So ill- all help welcome

[somedizzywhore1804]

Hello medical hobbyists of mumsnet

I am really reaching the end of my tether so all help appreciated.

I have moaned about this before but GP being useless.

I am almost 18 weeks pregnant and ill. Horribly, inexplicably ill. For about three weeks now I have been suffering pain in my right jaw- sometimes in my ear (it first presented itself as a swollen ear canal) sometimes in my teeth and sometimes in my jawbone. Latterly it has been in the side of my head on that side.

GP is clearly at a loss and has diagnosed variously:

-ear infection
-sinus infection
-TMJ
-virus

I've been prescribed erithromycene (allergic to penicillin), codydramol, codeine phosphate, feldene gel (to rub on jaw).

Alas none are really helping.

The pain is, I'm sure, intensifying. I haven't visited a dentist simply because it doesn't feel like tooth pain. I can't sleep, eating is hard, I can't work, can't concentrate.

I have also been suffering from bad HG and been hospitalised.

I would really appreciate any ideas, experiences or advice. I feel like I need to go back to GP but I want some ideas of ways forward.

TIA.

I would go to the dentist

Could be wisdom teeth - when mine started descending I had the pain you describe - jaw, ears and head

You poor thing. It sounds like facial nerve pain, which is incredibly painful so you have my sympathy. I had this in pregnancy and It was caused by gum inflammation. Do your teeth ever bleed when you brush them?

I think a trip to the dentist\hygenist is definitely worth a try. In the try using interdental brushes every day if you don't already. Hope you're feeling better soon

Sound exactly how I felt with wisdom teeth too!

Thanks guys. I've just had a pretty bad nose bleed too which is what makes me doubt it's teeth but dentist is next on my list.

I should have added nose bleeding intermittently (not like a tap but very red blood) and swollen glands in neck to my symptom list in my OP.

Oh and pushmepullyou, no, no bleeding when I brush.

Nhs dentist is free when pregnant so nothing to lose by going to see the dentist x

Dentist is top of my list then.

Any other ideas?

I had similar and dentist helped. In my case my teeth were really sore but it was gum inflammation so it's not necessarily what is hurting that causes the pain!

Bumping this for the mid morning crowd.

Have you been to the dentist yet? You've had some great advice there so let us know what they say...

Just got back from dentist then docs- luckily both next to one another but had to sit around four hours to get emergency appointments

So nowt wrong with teeth or gums. Dentist seemed bemused. Saw a different GP who thinks the sinus next to my ear is blocked and infected. So more and different antibiotics. Feeling very cynical as this is such a different diagnosis to the one I got yesterday. Not sure what to make of any if it to be honest. Pain is incredible and I do have a high temperature but I don't think the doctor knows what they're talking about if I'm honest.

dizzy I have had what sounds like the same thing on and off from about week 14, I'm 22+3 now. I've been to GP, consultant, dentist etc, the consultant eventually got to the bottom of it, well, I think he did!

For me, the nosebleeds are from temporarily raised blood pressure, doesn't even have to be in the raised range, just a bit higher than is your pregnancy norm for an hour or so, if you're stressed/angry.

The swollen glands he said were just from being so ill from HG all the time (I've been in and out of hospital a lot too) that I'm just constantly under the weather/trying to fight off minor germs.

The jaw/ear/jawbone pain for me is TMJ, partially from the strain of throwing up so much, and then from locking my jaw during the day. I found what really helped was leaving my mouth a tiny bit open (not catching flies!) as much of the time as possible, as then the jaw automatically relaxes. Also, with what you can keep down, are you chewing on one side of your mouth more than the other? I found that I was doing so unknowingly and it made it a lot worse. Oh, and try to limit chewy things if possible, although with HG the whatever stays down rule is more relevant.

I have had many sinus and ear infections, and also all of my wisdom teeth out as emergencies (not all at the same time luckilly!) and the pain for all of those wasn't the same as this.

I'm not sure if what I had is the same as you, it sounds a bit like it but everyone is different. I should add that the HG gives me wicked nosebleeds too. I think it's difficult to find out what's going on when you have HG, as you feel so rubbish all the time that it could be a huge list of things. Really hope you get to the bottom of it and feel better soon though, sorry I can't be more help

Somedizzy, are you experiencing any dizziness or loss of balance at all along with your ear and jaw symptoms? If so, Google Ramsay Hunt Syndrome, a virus related to shingles, and see if any more of the symptoms match with yours. Treatment should be with antiviral medication as soon as possible after onset. Hope you get to the bottom of this soon, it sounds horrible.

The only thing I cannot see mentioned and apologies if it has (I have skim read the thread) is trigeminal neuralgia. Worth looking up the symptoms and seeing if it fits. My sister gets this particularly around the time of her period due to hormonal changes (? a bit of fluid retention) so its totally feasible that pregnancy hormonal changes could cause similar problems.
Just a thought, hope you feel better soon.