my GP arranged for me to see another ENT consultant, Mr Preece. I underwent another endoscopy, and was told that my vocal cords were fine, and that I should continue with voice therapy. He explained that the uncomfortable, foreign body sensation in my throat was a condition called globus, and that it would settle down in time. I trusted Mr Preece implicitly, and hoped that, in time, my throat problems would improve. Alas, they did not. In fact, by December 2000 my health had deteriorated rapidly. I was suffering from horrific throat pain, I felt fatigued, and large yellowish stones emanated from my tonsils. My mother suggested the possibility of tonsillitis and insisted I ask the doctor whether this was the reason behind my symptoms.
I attended a follow-up appointment with Dr Bayliss and asked him if I could be suffering from tonsillitis. Once more, he assured me that there was nothing wrong. However, due to the intensity and unrelenting nature of the pain I insisted upon another appointment with Dr Bayliss. My father accompanied me this time, in the hope that we could finally get to the bottom of my continued health problems. But, yet again, I was told there was nothing wrong with me, and that my tonsils were fine.
During the consultation, Dr Bayliss became impatient with me and insisted that there was nothing wrong with my throat. He asked to speak to my father alone, and told him that I was suffering from stress, and advised him to persuade me to attend a stress-counselling course. My father, thankfully, disagreed with Dr Bayliss, and insisted that further tests were carried out to fully investigate my throat pain. In the end, Dr Bayliss agreed to organise a barium swallow test, in order to rule out acid reflux.
I was relieved to be notified that a barium swallow test had been arranged, but completely horrified to find out that it would be ten weeks later. The pain was unbearable, and I could not understand why I felt so fatigued. I was also aware of heaviness down the right side of my body, which left me apathetic and completely drained. To make matters worse, by March 2001 I had developed sharp, stabbing pains, which radiated from my throat to my ears.
The barium swallow test results came up normal – there was no acid reflux causing pain or soreness to my throat. I was relieved that this was ruled out, but still perplexed as to what the problem could be. Therefore, I attended a further consultation with Mr Preece. My GP assured me that if anyone could sort out my throat problems once and for all, it would be Mr Preece. I trusted his judgement, and attended a second consultation.
During this consultation, I explained to Mr Preece that my continued throat pain had not improved, and that the foreign body sensation was in fact worse, particularly on the right side of my throat. I described to him how I was continually tired, and that the sharp shooting pains were persistent, particularly in my right ear. In addition, I told him about the large, yellowish stones emanating from my tonsils and asked several times if I could be suffering from tonsillitis. He interrupted me by telling me to “Shut up”. I was extremely emotional and was adamant that there was something really wrong with my throat. However, he was equally adamant that my symptoms were simply psychosomatic. He told me I was clinically depressed, and assured me everything in my throat was fine.
My husband, Duncan, and I had booked a holiday in April and, although still very poorly, Mr Preece insisted that a holiday was an excellent idea. But it was a total disaster – I was in terrible pain and felt extremely lethargic. I telephoned my parents from Spain, and they arranged for me to attend an emergency appointment upon my return.
By this time my trust in the medical profession was fading fast. There had to be a more convincing explanation for my symptoms than stress and depression. I had, in fact, suffered from depression for about twelve months during the early years of my teaching career, but I received support from my school and regularly took medication, which helped enormously. I knew what depression felt like, and my throat pain drew no resemblance to this whatsoever. Admittedly, I was very upset, but this was the result of my throat and ear pain – not the cause. I had to trust my symptoms, not mistrust my reaction to them.
I began researching tonsillitis for myself, and I dis