I am looking for answers and doesn't seem like the doctor's nor the dentist can give me any. Here's my story and sorry its a long one but don't know how else to write it all out.
I had some mild dental work done... removed an old filling and replaced with a crown and removed an old crown and replaced with new crown. Had no pain prior to getting new crowns... just did it more for precautionary measures to keep from issues later. I have TMJ.. of course... needed to throw that in there. After dental work suffered with my tongue hurting real bad because they cut it all up but not too much pain in teeth. 1-1/2 weeks later I come down with a case of shingles that I have never had before. Shingles is on my back. So in severe pain in back, ribs, shoulders and serious headache from the shingles. In pain everywhere else, arms, legs, joints because my fibro is now flared up. So about a week after I got the shingles I started experiencing extreme pain (agony) in my face.. both sides of my jaw. Just a constant pain that would come on and last for hours. Eventually pain meds would help it go away. I have been on constant high dose pain meds... Gabapentin.. since I got the shingles. The pain in my face would come on for no reason...it wasn't necessarily in the morning when I woke up or after I ate. Just would be sitting watching TV and bam it hits. I would just be sitting there in pain holding my face in tears. This was not TMJ pain as I was in too much agony and wasn't just soreness.
Ok... so here I know the pain in my face is not the shingles because the shingles is on my back. So of course I assume its the fibromyalgia kind of just doing its thing and playing tricks on my mind, over exaggerating maybe the residual pain or irritation that is maybe there still from my dental work. So I did my best to ignore it and keep moving forward. Confirmed with the doctors that it was not from the shingles since the pain was on my face and shingles is on my back. So now we are post shingle pain in my body which means I have decreased my pain meds that I was taken 24/7. That's when I noticed the pain in my face was still there and was constant. The pain meds were just masking the pain.
So then I was also starting to feel terrible pain in my throat. I made a dental and a doctor appt to discuss the pain in my face and thought before going I would look myself to make sure there was no redness on my gums or anything obvious I could see. I then thought well let me take a good look down my throat. Well what I found scared the hell out of me. There were huge bubble like (picture orange jelly belly's) nodules all over he back of my throat. Freaked me out!!! If I posted a picture you all would freak out too. I went to the dentist first and they had never seen anything like that in a person's throat before. (that made me feel real good seeing them freak out about it) and so then went to Urgent Care. That doctor told me it was lymph tissue that was inflamed showing signs of an infection. Prescribed me a Zpack and did a blood tests and sent me on my way. Blood test was normal. Zpack did not help telling me that the "infection" must be viral.
Ok back to my teeth. So then go back to dentist and they take x-rays... which don't show any infection. Gums look good, there is no sign of anything wrong. BUT... dentist is telling me that the work that was done on both of the teeth (top back molar on one side and bottom back molar on other side) may have caused the nerve to be exacerbated and cause it to start to "die out". He is telling me that I need root canals on both teeth. Well.... I didn't need a root canal before I came and saw you?? And I didn't have pain right after I had the work done??. How coincidental that I now need root canals on two teeth that at the same time suddenly the roots are dying out?? This is just too hard to believe.
So then went to my doctor... and this is her gut feeling. I am suffering from neuralgia. First the trauma of the dental work... then coming down with the shingles which is viral... causing neuralgia of my nerves throughout the trunk of my body. Then the Fibro which is causing the rest of my body to have symptoms of neuralgia. Then back to the teeth where the nerves were exacerbated and my body suffering from all of this other neuralgia... my Fibro is just causing these nerves to continue to be zinging!!!. She doesn't want me to rush and get two root canals because it will only be causing more trauma to my body. She is asking me to wait it out. And I am...but if I don't take 800 mg Ibuprofen every 6-7 hours... I am doomed and in agony and in tears. How long do I wait this out? And what the heck is happening with my throat. Could Fibromaylgia be causing this inflammation?? is that possible?? The pain in my throat coincides with the pain in my teeth and jaw. Every 6-7 hrs... in agony with my throat burning and the pain even goes into my tongue.
So I know this is a ridiculous long post and I doubt there is anyone out there that is suffering the events that I am suffering. And I don't even know if this is the proper place for me to be even writing this as I am brand new to this site. But I am reaching out to try to find some answers. I can't keep going on with this and I don't know what to do next.
Sincerely,
Lisa