Quiris
(?)Community Member
Tipsy Shapeshifter
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- Posted: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 08:45:47 +0000
For the last 6 years or so I've been feeling really-- off. I developed tinnitus, eye issues, frequent headaches, and a general feeling of fatigue, sometimes accompanied by disorientation. Sometimes, though rarely, I'd get dizzy for no apparent reason. Sometimes I'd also have ocular migraines, though several eye doctors said there was nothing wrong with my eyes and that the migraines were just something normal to deal with.
For several years I avoided having much of my symptoms looked at because I developed an intense anxiety over them. I told my mother about my eyes and my ears and she brushed away my concerns. I became quiet about them and dealt with my symptoms quietly, altering my lifestyle around avoidance. I tried to adapt for the longest time, but my tension headaches seem worse lately and I'm too miserable half the time to do much of anything anymore. I have art commissions to do, but it's difficult when my head feels like it's in a vice.
Recently I discovered TMJD online, however. I'd never heard of it, though I probably should have. Around 7 years ago, my jaw started locking in the morning, and it's cracked and popped ever since, sometimes locking during the day. It hurts to chew too much, and yawning too often will cause me jaw ache. I remember telling my mother when it first happened, though she didn't seem all that concerned, as usual. I eventually let it fade into my daily life, never assuming that my jaw would be much of an issue past locking and some ache here and there.
But now after finding out about TMJD, so many of my symptoms match up with it that it's painful to even think that I ever ignored my jaw. I've sought treatment for it now-- I had a CT scan for it today and I have an MRI on Wednesday; my dentist also took molds of my teeth today for a splint that I should have by the end of October.
I've sought treatment now and in a month's time I'll have a splint to help correct my jaw, but I'm just... really scared that it won't help. I want to believe that the splint will relieve my headaches, lessen (or perhaps remove) my tinnitus, and help by eyes and fatigue, but after wresting with these symptoms for literally years I'm feeling pessimistic, worrying that I've already done too much damage for any correction to occur.
Of course I won't know what will happen until I actually have the splint, but I'm still extremely.scared that I'll go through all this trouble and still be left with the same issues. I don't even care if I never get full relief from my symptoms, I just want them lessened enough that I'm not completely miserable.
For several years I avoided having much of my symptoms looked at because I developed an intense anxiety over them. I told my mother about my eyes and my ears and she brushed away my concerns. I became quiet about them and dealt with my symptoms quietly, altering my lifestyle around avoidance. I tried to adapt for the longest time, but my tension headaches seem worse lately and I'm too miserable half the time to do much of anything anymore. I have art commissions to do, but it's difficult when my head feels like it's in a vice.
Recently I discovered TMJD online, however. I'd never heard of it, though I probably should have. Around 7 years ago, my jaw started locking in the morning, and it's cracked and popped ever since, sometimes locking during the day. It hurts to chew too much, and yawning too often will cause me jaw ache. I remember telling my mother when it first happened, though she didn't seem all that concerned, as usual. I eventually let it fade into my daily life, never assuming that my jaw would be much of an issue past locking and some ache here and there.
But now after finding out about TMJD, so many of my symptoms match up with it that it's painful to even think that I ever ignored my jaw. I've sought treatment for it now-- I had a CT scan for it today and I have an MRI on Wednesday; my dentist also took molds of my teeth today for a splint that I should have by the end of October.
I've sought treatment now and in a month's time I'll have a splint to help correct my jaw, but I'm just... really scared that it won't help. I want to believe that the splint will relieve my headaches, lessen (or perhaps remove) my tinnitus, and help by eyes and fatigue, but after wresting with these symptoms for literally years I'm feeling pessimistic, worrying that I've already done too much damage for any correction to occur.
Of course I won't know what will happen until I actually have the splint, but I'm still extremely.scared that I'll go through all this trouble and still be left with the same issues. I don't even care if I never get full relief from my symptoms, I just want them lessened enough that I'm not completely miserable.
