Comments | divajess: i wanna be sedated

divajess

i wanna be sedated

Mar 14, 2008 22:45

This week has been pretty miserable, health-wise, and is taking its toll on me emotionally. I am really trying to stay positive about it, but it has been hard to stay positive when I am in some degree of pain almost every second of every day. I used to think I had a low pain tolerance--I may have changed my mind on that ( Read more... )

Comments 7

dio_rules March 15 2008, 12:43:58 UTC

Poor, sweet thing. It always helps to vent.

me_so_sparkle March 15 2008, 15:39:39 UTC

Poor thing! I hope you feel better soon:(

croupier March 15 2008, 15:49:09 UTC

Chronic pain is so fucking sapping. It's terrible. /Offers prayers

fitfool March 16 2008, 13:09:25 UTC

oh dear...I'm sorry. Chronic pain is so draining. I hope the new meds help. Is acupuncture covered by your insurance? I've heard it's pretty good for pain management.

TMJ devils_tool April 20 2008, 19:33:34 UTC

I saw a guy for my TMJ/TMD - his name was Dr Richard Riggs (in Plano?). My stress level was so high all I could do is lie in bed due to the pain.

He prescribed at home physical therapy that has worked pretty darn well for my TMD. Mine was diagnosed as "normal" TMJ that is normally seen in children who have had trauma to their jaw (my brother dislocated my jaw back in the 80's and it's hurt and "clicked" ever since. Riggs gave me several exercises to do throughout the day. Surgery is a last resort and for the most part so are applicances. My whole evaluation cost $447.00.

Re: TMJ divajess April 21 2008, 14:24:31 UTC

Thanks for the info! I will have to see if he is in my network, as that would be ideal.

Mine has gotten a lot better since I've been taking the headache management meds...they are apparently also commonly prescribed for TMJ pain management, so it's kind of killed two birds with one stone. I try to keep my stress levels down, since that's what seems to trigger the TMJ crap, and I usually only have problems with it now when I actually have a migraine, since that causes everything to tense and hurt.

Surgery is definitely a last resort, and I don't feel like spending $$$$ on an appliance would be money well-spent after researching their effectiveness, so I'm glad to hear that you were prescribed exercises and stuff. Thanks again. Also, hi stranger!

Re: TMJ devils_tool April 22 2008, 00:47:46 UTC

Err - I don't recall him being in my network. What you said above is true - most are not covered by Ins companies. They did file paperwork (after the visit) that would reimburse me if my insurance company deemed that it fit the profile of something or other. I haven't heard back yet (and that was end of last year if I recall) so I don't think I'll get anything back. $447 was my out of pocket. It was really surprising how much the exercises helped - and I've only intermittently been doing them.

My headaches were caused by my jaw, which was made worse when I had a headache - an endless cycle. Since I started the exercises I've not had a headache and pain is minimal to non-existent. Although I have to not chew gum, bagels, not chew fingernails (which puts your jaw in an unnatural position and stresses it out.) I'd scan the exercises if I could find them - but of course you need your own diagnosis since what works for me may not work for you. Appliances were somewhere between $1200-1500, but they said that it only might be considered if ( ... )