Thursday, January 03, 2008

Commodity Oddity

I've been clenching my teeth at night lately. Hard. So hard that my jaw and face muscles hurt the next day. I got a bite guard at the store which has helped significantly. It was very distracting for a few days, but now I barely even notice it.

Interestingly, when I wake up on my own I don't seem to be clenching so hard, but when I'm awakened by, say, the alarm clock, I note that my jaws are clamped down on that bite guard tighter than a pair of channel-lock pliers.

I've been taking a new prescription the past few months, and upon doing a little research, learned that one of the side effects - which is completely unrelated to anything, it seems - is night time jaw clenching.

Huh! At least I know why I've picked up this weird reflex. You learn something new every day. :)

9 comments:

Martie said...

Ya always gotta read the FINE print, Clewy! Hope you get some relief soon for it!

Hugs

Anonymous said...

OMG that's terrible! (((((Clew)))))

Coffeypot said...

OMG! I hope you don’t fall asleep while giving a blow job. It’s hard to get a second date that way.

Anonymous said...

Okay, I'm trying to recover from the fit of giggles coffeypot's comment started ;)

You have to weight the pros and cons about certain medications that is true.

About a year ago I couldn't figure out why I would feel like I drank a gallon of caffeine when in fact I had none. After talking with a fellow instructor, I learned that her parents had the same symptoms when they switched to Splenda. I had been getting lemonade made with splenda from Chic Fil A.....things you learn about through experience. Needless to say I don't use splenda and I definitely have to read the fine print on many food products now.

Rebecca said...

Hey Clew!
Yeah, I've got a minor case of TMJ, but mine is stress related - not medicinally induced. Jaw clenching and teeth grinding are bad habits to pick up. See if you can't pick yourself up a night guard - even a traditional sports mouthpiece will help. :)

xoxo
Rebecca

Ame said...

Ya know those little, tiny, thin ends of the bell curve? Someone has to make sure they don't go away ... it's people like us that make that thing a bell CURVE anyway!!!

Nelly said...

I do that a lot too and I'm not taking anything to make me do it. I have to mentally release my jaw before going to bed and usually I don't have any facial/bone aches the next day so I guess I don't do it so much anymore.

Real World Martha said...

I do this also.
My husband works in the dental industry and there are people trying to do a front teeth product to avoid the pressure (with a night guard) on the back teeth. If you have any dental work keep in mind that crowns etc can break with teeth clenching.

Blessings,
Debbie aka The Real World Martha(S)

chesneygirl said...

All I can say to this is... you're weird.

But I love you anyway!

HA!

;)