I'm unsure if this is TMJ pain I am having or what. I am not asking for a diagnosis but just asking for peer feedback from you all. Since late October, I've noticed some discomfort in my face. An oral-facial pain on the facial cheek(right side mostly), under jaw and facial numbness somewhat radiating inside my mouth and teeth and upper gums and vestibule area. At the time and still now, I keep thinking it was my most recent retainer fitting(I had a new retainer from early October). It felt a little tight at the time and hurt a bit, I wore it all day and night(except for meals or working out) and I thought maybe I turned my head too hard or something and maybe I caused some misalignment of my bite/jaw/mouth or something. But I've also noticed chronic neck/back/shoulder pain which I thought maybe it was from my job from my chair. I had some increased saliva and mild rapid swallowing of it Also I was having pulsating tinnitus/hearing sensitivity which was brought on from my headset at my job. I also restarted Zoloft in late Oct and that was when I was aware of these oral-facial pain issues and I stopped Zoloft. I ended up in a psych ward due to the pulsating tinnitus and worsening MH issues. I was started on Lexparo and a few weeks later I noticed these symptoms come up again with the oral-facial pain, increased saliva, along the jaw. And I started to notice a gradual head/neck/back pain that kept getting worse gradually and gradually. I stopped the Lexapro in early Dec. My regular Dentist basically gave me a Dx of bruxism/TMD but he couldn't give a cause of what the cause was. He did offer to make a night guard/splint but I turned it down because I wasn't sure if it was a waste of money/make the issue worse. Through early Dec, it did get a bit worse with the saliva issue/rapid swallowing and the mild discomfort on my face. I went to my ENT doc and he thought I was having a neuro issue(this was after my ENT doc ordered a MRI-MRA of brain and neck to rule out any brain anersyum/brain issues with the pulsating ears I had in Oct-Nov). The first neuro provider I went to he seemed clueless. He wanted to order a sleep study and an EEG. He Rx depaoke which I did not take because it would have been hepatic toxic for me(I have a mild liver condition called Gilbert's syndrome that has a mild elevated billi). I went back to that neuro clinic but saw Nurse Practioner guy who seemed a bit more focused on treatment. He rx Oxtellar XR but it caused paranoia for me and it was supposed to address nerve pain I may have for the facial painl I did the EEG on NYE 2019 but I was getting frustated by the end of the year. I kept having worsening oral-facial pain plus chronic neck-back pain. Jan-Feb 2020 -I keep having worsening head/neck pain which I later found out it could have been related to a misaligned/unproperly adjusted chair in my desk and maybe my posture was shit. -I went to a few ER visits in Jan 2020 due to the chronic facial pain and back-neck pain -early Feb 2020 my dad took me to an ER due to the bad neck pain I had. The ER doc ordered a CT of my neck and showed straighening of the cervical lordosis associated with muscle spasms. Rx for naproxne and flexeril was given but it helped a bit but then it stopped. -I did still some oral-facial still and the saliva issue still. -I saw a different neurologist and she reviewed my medical records and she did offer for me to do a nerve conduction test(which is better than a EEG) -I ended up back in the psych ward due to the worsening physical pain and depression I had. The ER doc at that psych ward he ordred a MRI of my spine. MRI was fine but later found out I had a minor bulge on my C5 C6 and maybe this could be causing issues with my oral-facial pain(I would need to ask my neuro doc again if this could be any connection). I was given NSAIDS and flexeril in the psych ward but it didn't help much. -When I got out I was using heating pad at my house to help with neck/shoulder pain which sort of helped. -But in psych ward I was given Zoloft again and it caused increased saliva issue which caused issue with me when I got out. I was having some oral-facial pain issues a bit more. I tried on my retainer again(to see if not wearing my retainer was the cause of the pain). I tried it on at night and woke up with pain on my mouth and my neck(I wore it at night two weeks ago). I saw my shrink again two weeks ago and she Rx me Clondine for anxiety to swap out Propranol which stopped working. Cloindine helped with lowering the increased salivation I was having with the Zoloft/and or trying the retainer on again or prior retainer use. Since late Feb to now, I feel like I'm having worsening oral-facial pain on my mouth and jaw, inside my mouth. I feel that either the zoloft or retrying on my retainer again fucked my mouth/jaw/facial muscles up more. Or maybe the combo of the two. My shrink did say that Zoloft has a bruxism side effect. so maybe there is some evidence. Maybe that and the retainer(maybe it wasn't fitted right) are the cause.
