my life is over - TMJ Disorder -TemporoMandibular Joint Message Board

paul77 · 07-26-2008, 06:02 PM

i started getting tmj 5 years ago the first 2 in pain i bought a splint off the internet to my amazement the next morning the pain was gone i got braces for my crooked teeth two years pain free but when i was at the end of my treatment my jaw felt stuck i opened my mouth and herd a big cruch on my lleft tmj that never happend before only snapping on my right side i put my splint back in to see if it would help and as soon as i put it in all the pain came back i never wanted to grind my teeth so hard in all my life it felt like my jaw had a mind of its own the spams were so strong it felt like the musels were digging into my joints i put heat on it and tried to strech my jaw a bit then i started getting pressure on the joints in my ears and my jaw joints felt loose i know bones or whatever something was breaking off it feels like my jaw is fallen apart the joints feel severly dislocated i could feel like something in my skull pushed in i cant explain it its scary im so depressed my family dont understant they just have aguments with me the docters arnt helping i feel so alone it feels like it pontless to go on i feel like nothing can be done about anymore im scared soon im going to have no joints left i cant cope with it i feel like my only option is sucide

[As outlined in the "Posting Policy" above, please do not mention suicide. Please seek professional help. Thanks - Well-come Moderator.]

loudawg · 07-26-2008, 09:10 PM

Hey Paul,
Lots of people on this board have had similar feelings of despair and hopelessness. Most perservere finding ways to make it work day to day without going over the edge. I'm sure most of us lose our sanity on occasion because of this condition. But there are quite a few stories of recovery / successful pain management that provide hope for us all.

What have the doctors told you? Have you had all the x-rays / tomograms / MRI's done on your jaw joints? Have you pursued the alternative therapies such as osteopathy, chiropractic, physical therapy or massage? If your joints are really damaged is surgery an option?

I have a 2 year old... last year I was half-time at work, having chronic dizziness, all sorts of weird muscle symptoms in my head, neck, shoulders and legs. I could barely take care of myself let alone my son and wife. I used to think that I couldn't live like this - I would think of suicide in the abstract as a way to end being miserable and useless. A year later, after trying every approach recommended on this board I'm doing better... not perfect but I'll take it for now and continue to try to get better.

I have seen others who seemed worse off than myself get better and basically leave this board. They are probably off being happy healthy people again... This gives me hope and hopefully you too.

Take care.
-Loudawg

sunshine123 · 07-27-2008, 12:27 AM

Paul, please don't give up. I had terrible daily headaches for years and didn't know what they were from. I saw several useless dentists, but then found some good ones who helped me. I wore braces also to correct an anterior open bite. My upper and lower teeth used to hit each other and cause pain and sensitivity. That problem is fixed. Acupuncture has helped me a lot as well as muscle relaxers and I still wear a splint to bed for the clenching and/or grinding that I do when I sleep. No one but another person who has TMJ understands the pain we deal with. You're definitely not alone. Keep posting on this board!!!!!!!

karate_mom · 07-27-2008, 05:45 PM

Hey Paul,

Just reviewing the posts and came across this one. I hope today is a better day for you. When all else fails, since I have had my first child, I have 3 now and 2 stepkids, so since my first one 15 years ago, I had lots of health issues. Most of them were because of stress. The only thing that has ever helped was to pray. If you just sit down, and pray and ask whoever is your higher power, mine is god, to help, hopefully this will begin to help. Also, if you can't talk to someone, and are feeling in this kind of despair, go to an emergency room and tell them how you are feeling about your TMJ, and how you are feeling suicidle. Please ask someone other than your family for help. I will pray for you and hope that you get help.

Take care.

Thelma-Louise · 07-27-2008, 09:33 PM

There are quite a few of us here that have had tmj for a number of years - I consider myself a newbie in that I am only into it a little more than 4 yrs. I don't even remember the first 3 years to be honest with you - I was in so much pain that I couldn't even remember my own name - I just wanted to curl up in a ball in a corner and be left alone. I spent many a day just crying my eyes out. Not only did I feel like I couldn't go on anymore, I felt like I was losing all I had worked for - graduate degree, career, a new house, independence, etc.

I felt the same way as you do now, so I know where you are coming from - but you must realize that is the pain talking or doing your thinking right now. Look deep inside yourself and you will find the "real" you and the strength to put up with this right now and find the right drs and treatment - none of us are alone - God is helping us all - but you need to pull yourself together and muster up the stength to forge forward and not give up.

No, family and friends will not understand what you are going through - no matter how well meaning they try to be - they really can not imagine or comprehend the amt of pain you are dealing with - and not all drs, even so called specialists really know enough about tmj to treat it so that each patient realizes 100% improvement. But it doesn't mean you just stop trying -it means you stop trying with that particluar dr and move on to find another, and another.

In my journey so far - although I have yet to find the right dentist - I have been referred to various alternative treatment therapists - chiros, PT, cranial sacral therapy - and that's where I have found the most benefit so far - the pain is finally to the point of being tolerable - yet I still get facial spasms and can not work - but if I can get this far, then I am sure you can too.

So tell us more about what you have tried so far, the types of drs you have been to, if you know what the exact problem is, what tests you have had done, what your symptoms are so we can offer some suggestions, advice, ideas, etc.