Chronic Pain members - Welcome, please introduce yourself

@contentandwell Aren't you sweet! Thanks for thinking I look much younger than you. My daughter inherited my headaches also. I can remember having severe headaches at 9 yrs old. I have vascular and hormonal migraines. I'm on a low dose of Lisinopril for hypertension but it also lessens the frequency and intensity of the migraine. I noticed when I was going through menopause that my headaches were not as bad as when I was young and like you, I rarely get a migraine. Sometimes I get a mild headache from clenching my teeth at night. I think the clenching began a ways back as my neck pain got worse.
Have you or your daughter ever used essential oils as homeopathic relief?
Jen

So far, I haven't heard back from the friend whose daughter-in-law got one. I know of someone in town, an RN, who does body piercing, and I'm wondering if he's the one who did her ear bar. I'm going to go check to see if he has a website.

I used to have wicked migraines and after several tests it turned out to be because I was taking pills every time and was getting rebound headaches and he weaned me off them. I was taking fiuricet and Tylenol and now I have relpax in case I get a migraine, take no more than 3 times a week, and now it has been months since I had a migraine. They can be terrible. My sister tried Botox for her migraines and it didn't work for her. Marield65 here.

I still haven't heard from the friend about her daughter-in-law's experience with the ear bar. I looked up the only certified piercer I know of here in town (Tallahassee, Florida); his business is called Piercings by Bink. He's also an RN and a licensed massage therapist. I sent him email to ask about ear piercings/bars and would they help TMJ pain.

He wrote back quickly. He told me that he has read no literature and had no experience with ear piercings/bars helping TMJ pain. He said that he doesn't do massage work relating to TMJ pain but referred me to the person who's the head of Florida licensed massage therapists, in hopes that she can give me information about who in Florida does this kind of massage. Bink knew of no one in the Tallahassee area who did. Soooooo, I got some information, and I certainly won't be going the ear-piercing route. (I already have three piercings in one ear and two in the other!) And I thanked Bink profusely. I've heard that he's a totally honest guy and a true professional, and he certainly revealed himself to be so.

Today I saw my psychiatrist for my every-six-month med check (for clinical depression and panic/anxiety disorder). I took up a lot more of his time, because I wanted to talk to him about my TMJ pain and ask what he'd recommend. Turns out that his daughter, who's 30, has had TMJ pain since she was a teenager, and so far, she's not had any luck getting help for it. That's discouraging.

I told him that I was leaving my dentist because he's been so non-helpful. Once my psychiatrist ascertained that I definitely wouldn't be going back to this dentist again, he gave me his opinion: if you have any problem that's slightly out of the ordinary, this dentist does NOT want to help you. (He used to go to the same dentist.) So, he pretty much ignores you and hopes you'll go away. That's what's been going on with my interactions with my dentist, and I'm sending him my official "you're fired" letter tomorrow.

My psychiatrist did recommend another dentist in town who actually _has_ studied TMJ pain extensively and gotten certification in it. So, when I got home, I looked this dentist up online. Yes, he's got some sort of official certification/licensure in both TMD and in sleep apnea treatment.

Then I looked at reviews of this dentist. Boy, they were NOT good. A few were positive, but those were written over three years ago. The more recent reviews said the dentist was nothing more than a mouthguard salesperson (I already have a mouthguard, made by my dentist, and I've worn one for years; as they wear out, my dentist, er, now ex-dentist, makes another); I wonder if he'd try to talk me into getting his special brand of mouthguard? (I'd refuse.) Other patients said their experiences with this dentist were "bizarre" and "surreal." He'd hollered at them, sometimes in the waiting room. _Many_ former patients talked about this. Hmmmmmm.

A guy who goes to the same church that my husband does has started going to this dentist for TMJ pain, and yes, the first thing he had to do was buy a mouthguard. Jim had the email address of this guy, so I wrote to him to find out what his experiences with the dentist had been like. I'm eager to hear what he has to say. Given that this dentist doesn't take our insurance, his website tells me that we'd have to pay everything upfront, and his office would provide us with forms to file with our insurance provider. Sounds VERY expensive. Of course, if it works, that's terrific. But if it's a nightmare scene, then I don't want to even go to him. One doctor I went to years ago yelled at me, and I stood up and towered over him (he was very short) and yelled right back at him. I told him that no doctor has permission to yell at me or any other patient, and that I was definitely NOT paying him for this visit. And I left.

I swear: is everyone in the medical profession nuts?

Hazel

Content and well, thank you for that information. I just found out today that my neurosurgeon is going to try back shots again (different back problems) and see how long we can put off surgery because the pain I am getting is coming from a pinched nerve from L5 and where I will need surgery is a fusion from L3 to L5, but I am not getting pain in that area, but my discs are rubbing and bulging. I don't know if that makes sense to you but my neurosurgeon is very conservative and I agree with him wanting to wait..Marield65

@marield65 Marie, I can sympathize totally having also been a migraine sufferer. Thankfully mine were not multiple times a month, at most they were two a month but those two would last from 3 to 4 days. Honestly, I think that was the worst pain I have ever been through, more than after surgery pain, and more than childbirth. I really wanted to go back to work part time but I couldn't because I knew the migraines would interfere. My daughter has them now and a few times she has not been able to work for three or four days. It's the pits, for sure.
JK

@marield65 By the way Marie, I see you have posted that you are south of Boston but even if you had not said that I would know you are from the area since you used "wicked". Definitely a Boston term. 😉
JK

Content,Marield65 here. You are too funny. I live in good old Rhode Island. I had one of my 5 back surgeries at B & W, a Dr. Bono. Great surgeon.

You can also just delete them,but I am afraid of missing something.Marield65

@colleenyoung, Hi Colleen. I just stumbled on to a website that has some good information about fibromyalgia. I thought there was a fibro group here on the Mayo website but i couldn't find it. Anyway, if you think someone might find it helpful, here it is:
http://healthiculture.com/fibromyalgia/newsletter/cannabis/relatedarticles.php
I tried to copy and paste as a link but my kindle just wouldn't do it. Sorry, Judy