New Here and Looking for Encouragement

Hi everyone. I’m Stephanie. I’m very new to all of this and looking for encouragement. I have a history of TMJ. It’s been pretty mild up until 2 weeks ago when I yawned and experienced very painful popping. It was sore the next day but went away.

A few days later I noticed I was starting to feel pressure around my jaw/face and I noticed a faint buzzing or ringing sound. It increased all last week and I’m in a good bit of pain right now in addition to the tinnitus.

I have an appt for next Tuesday with an ENT and I’ve also found a TMJ specialist in my area (they are very hard to find) who seems to have very good reviews. Right now the T is driving me crazy. I really don’t know how to cope. In addition to the facial/jaw pain and pressure I have constant ringing in my ears.

I absolutely cannot sleep. I have been taking a phenergan (nausea) and a hydrocodone acetaminophen (which I had prescribed for an ovarian cyst about 2-3 weeks ago) just to try to get a little sleep. I’m not taking anything during the day.

I have a 5 year old and need to be able to care for him. This is all so depressing. It’s making me very anxious and I know it’s making the TMJ and T worse.

I really just want my life back to normal. I guess I’m just looking for some support. Thanks for listening.

 

Welcome to the forums. TMJ definitely can cause T so you may be on a promising path there for relief, but it may take a TMJ appliance and time. You should also look into physical therapy for TMJ as it's usually suggested if you get an appliance.

You can also google TMJ exercises if you wanted to try some stuff before your appointment.

 

Since you have an idea of what it caused it, then you're already one step ahead. For now what you can do is relax, as it helps you're T to calm down, also try masking sounds whenever you sleep at night its better to have a well rested body to tackle another day with T, you'll be free from it and we all gonna be free one day

 

@dayma
@Clark
Thank you both for your replies and encouragement.

 

@Stephanie72
Welcome to the forum. I definitely agree with above posters that it is a good thing that you can nail down the exact cause of your T. If the cause is later rectified, than there is a high chance that your T will fade or disappear. That can't be said for many members here including myself who either aren't sure of the exact cause, or that the cause isn't fixable, or that our T is of the type that even if the cause is fixed or removed, T won't necessarily be eliminated (such as hearing loss, acoustic trauma or taking ototoxic drugs). So take it as a positive. Hopefully the TMJ specialist will fix the problem for you and your T will fade.

In the meantime, if you find T too bothersome, try masking it with nature sounds or music. If your T is high pitched, try masking it with heavy rain, wind/waves, waterfalls, cicadas, even shower and faucet sounds. Have you done some masking yet? Take good care. God bless.

 

@billie48

Thanks so much for your reply. Yes, that’s the only way I can get any sleep at all. I’ve put the iPad on Home & Garden (for some reason the voices are soothing and make me sleepy) or the running facet sound on a noise appt. The only problem is that my husband has trouble sleeping with it on and I’m scared to use earbuds at this point. I’m having a lot of facial/jaw pain and can only eat really soft foods right now. It’s really got me down. It’s especially hard for me to think about my 5 year old having to see me this way. Again, thanks for the tips and your heartfelt response.

 

I have had a problem with my wife understanding what it is like and not supporting me at all... ask your husband to bear with you with the masking and let him know that you understands it is an inconvenience but you need him for support right now. They have no idea and you need your sleep to be somewhat normal l...trust me.

Also I understand 1000 percent what you are feeling with your children right now. I have a 5 year old also and a two year old also. That has plagued me the most of anything. I am praying for you today and hoping for a great outcome for you.

 

@Jason37

Thanks for your reply Jason. It’s amazing to me that strangers on a forum have been more supportive than my own husband. We haven’t been getting along for the last few months anyway so I’m not getting much support from him at all. Somehow I’ll manage because my son needs me. I do appreciate your kind words and thoughts.

 

@Stephanie72
I am so sorry to hear of your struggles and can definitely sympathise on the unsupportive husband thing.
Hopefully if you can get your TMJ under control, then the tinnitus will resolve.
You will manage, my tinnitus came on one month after my twins were born and I had a 19 month old as well. I survived and am in a better place now than I was 20 months ago.
Maybe look at a sound pillow? This pillow has inbuilt speakers and will mean your husband won't really hear the sound. I use one and it's great. I set my masking on a 30 minute timer which is enough time for me to fall asleep.

 

@Samantha R

Thanks for responding Samantha. I can’t imagine going through this with newborns and a toddler. It’s so good to hear you are in a better place. It gives me hope. I looked into the sound pillow and I see a few options on Amazon? What kind do you have? Thanks again for your response and support.

 

@Stephanie72
It's so tough at first. Really tough, and I only have mild-ish tinnitus.
I resisted habituation and searched for a cure, spent lots of $$$$ and now I have pretty much habituated.

I know you'll be fine.

My sound pillow is a Sound Oasis one.

Sam x

 

There are some youtube videos for TMJ and also youtube channel by Julian Cowan Hill. He gives great tips how to deal with Tinnitus.

Also, practicing breathing exercises and meditation can help you calm and calm the T.

Initial months masking T when sleeping helped me to fall asleep.... like youtube videos, white noise, fan etc.

Drinking chamomile tea before bed can calm tinnitus too and helps for better sleep.

Daytime try to ignore tinnitus and divert your focus on other things.

I wish you well.

 

@Samantha R

Thanks Samantha. I’m looking into pillows and pillow speakers. I’m using some over the counter sleep aids now too. I’ve had trouble falling asleep since my son was born so this definitely makes that worse. At this point I’m still hopeful it will go away or at least quiet down. There are some times during the day where it completely goes away unless I fixate on it. The hardest times are the evenings/bedtime. Last night I was relaxed (with sleep aid) and did some slow deep breathing. It totally went away (unless I tried hard to hear it) and that gave me hope. Is there anything that you do that seems to make yours less noticeable? Thanks again for responding!

 

@anusha

Thanks for the tips anusha. I really appreciate it. It’s hard because I’m not sure what caused it. Tmj? Meds? I did take an ototoxic med at a small dose for a few days but my ENT didn’t think that’s what happened. In fact, he didn’t seem to care why at all which is frustrating to me. I’m going back to my GP and I’ll go from there. Thanks for responding.

 

@Stephanie72
The absolute best way is exactly what you are doing. Relaxing and not fixating on it.
There are times (and they get longer), when I forget about it. Completely. Absolute bliss. So I know that if I don't think about it, then I won't hear it.
Easier said than done.
I'm also a big fan of masking.