Hello,
I'm new to this forum - actually just found it this weekend, thanks to a referral from someone on a different forum (Thanks Quincy!). I don't usually participate, but thought I would jump in and introduce myself and ask for some feedback.
I was dx'd with TMJD three years ago. I'm also hearing impaired, and was just dx'd with fibro at the end of last year. I have arthritis in my neck and right shoulder - it may have spread further, but we haven't bothered to test since I'm not getting any specific treatment for that. In March 2011 I had to start with a PMD, as I haven't had a pain free day since 11/2010. It's been a really hard three years.
I used to be very active - I could work 50 hours a week, volunteer 10-20 hours, attend my kids activities, spend time with them and my husband, kept a clean house and took care of all the details for running it, attended church and mid-week study groups and still had time to spend with my girl friends weekly and had hobbies! In the Summer I would also take my sister's two kids for a few weeks, as she is a single mother. Looking back, I can't even imagine how I did it all! I thrived on just 6 hours of sleep at night and maintained a healthy weight.
Now I have had to cut back on work to about
20-25 hours a week. Fortunately we took my income out of the budget about
two years ago when it became obvious that my working future was uncertain. Also fortunately, both of our kids are now out of the house (19 & 22), so they don't have to see me the way I am now. My house is a pig-sty, I've gained probably 40 pounds (no scale), and I mostly stay at home because I am so tired and not feeling well, or because I don't want my pain to get worse.
Up until January of this year I was taking (3) 5 mg Percocet's a day, plus Baclofen (low dose) during the day, Tizanidine (low dose) at night to sleep, plus nausea medication. In Jan we added extended release meds, so now I also take 10 mg OxyContin every 8 hours, and she just raised my Percocet to (3) 7.5 mg Percocet's a day.
Prior to the medication increase, I was pretty much at a 6 or higher all the time - every morning and night was more like an 8 or 9, and that was if I mostly just worked and then rested in my time off. Now with the addition of the ER meds, mornings are still the same, but I can get my pain level down some after just a couple hours with meds, can stay between 4-7 during the day, and I am more often at just a 6-8 in the evenings, with probably 4 nights where I am still at an 8-9. It doesn't really matter, but I measure my pain level just by my jaw, as the TMJD pain is the worst, because it's so sharp - but the fibro is kicking my butt too! I do notice that my "fibro fog" is lessened since the new ER meds, which is great. I am definitely doing the best now that I have in the last three years.
DH and I had a lengthy conversation tonight about
how I'm doing, and what's changed in the past few years. I realized that my pain levels are on average a point or two lower with the change in meds, but my activity level hasn't changed. If I try to do anything, my pain just gets worse. Today we went to Home Depot & Lowe's for about
3 hours and out to lunch, and by the end I was tearing up (I don't cry
), my jaw pain was about
a 9 from looking up at flooring, my hips & back and right knee/foot were on fire. So what good is it to get my pain levels lower if all I can do is sit around and try not to HURT myself???!
I realized I'm only living about
30% of my life now, and I want it to change. So we made a list of the things that I want to be able to do - preferably with a pain level of 3-6 90% of the time. I am taking him with me to my next doctors appointment, and planning to ask the doctor - what do we need to do to achieve this? I'm tired of just being ho-hum status quo, I really want a game plan. Please tell me if you think I'm unrealistic - I just want my life back! Here's my list of what I want:
-To keep a clean house
-Do more cooking - do freezer cooking days for organic food (usually a 6 hr cooking day leaves me in extreme pain, can't be touched, and very cranky! (Sorry for the blue language!)
-help with light home improvement projects (painting and such)
-vegetable gardening
-exercising (lose some weight)
-shopping without hurting myself like today!
-go on drives around the state/ day trips - it hurts to sit in the car for an hour, and I don't know if I'll be able to walk around once we get where we're going!
-be able to ride in the car to California to visit our kids, which seems impossible right now - I can't fly because of a collapsed eardrum
It seems like an unrealistic list, but at the same time it seems like it should be nothing at all!
What I already do to keep going, on top of pain meds: Votaren gel, lidoderm patches, heat, cold pack, warm baths, yoga, reflexology, stretching, changing positions often, meditation/prayer, cuddle my puppy. I've done PT and still do exercises for the jaw, chiro made me worse, massage hurts like HE-double hockey sticks. Can't think what else, I know I'm forgetting things.
So, I don't know what we can do - injections? I really don't know what else is available or worth trying. We are considering breast reduction to help (TMI, I know), but I haven't met with a surgeon yet. One really positive thing is that I'm not depressed, most of the time I can still say that I am "happy" in general.
Sorry for the book, I tried to go back and shorten it, but wanted to put the details out there. If you're still with me, thanks for reading and I look forward to getting to know you here!