Antidepressants cause a large percentage of TMJ cases and they dont work anyway
I'm sure there must be more to it than that.
I'm using the tricyclic antidepressants for pain management so that I can live with my TMJ on a day to day basis. A much lower dose than someone with depression would be using though.
I would have to agree with Snoop Dogg. There are different classes of anti-depressants and while some classes of them - as well as other prescription meds used to treat other medical conditions - can induce clenching or jaw pain and other symptoms akin to tmj - some classes of anti-depressants can actually dull if not block the pain signal receptors in the brain making the pain less intense and more tolerable which in turn reduces the response to pain of other systems in the body like the endocrin (pain casues anxiety+stress = increase adrenal function and results in fatigue and sleeplessness) and the central nervous system. I am not advocating the use of anti-depressants as a cure all for tmj but it definitely has its place in therapy as do other non-drug related and alternative forms of treatments.
Antidepressants cause tardive dyskinesia , dystonia and many other symptoms but then paradoxically suppress the symptoms they cause so that you actually get worse upon withdrawal . Yet the best course of action for your long term pronosis is to stop antidepressants if you want to improve your TMJ or other chronic pain . You are basically chasing your tail by using antidepressants for TMJ . Your underlying condition , TMJ , tardive dyskinesia dystonia will get progressively worse . Doctors just want to make money on office visits and kick backs from drug companies.
As I have stated before , antidepressants are ineffective, do not pass double blind tests and will make you much worse in the long run . You should read Prozac Backlash by joseph Glenmullen MD and Mad in America by Robert Whitaker.
Autopsies of brains of people diagnosed as depressed or psychotic are normal if they did not use psych meds but show extensive destruction of the brain if people used psych drugs. psych drugs cause chemical neurotransmitter imbalances ; they don't cure them.
I think when the pain is really bad, we need something to help and if it's a mild antidepressant it does help to get you over the hump until things settle down. Otherwise we are just focusing on the pain so much that we can't function. Sure, we need to address the problem, but sometimes that gets us back to being balanced. I have jaw arthritis, which can't really be fixed, so, if I needed something to help relax I would use it. Ibuprofen doesn't even put a dent in the pain. Maybe I am wrong, but I have been suffering for several years with this and need help every now and then.
I would have to agree with Snoop Dogg. There are different classes of anti-depressants and while some classes of them - as well as other prescription meds used to treat other medical conditions - can induce clenching or jaw pain and other symptoms akin to tmj - some classes of anti-depressants can actually dull if not block the pain signal receptors in the brain making the pain less intense and more tolerable which in turn reduces the response to pain of other systems in the body like the endocrin (pain casues anxiety+stress = increase adrenal function and results in fatigue and sleeplessness) and the central nervous system. I am not advocating the use of anti-depressants as a cure all for tmj but it definitely has its place in therapy as do other non-drug related and alternative forms of treatments.
What sort of psuedo science is this? There is no evidence that they block pain receptors.You people casually take psychiatric medications but I bet you are not as casual about amphetamines and cocaine and extacy which are not really different . There is no evidence that antidepressants cure chemical imbalances but there is conclusive proof that they cause chemical imbalances. Antidepressants initially cause adrenal stimulation but this is followed by adrenal exaustion and fatigue . Even if they work (probably a placebo effect) they will make the underlying condition worse in the long run .If you refuse antidepressants ,in say two years your TMJ will be less than if you take them . Many people who have never had TMJ get it after stopping antidepressants , often after using them for only a short time . Antidepressants cause neurological damage but they suppress the damage that they cause . Anidepressants interfere with dopamine and this leads to the muscle tension and TMJ.Antidepressants also destroy receptors in the brain which may not become obvious until the drugs are withdrawn.
An analogous situation occurs with steroids and pain . They may make the pain after an injury go away temporarily but they damage your joints and everything else and the inflammation returns , if not in the same organ system ,and is worse
I'm using the tricyclic antidepressants for pain management so that I can live with my TMJ on a day to day basis. A much lower dose than someone with depression would be using though.
How do you know it is a much lower dose than people take who are diagnosed as depressed?
Until the drug companies invented antidepressant pills , less than one percent of the population was diagnosed as clinically depressed. Antidepressants can't be good for long term pain managemant because they interfere with the dopaminergic system .
I think you may be jumping the gun here a bit - I sincerely doubt that a majority of those with tmj developed it as a result of taking an anti-depressant ( I would like to see valid stats on that statement) and I also doubt those of us with tmj who never previously used anti-depressants even considered taking one at the start of our tmj symptoms as well. Those here who finally do resort to taking an anti-depressant most often do so b/c they have become incapacitated by pain and various attempts with various dentists and treatments have not had a positive affect. Many of us that do resort to taking them do so with the intent of buying time until we find the right treatment and dentist - for most they are used on a short term basis.
I too am refering to TCA's or tricylic ADs, btw.
I am glad you have good days and bad - many here haven't had a good or somewhat better day in several years. And unless you can understand how 365 consecutive days or more of really bad days feels, where the pain is so intense and intolerable that you can not fathom how you will live through it, it might be best to reserve your judgement of the choices some are forced to make. Most here are aware that certain drugs and treatments for tmj pain and symtpoms pose some risks but when you weigh them against the reality of living in pain with no end to it in sight, the choice becomes less about futre long term results and more about immediate relief of non-ending suffering.
How do you know it is a much lower dose than people take who are diagnosed as depressed?
Until the drug companies invented antidepressant pills , less than one percent of the population was diagnosed as clinically depressed. Antidepressants can't be good for long term pain managemant because they interfere with the dopaminergic system .
I am on 25mg, people with depression go on doses upwards of 100mg. They have helped tremendously with my chronic headaches, which were impossible to function with on a day to day basis, which is why I turned to the anti-depressants in the first place.
I did suffer with depression back in 2002 - 03, however I did not use anti-depressants for it, I dealt with it as naturally as I could.
Whilst I'm using the anti-depressant for pain management, I'm also seeing a physical therapist, massage therapist, muscle manipulation therapy and am on a soft food diet.
My joints are deteriorating, the cartilage is almost completely worn away, and I have signs of osteoarthritis in the joints as well.
I have no intention of living on this drug for the rest of my life, but for now it is helping me immensley.
Just curious Chrispy----Do you have an MD license? Have you worked in the medical field before and know first hand about antidepressants and their effect on tmjd? I'm not saying what you are stating has no validity, but we have to remember that a lot of people on this board have been suffering for years, decades with this horrendous disorder, so we need to be aware and respectful of their situations and offer help in a positive manner. Thank you for your input, and I wish you well.
Hello, I took zoloft for 5 tears after Mom passed away. I took Cymbalta for nerve pain for two tears after that. By the way antidepressants do work- and are necessary in some mental health scenarios. I had two little ones and needed help back in the zoloft years. AND IT HELPED. I have always had teeth issues. ( and I have joint issues in other areas of my body) I have ankylosing spondylitis. I have been trying to think back to before (the antidepressants) if I clenched. I'm not sure. I have read that some tricyclic antidepressants are supposed to help TMJ. Anyway, I am no expert. Shelley
Just curious Chrispy----Do you have an MD license? Have you worked in the medical field before and know first hand about antidepressants and their effect on tmjd? I'm not saying what you are stating has no validity, but we have to remember that a lot of people on this board have been suffering for years, decades with this horrendous disorder, so we need to be aware and respectful of their situations and offer help in a positive manner. Thank you for your input, and I wish you well.
Hello Fellow TMJers,
I think JMitchell hit the nail on the head when she said that we've been suffering for years. It's been 26 years for me.
I also agree with JMitchell when she says that we're here on this forum to offer help in a positive manner. I have been impressed with the support that I've been given, and that subsequently joined in giving support to others.
Let's keep it positive and do what we do best by supporting one another.
Here's to days without pain, perhaps hours without pain, even minutes without pain.
Peggy
Antidepressants are not FDA approved to treat TMJ . There is no proof they help TMJ especially long term but there is proof that they cause TMJ and other forms of dystonia and tardive dyskinesia. Long term antidepressant use will eventually cause your muscles to become permanantly contracted, causing pain and damaging joints . The ironic thing about antidepressants is that they will suppress the symptoms of conditions temporarily while making the underlying condition worse. For example , there is no dispute that they cause dystonia and tardive dyskinesia but upping the dose can temporarily suppress these conditions . TMJ is basically a form of dystonia.I have read several books on antidepressants by Dr Robert Whitaker , Dr Peter Breggin MD Joseph Glenmullen MD and others and I am convinced that they don't work on depression except temporarily as a placebo or temporary adrenal stimulator.
The muscle contraction caused by antidepressants will cause osteoarthritic changes in your jaw.
Just curious Chrispy----Do you have an MD license? Have you worked in the medical field before and know first hand about antidepressants and their effect on tmjd? I'm not saying what you are stating has no validity, but we have to remember that a lot of people on this board have been suffering for years, decades with this horrendous disorder, so we need to be aware and respectful of their situations and offer help in a positive manner. Thank you for your input, and I wish you well.
I am not saying whether I went to medical school.Maybe I did and maybe I didn't.Just because you have a problem does not mean it can't be made worse by a drug. I know a few senior citizen chiropractors who say that twenty years ago they did not see young people whose muscles are chronically stiff, a common occurance today , maybe the result of antidepressants.
Have you heard of the placebo effect? If you cut half of a group of people open and do a heart operation and the other half are cut open but not operated on , typically the same percentage of both groups report decreased pain
I don't think anyone here is claiming that anti-depressants "cure" TMJ. We're merely stating that they help us to function in our daily lives. I am taking amitriptyline; I know that all it is doing is masking the pain. This is the precise reason I'm taking it in the first place. Prior to taking these anti-depressants I already had TMJ and I already had osteoarthritic changes in my joints. These are the reasons I was in enough pain to warrant taking pain management medication in the first place. And that is what the anti-depressants are in regards to TMJ: pain management. Not a cure.
I know that on days when I take a xanax, (which is rare) but, when I do, it relaxes my whole body and if that helps me not to clench and cause my tmj to be worse, then so be it. I am at a loss of what other steps to take. We are all just trying to rid ourselves of the pain and need to do whatever works.
