I Have Been Having Migraines For Over 15 Years Trigeminal Neuralgia

Posted on Tue, 18 Aug 2020

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 18 Aug 2020 Answered on

2 days ago Last reviewed on

Question : I have been having migraines for over 15 years. I was diagnosed with trigemenal neuralgia about 7 years ago. When applying for benefits, I was told that the migraines I have been having is related to the trigeminal neuralgia and called it a

Answered by Dr. Sudhir Kumar (22 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
The differences are listed below

Detailed Answer:
Thank you for getting back.

I will try to summarize the differences:

1. Migraine affects children and young adults; whereas trigeminal neuralgia (TN) affects adults and older population.

2. Migraine is linked to hormones and therefore more common in women between puberty and menopause. No such thing is observed with TN.

3. Migraine causes headache, whereas TN causes facial pain.

4. In TN, the commonest cause is a blood vessel pressing the trigeminal nerve. No such finding is noted in migraine.

5. Pain of TN is triggered with chewing, shaving, washing face, etc. Such things are not observed with migraine.

6. Pain of migraine is triggered with exposure to light and noise, which is not seen with TN.

7. Patients with migraine respond to propranolol, topiramate and divalproex tablets, whereas patients with TN do not respond to these medicines.

8. Patients with TN respond to carbamazepine, whereas patients with migraine do not respond to it.

9. In refractory cases of TN, radiofrequency ablation and microvascular decompression surgery help, whereas these procedures do not help migraine patients.

Dr Sudhir Kumar MD DM

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Sudhir Kumar (6 minutes later)

Thank you and I appreciate that response. Can you provide your or a medical opinion in as why they are different? I'm trying to gather information to support why it is different. So just saying that it is different without medical evidence or literature will not suffice my need. Thank you for taking the time to assist and give me the information I need.

Answered by Dr. Sudhir Kumar (14 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
My pleasure.

Detailed Answer:
Thank you and best wishes,

Dr Sudhir Kumar MD DM

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Sudhir Kumar (16 minutes later)

Thank you again. This information has really helped me. I will close out this discussion and review you highly. Thank you again.