A mum says she is unable to leave the house during cold weather due to a rare disease that means the wind or cold leaves her in 'excruciating pain'. Gabrielle De'Athe is left feeling like she's being 'electrocuted and stabbed' in the face from just seconds of cold exposure.

The 34-year-old first started experiencing pain around her mouth and cheek in January 2023 but assumed it was a tooth infection. R epeated visits to the dentist and even root canal treatment didn't clear it up and she was told her teeth were in fact 'perfect'.

When the pain worsened over the following months and caused her to pass out, Gabrielle visited her GP but was allegedly 'fobbed off' for more than two years. It got to the point that she was 'screaming' in pain because her facial attacks became so severe but it was only in May 2025 that she was finally diagnosed with Atypical Trigeminal Neuralgia (ATN).

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The condition is so painful it is commonly dubbed the 'suicide disease' and usually features short but unpredictable attacks of a sudden, severe facial pain, caused by the compression of the trigeminal nerve inside the skull. After waiting for surgery to cure her she was then diagnosed with Paroxysmal Hemicrania in November 2025, which is a debilitating one-sided headache affecting the area around the eye.

Gabrielle says her condition is now unresponsive to pain medication but she's been refused surgery due to the combination of the two conditions meaning doctors believe it unlikely to fix both elements. The pain attacks, which can last for days, have left the mum-of-two feeling like a 'recluse' as she was forced to quit her job as an aesthetician and is housebound during winter.

She says the condition has 'taken over her life' as even brushing her teeth and eating can trigger them. The former aesthetician has set up a GoFundMe page to try and raise £40,000 for complex facial surgery that is only offered in the US that could 'give her life back' if successful.

Now she wants to spread awareness about chronic pain conditions and encourage sufferers to 'keep fighting'. Gabrielle, from Hackney, London, said: "I'm terrified of going outside and during winter months I'm pretty much housebound.

"[About three years ago] I started to experience some pain around my mouth and cheek area so I thought it was tooth problems so I was going to the dentists. I had a few root canals and they were saying 'there's nothing wrong, your teeth are perfect'. The pain felt like tooth pain.

"I was going to the hospital because I was passing out with this pain being so severe. They were brushing it off as something was wrong with my teeth. I had these root canals and there was no improvement, it was getting worse. Then they said 'we think you have a bone infection' and put me on antibiotics but the problem just kept getting worse.

"I've always had pretty good teeth and no problems. All of a sudden I thought 'why am I having all these problems'. I don't really eat sweet stuff and I just couldn't understand it. Every few weeks I had these attacks going on and they were so severe that when they happened I'd be floored.

"It's like being electrocuted and stabbed repeatedly in the face. I quite often pass out because the pain is so intense. One time I had a bad attack I went to the hospital and they were saying 'no it's definitely teeth problems'. I was being fobbed off constantly and it was awful.

"I knew something else was going on. This was too severe, you know your body when something this bad is happening. It made me feel completely worthless and like my life didn't matter. It's the worst feeling in the world to be overlooked like that."

Gabrielle admitted her body has stopped responding to pain medication and she now experiences seizures after being put on anti-epilepsy medication. The wind and cold affect her so badly that she is restricted indoors most of the time and has to do all her shopping online.

Gabrielle said: "It's taken over my life. Over the last six months it deteriorated rapidly and I don't have much of a quality of life. There are no words to describe [the pain]. I have two children and I'd rather have 10 babies back to back than go through this pain. It makes childbirth look like nothing.

"As soon as I go outside and the cold wind touches my face it causes an attack. Just two seconds of being in that cold affects me. It's literally like I've become a recluse because of it when the weather's this bad. During winter months I'm pretty much housebound.

"I do still have the attacks in the summer but they're not as severe and warmer weather really helps me. Even down to brushing my teeth triggers me and eating and people touching my face. The smallest things trigger me so it's really hard to manage because they're everyday things we have to do.

"I've lost who I am. I had a brilliant social life and was always out. Because it's neurological, it's really impacted by stress. I'm constantly worrying about my next attack, which brings on attacks. Some attacks are manageable and I don't have to necessarily go to hospital. I'm screaming at home and can't do anything but I know when my body is going to calm down from it.

"Other times it comes on fast and I know I have to get to the hospital and they sedate me because they don't know how to treat it. It impacts me massively. My son has autism and he requires a high level of care. I'm lucky to have [my daughter] but it's a shame because she's had to become an adult.

"It's horrible because I feel useless. I sit there thinking 'please don't let me wake up when this happens, I just can't do this anymore'. I feel like a burden on people and I can't be the mum I used to be. It wasn't safe for me to work anymore and I was putting other people's lives at risk. It was completely heartbreaking. I was at the height of my career and was doing amazing."

Now she is hoping to raise enough funds to get advanced surgery in the US and hopes to raise awareness about chronic pain conditions and urge sufferers to 'keep fighting'. G abrielle said: "[The surgery would] be completely life changing and I'd get my life back. Currently there's not much quality in my life.

"I want there to be more awareness about chronic pain conditions in general and how they're dealt with in hospitals. People with chronic pain conditions unfortunately do end up on opioids and the reality is we do become dependent. It doesn't make us a 'druggy' but we live with excruciating pain and should be treated like humans.

"Unfortunately you're not when you're diagnosed with an illness like this. They strip you of your pride. The only advice I can give is you have to keep fighting because [doctors] will overlook you. At times I feel like I'm going mad with this."

You can donate to Gabrielle's GoFundMe page here, https://www.gofundme.com/f/your-help-my-relief-seeking-treatment-abroad-for-tn-ph