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Thread: Jaw Pain anyone?

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    Default Jaw Pain anyone?

    Question for you all.

    I went off the prednisone - finally - after three years. I went off two weeks ago. A couple of days in, I started getting a lot of facial pain, and now I can hardly eat or drink anything. The pain is mostly in my upper and lower jaws and moves up behind my eyes.

    Anyone have this before? I'm going to the dentist to rule out a tooth issue, but I'm sure it's not. And I have an appt with the ENT tomorrow, but I'm afraid they're going to say, "oh, everything looks fine".

    The pain is a dull, ache, but it's consistently there unless I take ibuprofen. Almost like a toothache in my whole face! But nothing is swollen, and nothing hurts to the touch.

    Again, anyone have this?

    Jen
    "You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body." C.S. Lewis

    http://www.sensinganenemy.com

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    Hi Jen,

    I hate to say this, but you could be starting a flare. You may want to talk to your wegs doc and see if resuming lower dose prednisone is warranted. About four years ago, I had tapered off. Then, after about four months, I started having roaming joint pains. That led to my first course of rtx and back up to 40 mg of pred. On my next taper, I got down to 3 when the joint pain started again. Wegs doc said to go back to 4-5 mg and if the pain went away, to stay at that dosage. It did, and I'm still on 5 mg.

    Unfortunately, some people just can't be off pred...
    Pete
    dx 1/11

    "Every day is a good day. Some are better than others." - unknown

    "Take your meds as directed and live your life as fully as you can." - Michael Chacey, MD

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    Yeah, I wonder that. I've been having problems with severe joint pain since I got down to 4. Unfortunately, I think my wegs doc thinks it's my weight causing it. I think he's very wrong. It's ridiculous. It's like he doesn't believe that I never had problems before. He just wants me off the prednisone. I am so frustrated. And I hurt! The jaw pain is new, and I know it's my sinuses. But ai have to play the "let's rule everything out" game. Stupid.
    Thanks for the advice, Pete. I appreciate it.

    Jen
    "You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body." C.S. Lewis

    http://www.sensinganenemy.com

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    I think Pete could be right on target about the flare.
    I have had the jaw and facial pain when trying to wein off the press and also pain in different joints. When I would call the thru my she would up my preds and most times it would go away. I am Wishing you all the best for getting the right dx and treatment.
    Jana


    Do not fear anything, just do it afraid!
    It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop!


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    Jen, how long did it take you to go off pred?
    Lets say from 5mg to zero, how long did that take.

    For me, it has taken 3 years to go from 5mg to 1mg

    The reason I ask, is because my aunt (has RA not WG) went from 7mg to zero in seven weeks - 1mg a week.
    Her teeth and face hurt her so bad, that she went to the dentist and asked him to remove the teeth that hurt so bad.
    The dentist said that he couldn't find any reason for the pain.

    In stepped the wonder Phil (Dr and Batman) and he suggested that maybe her pred drop was too fast, and her adrenals have not kicked in.
    This was even before I found out that she had reduced her pred to zero. Phil picked it straight away.

    My aunt ended up in hospital, and low and behold, she was advised to reduce her pred, and it was too quick.

    She is not back on 5mg, and everything is back to normal, no facial pain, no painful jaw or teeth.

    Therefore, it's not necessarily a flare, but maybe you need to still have a low dose of pred, for a little while longer
    Last edited by mishb; 03-30-2017 at 09:55 PM.
    Keep Smiling
    Michelle


    Live your life in a way that you wouldn't be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip - WILL ROGERS

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    Quote Originally Posted by godgirl View Post
    He just wants me off the prednisone. I am so frustrated. And I hurt!
    Jen, Will your doc tell you why he wants you off the pred? If it's "just to get off of it", then that's really not a valid excuse.

    YOU need to be COMFORTABLE!

    Remind him that all wegs patients are DIFFERENT, and cannot be treated from any textbook--except the one that YOU are writing as you go along.
    MikeG-2012

    "You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have"


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    Hi Jen.
    I agree with Michelle and with dr. Phil ♡
    I would go back to the pred and see if it helps. If the doze you were on mostly was 5mg, I would go back to it.
    Jaw pain can come from the gums, the ears, the sinuses, the joints, the eyes - and all of those can be affected by wg activity. But since you just quitted the pred it makes sense that it is the lack of pred.

    I hate the dumb docs who dont understand how much the pred is important for us.. my wg dr. allows me to take as much pred as I feel like (usually its between 30mg to 5mg).... eventhough I am a pred glutton
    Alysia
    dx 2008


    Here, in this forum, I have found my sweet eternal love, my beautiful Phil.. :
    https://www.wegeners-granulomatosis.com/forum/threads/4238-pberggren-memorial-thread
    "You are my sunshine", he used to sing to me... "you make me happy, when skies are grey" I still answer him.
    Rest in Peace, my brave Batman and take care of your weggies from heaven, until we meet again.

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    Thanks for your responses, everyone. FYI - I'm on 200mg of azathioprine as well.

    Update: Funny, saw the dentist and surprise, surprise - nothing wrong with my teeth. And the ENT scoped my nose and funny, everything looks fine. I LOVE that everything is fine, but I feel like crap.

    Michelle - good question about the pred taper. I've been tapering for a couple of years. I keep going up and down. But since I hit 5mg, my doc doesn't want me to go back up. I usually taper 1mg per month, however I've spent the last 6 months going from 4 to zero. It might be too quick, but I personally think I need to be on at least 5 to function! As to my jaw and facial pain? Yeah, it feels like I have a horrible toothache in my face! It's really bad... I'm not eating much and

    Mike. THANK YOU. God, I'm not sure why my doc is so rabid about wanting me off the prednisone. The lower I go, the more problems I have just walking. Horribly stiff and painful, and I get tired so quickly. I work full time and am working on my degree part time. You're absolutely right - I need to be comfortable! I am not sure why this is such an issue. I know my blood sugars get worse the higher I am on the prednisone, and I know my blood pressure is worse the higher I am on it, but I can control those things. I can't control the pain in my joints or face, or the fatigue, or any of the other stuff.

    The craziest part of this? Last time I was in, he said I had fibromyalgia now, too (which might be the case), and said that was causing the joint pain. He's talking about taking me down on the azathioprine next. Uh, but I'm not sure how, because I feel awful. I think he's a good doc, but I have this feeling he's given up on me.

    So, is it realistic to expect to be on pred as maintenance for the rest of my life? My mom died of a different rare autoimmune disorder - she was on 9mg as maintenance for years.
    "You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body." C.S. Lewis

    http://www.sensinganenemy.com

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    Once I went to dentist with complaint about pain in upper jaw. I thought I had another infected tooth and might need another root canal. After his examination he said there was nothing wrong with my teeth but I had a sinus infection. I was doubtful but agreed to take the antibiotic and the pain went away in a few days.

    I also remained on 5 mg of pred and a maintenance dosage of AZA too. Many people cannot get off pred or get below a certain dosage of 5 to 10 mg day without having a lot of discomfort from their residual Weg symptoms. Also many people take a low dosage of pred in the 5-10 range for other medical issues besides Wegs. Our goal is to attain the best state of comfort and health our body and illness permit so it varies from person to person. There is no one size fits all for treating Wegs or actually most things for that matter. It is great is you are a lucky one who can get and maintain a long term drug free remission from Wegs but this may be a minority of patients and certainly is not the normal state from treatment for everyone.
    Knowledge is power! Wisdom is using it to make good decisions!

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    Quote Originally Posted by godgirl View Post
    Mike. THANK YOU. God, I'm not sure why my doc is so rabid about wanting me off the prednisone. The lower I go, the more problems I have just walking. Horribly stiff and painful, and I get tired so quickly. I work full time and am working on my degree part time. You're absolutely right - I need to be comfortable! I am not sure why this is such an issue. I know my blood sugars get worse the higher I am on the prednisone, and I know my blood pressure is worse the higher I am on it, but I can control those things. I can't control the pain in my joints or face, or the fatigue, or any of the other stuff.
    You're welcome. Remember the one thing that physicians will fight you on a regular basis--YOU know your body better than they do. Some are intimidated by INFORMED patients. The ones that are encouraging their patients to educate themselves on how they can help them do their job, are some of the leaders in their respective fields.

    Quote Originally Posted by godgirl View Post
    I think he's a good doc, but I have this feeling he's given up on me.
    I really think this sentence says it all for you. Maybe, just maybe, you are trying to tell yourself that it is time to find another doc?
    MikeG-2012

    "You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have"


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