In 1995, my dentist told me I was suffering from TMJ.  He sent me to a "specialist", another dentist who had received some training in TMJ/TMD.  He fitted me with a nightime appliance/splint to try and keep my bite in one position as well as to minimize the damage of nighttime teeth clenching/grinding, which I do most nights.  My TMJ pain hasn't been like others I've read about - it isn't sharp, acute pain - but it is a throbbing, constant pain in my jaw area that often radiates up into my head and becomes a headache.

For the next several years, I lived with TMJ pain, which got progressively worse each year. Because the pain wasn't acute, and because I don't go to doctors unless absolutely necessary, I simply decided to live with the pain.  Or maybe it was just laziness or a fear that no one really knew how to help me.

A few years ago, my dentist tried tooth resurfacing, to better balance my bite (since I also have a bite that isn't consistent), but that didn't help.  He said that we had to get my bite "stable" so he recommended that I try a new splint appliance.

Instead, recently I began to do Internet-based research to try and find a true TMJ expert - one who essentially did nothing else but treat TMJ, and was recognized as an expert by professional peers.  Two names kept coming up in the NorthEast - Dr. Ira Klemons and Dr. Michael Gelb.  I visited both, and since I've been working in NYC, where Dr. Gelb is based, I stuck with him for now. 

Here's the amazing news for me...He recommended I try Clonopin - an anti-anxiety drug that has also been found to have muscle-relaxant effects.  I've been on it for about two months, and my pain is significantly reduced.  I don't wake up in the morning with pain from a night filled with clenching.  The pain isn't completely gone, but I can live my life now without fear of another attack of TMJ muscular pain.  He also was able to quickly diagnose that there was nothing wrong with my joint itself.  My issue derives primarily from the damage I do to my muscles when clenching at night.  Clonopin is supposedly a habit-forming drug, but that doesn't worry me - if it works consistently with no diminishing efficacy, I'm willing to use it for the rest of my life.  For now, it's been a very welcome surprise in my journey to better jaw health.  We'll see how things go over the next few months...Maybe a new splint is in my future as well...

I'm really curious to know if others have suffered with similar symptoms, since so many people seem to have had actual joint issues, and mine really isn't that.  Also, if anyone with symptoms like mine had found a physician or treatment worth sharing.