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I've been under Matia's care for a long time and have been doing great. 2 months ago I felt strong enough to go in for a major dental surgery (several implants) that I have been delaying for a long time. It went pretty well, all the implants are healing fine. But after one difficult extraction, there was some inflammation, so the pain was really, really bad for about 2 weeks. I took Motrin frugally so was in a lot of pain most of the time. But all the problems started AFTER the tooth pain was gone: I've developed muscle and joint pains all over, tendonitis in both feet (it is amazing, but the night after surgery I all of a sudden felt a sharp foot pain, but never thought it was related). It has been 2 months and all of this is very scary and is NOT getting any better. Matia assures me that is my body's reaction to surgery and it will subside, but I am really scared! Before this I've never had fibromyalgia, or any serious joint discomforts. Now it feels like I was ran over by a truck!!! Weakness all over and pain/tingling/burning sensation in my feet, and they hurt the most when I lay down at night. Shooting vague pain in my fingers and toes, just bizarre!
I was wondering what do you ladies think of this, and if any of you had anything similar after a surgical procedure.
The amazing part is that my bladder is holding up strong!!!
Hi Natasha, try not to worry,
Hi Natasha, try not to worry, I think Matia is right. I had a difficult implant done May 2010 and I came down with aches and pains all over, as I called them then, for about a month and then another month of subsiding aches until they were gone. I also got bad nerve pain in the tooth next to the implant as well which went on for weeks and frightened me more but that too disappeared.
I honestly never thought I was going to recover but I did. My dentist was brilliant, he didnt want me taking pain killers unless I was in agony and kept advising me to keep calm and to let my body heal. On his advice, I stopped the pain killers (hadnt been taking many because I was never into taking them generally) and slowly, after about a month, the pain all over receeded. It took maybe another month before I felt completely back to normal but it did happen, like i literally woke up one morning and I hadnt a twinge.
Maybe because you had several implants, it is taking longer but honestly, honestly, I did go through what you are going through (I had forgotten until I read your description how bad it had been for me as well) and it just went, like it never happened. My dentist had seen this happen many times so I dont think its common to just IC people.
Hope this helps, you will be ok, trust Matia as well that she said the same to you.
Taz, THANK YOU!!! Your post
Taz, THANK YOU!!! Your post made my day, I literally read it 5 times. Did your dentist tell you where is reaction was coming from?? All my body aches now went down into my feet, and the pain is relentless. I started going to a chiropractor, he promised to ease it up for me a bit. But I think he is making it even worse.
I sooo feel for you. I had
I sooo feel for you. I had what sounds like a similar reaction last year but after a slight injury to my knee, no dental procedures/drugs. All the symptoms you mentioned -- muscle & joint pain, inflammation, weakness, tingling, burning -- fibro-like but eventually totally debilitating. So I don't know if this is helpful to you or not. If so, feel free to email me. It's taking me a long time to recover but I think that's due to extenuating factors, and I am much better than at the start. But I shared the same fears -- it was so scary and crazy to get such strong and "unrelated" symptoms, and I was only getting worse for a while even though Matia kept saying I'll be fine. But I am getting there. I'm so sorry you have to go through this. I think it's just a matter of time. I was just thinking this morning actually if I'd have known for sure it was going to end, I would've handled that time much differently.... like surrendered to the moment more, taken more lessons from being compromised in that way instead of fighting it constantly, "enjoyed" (a relative term since I was in such pain) my time for others to help/care for me rather than be obsessed that I must get back to health now and can't accept help/care, etc. But of course it's so hard when you're in it.
Thank you! I just sent you an
Thank you! I just sent you an e-mail.
Hi Natasha, I am trying to
Hi Natasha, I am trying to remember, I know my dentist said he had seen this reaction many times after implant surgery, much worse than what I went through (because I had only one implant). Did you have lower gum implants put in? He had said that the reactions are not as exteme when its upper implants. The lower implants trigger something with the nerves in the lower gums which are gateway to the rest of the body (that was how he phrased it). I do remember being frightened out of my wits and feeling it would never end but once I stopped the pain killers and kept as calm as I could be, they really did start to subside. I never had pains in my feet, mine were in my lower jaw, spreading down to my arms, my sides and lower back. I did have a few pains in my thighs. What I found happened is that the pain started receeding from the bottom up, thighs got better first, then sides and then up and onwards until my lower jaw started settling down and then literally one morning I woke up and the pains were gone. It took two months overall....from ONE implant!!! I can imagine the terror you are going through with having several done. Please, please, try to keep calm, I am the worst one for worrying myself but I trusted my dentist, particularly as he is anti over medicating. I dont understand how this happened but when I stopped the pain killers (and reserved them for killer pain), the pain got better, he predicted this, he said something like its false paiin which can subside and disappear if its left alone. Now, having said that, if the pain wasnt subsiding after 3 months, he was going to take my implant out, so he had some time line in his head as well.
hope this helps you, i was thinking about you over the weekend because I remembered how scared I was, from my implant afterwards.
Taz, what you are describing
Taz, what you are describing makes perfect sense to me, all my implants are in the lower jaw, but the pain has started as a tendonitis in the foot (THE NIGHT AFTER surgery), and went into my arms, shoulders, wrists, fingers, with all around pain and weakness. Now the weakness subsides, arms calmed a lot too, but now it us all in my feet, where it has started, and it is impossible. Also, it is not just pain, but tingling, just like they describe fibro. Was yours only pain? My biggest fear is that I can't take so many implants out, it is the whole jaw. I also thought I brought it on myself by not taking enough pain killers, and let my body get "super sensitized" by pain, that has started fibro typer of response. But now I see that may be it wasn't such a bad idea.
THANK YOU!!
God Natasha, you poor thing,
God Natasha, you poor thing, your whole jaw, ok that makes even more sense. It could take a while for the pain to subside, I hope I wont upset you by saying this and again I am only quoting what my dentist said to me, he said he had patients dealing with this for up to a year but he was adamant it was from many implants. I also went to a holistic dentist before Christmas (when I was getting my fillings replaced with non mercury stuff) and that dentist completely agreed with how the other dentist had treated me, said that its a kind of reaction by the nerves to the implants and that it can vary from person to person as to how long they take to settle. He also said your state of health has nothing to do with it, its to do with the lower jaw nerves. I know my implant reaction was extreme also because of the nerve underneath that tooth is a huge nerve for the whole jaw, if you have had the whole jaw done, its likely you also had an implant put there and its triggered a reaction.
Could you go back to your dentist and see what he says? I know I had a very good one regarding after care because I know some dont want to say you may have a reaction, in case you then make yourself have one(does that make sense?) Mine didnt say anything until I contacted him and he was great, had me in to him every week to check everything and kept reassuring me it would go.
Edited to say, yes, it was a tingling pain, excruciating, I nearly went insane from it, it wasnt shooting pain, more nerves being hypersensitive, I still dont get this but the pain got worse from the pain killers I was taking. Once I stopped them, the pain got easier to handle and slowly, slowly subsided. Please though, ask Matia, I would hate to give you advice on what worked for me, in case its the worst thing for you, it is so hard to know. Like, when I had all my fillings removed before Christmas, that dentist was afraid I would have a reaction again and I decided that I could cope with it if it happened, knowing it did go. Guess what...nothing, not a twinge, he couldnt believe it and he couldnt explain that to me because all his patients have some reaction. So I cant figure out that either.
Taz, thank you again!! It is
Taz, thank you again!! It is really comforting to at least know that these things exist. My surgeon is pretty arrogant, even though I think he did a good job on the implants, they all healed normally, and my dentist has never heard of such thing. I wonder if it is also an immune response of sorts, when our bodies are rejecting something foreign at first, even thought it is suppose to be biocompatible.
Hi Natasha, do ask Matia
Hi Natasha, do ask Matia again and see what she says. It must be an immune response because my dentist couldnt predict my reaction and how long I would have it for, nor could the holistic dentist. They both said some patients have no reaction, some have mild, some bad and some go for a long long time. I was lucky with both dentists in that they had dealt with patients who had had such reactions and both found, in their experience, that the pains just went away with time and that pain killers aggravated it, rather than helped. My heart goes out to you because I remember how scared I was and also feeling I was making it worse, I was just lucky that my dentist was so patient and kind with me about it, and made me feel it would go if I kept calm about it.
I am sending healing and calm thoughts to you, you will be ok, you will.
Matia said it is my body's
Matia said it is my body's reaction to the very intense procedure and surgery meds. They've used a LOT of novocaine with epinephrine and steroid injection post surgery. She is now trying to undo all of these pains. I know she will, it is just it is very, very unnerving. I asked her about metal allegy, but she said it would manifest itself in the bladder first and be relentless, this makes perfect sense, so at least I am pretty sure it is not that!