Questions about possible nerve pain or joint pain related to anxiety

[Mike7777]

Ive had anxiety on and off for 4 years now, lately its cut down a bit. But my physical symptoms still linger. Ive had bad jaw pressure like pain, around the jaw joint area and just my jaw in general. Also i can almost like feel my jaw move in my head when i do move or open my mouth wide. Eyelid twitches still there. I still have blurry vision too or flashes of dark spots. Sometimes i get chills but not as often as i was. Im not on any meds except ativan occasionally. Im just curious if anyone has has these symptoms without anxiety or actual panic attacks happening. I will be seeing a dentist soon but last time they just told me to wear a mouthpiece and that barely did anything. Would an mri or ct of my head show any joint irregularities?

[Lm92]

Anxiety definitely causes muscle spasms and it also causes our bodies to tense up. I thought I had TMJ forever until I started going to therapy and taking anxiety meds. I can tell now when my anxiety is breaking through because I feel my shoulders and chest getting tight and sore like I've been working out a ton. I copied down some text from an email that my friend, who is an orthodontist sent to me. It helps me a lot when I feel tension in my jaw.

"Feelings of stress and anxiety can cause you to clench your jaw or grind your teeth while you're asleep. You don't necessarily even realize that you do this, but it can cause feelings of tightness in the jaw, and pain during waking hours that you have no idea where it came from. If you want to help loosen up some of that tension in the jaws, wear a mouthpiece that your dentist can custom fit you for and several times a day, just when you're at your computer or watching tv, do these exercises. You may feel like it looks stupid, but I promise they'll help.

Massage the areas around your jaws to relieve muscle tightness and enhance blood flow to the area. Several times a day, open your mouth, then rub the muscles by the ears near your temporomandibular joints. Place your forefingers on the sore areas, and swirl them around, pressing gently, until the muscle relaxes. Close your mouth and repeat the massage.

With a clean forefinger, reach in your mouth until you can feel the sore muscles that are inside. Pressing firmly with your forefinger, massage one side, then the other, getting as close to the joints as you can.

Finally, massage the muscles on the sides of your neck. Those muscles don’t directly control your jaw, but by massaging them you help to reduce tension that contributes to jaw pain.

You can use hot and cold therapy too. If you are having sharp, intermittent pain, cold therapy is best. If the pain is a dull ache, heat therapy works well.

Try to steer clear of extremely crunchy and chewy foods, such as apples, carrots, beef jerky, and hard dinner rolls. You want to spare your jaws from overwork, particularly when the aching and clicking are severe. What you want are soups, pastas, and other easy-to-eat foods.

Don’t take big bites. Cut your food into smaller portions, so you don’t have to overwork your jaw.

Skip tea and coffee. Caffeine and TMD don’t go well together, since caffeine can increase muscle tension. Switch to decaffeinated drinks. (That'll help your anxiety too)."

I hope something in there can help give you some relief. Talk to your psychiatrist about it and even ask them to recommend a therapist or counselor you can see once or twice a week for talk therapy. That can help relieve a lot of tension you're holding.

[Mike7777 in reply to Lm92]

I will try this thanks. I see a psychologist but most meds ive taken have only made me worse. I have prozac but havent tried it as im too scared.

[Gjkas]

Hi Mike, a few years ago I was getting jaw pain and it was sometimes like locking.

I don't clench my teeth because I haven't got any. I wear dentures. Well I used to wear dentures before this started.

But then I went to see my G.P because I started to have eara.che and I was going deaf.. Well she couldn't see anything in it, so she made an appointment for me with E.N.T..

So I went to my E.N.T Appointment. They did a few tests and told me that i had to go to Maxillofacial.

Well then I went to Maxillofacial and then they did a few tests and X RAY'S .

They told me that it was Arthritis. Apparently it had worn away some of the bone between my ear and my jaw. If I had been a younger person and in better health they could have operated to correct it. But it's Major Surgery so I couldn't have it done.

But then the biggest shock came.

He mentioned Fibromyalgia and I said Yes ive had it a few years now. He told me that that was the cause of it. He told me that Fibromyalgia can cause a lot of things to kick off. GRRRŔ

I'm still deaf in my one ear and my jaw still cracks and gets painful. I can't open my mouth very wide and I get pain in my eye.It's worse in the cold weather and when I get stressed.

I use a warm Wheat bag on the side of my face where my bad ear is. I also gently massage the side of my face from my temple to my chin.. I doubt we have the same thing, but I thought I'd mention it.