New To The Forum

[TonyF]

Hello,
For about 5-6 years now, I have been dealing w/ undiagnosed,unmedicated Anxiety/Panic disorder, It has been horrible, I have extreme symptoms..the list too long to write down..
For the last year or so, I noticed I get pains and extreme uncomfortable tension in my neck,my face,jaw,around the ears,eyes.. It gradually got worse...now its a constant pain and unease.
Me and my father thought it might be my wisdom teeth impacting, that was causing the pain,cause they were pretty impacted, But we got them pulled and the pain is still constant...So I was confused and REAL frustrated on why I was having this extreme pain ...I was clue less...
So I went on yahoo search and found a few articles that seemed identical to my problem...they were articles on TMJ, This gave me a big releief cause I
was confused.......
but now I have no health insurance, and when I tell people (my father,brother,friends) about my problems,,,they tell me " its in your head"
So Im stuck now on what to do, Im 21 year old male by the way, Im real glad I found a site like this to express what Im feeling.. This disorder is making it real hard for me to get up in the morning and live my life... When people Tell me its life and you have to "just do it" I get real upset cause Its not life, no one should be dealing with the Pain and tension in there face, I can barely see straight, my vision is soo blurred, my appetite comes and goes,,,I sweat alot,I find myself "bugg-eyed" cause im soo tense,My face flushes bloos red,the veins in my head and neck throbb,I shake,I cant sleep, When I do actually fall asleep i need to sleep 12 hours,When I wake I have tension headaches (every morning) maybe some better than others, but its constant,,,,,on top of all that...This TMJ,
Sorry for the long whining letter...but I just needed to say that
Thanks Tony

[saaraah]

hi, tony.. welcome to this forum. i can guarentee that you will learn a lot from this place and get a lot of support [i certainly have].

im young, too, [22], and have been dealing with TMJD everyday for 3.5 years. before that, i had frequent migraines/headaches since i was 7... so i know how it feels to be in pain.

first off, i'd suggest getting a proper diagnosis - try to find a good dentist and have a consultation. before doing any treatment, a diganosis is key.

here are some suggestions of what a dentist should do at a consultation to check if you have TMJD:

+ measures how far you can open wide and from side to side
+ muscle palpation [sees if there are tender muscles.. generally the pytergoids [sp?] are sore]
+ checks if there's joint noise/popping
+ tomograms - xrays of the TMJs, neck, skull, sinuses
+ health history - any accidents, trauma
+ review of your symptoms

i've been thru pretty much every type of treatment excluding surgery: massage, physical therapy, chiropracty, osteopathy, antidepressants, muscle relaxants, migraine meds, botox, acupuncture, TENS, etc etc etc.

right now, tho, i have an anterior repositioning splint that ive been wearing for a few weeks - the results have been amazing. nothing else ive tried has worked at all.. but this splint is - it's dramatically reduced my facial muscle pain! my mandible is underdeveloped, and the condyle isnt centered in the fossa. thus, the splint is moving my jaw forward into a more optimal and centered position.

anyway, in the meantime, while you're looking for a dentist, i'd suggest massage therapy and osteopathy to help out with your headaches and facial pain.

take care,

- saaraah.