My last post let you know that my Neurologist had prescribed Effexor XR to help with my burning neuralgia.

At 37.5 mg, per day there was no discernible effect. We went up to 75 mg.

After a while at this level, I noticed that the burning had become more of an intense tingling for part of the day. I reported this to my Neurologist and he suggested we double the dosage.

At 150 mg I began to notice that even the tingling was lessening for most of the day. Some days it was hardly discernible until late afternoon when it would sometimes get too intense and I would need one dose of Clonazepam ODT .5 mg to control it. (I am approved for up to 2 mg of Clonazepam a day, so this is a small dose.)

I reported these changes as I approached a month of the 150 mg dose, and asked what he would recommend. He responded that we should give this dose another month and see if accumulated time makes any additional difference. I agreed, and so this is what we are doing!

After over fourteen years of Burning Mouth pain, tingling is a blessing. Is the pain all gone?

No.

Do I flare after teeth cleanings?

Yes.

I am cautiously optimistic that this medicine is helping me cope with the burning neuralgia, and it has no discernible side effects for me. Its advantage over Clonazepam ODT is that there is not even drowsiness to deal with and since I take my dose of Clonazepam late in the afternoon or after dinner, the drowsiness I get from that medication just helps me drift off to sleep faster at bedtime.

I am not a doctor and make no claims in that area, but if you have been dealing with the pain of Burning Mouth for a while and have a diagnosis, it might be worth talking with your doctor about Effexor XR. It may not be right for you for a variety of reasons but you won’t know unless you ask.

My recommendation as a patient is always to keep a pain diary of some sort. It is difficult to track your pain cycles from memory and it is so helpful to be able to accurately correlate results (or the lack of them) to your dosages for your doctor. Interested in learning more about pain diaries? Here is a post I wrote about them. Gaming the Pain

Another post you may find useful is a pain chart for chronic pain. Chronic Pain Scale

I will update you with another post soon to share how it is going. My prayers are with you!