Review Question - QID 213724

A 30-year-old man presents to his primary care physician with complaints of recurrent facial pain. He states that for the past several months, he has had recurrent episodes of shooting pain in his bilateral cheeks that lasts for a few seconds to a few minutes. He has a few episodes every week, and these sometimes occur multiple times in 1 day. The patient has not tried treating the pain with anything except avoiding facial movements or stimulation during the episodes. On exam, his temperature is 98.8°F (37.1°C), blood pressure is 124/76 mmHg, pulse is 72/min, and respirations are 12/min. The patient is currently without any symptoms. He has sensation intact bilaterally over the trigeminal distribution and has symmetric facial muscle movement. There is no conjunctival injection nor facial rash. Which of the following is the best initial treatment for this patient?