Updated 29 Oct 2026
At a glance
- The NHS describes trigeminal neuralgia as sudden, severe facial pain, often like a sharp shooting pain or an electric shock in the jaw, teeth, or gums (NHS trigeminal neuralgia guidance).
- It says trigeminal neuralgia can happen when the trigeminal nerve is damaged by another medical condition, such as multiple sclerosis (NHS trigeminal neuralgia guidance).
- It says attacks usually last from a few seconds to about 2 minutes and are usually brought on by lightly touching the face, such as washing, eating, and brushing the teeth (NHS trigeminal neuralgia guidance).
- Multiple Sclerosis Journey is a phone app (iPhone and Android) for tracking MS that keeps symptoms, medicines, and visits in one dated history.
A jolt of facial pain lasts seconds, then stops. By the time you see your neurology team, a hundred of them have blurred into "my face hurts sometimes".
This guide covers what to log about trigeminal neuralgia with MS: each attack, where it is, what set it off, the run of days, and medicine changes. Your team decides the cause and the treatment.
Log each attack, even the short ones
The NHS says trigeminal neuralgia usually happens in short, unpredictable attacks that can last from a few seconds to about 2 minutes, and that the attacks stop as suddenly as they start (NHS trigeminal neuralgia guidance). It says people may have attacks regularly for days, weeks, or months at a time, and in severe cases hundreds of times a day (NHS trigeminal neuralgia guidance).
On heavy days, logging every attack is not realistic. Log a tally instead: a mark per attack, a rough count by morning, afternoon, and evening, and one score from 0 to 10 for the worst.
On lighter days, log the clock time and length of each one. Both kinds of entry show the same thing over weeks: more attacks, fewer, or a change in how bad they feel.
In Multiple Sclerosis Journey, the Daily check-in holds the score and the count.
Log the side and the place
The NHS says that in most cases trigeminal neuralgia affects just one side of the face, with the pain usually felt in the lower part of the face, and that very occasionally it can affect both sides (NHS trigeminal neuralgia guidance). It is often felt in the jaw, teeth, or gums (NHS trigeminal neuralgia guidance).
It advises seeing a GP for frequent or persistent facial pain, particularly if standard painkillers such as paracetamol and ibuprofen do not help and a dentist has ruled out any dental causes (NHS trigeminal neuralgia guidance). So note any dental visits and what the dentist found.
Log the side and the exact area each day, in the same words: left lower jaw, right upper gum, cheek. If the place shifts, or the other side starts, write the date.
In Multiple Sclerosis Journey, the Daily Journal keeps the place in your words.
Log what set it off
The NHS says attacks are usually brought on by activities that involve lightly touching the face, such as washing, eating, and brushing the teeth, and that they can also be triggered by wind, even a slight breeze (NHS trigeminal neuralgia guidance).
Beside each attack, tick the trigger if there was one: washing, eating, drinking, brushing teeth, talking, wind, or none. A run of "eating" ticks explains why meals have shrunk, which matters given the next point.
The NHS says living with trigeminal neuralgia can be very difficult and can lead to problems such as weight loss, isolation, and depression (NHS trigeminal neuralgia guidance). If you are skipping meals or plans to avoid attacks, log that too; it belongs in the visit.
In Multiple Sclerosis Journey, the Food Tracker shows meals missed on bad days.
Log the run of days and the quiet weeks
The NHS says the pain may improve or even disappear for several months or years at a time (remission), although these periods tend to get shorter with time, and that some people then develop a more continuous aching, throbbing, or burning sensation, sometimes with the sharp attacks (NHS trigeminal neuralgia guidance).
For MS, it says symptoms may come, called flare-ups or relapses, and go, called remissions, and may get worse over time (NHS MS guidance).
Mark the first and last day of each run of attacks, and the start of any quiet spell. If a new aching or burning appears between sharp attacks, log the date and the words you would use for it.
For a wider picture of quiet weeks, see what to tell your MS team between visits.
In Multiple Sclerosis Journey, the Flare Tracker marks the runs.
Log medicine changes and bring the record
The NHS says an anticonvulsant called carbamazepine is the first treatment usually recommended, that it needs to be taken several times a day, and that the dose is gradually increased over a few days or weeks (NHS trigeminal neuralgia guidance). It says stopping it in remission should always be done slowly, over days or weeks, unless a doctor tells you otherwise (NHS trigeminal neuralgia guidance).
It says that if this medicine does not help, causes too many side effects, or you cannot take it, you may be referred to a specialist (NHS trigeminal neuralgia guidance). For MS, it lists medicine to treat pain, vision problems, and other symptoms (NHS MS guidance).
Log each dose step with its date, any side effects, and the attack count that week. Bring it all, with questions written down. For a one-page format, see a one-page sheet for a 15-minute MS visit; for eye pain, see eye pain with MS.
In Multiple Sclerosis Journey, My Meds keeps each change and the Doctor Report brings it together.
How Multiple Sclerosis Journey can help
A notebook can hold one bad day. The harder part is keeping attacks, triggers, and medicine steps in one dated record.
Multiple Sclerosis Journey is a personal MS tracker from Health Journey Labs on the App Store and Google Play. It records symptoms, medicines, test dates, and visits in one dated history. For a side-by-side look at MS trackers, see the best multiple sclerosis apps in 2026. Below is what you can use and how each part helps:
- My Meds — Medicine names and timing, including disease-modifying therapies and symptom medicines, so you can line up timing with fatigue and function weeks.
- Daily check-in — A short guided pass across symptoms, mood, nutrition, sleep, exercise, meds, and external factors, including fatigue, mobility or sensation, and fog.
- Flare Tracker — Mark a day clearly worse than your usual hard week, with a category, intensity, and duration, so you can tell a one-off spike from a pattern.
- Daily Journal — Freer notes, including voice when fog or fatigue makes typing hard, such as heat or travel context and workplace asks.
- Weekly Goals — Set one small aim, such as a short rest before the hottest part of the day or a daily stretching routine, and see whether it held.
- My Labs — Result dates for MRI, spinal fluid, blood counts, vitamin D, or other tests, so each result sits next to how you felt that month.
- AI companions — Clara and specialist companions already see your logged history, which helps with visit wording or pacing ideas.
- Doctor Report — Two views: the Appointment Planning Report, a list of questions to prepare before a visit, and Generate Report, a dated summary of your recent progress to show a doctor saved in My Care Team.
- My Care Team — A profile for each clinician, plus visit notes used before, during, and after appointments.
- Learn — Short education topics on fatigue, heat sensitivity, pacing, relapse versus bad day, and visit preparation.
- My Assessments — Structured check-ins that add context about you across weeks.
- Period Tracker — Cycle dates and flow, so you can line up cycle timing with fatigue, fog, or heat weeks.
- Food Tracker — Meal and drink lines when food, caffeine, or alcohol comes with worse energy, sleep, or fog days.
- Weight Tracker — Weight entries when weight is part of what you and your clinician are watching.
Everything you log builds one history. Guided forms include the key questions, and you can add custom symptoms when you need your own labels. Multiple Sclerosis Journey is free to download.
We make Multiple Sclerosis Journey at Health Journey Labs. This guide is educational and does not replace care from your clinicians; for diagnosis and treatment decisions, work with your treating clinicians.
Sources
FAQ
Can MS cause trigeminal neuralgia?
The NHS says it can happen when the trigeminal nerve is damaged by another condition, such as MS.
In Multiple Sclerosis Journey, the Doctor Report brings the dates.
How long does an attack last?
The NHS says from a few seconds to about 2 minutes, stopping as suddenly as it starts.
In Multiple Sclerosis Journey, the Daily check-in holds the count.
What triggers attacks?
The NHS says light touch such as washing, eating, and brushing teeth, and even a slight breeze.
In Multiple Sclerosis Journey, the Daily Journal keeps the triggers.
Should I log medicine dose changes?
Yes, log each dose step with its date and that week's attack count.
In Multiple Sclerosis Journey, the My Meds keeps each change.
How private is a MS log?
A MS log can hold symptoms, dates, and medicines. Treat any digital log as private, and on paper, keep it somewhere only you control and share it only when you choose.
The app's own security screen lists Multiple Sclerosis Journey as HIPAA-ready and GDPR compliant, with AES-256 encryption for your data. You choose what to share with partners or clinicians.