Sorry about that...

TN = Trigeminal Neuralgia...painful and frustrating. I am blessed that mine doesn't appear to be as bad as many I've read. I feel so for them. I had a LARGE cyst in my right maxiallary sinus (dr. said largest he'd removed or even heard of). I think the TN began then. Then, I had the SEVERE debilitating pain that others live with. What I have now is exactly the same but to a lesser degree. I had two reconstructive surgeries on the right sinuses, then another with a dual procedure. The subsequent surgeries probably weren't necessary as we realize now than I had the TN then...nor were the teeth that removed necessary to remove it's been suggested. It was a long 16 yr. battle to find out what was wrong with me...after several surgeries and teeth removal. I thought I'd gone over the edge and I think the dr's did as well.

That's that story...lol.

The biofeedback I had was because I hyperventilated at a low level CONTINUOUSLY. I'd always told the p'doc if I could breathe, I wouldn't need the xanax because I didn't think I'd panic anymore. He wanted to trick my brain to keep from having them daily and let it know that the panic could be controlled. When they were under control with meds, we were able to get busy.

He sent me to a dr. in his office that did biofeedback. I was young and I don't know what type it was. I can explain it though.

In my first, and every session, he hooked me up to some equipment that read different things in my body as far as reactions and muscle tension go. I do really well with seeing things proof positive, or in black and white.

He showed me on a computer screen how I was literally off the charts in all after just a second of silence. It was that way every time. We then worked to find things that helped to bring me down. It was found that intellectual stimulation and repetitive actions brought me way down, really quickly.

He had me do things like count backward from 100 by 7, etc. He then would show me in black and white.

After a few visits with this and practicing at home which really helped, we attacked my breathing issue. I couldn't even talk about it...whew.

He said only I could practice this when I felt I could but I MUST. He told me what I had to do. He first explained that I was hyperventilating because I was breathing off the top of my lungs...continually and rapidly. The bottom part wasn't getting enough oxygen and constantly starving for it, thus sending the signal to my brain to take a deep breath. However, just short of that deep breath, I couldn't get it! He explained that I was doing that because the top part of my lungs (where I was breathing from) was saying NO MORE.

He said he'd be asking me to do the most scary thing in the moment...to breathe all my precious air out!!!! All of it...till there was no more. Wait a couple of seconds then try to take the cleansing breath. The first few times I tried, it didn't work, then it did! Because I would blow it all out, the top part of my lungs weren't freaking and I could get oxygen to the bottom part by making sure that my belly was expanding too.

I literally had to learn how to breathe right. Trip, huh?

I went off all meds cold turkey (I do not advice that but it's a long story. I was dissociative and it didn't effect me) and returned to the p'doc to say I was cured...lol. He was in shock and said it's a miracle I didn't end up in the hosp with convulsions or something but was happy for me since I was fine...lol. I went for a follow-up and didn't go back.

I still kept my xanax around for a while, and still needed it at times. However, once I'd practiced for a few months, I was able to stop the hyperventilating, then the panic. I might've had one panic attack per year that I couldn't control...when it came on so fast that I couldn't control.

He had told me that I needed psychotherapy because I couldn't ignore what was told him one day. I asked him what he was talking about and he told me. I had no memory of it, and he knew I didn't. I had started therapy just before I no longer saw him. That's when I really started healing...

Long story, but that's it.

KD