Exclusive | I spent 7 years battling the excruciating suicide disease I couldnt even smile without pain

Natisha “Tish” Long is familiar with what’s considered to be the most agonizing sensations known to humans.Since 2018, an unbearable “shocking, throbbing pain” would course through her face at random, lasting from seconds to minutes each time. “When I got my shocks, it was all-in-one, everything hit me,” she told The Post.Every second that passed felt like an eternity.

“It’s just there and you’re waiting for it to ease up.Sometimes I’d have to stop and just wait until that whole shock was over with before I could function.”The mom of four has trigeminal neuralgia, a neurological condition nicknamed the “suicide disease” because of how brutal its episodes are.“You can’t smile, you can’t brush your teeth, you can’t wash your face.

Any little thing, the wind hitting it, it’s pain,” Long said.It’s no surprise that these episodes cause extreme emotional distress, anxiety and depression.It’s not just a nickname — research shows people with this disease are at increased risk of suicide and self harm.But experts are trying to move away from the nickname because treatment options are available that provide long-term relief.

After seven long years, Long found it for herself with a first-in-the-world procedure at University Hospitals in Ohio.“It was very, very hard to function because I still had to work and be a mom,” she said.“I was working through pain … I don’t know how I did it.

When I look back, I’m like, how did I go to work for 12 hours and put like this little game face on?”Her condition stole both her signature smile and bubbly personality.“At work, people could see [the pain] in my face,” she said.They’d ask her what’s wrong, and in response, “I had to mumble.

I couldn’t really open my mouth too much so I wouldn’t get triggered; I tried to be as quiet as possible.”It all started with tingling on her upper jaw.She saw a dentist multiple times, who couldn’t find anything wrong.

She w...