tammi02
08-12-2008, 12:19 PM
:dizzy:I have had TMJ for over 13 yrs and I have tried everything known to man almost. I have had a splint and I have taken Ibeprophen which messed up my pancreas from excessive use. I have tried accupucture and chiropractor and physical theropy and still no releif. I am currently taken muscle relaxers and pain meds and still in pain. I take valuim and norflex and darvocet used to be just one pill each at night but lately its been 3 times a day and I still ended up with dizziness and had to be put on steriods and antivert. I am now in the process of making an appointment with a neurologist. I know that TMJ will be the death of me. NOTHING SEEMS TO HELP ME!! I came here hoping to see where someone has had a success story. I dont know how much more pain I can take. :(
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temera2
08-13-2008, 01:23 AM
dearest Tammi2 ,
Goodness your story breaks my heart *hugs..
Can you go into your history more, be specific with your symptoms... ?? And the history.. i want to know everything... i hope when you tell me i can offer some helpful advice but i need to know everything..
I'm thinking of you Darling, Please hang in there. please!
Much Love
Goodness your story breaks my heart *hugs..
Can you go into your history more, be specific with your symptoms... ?? And the history.. i want to know everything... i hope when you tell me i can offer some helpful advice but i need to know everything..
I'm thinking of you Darling, Please hang in there. please!
Much Love
tammi02
08-13-2008, 09:32 AM
Well It All Started 13 Yrs Ago When I Got This Dizzy Spell Had Lots Of Test For Vertago And Then Went To Ear Nose Throat Specialist Who Istantly Told Me That I Had Tmj. I Went To A Tmj Specialist And He Made Me Spints Both Upper And Lower And Gave Me Meds Flexeril. That Seemed To Get Me Back On Track After A Few Months And Then It Would Just Be Flare Up Now And Then And Would Have To Wear Splint And Take The Meds. I Took Ibuprofen Most Of The Time And Then I Started With Pancreatitis. Was Hospitalized With It And They Swore I Was An Acoholic( Thats Common In Heavey Drinkers) I Then Told Htem I Take Alot Of Ibuprohen And Then They Said Their Our Problem.since Then Which Was A Year Ago I Have Had To Wear Splint Every Night And Neck Pain Everyday Since. I Have Tried Sports And Spine Rehab And Accupucture All Seemed To Make Things Worse.i Ice I Heat And I Messager. Nothing Seems To Be Helping Me. As I Said Before I Was Taking My Meds Once A Day ( My Doctor Had Also Tried So Many Meds And Some Do Nothing At All) Im Now Where I Am Taking Them 3 Times A Day. Its Hard To Work Or Even Have Fun With My Family Anymore. I Am Currently Trying To See A Neurologist For Possibly The Shots In The Neck But Im Really Scared. I Just Dont Feel There Is Any Hope For Me. I Know This Will Be My Demize.
tammi02
08-13-2008, 09:37 AM
Dizziness , Neck, Shoulder Pain, Ear, Face Pain And Rawness On The Inside Of My Mouth At The Jaw Bone and dizziness and also have pain from my skull down my back seems to be the muscle which run straight down my spine.I also have jaw limitations i can only my mouth so far not able to put three fingers in my mouth without my jaw lock and popping back into joint.I feel heavey headedness where my neck feel not strong enuff to hold up my head. I Do Know That I Clench Really Bad At Night. I Hate To Sleep Its The Worst. I Wake Up Feeling Like Someone Beat My All Night. I Even Wimper In My Sleep My Husband Tells Me. At Night It Hurts And The Next Day I Feel All The Effects Ofthe Night Before
MissHeadache
08-13-2008, 01:30 PM
Hey there, sorry you're suffering so much. Your symptoms sound very familiar! You say you have a splint and it worked for a while. I was wondering if you ever get it adjusted anymore? They wear down over time as you eat, grind/clench you teeth in your sleep etc so need building up again regularly. A properly designed and regularly adjusted splint should alleviate many sypmtoms of tmj including all the aches and pains you get in other parts of your body. I would be lost without mine. I used to take painkillers all the time but its often only once a week now my specialist has got the height right on my splint (there is a lot of trial and error involved but once you find the right place you will feel so much better). I clench a lot in my sleep too so get my splint built up again every month or two depending on how I'm feeling. I hope this is some use to you. :-)
pipdog
08-13-2008, 04:07 PM
Hi Tammi,
You said you had 'a' splint so I take it you had 'one'.
I tell you in my TMJD journey I had 5 different types before I found the correct one for my problem.
1: Bruxing guard, in retrospect a joke because although they protect your teeth from grinding they don't address the cause, an out of position jawbone.
2: Tanner/Stabilisation splint, this one pushed my lower jaw too far back when what I needed was to bring it forward and decompress the jaw joints.
3: NTI device: helped with the severe migraine headaches to some degree but again as per splint #1 did not reposition my jaw.
4: Some Australian product called an Aligner for night wear. You bite into it with both upper and lower teeth and it keeps you jaw forward while asleep but as you cant eat or talk with it in not much use during the day
5: A GELB REPOSITIONING APPLIANCE: Now this one is interesting as its based on science, ie self evident truths. Imaging showed both my condyles were too far up and back causing loads of compression in my TMJs, so much that the disc on the left was squeezed out of position. It brings my jaw down and forward and has been the only one that has really had any kind of profound effect on my pain levels and the clicking stopped after one month of wearing it
Sorry if this is long winded but I really want to underline the point that not all splints/appliances are equal and maybe the one you had was wrong for the problem you have.
TMJD is a monster and I like you was so ready to give up the struggle. But you need to know help is out there but it can be hard to find and you have to do a lot of the leg-work yourself.
Hang in there
Milo
You said you had 'a' splint so I take it you had 'one'.
I tell you in my TMJD journey I had 5 different types before I found the correct one for my problem.
1: Bruxing guard, in retrospect a joke because although they protect your teeth from grinding they don't address the cause, an out of position jawbone.
2: Tanner/Stabilisation splint, this one pushed my lower jaw too far back when what I needed was to bring it forward and decompress the jaw joints.
3: NTI device: helped with the severe migraine headaches to some degree but again as per splint #1 did not reposition my jaw.
4: Some Australian product called an Aligner for night wear. You bite into it with both upper and lower teeth and it keeps you jaw forward while asleep but as you cant eat or talk with it in not much use during the day
5: A GELB REPOSITIONING APPLIANCE: Now this one is interesting as its based on science, ie self evident truths. Imaging showed both my condyles were too far up and back causing loads of compression in my TMJs, so much that the disc on the left was squeezed out of position. It brings my jaw down and forward and has been the only one that has really had any kind of profound effect on my pain levels and the clicking stopped after one month of wearing it
Sorry if this is long winded but I really want to underline the point that not all splints/appliances are equal and maybe the one you had was wrong for the problem you have.
TMJD is a monster and I like you was so ready to give up the struggle. But you need to know help is out there but it can be hard to find and you have to do a lot of the leg-work yourself.
Hang in there
Milo
tammi02
08-13-2008, 05:30 PM
Thanks For Your Reply And Any Help Is Excepted Greatfully. I Am At My Wits End And I Will Certainly Look Inot These. Did You Have To Go To A Tmj Specialist For These Splints? Thanks So Much For Your Input!!!!
tammi02
08-13-2008, 05:32 PM
Thank You For Your Reply As Well. Im So Disgusted With This Way Of Life And The Quaility That This Nasty Disease Has Taken From Me. Any Help Is Wonderful!! Thanks
temera2
08-14-2008, 12:21 AM
Dearest Tammi,
The responses sent are marvellous, sorry about my late reply.. my pc played up bad.. but i agree with the splints.. you need the right one... also are you jaw discs displaced... ??
Have you seen a neurologist?
Get the splints checked.. find a good tmj dentist.. it took me also alot of trial and error, hang in there tammi we are all behind you :angel:
The responses sent are marvellous, sorry about my late reply.. my pc played up bad.. but i agree with the splints.. you need the right one... also are you jaw discs displaced... ??
Have you seen a neurologist?
Get the splints checked.. find a good tmj dentist.. it took me also alot of trial and error, hang in there tammi we are all behind you :angel:
pipdog
08-14-2008, 03:31 AM
Tammi hi
All splints are not equal, well neither are all TMJ docs.
A lot of regular dentists think they can treat it but you really need to find a specialist who has the clinical experience, attends on-going conferences to learn about the latest research and who uses proper diagnostics to find out exactly what state the TMJs are in. (MRI scans, x-rays, tomograms etc).
Otherwise its all as good a guesswork.
I'm being treated by such a guy and I wish I had gone to him earlier but I guess every stage of my journey was getting me closer to the kind of care I need so all part of the TMJD learning curve.
All splints are not equal, well neither are all TMJ docs.
A lot of regular dentists think they can treat it but you really need to find a specialist who has the clinical experience, attends on-going conferences to learn about the latest research and who uses proper diagnostics to find out exactly what state the TMJs are in. (MRI scans, x-rays, tomograms etc).
Otherwise its all as good a guesswork.
I'm being treated by such a guy and I wish I had gone to him earlier but I guess every stage of my journey was getting me closer to the kind of care I need so all part of the TMJD learning curve.
tammi02
08-14-2008, 10:10 AM
I have an appt on Aug 27th the a neurologist. I will take my splint in with me and show him which I have all the times I go to a new trial and error person. Thanks so much for all your replies and god willing i will find releif somewhere , somehow
tammi02
08-17-2008, 10:43 AM
Well its been a week tomorrow and still no relief from the dizziness or neck and head pain. I am now weening myself off the prednisone and still taking antivert every 4 hours and I dont have an appt for neurologist until Aug 27th. Im going nutz sitting in the house and laying around a bunch but what else can you do when you feel bad . I been icing my neck jaws and back several times a day. Last night my right ear popped really hard. I am just wondering what I can exspect from the neurologist appt. I need to get back to work. I have bills and cant afford this at this time thanks to the sucky economy. Can anyone tell me about these shots that neurologist sometimews give in the neck?? My primary care doctor spoke of htem a lil but what are they and how do they work??? HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!:confused:
tammi02
08-20-2008, 10:55 AM
HI EVERYONE! I WENT TO THE NEUROLOGIST YESTERDAY HE GOT TO SEE ME FULL BLOW DIZZY AND SAID MY EYES WERE SPINNING. I AM SET UP FOR A MRI TODAY AND THEN NEXT WEEK A EEG AND TWO NERVE TEST ONE IN MY LEGS AND ARMS AND A DOPPLER IN SEPT. HE IS TRYING TO FIND THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM AND RULE OUT A POST FOSSA TUMOR. HE TOOK ME OFF PREDONIZONE AND THE ANTIVERT AND PUT ME ON LAMICTAL (ANTI SEIZURE MED) TODAY AFTER ONE DAY OF TAKING IT I STILL FEEL LIKE A WATER HEAD. I FELL YESTERDAY WITH NO CONTROL OVER MYSELF. IM SCARED TO DEATH. HE SAID I MAYBE HAVING MIGRAINE HEADACHES ALONG WITH THE TMJ HE DOESNT KNOW SO HE IS RUNNING ALL THESE TEST TO RULE OUT THINGS AND FIND THE ROOT OF THIS. WITH GODS HELP AND LOTS OF PRAYERS EVERYTHING IS GOING TO WORK OUT FOR ME. THATS MY UPDATE!:confused:
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temera2
08-20-2008, 10:47 PM
Hey beautiful Tammi,
Please dont be scared, those doctors REALLY need a course on how to deal with us hey .. they scare me so so much , all for nothing!
i know everything will work out for you, do not think ahead.. i had a fear that i actually got neuralgia from my excrutiating and ongoing ear aches, i calrified with a surgoen and he laughed at me , hes like NO NO you dont, so dont FRET until you have facts ok.. promise me that you wont worry!
Everything will work out.. take deep breathes...you WILL overcome this.. God has given us challenges all for a reason.. i believe that he wouldnt of given this to us unless he knew we could overcome it. Think as positive as you can , i struggle ALOT with it but im trying.
Hang in there honey , You have our support! All your doctors doing is Ruling things out nothing more...dont STRESS!
Thinking of you. *hugs
Please dont be scared, those doctors REALLY need a course on how to deal with us hey .. they scare me so so much , all for nothing!
i know everything will work out for you, do not think ahead.. i had a fear that i actually got neuralgia from my excrutiating and ongoing ear aches, i calrified with a surgoen and he laughed at me , hes like NO NO you dont, so dont FRET until you have facts ok.. promise me that you wont worry!
Everything will work out.. take deep breathes...you WILL overcome this.. God has given us challenges all for a reason.. i believe that he wouldnt of given this to us unless he knew we could overcome it. Think as positive as you can , i struggle ALOT with it but im trying.
Hang in there honey , You have our support! All your doctors doing is Ruling things out nothing more...dont STRESS!
Thinking of you. *hugs
tammi02
08-28-2008, 02:40 PM
I had the upper nerve study done yesterday and that made me very sick side stepping , no balance and severe headache. I have lower nerve study in a few weeks and that scares me to cuz all i wanted to do was be put out of my misary yesterday. Today Im a bit better with the balance and still side stepping but no as bad and slight headache. I WISH THIS WAS OVER AND I KNEW WHAT IS GOING ON WITH ME!!!!