What do I do now? It's a health one.

[Coldcoffeekindamorning]

I have been suffering with TMJ disorder for years. I have tried pretty much everything and spent x73848949494 pounds on trying to fix myself. I started seeing a specialist physio at the start of the year and it helped a bit over the summer but it is just getting worse again. I am so fed up and I dont know what to do.

I came down with some sort of virus/chest infection around 4 weeks ago, it aggravated my asthma and since then the pain has spread to my neck, shoulder and back. It is constant and even paracetamol and ibuprofen won't take it away completely. The GP treated me with steroids, two rounds of antibiotics and a chest xray but then told me that it's a virus and to go away and come back if I get worse. My cough has gone but my lungs don't feel back to normal, I am sooo fatigued and I can only do so much before I have to stop and lie down. The GP won't listen to me, I pretty much begged them to help me and they told me to go away, it's a virus and only to come back if it gets worse.

What am I supposed to do now? I am so worried that there is something underlying that they are not bothering to investigate. The GP didn't even take bloods to check. My auntie had stage 4 lung cancer and an xray didnt pick that up so why are they not seeing if something else is wrong? My friend had neck pain and they ignored her until the pain got so bad and turned out she had breast cancer. They both died in the past year. How can I get the GP to listen to me? I know that I am anxious but I just need to be better and no one is helping me and I don't know how to fix myself. What do I do?

Theres a lot to unpack here.
what are you concerned about?
You need to get things in order and tell the GP
•this is what I’m worried about
•these are my symptoms
•this is what I’d like you to do

I've tried to tell them and I just get put on waiting lists and the appointments never come. They don't listen to me.

it’s so crazy yet usual now a GP will not listen and there is very little care. You could get some antibiotics to help by going to the pharmacy and saying you have a UTI.

I know it isn't always possible, but can you book to see a different GP in the practice. A different person may see things differently and consider it appropriate to do other tests/a referral.

As the pain has spread can you go back to the physio - they may be able to suggest something that will ease the pain,but may also be able to do a referral elsewhere.

In our health board you can self refer for physio. For certain issues, the best way to get a specialist referral is through physio rather than the gp.

Contact your GP surgery and request a review under Jess’s Rule. It’s an initiative by the NHS to consider afresh cases where the current approach hasn’t worked.

There is a nasty virus going around and I'm sure it will have aggravated your TMJ.

I have suffered badly from TMJ. Massage helps a bit but the only thing that really relieves it for me is masseter botox - have you tried it?

This is shocking advice. Apart from anything else is likely to be the wrong strength, length of course and even type of antibiotics.

And if the GP has said it's viral then antibiotics will not help anyway.

It's bad that they're not investigating further and OP needs to keep chasing that.

My TMJ is always so much worse when I’m stressed and anxious so I think it can be a vicious circle. I wear a mouth guard to help with teeth clenching and try my hardest to get a good nights sleep. Not always easy I know. Have you tried seeing an osteopath for the pain?