I walked around the mall for 20 minutes this morning. I saw other walkers, most of them my age. It's a popular spot in the summer heat. They open it around 6:30, although the stores don't open until 10:00. It really made me feel better emotionally, and relieved some anxiety.
Unfortunately, it triggered my trigeminal nerve pain. But it's only been three weeks since I started taking the med, and it takes four to six weeks for the full effect. The positive side is that it did eliminate the nerve pain, and I've been able to do more housework. But I guess it will take more time to enable me to exercise. Hopefully it will die down.
However, I do have some aching and sensitivity pain from teeth grinding. Even with the mouth guards, I still grind. The nerve medicine doesn't touch this, it's regular pain, which on the plus side will stop if I stop the grinding. There's the kicker, it's probably due to anxiety, and the more anxious I am, the more I grind. Which of course means I've been grinding more the past five months. It's a conundrum! I'm going to ask for anxiety meds when I see the psychiatric nurse on Monday. The TMJ doctor said there were some ways to relax my mouth, and I have a call in to him. Also, botox can stop grinding, as a last resort. My therapist has given me ways to distract myself too. Exercise is one of the best ways, so hopefully I can do more eventually. On the plus side, the mouth guards are protecting my teeth and gums. The frustrating thing is that the pain is caused by anxiety, but most things I need to do to relieve anxiety are forms of movement, which aggravates the pain. But I'm determined to figure it out!
Donna, good job at getting more strength work in. I guess Jessica's strength work is working for you.
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Sherry
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