Glossopharyngeal Neuralgia
Treatment
- This type of pain is of too short duration to catch it with an abortive, or “as-needed” treatment. Therefore, the goal of treatment is focused on preventive therapy: What to take on a daily basis to try to lessen the frequency and/or severity of the pain. Preventive medicines can take several weeks to start working, assuming the correct dose of the medication is reached. These are the medications used most commonly, although this is not an all-inclusive list.
- Anti-convulsant (Anti-seizure) medications:
---Carbamazepine (Tegretol)
---Oxcarbazepine (Trileptal)
---Gabapentin (Neurontin)
---Pregabalin (Lyrica)
---Topiramate (Topamax)
---Lamotrigine (Lamictal)
---Divalproex sodium (Depakote)
---Lacosamide (Vimpat)
---Zonisamide (Zonegran)
- Anti-depressant/Anti-anxiety medications:
---Amitriptyline (Elavil)
---Nortriptyline (Pamelor)
---Venlafaxine XR (Effexor XR)
---Desvenlafaxine (Pristiq)
---Duloxetine (Cymbalta)
- Others:
---Glossopharyngeal nerve block
---Glossopharyngeal microvascular decompression
