A woman who fell through a trap door has ended up with a rare pain condition nicknamed 'suicide disease' because it makes patients wish they were dead.
Annabelle Woods, 35, developed trigeminal neuralgia – a nerve pain condition affecting the face and head – after falling at work.
She now gets a stabbing pain 'like an ice pick' in her head and part of her face is paralysed as a result of the condition, which affects around one in 10,000 people.
Annabelle Woods, 35, has suffered from nerve pain, migraines and paralysis in her face since she fell through a trap door at work 14 years ago (pictured at home having oxygen therapy, which can be used to treat nerve damage)
Mrs Woods, pictured with her husband, Richard, said her face 'either feels like it is ice cold or on fire'. She uses Lidocaine anaesthetic facial patches (pictured) to help
Mrs Woods, from Ilfracombe in Devon, fell through a trap door at the pub where she worked in 2005, and developed the condition soon afterwards.
'I was talking to a customer and suddenly half my face was paralysed for about 30 seconds,' she said.
'This kept happening and started getting more painful. I took myself to a doctor as people started to notice my face looking droopy.'
Mrs Woods went to see her GP who diagnosed her with a combination of conditions, including trigeminal neuralgia, chronic migraines and cluster headaches.
She said: 'Diagnosis was by my GP which was a lot easier than some people as my symptoms tied in with my accident immediately.
'I'm always having tests for multiple sclerosis (MS) as the neurologist believes it may develop into that too over the years as my nerves are so damaged.'
The symptoms have reportedly been described by some doctors as 'the most severe pain you can imagine'.
Her condition has left Mrs Woods completely debilitated on several occasions.
Mrs Woods, from Ilfracombe in Devon, fell through a trap door at the pub where she worked in 2005, and developed the condition soon afterwards. Pictured in 2016
Mrs Woods, pictured in 2016 with Mr Woods, has been left completely debilitated on several occasions due to the pain
To combat the pain, Mrs Woods takes a number of treatments including oxygen therapy, pain killers and Botox injections in her neck, scalp and shoulders to help prevent migraines
Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN) is defined as a 'sudden, severe, brief, stabbing pain occurring in attacks lasting at the most a few seconds usually only on one side of the face and provoked by light touch'.
Patients describe such attacks as being like an electric shock, with
