tmj - anyone have it?

[okky]

Hi,

I was wonderring if anyone out there has TMJ? I have been having these odd pressures in my head, sharp pains in my head and my jaw feels odd. Sometimes I feel like it is sitting wrong or I can't relax it. My ears are constantly blocked and they pop alot. When I move my jaw it crunches. I also have a really tender scalp and the joint in front of my right ear is larger then the one on the left. I am worried I have a tumour or cancer or something as I have constant blurred vicion and I get dizzy and nauseous.

Do you think this could be tmj?

Thanks
jodie

[northstar]

hi okky, the person you should really be asking is your doctor. if you are having pain and severe symptoms like these you really need to see a medical health professional who can give you a proper diagnosis.

the worry about brain tumour or other serious illnesses is a common symptom of anxiety and in my experience takes some work with a therapist to help to change the way that you think about yourself and your health, you may like to ask your doctor about this too? i found therapy difficult at first but as i worked it became one of the best things i have ever done for myself and i recommend it highly :)

personally it seems to me like you may be having trouble with your sinuses, blocked popping ears, dizziness, nausea, vision problems and pressure and pain in your head all are common symptoms of a sinus infection which can be treated pretty easily with antibiotics and avoid foods that irritate this kind of problem like too much dairy. but again, ask your doctor about this. accupuncture can also help to relieve these symtoms.

people with anxiety also often hold their jaws very tight, grind their teeth or find it difficult to relax. the mother of a friend of mine in the past used to hold her jaw tight all day long because of her anxiety and it caused her a lot of pain and trouble in other parts of her body because of how she was gritting her teeth all the time. your jaw pain may be explained by something similar?

anyway, i'm just throwing out suggestions here, you really need to ask your doc though, they can give you the best help :)

[okky]

Thanks for your reply :) I did see my doctor last week. I did mention my symptoms and she seems to think it is anxiety. I have so many symptoms lately that sometimes when I go to the doctor I forget something, this time I forgot to mention the jaw discomfort, I am so silly. It doesn't help to do this either because a few days later I think to myself that I forgot to mention this and that and maybe I needed to mention it for the doctor to pick up on an illness :oops:

I had a panic attack today because when I went for a walk i had a slight blood nose when I got back. This also happened a few weeks ago and now I am really concerned it is a brain tumour or something nasty like that. Whe I was walking I also looked down at the palms of my hands and seen they were blotchy (red and white) and started questioning what is normal and what is not. I am having a hard time remembering what it is like to be normal and it is really starting to effect my life. I am scared to go to uni because I find it hard to concentrate for 2 hours and I am having hard time holding a conversation because of the brain fog and dizzyness.

I feel like I am either going insane or I am seriously ill. One second I believe I have anxiety and everything will be alright and then the next I am thinking i have some illness that I could die any second from :cry:

Thank goodness I have this forum as I can't bring myself to talk to my family about it because I am so ambarrassed :unsure:

[Nausea]

I find the best part about this forum is reading someone repeating your own worry-ridden thoughts nearly verbatim. For me, it has the effect of reinforcing that my symptoms are anxiety-caused, not the result of whatever undiagnosed terminal illness I've identified in myself this week.

So just as a reassurance, okky, everything you have described so far is well within the realm of general anxiety. I've worried constantly about brain tumors and brain hemorrhages, about degenerative neurological conditions or the possibility that I'm really bipolar or schizophrenic. I found a lump on the inside of lower lip - no doubt I had hodgkin's lymphoma! (turned out to be a harmless mucous buildup). I've experienced bizarre "brain zaps," where it feels like bolts of pure energy were literally exploding inside my brain. I've had headaches and tingling sensations and fleeting pains in various limbs. All of it is anxiety. While it is happening, it is convincing and terrifying. But that doesn't make it real in the sense that you are actually in danger.

Let me put to you this way. Everyone experiences little aches and pains every day, muscles get tense, fall asleep, whatever.. The difference between you and someone who doesn't suffer from anxiety (in my completely amateurish opinion) is that you arrange these feelings in a narrative whereas the non-sufferer merely ignores them or treats them piecemeal. I feel a pain in my leg and a headache and I decide I have brain cancer. Non-anxious people probably just take an advil.

I found going through these forums and reading people experiencing the same sort of thing I have very reassuring. Hopefully it can do the same for you.

[okky]

That is a huge help to me. When ever I have a symptom I search this forum to see if anyone has experienced them, 90% of the time I find plenty of people with the same symptoms and so the syomtoms seems to lesson or subside and then another pops up.

I have the problem that I logically realise that it is anxiety but it's like I have this idea in my head that if i believe this then I am most likely going to find out later I have some illness that is going to kill me and it will be too late to fix it then. Does that make sense? A bit like the world works like reverse physcology, I always think that ifI let my guard down it will most likely go the other way. I am really messed up i think :o

I too had the head zaps, scared the absolute crap out of me, I seriously thought I was going to die :? but I went to my doctor who said it was normal and it hasn't happened since ;)

I guess I was alright when the syptoms come and went but this head fog, pressures, ear blocks etc are pretty much constantly there. So I feel like i am on a downward spiral and I don't believe it will end. I am praying the meds will help me but I think soem therapy will be worth tryong to.

Thanks :)

Sorry for the post being so all over the place :oops:

[Nausea]

\
I have the problem that I logically realise that it is anxiety but it's like I have this idea in my head that if i believe this then I am most likely going to find out later I have some illness that is going to kill me and it will be too late to fix it then. Does that make sense? A bit like the world works like reverse physcology, I always think that ifI let my guard down it will most likely go the other way. I am really messed up i think oh my

So you would say that your anxiety makes you feel.... anxious? Seems sensible enough to me :P


I guess I was alright when the syptoms come and went but this head fog, pressures, ear blocks etc are pretty much constantly there. So I feel like i am on a downward spiral and I don't believe it will end. I am praying the meds will help me but I think soem therapy will be worth tryong to.

Therapy is probably a good idea. In the words of my doctor "Therapy works, medication works, but they work best together."

As for your symptoms, they may be partially physical - though probably not mortal. Ear congestion seems to me to be something that can't be directly caused by anxiety. Pressure in the head could be sinuses or anxiety. Most people would just take a tylenol. Those of us fortunate enough to be blessed with anxious minds usually think we're in downward spirals doomed to become more and more incapacitated as time goes on.

[okky]

The ear congestion is probably the worst symptom at the moment. My doctor checked to see if I have an ear infection or sinus problem but she said that I did not and that it was most probably from the anxiety. I believed her at the time but my mind is easily changed after a few days at home thinking about it. I do know that when my jaw is feeling uncomfortable my ears are always fully blocked and the pressure at the front of my head is worse.

Your right though, last year if I had these feelings I wouldn't have thought twice and me worrying about it now is probably making it ten times worse.

Thanks for your advice :)

[daviesmith]

I have a severe case of it. I feel like my jaw comes unhinged at times on the left side. I have always had an uneven bite. Boxing didn't help either I don't think.You get used to it. The pain can be very bad at times. I have a high pain tolerance and like I said when your in pain everyday you learn to live with it.Before meeting Davie Orthodontist i would think like It is very expensive to fix, IF they can fix it. Each case is different. Its so expensive in fact that most dental insurance plans cover .But after getting treatment from them i feel very much painfree.Good luck bro.

[drinae]

Ha, I was already writing a reply about how the symptoms described in the original post can be normal TMJ symptoms (they certainly are for me), when I realized that the original thread is about seven years old! Anyway, TMJ disorder is really annoying. Ouch.