Quote:
Originally Posted by HavaDrPepper
My thoughts go out to you for the eating issues alone! I understand completely how you feel. I didn't have TMJD but had missing teeth since the mid-90's. Molars. Had to chew with front teeth and you know what that does to those... wears them down because that's not what they are meant to do. Ended up having all teeth pulled so couldn't eat much at all, only soft foods. I existed on baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, real soft mac and cheese, scrambled eggs, instant oatmeal and tomato soup for over 2 years. Thankfully there was a solution for me and I now have a full mouth of teeth that aren't dentures. That hamburger in a bun never tasted so good on Memorial Day!
As for the fibromyalgia, I have a friend that was diagnosed with it over 20 years ago. The doctors at Cleveland Clinic told her to pitch all her medications and started over with only the needed ones for her asthma she had forever. Turns out with every medication new side effects were popping up and more medications were prescribed to help with those causing a chain reaction. It took awhile but she got it under control and has been able to live a very full and active life until she got COVID. The fibro has now flared up again and she's trying to navigate it all over.
 |
Thankfully at this point (and this could change at any time) the TMJ is under control enough that there's a lot of things I can eat. Obviously those things I listed are still out and probably always will be - I can
sometimes enjoy a steak if it's the right kind but not very often. But there are rare occasions it does flare up bad, and I have come up with my own coping mechanisms for when that happens. Most foods are out when I have a flare, it's just too painful, but flavored rice and pasta dishes are great and I basically survive on those until the flare passes. Soup is great but I can't survive on it alone. The pastas and rice are great because they're flavorful and carbs are my friend - they fill me up when a lot of protein sources are out. Eggs are great too, they have the protein and they're soft. Shakes are great too, I satisfy my sweet craving and they're delicious. Steak is not a great big loss for me, I've never been a fanatic over it, but sometimes I get a craving and do miss it.
The main reason I'm not anxious to go back to painkillers is I was on the strong stuff and developed a problem with it. And I had the unfortunate issue that your friend did - after a while it seemed to make the pain worse, no matter how much I took. I had no choice but to go off it cold turkey and withdrawal was horrible, but I've been off it for nearly 5 years now, minus a few times I've had access to a pill and taken it for the worst pain (a lot more responsibly this time). Honestly, if given the choice by a doctor to go back onto something it'd be a hard decision to make - there are times that the pain flares and I wish I had it to get by (tonight is one of those nights), but now that I've gone through a complete withdrawal and have had a 99% clean system for so long, even a half dosage just makes me feel sick to my stomach and the side effects are almost worse than the pain itself. But right now? Well, my area is expecting storms soon, and impending weather always makes me flare up, and it's no exaggeration to say that I'm about to jump out of my own skin to escape how progressively worse it's gotten over the course of the evening. I keep reminding myself of my constant mantra - this too shall pass...even if it passes like a huge kidney stone.
