Feel like I lost my life to bruxism.

For some unknown reason I developed bruxism 5 years ago. I suspect it was a side effect from some anxiety medication, that I took for about a month. Whatever it was, it made my depression worse. I pretty much gave up on medication after that. I mean I was pretty much fine without medication for 21 years, or so, why bother, when it only made me feel worse? (My ex BF's mother insisted I try something for my anxiety. I wish I was strong enough to say no. I could be perfectly fine now.)

Fast forward to today, and I suffer from horrible TMJ(TMD) symptoms, and to think it's only gonna get worse. I can't stop clenching in my sleep for the life of me, and I do it so freaking hard it's unbelievable. It's a miracle I haven't broken any teeth, and/or my jaw.

Everything I tried seems so pointless, and is costing me, and my family money we don't really have.

-I tried a generic mouth guard. It's too bulky, and doesn't fit right. (Guards don't stop clenching anyways.)

-I tried magnesium powder, that you mix in water before bed. Only experienced the so called relaxing affect once, and could barely think the next day.

-I tried a hypnosis recording for bruxism on the internet for 21+ days. No results from that. >_>
(I hope personal hypnosis is better.)

- Saw my doctor, he said there was nothing he could do.

-I got a biofeedback headband on internet, no sufficient improvement from that. (Maybe I'm just too impatient. I only had the device for a couple months now, and my clenching doesn't want to go without a fight.)

Initially I experienced a 71% reduction in clenching. Of course it didn't help that the device was losing skin contact every other day on average. I got that straightened out about a month later, and felt like I was starting over. I don't really know how much I improved, since I turned up the sensitivity. (I can't really use my baseline measurements as a guide anymore.)

I feel like my mind is resisting sometimes, because I either fall sleep without the headband, or I take it off in my sleep due to sweating. I definitely notice a difference when I sleep without it. (There's more pressure on my teeth, and more jaw pain.) It's just kinda discouraging when my numbers haven't really changed. (Clench count, and amount of clenching.) And the trade off is lighter sleep, for the little bit of relief I gotten.

These are the what if in mind. I'm beginning to think they are right. I always did have bad luck. :(

-What if I can never stop clenching with the aid of my biofeedback device.

-What if a dentist made guard does nothing for me. I'm a clencher, not a grinder after all.
(Grind Relief guard seems the most promising as far as these things go, but I have a slight overbite, so I'm not sure if it will work for me. I got no answer from the company. )

-What if I can't be hypnotized by a professional, and I lose tons of money in the process of trying to be.

-What if I decide to go down the botox route, only having to eventually stop having it done, cause it causes your muscles to deteriorate. (Oh what a tease a year or two of freedom would be.)

-What if I can't construct a safe biofeedback taste bud method device. (There not available yet, and I don't if they will ever be.)

-What if nothing else ever comes out that could eliminate this.

Oh and what makes matters worse is the bio feedback didn't work at all last night or I just took it took off. I can't remember if I was wearing or not. And who knew getting up to brush my teeth could ruin my ability to sleep well the entire night, ugh.

Welcome sky kitty,

I clench (did anyway) my jaw constantly, I have two cracked molars and 2 root canals from it.

You can try an anxiety medication at night to relax you. I do not see what the Botox will do for you. I had the shots for 3 months for Trigeminal Neuralgia, did not work. As long as you clench your jaw you will have pain.

I discovered accidentally through therapy, [started therapy 4 years ago, I am 54] that I was abused as a child. Once I started working on that stuff, I became aware of the clenching.

I purposely, stop and relax my jaw, open my mouth a little, relax the tongue and breath slow even breaths. This has become almost a habit during the day.

At night I will do it as I wake up. I don't clench as much as I use to. Though I still do. Mouth pieces never worked one me, $500.00 worth, of peices, wasted.

If I am really upset before bed and meditation is not calming me enough, I do have a script for a low dose of ambien. I do not clench with this medication

Meditiation, is great, I picture my self going to a calm safe place that makes me happy. Or, I will do prayerful meditation.

I hope this helps.
Peace
Trina

I am in the same situation except much worse perhaps. I am 24 years old. My wear from clenching and grinding was so bad that my dentist told me that I had the wear of a 80 year old man. 6 months ago, my dentist recommended that I get all of my teeth capped. I had bad teeth my entire life but not like once my teeth were capped. After capping all of them, and $34k later, I am in pure misery. I have been to 2 endodontists and 3 regular dentists. I have had 5 root canals, 1 pulled tooth, multiple mouth guards, dozens of "bite fixes", and around ten thousand dollars worth of medical expenses on top of the $34k already spent. I even tried the biofeedback device headband thing which seemed to work. However, after 3 days, the machine had problems and broke down completely. I also experienced the sweating and lack of connection with it. I am signed up for a sleep study next week with another anxiety test the week after. If both of those fail, I am going to have all my teeth removed over Christmas break. I have been in pure misery for the last 6 months. Crowns were not meant for people who clinch. The pressure is still there on top of the trauma of shaving down the tooth. Having a full mouth of restorations was the worst mistake of my life. But how could I have known? Each dentist was adamant that a simple mouth piece would fix it. I have read that anxiety or a sleep disorder cause 70% of the clinchers out there. I guess it is time to approach it from a different angle. Not one dentist recommended either of these studies but were just pressing for more money to be spent.

I clench my teeth too and I have erosion due to it. it's really bad and it causes headaches and strain. I could see how crowns wouldn't help since they are harder. If you bite down hard on a crown, it has no give. I think the mouth guard is my only hope. I got it made for me by the dentist. it was expensive, but at least when I bite, it's not directly onto my teeth. There have to be solutions, and it's possible the solution might be more to do with reduction of stress, getting better sleep and mental relaxation. Maybe muscle relaxer or botox could help. I think I'd take a year or two over nothing.