which med is right for me?

[springrollz]

Hello everyone, this is my first post. I stumbled across this website and thought 'finally some people who are honest and seem to know a lot'.
Anyway on to my question.

I have had "TMJ"(stupid term everyone has 2 tmjs) but basically its jaw clicking, really bad pain, headaches, and tightness.

I have been to well over 20 doctors, had 3 surgerys, been on countless medications and many x rays/MRIs

I think its safe to say i have it pretty bad. I don't remember the last time ive been awake and not in pain.

I am male 5'10 180lbs or so

The medications ive tried are-
-norco/lortabs of course. (i need 50-80 mg to feel anything and thats way to much tylenol to be taking 3x a day for years)
-oxy 30mg not time release. (these are awesome but too expensive and addictive)
-tramadol (was better than nothing but really doesnt help a lot)
-ibuprofen (might work for someone who has never taken oxys)
-mobic (i take these a lot for the inflammation but nothing for pain)
-flexeril (aka the make you sleep 20+ hours and feel horrible for 40+ pill)
-zanaflex (aka the take 5 and nothing happens pill)
-baclofen (same as zanaflex)
-alcohol (eh im trying to lose weight so id rather not)
-valium (the doctor gave me extremely low mg pills so i would need the whole bottle for it to do any good then have to wait 2 weeks for a refill)
-xanax (same thing as valium it helps a lot but no doctor wants to hand out 2mg bars to me they all want to give me the .25s if any at all.)


There have been a few others but I really cant remember and they didn't help at all. What I am hoping is that you guys might know of something my doctors don't or maybe don't want to tell me about? Any advice is GREATLY appreciated.

 

[Tommyboy]

What about morphine? It is great for pain, and alot of people find it less addictive than oxy when taken orally as prescribed.

 

[springrollz]

I havn't tried morphine, but I imagine it is like every opiate ive tried, starts off nice works well, I start needing more, and more, and more until it gets to be dangerous then I have wicked bad W/Ds. I'm pretty sure the only doctor i know who would give me them is 5 hours from my house, and is the same one who gave me the oxys. So i imagine I will have to pay a lot to get them. I am interested though do you have any other information on them? I'll go do a search on them now.


edit:

– Morphine is a highly potent opiate analgesic psychoactive drug, is the principal active ingredient in Papaver somniferum (opium), is considered to be the prototypical opioid. Like other opioids, morphine acts directly on the central nervous system (CNS) to relieve pain. Morphine has a high potential for addiction; tolerance and both physical and psychological dependence develop rapidly

Thats what i found

 

[Violenza666]

My sister in law has TMJ and is going through an immense amount of pain. While my idiot Brother in Law is complaining that she cant give him a blow job for longer than five minutes... All she has is ibuprofen. I told her to go to a dr to get proper pain medication. I wish you the best of luck and will be following this post so I can report it back to my sister in law.

Also, I heard Fentynl works for TMJ .... you might want to look into that, but be careful with it.

 

[hydroazuanacaine]

is it a temporary thing? if not, opiates and benzos are not the answer. you're going to regularly use 2mg of xanax for TMJ? though valium would make a lot more sense, so the equivalent to a bar (20-40mg)? your doctors are right to not do that. don't get me wrong, i bet severe TMJ is a bad thing. But worse than a 2mg or 40mg a day habit that has been sustained for years? plus, you would still have the TMJ.

you've seen specialist and surgeons; bluelighters don't know any better. sorry to hear about your condition though.

 

[Psychedelic Jay]

TMD id the disorder of the TMJ. You need to stick with a stronger med.

You will have to take something, because this is one of those cases as trial and error your way to pain management.

 

[springrollz]

I guess I am just desperate in hoping for something that could help. I don't like to complain about TMJ because there are a lot of people with much worse conditions than I have. But vio your brother in law sounds like an idiot. I couldnt imagine opening my mouth wide enough to even eat a popsicle let alone for more than 5 mins.

The surgeon after the last surgery said they don't have another surgery that will help me without completely reconstructing my face. And he said he will not do that to me. I've been turned away by 4 other surgeons who couldn't help me at all.

I came here because doctor after doctor thinks I am just looking for a certain pill to abuse or something. I thought bluelights honesty would be a refreshing change. It seems like mostly mature adults who are realistic and honest. Most of my doctors are not mature adults who are realistic and honest at all, but thats a whole other story

xanax has worked the best for me so far, but hydro is right. It is not a temp thing, and after is all said and done ill have a bad addiction on top of a messed up jaw. However my surgeon told me many people grow out of it. (i think he may have been lying though)

 

[Psychedelic Jay]

He is.
Damaged joints just don't magically heal up.
In you case something is going to always hurt, because the surgeries have permanently changed your TMJ.

 

[springrollz]

So is my best bet pain management? Or should I just man up and deal with the pain? I sure hate my life without pain medicine, but opiates don't seem to mix well with me.

EDIT: Jay I didn't see your first post, thank you for an honest opion. Thanks everyone for input.

I live in california so maybe medical mj? It seems the least harsh on the human body, but Im not sure i could do my job stoned.

 

[Violenza666]

I guess I am just desperate in hoping for something that could help. I don't like to complain about TMJ because there are a lot of people with much worse conditions than I have. But vio your brother in law sounds like an idiot. I couldnt imagine opening my mouth wide enough to even eat a popsicle let alone for more than 5 mins.

The surgeon after the last surgery said they don't have another surgery that will help me without completely reconstructing my face. And he said he will not do that to me. I've been turned away by 4 other surgeons who couldn't help me at all.

I came here because doctor after doctor thinks I am just looking for a certain pill to abuse or something. I thought bluelights honesty would be a refreshing change. It seems like mostly mature adults who are realistic and honest. Most of my doctors are not mature adults who are realistic and honest at all, but thats a whole other story

xanax has worked the best for me so far, but hydro is right. It is not a temp thing, and after is all said and done ill have a bad addiction on top of a messed up jaw. However my surgeon told me many people grow out of it. (i think he may have been lying though)

Yea he is, it is fucked up... what you said about about all they can do now is completely reconstruct your face scares the shit out of me.. that is horrible. By the way if the xanax helps and you are in that much discomfort.. TAKE IT.. I am coming off of Xanax right now... been on it about 3 years for panic attacks.. you can taper. Remember while you might be "addicted".. it's not because you're a "piece of shit drug addict".. it's because you are in pain and you need relief. Physical addiction is a side effect but not the end of the world. You seem like a strong willed individual, get that relief you need and when the time comes taper down..

 

[Mr experience]

Damn man I'm in the same boat u are and it sucks!! I want off the meds bad!! But Im in pain without them! I use to smoke pot like crazy, then I was able to stop! Same with drinking! But these fucking meds got me by the balls. It started with a broken leg. Percocet 5's then I'd stop, start, stop, start until finally I couldn't stop at all! Now I eighter take the shit or get really sick. I have no insurance and rehab costs $$$$, I have 4 kids my marriage is suffering. And my addiction is getting worse. I'd never took the warning serious! You have a few choices.... Cold turkey (hell) decreasing doseage and weaning yourself off ( will power) or rehab$$$$. Someone told me once you go to rehab that shit will follow you around forever! It stays on your Health records!!! My suggestion if I can give u one??? Pray find a support group, get a sponser, and see a doctor for some "saboxin" this will kill the withdraws and help you get off the opiates!!! If the pain continues, get on some non narcotic pain relivers!! Good luck to you and god bless!!!!

 

[Mr Blonde]

I live in california so maybe medical mj? It seems the least harsh on the human body, but Im not sure i could do my job stoned.

How about trying just a small amount first, so your not too stoned?

Also, the question about 'how to talk to doctors' in your first post might be against the guidelines... like, as if you were asking how to persuade a doctor to prescribe you one thing or another.

Good luck with your problem man.

 

[springrollz]

Sorry about the how to talk to doctors, i should have read the rules more thoroughly. i'll do an edit to get it out. What i was trying to ask was how to talk to doctors to convince them i have a serious medical problem, and im not just looking for pills. i can see how that would lead to trying to get scripts though.

mr. experience I feel ya with the w/ds man. I was on oxy 30mg not time release 1-2 every 4-6 hours. That doctor gave me those i believe to get me hooked. I had no clue what they were, i didnt care at the time i just thought it might help with pain.
They felt so good that i had to look them up online and see what they were all about. After i found out how horrible they can be once you become addicted and build a tollerance, which I had done over 2 months, i quit cold turkey.
I lost 20 pounds in just a few weeks. i was sucked up, sweaty, sick, depressed, it was complete hell. But it went away after a while. That experience is why i say i don't think opiates are for me. For people who can take them with control im sure they are a wonder drug, but i could not control myself until i decided to quit.

Do you guys think that a small amount of mj would help? I'm a sushi chef and i have to move very very quickly and use a very sharp knife so im naturally a little worried about not being able to move quickly enough, and a little worried about losing some fingers.