The "side effects" of my GK is that my tumor is dying! That's the good news. The bad news is that GK didn't take away the symptoms I already had from the AN. Every symptom I have is attributed to having a tumor, not in the treatment of the tumor. Granted, the first few weeks after my treatment, I had side effects from the steroids and the GK upset the nerves that the tumor is growing on, so that I experienced facial sensations such as feeling sunburned and wave-like nervy pains that made me think of the Northern Lights - only on my face! But that's because my facial nerve was very angry. Other CK-GK patients haven't reported feeling any of that. But that went away, and, like I said, everything else is because I have a tumor on those nerves. At least that's what I think. Some people walk away with very little problems, and then it is just on a sliding scale from there. It just depends on how big your AN is, how involved it is with all the nerves in that area, location, location, location, and, probably the skill of your medical team.
This is the hardest part of having an AN - choosing the best treatment for YOU. It's a big decision. All you can do is talk to as many doctors as you can, get opinions, get the best medical team that you can and eventually the right procedure will feel "right" to you.
I wish you all the best,
Sue in Vancouver, USA