Doing good so far...

[hdsqrl]

Ever since my dentist appt on Wednesday of last week, my jaw has been hurting.  If I ignore the jaw hurting, the pain starts to travel up the sides of my head until it meets above my eyebrows.  If I even touch the outside of my head, it makes it worse.  If I take a single Tylenol or Advil and then lie/sit still, the pain will go away as if it was never there.  Until four hours pass, and then it comes back.  So, of course, I've been on a steady stream of OTC painkillers for the past week, even getting up in the middle of the night to take another one, because the pain would wake me from a dead sleep.  This, in turn, means less sleep for me, because I'd lie awake for an hour or so, waiting for the pain to go away, and then doing that mental game of "if I go to sleep RIGHTNOW, I'll get x-number of hours of sleep."  *sigh*

During this past week, though, I also had a little canker sore in the upper part of my gum near where they worked on my tooth (sorry if this is TMI, but it pertains), so I wondered if the pain was related to the canker sore (I get those if I eat too much sugar - hello, Halloween candy-, or if I eat Peanut Butter, both of which I'd had this week), and if it was related, I hoped it'd go away when the sore healed.  It didn't.  I also wondered if the pain was a result of how I had to hold my jaw all out of whack as the dentist reached back to work on the backside of my wisdom tooth, and that maybe in a few days the pain would go away.  It didn't.  My actual tooth is fine...I can eat on it with no problem.  The tooth that was worked on was the upper wisdom tooth on the right side, but more often than not, I'd feel the pain in my lower jaw as well.  Weird.

Then I noticed that as the pain came on each time, I was clenching my teeth, or grinding my teeth a bit, or somehow doing something else that was just making it worse, but it seemed I was doing it as a way to try to stop the pain (like sqeezing the heck out of a finger that's been cut).  So I tried to make a conscious effort to stop and check to see if I was tensing up, and if'/when I was, to loosen up.  And still the pain continued.

Last night I took a Tylenol PM, hoping it'd help me sleep through the night.  It didn't.  But when I awoke at 2am, I ignored the pain, loosened my jaw up, and forced myself to lie there until I fell back asleep.   This morning when I awoke, the pain was there, but I ignored it, and went downstairs to have some cereal.  As I ate, I noticed the pain was lessening. (hah, yeah, I wish that was the answer...just eat all the time, Megan!  Har.)  As I showered and got dressed, the pain crept back.  Dammit.  But again I ignored it and just went to work.

During the day today, the pain's been coming and going, and I've lifted up the cover of the little shelf-thing that's above my head in my cube so as to help shield me from the light right above me, and have got some acoustic music playing on Media Player, and am circulating between cold water and hot coffee.  No drugs.  At all.  I think the pesky tooth pain is getting discouraged.  It's like that little annoying neighborhood kid who keeps dropping by to say hi and see if you've made any cookies or something.  No.  No cookies.  Go away.  No, still no cookies.  No cookies, EVER.  Go away!  GAH!!!!  *chases the neighborhood kid off her porch with a sharpened broom stick*

Good god, I'm bitchy today.  :o

But the pain seems to be getting the hint.  No more drugs for you, Mr. Pain.  Just go away.

In somewhat related news, I've learned that I reallyREALLY want the Maria Muldaur CD, Music for Lovers.  Holy cow, is she good.  I will have to get that for myself for Christmas, I think.  :D  THAT will be my reward for chasing off the pain once and for all.  YES!

Comments

[seer-of-athena.livejournal.com]

I'm very sorry about the pain... but maybe if the movement helps you could just do the chewing motion occasionally when you feel it coming on... kind of like losening up a stiff muscle or something. If it continues, though I'd seriously go back to the dentist... it shouldn't hurt this long.