Buspar and tmj

I’m 24F. This December I took a plan B contraception pill & noticed a very faint constant ring in both ears 3 days after having taken the pill. It scared the crap out of me as I am a hypochondriac. The next morning it had gone.
Fast forward 3 weeks later to January, and long story short I took another plan B pill in spite of crying all night and ‘knowing’ it was a bad bad idea.
… 3 days after taking it… ear ring again. I was in Puerto Rico at the time and even experienced my first bout of motion sickness from being in the car driving up those crazy mountain roads… never have had motion sickness prior to that. I just prayed the ring would go away as it had the first time.
Well, now it’s May and if anything the tinnitus has gotten worse :( It’s louder in my left ear & I experience spikes in my left ear (but sometimes even louder ones in my right- just far less frequently). I have been to OBGYN, PCP, & ENT. None of them seem to think Plan B was the cause. I also have high blood pressure, I vape, & I was taking buspar for my anxiety. They seem to think it is more likely to be buspar… The ENT also informed me that I have jaw popping, TMJ/TMD. This is news to me, but not unexpected as I clench my jaw when I’m anxious & I’m always anxious.
I got off the buspar per Dr’s suggestion; she said 2 months to know if it has an impact on T. However, I don’t even believe it was cause of T in the first place. I am an anxious wreck :( I had habituated to the initial sound level after 2 weeks of freaking out that I had done this to myself, but the T is still getting worse. I’m terrified of all meds now& I need psych meds and maybe upcoming antibiotics for another health issue (vaginal tmi). I’m just so stressed and disappointed in myself for alll of this.
I’m supposed to go to Europe in a month and attend a few psychtrance music festival of which have been my dreammmmmmmm for years now. (Egons embrace☺️🫢🤯😩❤️‍🔥) But this T worry and all my health worries are terrifying me and destroying me.
I’m even scared of drinking alcohol. This all is threatening to ruin everything I care about. I’ve been off psych meds, as I said, for a month now; I’m really struggling. I’m going back on Pristiq as I know it did not cause tinnitus & worked ok for my anxiety. But it had a different (unwelcome) side effect.
Has anybody had a similar experience? None of the drs seem to think it was plan B even though it was the only variable with direct correlation. Not to mention it is a huge dose of synthetic hormone that I put into my body twice within the span of a month :’( Now I fear alll of my other health problems are simply exacubating the damage from plan B (TMJ, blood pressure, buspar, vaping , poor mental health, etc) :( Any advice about anything I have mentioned is cherished. Are antibiotics safe ? Is anything? :( I just reallly don’t want to make the same mistake of taking a med (or doing something) that will harm me😔🥺💔 I’m really trying to be healthier and grateful for what I have, but it feels like an impossible feat with all these concerns & this guilt I carry. I’m lost in worry. I don’t wish for T to get worse. I want to make progress with my wellbeing.
Also reccomendations for good earplugs would be so appreciated!!! I have small ears— I struggle to get the foam ones in properly.
Yours, A very stressed and and worried and struggling tweak.

Female, 30, 135lbs, 5'8", Zoloft 50mg, GAD, MDD, OCD, CPTSD, PMDD, no recreational drugs
I'm a long time user of Zoloft (since 2007) and was experiencing emotional blunting, leading me to try switching meds. At the time I was also on 300mg Seroquel for sleep. I tried to switch to Wellbutrin in 2019 and it went very badly and I was switched back to Zoloft shortly after. After going to 100mg I started getting some jaw tingling that turned into jaw tension, pain, and 24/7 tinnitus. My psychiatrist didn't make the connection to Zoloft, and I tried TMJ treatments for years with zero success. I also got off the Seroquel at this time, and didnt have any improvement. I then found out that there is a connection with SSRIs and bruxism, I tried a trial of Buspar to counteract it and it didnt work, so this February I got off Zoloft and tried to do no medication at all. Jaw tension decreased by about 60-70%, tinnitus remained but seemed to improve. Psychiatrist still wasn't entirely convinced it was the Zoloft that improved the jaw. I was actually doing pretty well (more energy, better sleep) but I then had a major OCD flare up as well as PMDD symptoms and was put back on 50mg Zoloft over a week ago. Within a few days the same thing happened: jaw tingling that turned to extreme jaw tension, pain, and increased tinnitus. I thought maybe I'd be OK with a reduced dose but apparently not. My question is: if I experience bruxism and jaw tension like this on Zoloft, will I experience it on all antidepressants? My psychiatrist has wanted me to try Prozac and then maybe Effexor if that doesn't work out. I have anxiety around trying new medication, which is why he put me back on the Zoloft in the first place. Let me know if more info is needed. Thanks

I'm currently on 25mg of Prozac. Starting at 15mg I've had TMJ and jaw clenching all hours if the day. I've been taking Buspar and its relieved some of the symptoms. However, I want to increase Prozac to 30mg. For those that have TMJ induced by SSRIs, did your problems become worse when increasing your dose?

I had TMJ from probably long-term stress (jaw clenching) that was making it very hard to eat anything except for soft foods or open my jaw much.
A dentist gave me a mouthguard and it created what sounds like something similar to another post I saw on here-
the mouthguard (only used 1 wk or so) caused a lot of nerve pain (shooting pain in my neck and cheeks) as well as TMJ joint clicking (which I never had had before). Teeth weren't hitting the each other in the usual places anymore.
What was crazy about the facial/nerve pain was that it would get worse when I would get angry, annoyed, or hear loud music (weddings, concerts really painful), or hear peoples voices who were high pitched or frustrating me. i was using ibuprofen & flexeril (muscle relaxants) daily which was just not a long term solution and i kept getting pain after those would wear off.
I wanted to share my story because I actually ended up finding relief- although my pain still flares up now and then, and my jaw is NOT the same as before, I am able to eat everything now (even chewy steak) and have maybe just 1/7 days with pain (which sounds crazy but compared to 7/7 days of intense pain for months that seems endless.... this is amazing).
After I told my dentist my teeth weren't hitting each other in the same way after using their mouthguard, the dentist told me i should switch to a different mouthguard. that mouthguard felt insanely painful just to put in the second i put it in my mouth. so then the dentist recommended to do orthodontics but I thought this sounded crazy to do braces when I already had pain from my teeth shifting. by this point i had already paid over a thousand dollars for the useless mouthguards. i saw another dentist/oral surgeon who i liked from a wisdom teeth surgery a while ago, who recommended botox.
What actually helped:

1. I saw a Orofacial Pain specialist ($700 in nyc which I basically avoided doing for several months because the price seemed crazy... but afterwards felt worth it to have someone who understands this type of pain specifically instead of throwing generic treatments at it. That guy told me that botox can be helpful for some but for me it would weaken the muscles that are holding my jaw in the appropriate place. He also thought that braces were nonsense and would make things worse for me.
2. The Orofacial pain specialist recommended I see a pain doctoanesthesiologist. This was covered by insurance which was great. Anesthesiologist/Pain dr said said my spine had become misaligned and was compressing the nerves causing the nerve pain. I got radiofrequency ablation done for my cervical spine. It was a set of painful procedures but it has helped incredibly. Hot showers/ hot water bottles & Gabapentin 100 mg (very low dose) also helps for flare-ups when I sleep with pillows that are wrong etc. Back when this first started, sometimes alternating with ice would also help but i dont do this anymore.
3. Instead of using mouthguards or botox which don't always treat the root cause that's causing your jaw to clench, I started to see a Psychiatrist who suggested Buspar. This actually helps relax your jaw physically, in addition to helping decrease stress/irritability/anxiety reactions. The downside is you have to take it 3x/day evenly (spread out every 6-10 hours... so like 6-10am for first dose, 12-4pm for 2nd dose, then bedtime for the last dose) but has been SO helpful for my stress & jaw clenching. Seriously it has been the most helpful. When you miss a dose there is rebound pain & irritability, which sucks - but it's been so helpful when I take it consistently. It basically fixed my bruxism issue and is what i should have been prescribed in the first place.
4. The combo of the destroying the painful nerves with the anesthesiologist + buspar to relax my jaw basically helped my neck muscles finally relax. When my neck muscles relaxed magically my teeth were aligned properly. WITHOUT f*cking braces. It was insane I was suggested to get braces when really it was that my neck was so tight that my jaw was being pulled in weird directions, and nothing was wrong with my teeth.
5. I also did physical therapy which provided some stretching exercises that at least gave me some brief from the pain. Mostly PT just made it feel good to feel heard since they meet with you every week and really work closely with you.
6. With suggestion from PT, I made several adjustments to how my neck is positioned whlie sleeping (sleeping on my back very straight & aligned which I know might be hard for some to sleep.. sometimes skipping pillows and sleeping flat has produced the most consistent pain relief
7. I also made several changes to how i position my neck during the day. changed my work station to have an elevated computer screen so I'm looking straight (instead of looking down at my laptop).. changing my posture when i use my phone so i'm not leaning my neck down constantly.
8. I also noticed that some things would tighten my back /neck muscles like using sports bras or heavy purses or tote bags carried on one shoulder. so i use a light backpack now, i don't wear sports bras and switched to just adhesive nipple covers (maybe occasional light bralette) instead of bras because that way there is NO pressure on my neck muscles. this has made a huge difference although i know it's a big change and not for everyone.
9. I noticed hot showers, hot water bottle + wet towel over it so that it creates steam, or gabapentin 100-200 mg (low dose) would help with flareups.

For what it's worth, I'm also a psychiatrist so I have some medical knowledge and mental health knowledge that (barely) helped me throughout this process, but it at least helped me sort out some of the bullshit along the way. It was still a crazy experience where I got told a different plan by every doctor and dentist, my pain seemed like a mystery to a lot of them, and very invalidating at times. it was a crazy thing to navigate.
I also wanted to say that from my work I've found that SSRIs, adderall, and wellbutrin tend to make peoples jaw clench.. This is not to say that you can't take these!!! You can and they are so helpful for so many people!!! But if you notice jaw clenching you may consider lowering the dose of those or adding buspar to decrease the jaw clenching!
Other takeaway is that a doctor i liked can still give incorrect advice. I really liked the two dentists i originally saw but their suggestions were not correct for my specific treatment plan. i think sometimes we conflate a doctor who gave us advice that harmed us as a 'bad doctor' or a 'terrible person' but they are actually lovely people who helped me with an oral surgery & in other ways treated me very gently and had great bedside manner. but it shouldn't be common practice to just throw mouthguards & botox at people when it might not be a 1 size fits all situation..
Edit: I can't keep answering medical questions on here but am happy to see people in NY for a consultation. not to be sleazy but i realized it's not great practice or appropriate to provide medical advice online, i really just wanted to share my experience as a chronic pain patient myself (not my medical advice) & also i do this all day so i'm fatigued haha & dont love to talk about work outside of work lol & that was the reason my post is so long was to include all the info i could think of. i really dont have much more to say. also, I am really a psychiatrist and not a TMJ specialist or medical doctor, so it may not make the most sense to book an appt with me unless you are coming for anxiety or buspar treatment, or 2nd opinion on if your meds are making your jaw clenching / grinding worse. but would really recommend everyone speak to their own psychiatrists if they have one since they know you best ❤️

I’ve been on buspar for about 2 years now. 7.5mg twice a day. I’m 31 years old. It’s great, really helped my anxiety and ocd. Since starting it I’ve been able to socialize again which has dramatically improved my life.
However, for the last 3 years my health has been deteriorating. Before starting Buspar, I had been experiencing migraines for 16 years, neck pain for one year and tmj symptoms for two years. X-rays showed that I had neck degeneration, PT confirmed clenching issues, no one can figure out the migraines.
Fast forward to now things are getting worse. I’m having migraines 2-3 times a week, my TMJ pain is becoming constant, and I have chronic neck and back pain. I literally wake up and the pain starts in my neck and shoulders. On top of that, I started to have intense muscle stiffness, and that is made way worse by doing ANY activity out of my routine. Even sitting in a different chair. I feel like I’m 80 years old.
The chiro says I’m cured and doesn’t know what’s wrong. A friend recently mentioned reading that some people have these same side effects from buspar.
Has anyone else experienced this? Especially someone one who has taken it for years? I am at my literal wits end.

i (24F) have been getting tension headaches for nearly 8 years. i can probably count the days without them on two hands. i feel incapable of functioning these days trying to manage and feel such low energy that i end up cancelling things in the evening to lay in bed after work. i can't run because it gives me a headache. i swear the sun gives me a headache.
i believe these headaches are caused by stress and anxiety, but i am also nearly certain that i have tmj. i take effexor and buspar to try and manage the anxiety (i've tried a few others, not sure if i'll stick to this one). i have gone to a neurologist and he prescribed naratriptan (i would take this during the worst ones--liquid gold imo) and propranolol. i stopped taking that because it didn't help. my doctor has me taking cyclobenzaprine as needed. this sometimes works but i can't take it every night and my body builds up a tolerance. i can't continue taking 4 ibuprofens a day and risk destroying my stomach.
is there anything else i can do? if you experience this, what has helped you? i feel incredibly defeated these days. makes it hard to be excited about being alive.

So I’ve been on Buspar since August 2023 and lately I’ve been hit with these ridiculous tension headaches out of no where, well not really not out of no where because it’s been like a snowball effect. Has anyone felt this side effect? Literally my shoulders are tight, neck hurts, tmj is acting up and there is this rubber band sensation squeezing my head which then just encompasses my whole head.
Buspar had helped tremendously with my anxiety when I needed something to ground me after some back to back events, but I’m planning on weaning off soon. I notice (everyone notices) my bursts of Buspar rage and my OCD has reached new heights. It feel like my synapses are firing off constantly. Idk it just hit a wall for me.
Never been on meds before, so I appreciate that it didn’t give me any gnarly side effects aside from the lethargy in the beginning, but these headaches are freaking me out as someone who rarely ever got headaches.

Is it common to take buspar as a med combo with Zoloft-GAD and Trazodone-insomnia? The buspar really nuked my TMJ, bruxism, and restlessness even though stacking is oftentimes not recommended. Somewhat concerned about being reliant on meds PLURAL for anxiety

I've been on zoloft for quite some time now and I'm wondering if anyone else deals with chronic muscle tension in their face, neck, and shoulders? It seems worst in my temples, jaw, and neck. My doctors keep telling me it's anxiety, but the tension doesn't get better when I'm not anxious. It definitely gets worse when I'm stressed, but the tension is always there and it is always intense.
I started having this problem after I tried to switch from Zoloft to wellbutrin in 2019. I had been on 100mg of zoloft since 2007 prior to this medication trial. I went back on zoloft in early 2020 after my trial of wellbutrin went extremely poorly, and since tapering back up to 100mg in mid 2020 I have had the chronic, severe tension as well as 24/7 tinnitus, sleep problems, and occasionally vertigo. I have been checked for TMJ issues and nothing seems super out of the ordinary anatomically. I tried adding Buspar to my Zoloft twice now and neither attempts worked to reduce the muscle tension at all. I upped my zoloft dose to 150mg to see if it helped and it didn't, though it did help my restless legs.
I know I clench my teeth a bit during the day but my dentist tells me there is absolutely zero signs of teeth grinding and a sleep study said I do not grind at night, so I don't think bruxism is a huge issue here, or at least not the main issue. I tried a splint at night and that didn't help either.
I'm more strongly convinced that the zoloft is the issue because the other day I forgot my daily dose of Zoloft and my neck and face felt so much less tense and the tinnitus was quieter. I took my dose this morning and almost immediately the muscle tension came back extremely badly and the ear ringing became loud again. I'm at a loss of what to do because, frankly, trying to quit zoloft in 2019 made me have a complete mental breakdown that cost me my job. The logical solution is to try switching, maybe to a different SSRI (Zoloft works somewhat well to control my anxiety and depression so SSRIs seem to work for me), but I don't know if they will have the same side effects as this. Being unmedicated is very likely off the table.
Am I alone in this? What do I do? It has been 3 and a half years of this and I'm so tired of it.

I currently take 25mg of Prozac. I've been on it for over a year. I've had good success in terms of depression and OCD tendencies but I still struggle with anxiety and I have TMJ as a side effect of Prozac.
I added Buspar a few months ago to help with the TMJ and it does help a bit. My anxiety isn't much better though. I only take 2.5mg twice a day. I was taking a 5mg at night but it made me very tired and I still didn't feel better after several weeks.
Has anyone had good experiences taking Gabapentin? I'm looking for TMJ relief, better sleep and reduced anxiety. I'm slightly worried due to the possible withdrawl/addiction side effects.

I currently take 25mg of Prozac. I've been on it for over a year. I've had good success in terms of depression and OCD tendencies but I still struggle with anxiety and I have TMJ as a side effect of Prozac.
I added Buspar a few months ago to help with the TMJ and it does help a bit. My anxiety isn't much better though. I only take 2.5mg twice a day. I was taking a 5mg at night but it made me very tired and I still didn't feel better after several weeks.
Has anyone had good experiences taking Gabapentin? I'm looking for TMJ relief, better sleep and reduced anxiety. I'm slightly worried due to the possible withdrawl/addiction side effects.

I currently take 25mg of Prozac. I've been on it for over a year. I've had good success in terms of depression and OCD tendencies but I still struggle with anxiety and I have TMJ as a side effect of Prozac.
I added Buspar a few months ago to help with the TMJ and it does help a bit. My anxiety isn't much better though. I only take 2.5mg twice a day. I was taking a 5mg at night but it made me very tired and I still didn't feel better after several weeks.
Has anyone had good experiences taking Gabapentin? I'm looking for TMJ relief, better sleep and reduced anxiety. I'm slightly worried due to the possible withdrawl/addiction side effects.

Prozac is my first SSRI. I was using BuSpar 5MG x 2 and Intuniv 3MG (still am). Didn't want to try SSRI until I was done with having kids which I am. So I said enough is enough and started Prozac about 2 months ago. Started with 5MG and moved up to 10MG after 2 weeks.
Overall, I do feel less anxious/ocd/"tight" feeling on my chest/feel like im going to explode but I feel lost now.
-Haven't experienced any nausea anymore, I'm expecting that I had a stomach bug initially.
-Sex drive has disappeared. I can still have sex/maintain erection, however, I have no interest/drive anymore. I could probably go months without even thinking of it. Big negative.
-No motivation to do anything. Doesn't seem like I want to try anything or anything exciting. My wife says I seem to be distant or lacking to want to do much of anything.
-My bruxism/jaw clenching/grinding at night is increasing a lot. I have been trying to combat this with nightguards and magnesium but this is flaring up my symptoms of TMJ.
-Less intrusive thoughts/less OCD/less ruminating. Not sure how to measure it but less impacted by all of the above.
-Irritability is lower. I haven't been nearly as irritable as before, wife agrees.
-Under eyelid twitching - could be a product of bruxism and bad sleep, but lower eye directly below my eyelid seems to tremble/tic from time to time.
-Focus is so/so. The Adderall XR is keeping me going, but have noticed less focus on tasks, could be part of the symptoms above.
Spoke with my doctor and we are going to move over to a low dose of Viibryd. Prozac just makes me feel like I'm here in body but no emotion at all. No feeling/no excitement/no happiness. Just here. I had a very high sex drive and it nuked it. I was OK with it getting tapped down from 10 to 8 but not 10 to 0. The jaw clenching is a big pain as well.
But, I am glad I took the leap of faith and tried it. I'm hoping the taper is fine and its a smooth transition.

I know this is a lot and is exhausting.
I’m a 35F that just retired from the navy 6 months ago with anxiety that became GAD once experiencing these symptoms. Health went downhill 4 months ago. Late May started with random neck pain in the front down the sternocleidomastoid muscle radiating into jaw and began when I smoked weed to take the edge off at the end of the night. I went to the VA ER and they gave me a Covid test (negative) and told me to go home.
I was later seen by VA primary care (early June) and an ultrasound later given where neck lymph node where pain originated was 3.7cm. I then started to have pain on both sides of sternocleidomastoid muscle that would go from jaw to collarbone and move locations. After a week the pain subsided.
June 28th went camping with family and the following day June 29th found a tick on my left inner upper arm near elbow. 24 hours or less attached at most. Believe it was an American dog tick. No rash, no symptoms.
July 4th - played volleyball and fell backwards while playing. Happened so fast not even sure how I fell, all seemed fine. At this point, I stopped smoking weed since it was counterproductive in reducing anxiety.
July 7th started severe trapezius muscle pain attributed to I was playing Xbox with my husband for several hours in our bed every night after our toddlers went to bed and also when my very heightened anxiety began. Severe all over trapezius pain lasted until July 22nd when I went to VA ER (no tests given) but was given decadron injection and medrol tapering dose pack. The trapezius pain somewhat subsided but increased anxiety began. Started feeling right scalp prickling on and off.
July 29th - (Day after corticosteroids ended) Realized I lost 25 lbs since early June and went to the ER for severe head pressure not relieved with AllegraD/ibuprofen (most likely anxiety). I scratched the left side of my head from itching while there. CT normal and doctor later said no abnormalities with neck (concerning lymph node).
August 4th - On and off head pressure with left cheekbone, muscle between cheek and jaw, and jaw pressure with right scalp prickling. (I also have TMJ on the left side but this is a new feeling). Doctor gave me triamcinolone cream for back of head scratch to use for 1 month. Heart palpitations occuring more often.
August 11th - Osteopathic manipulative treatment with my doc for trapezius and neck muscles. Following this I had shooting fleeting pain for 2 days like my right hip would hurt for a couple minutes then my left elbow and then my foot and my back, etc. all over my body. Borrelia burgdorferi Total IgG/IgM Antibody with Reflex (Lyme?) 0.38 and <0.90 normal.
August 14th - Present - Muscles all over my body (feet, calves, biceps, inside stomach, butt, groin, vagina, chin, lips, chest, neck, shoulders, wrist, thumbs, pretty much almost everywhere) started twitching and remain to this day sometimes rapid firing all day, others off and on only when I’m resting to varying degrees and sometimes when using the muscle. I woke up 2 days ago and a minute after waking my left knee spasmed and today a minute after waking my right shoulder was spasming. Has only happened the two times when waking. I’ve had internal tremors these past couple of days which seems to affect the left side more-so but feel the twitching all over my body. I’ve had severe head pressure while driving and also at night. Seems to be more so when I’m resting on the back of my head (headrest in car or sitting upright with head resting). I’ll have random pain all over my body in my muscles, joints, my left cheekbone a bit, and really everywhere. Lately mostly in forearms, biceps, shoulders, wrists, Right to center of scalp feels prickly off and on. Pain next to throat and sides of the front of my neck aches and throbs off and on. My memory has been declining. Occasional tingling in hands and feet. Heart palpitations not often anymore. Right eye gunky upon waking lately and sometimes seem blurry sometimes but not sure if blurriness is due to anxiety. Noticed at night I’m startled more by higher pitch noises almost like I’m being shocked? I’m waking up already exhausted and sore. I feel drained.
September 5 CT said there may be a tumor or abnormality on corpus callosum, following MRI shown it was artifactual in nature.
MRI + MRI-V (brain, with and without contrast normal except mild mucuosal thickening of right maxillary sinus). EEG normal. Reflexes normal. Told to take b12 1000mg, vitamin D 4000m, iron 325mg, gabapentin 300mg 3x/day, Prozac 10mg, hydroxyzine 25mg as needed for sleep and anxiety
Blood tests taken today (After 6 days of antibiotics cephalexin 500mg and diflucan 100mg) High sensitivity CRP is 3.4. High risk is >3.0mg/L (according to lab report).
I understand this is a lot. I’m exhausted. I don’t know where to even begin looking and seemingly so does my doctor. I’m trying to tackle the mental health aspect but Buspar gave me bad brain zaps, hydroxyzine made me too tired around my toddlers and I’m a stay at home Mom, starting Prozac 10mg tomorrow. In therapy along with CBT. I so desperately want this to be anxiety related opposed to what it could be. Thanks for your time if you’ve read all of this.

For the last week I've been taking 2.5mg at night of Buspar to help relieve symptoms of Prozac induced bruxism/TMJ. It has helped a bit and I'll likely increase to 5mg shortly. However, I'm very tired. Is this a common side effect and if so how long does it take to go away?
UPDATE: Fatigue seems to be better now and I'm sleeping much better. Also my jaw seems less tense.

Hello all, I am a 37 year old female who is almost 5ft 3 and I weigh about 125. I lost 15 lbs recently after a hiatal hernia repair, which has been a real doozy to recover from. In 2020 I had a roux en y gastric bypass and went from 210 to about 135-140, and maintained my weight pretty easily since then. I do not smoke and have never. I do drink a couple drinks...maybe monthly? Sometimes less frequently than that.
In 2021 I had a tummy tuck. In 2022, I had a gallbladder removal and at that time the surgeon found a mesenteric defect but nothing more sinister. Recently I had severe nausea with no clear origin, and they did an endoscopy but didn't find any issues. However, since I had symptoms my surgeon continued to investigate, and they did a barium swallow - that's how they found the hiatal hernia. Earlier this year, I had iron deficiency anemia and had an iron infusion. I had this issue several times before surgery and some trouble taking supplements that had required infusions. Prior to my roux en y, I also had type 2 diabetes and gastroparesis, which is why I had the roux en y in the first place.
I take Prozac, Buspar, 20 mg of Nexium everyday (was 40 but I am tapering). Right now I am taking Valium after surgery but of course that's temporary. I take Flexeril PRN for TMJ headaches, and also sometimes a Pepcid A/C if I was having really bad GERD.
My question is just about some recent bloodwork. My RBC was 3.63. Hemoglobin 12.1, Hematocrit 35.3 which is just barely back into the normal range. Just wondering if I should be worried about this. I have an appointment with an internal med doc in mid September but it is taking awhile to get in, so I am just sort of worrying in the meantime.

27 year old M 5’8 185lbs non smoker, social drinker, take 10mg buspar twice a day.
Every day for the last 2 months have been the same. I wake up totally fine at 5:30am don’t have any issues until about 9-10 and then the pressure in my head starts as well as feeling off balance/dizzy. As the day goes on it’s 50/50 whether or not I’ll feel dizzy still or if it turns into a migraine and I feel less dizzy. But it’s never both
ENT cleared me it’s not an ear issue
Seeing a TMJ specialist because of it as well as a clicking jaw but idk how confident I am that it’s TMJ related.
Is it time to talk to my primary about seeing a neurologist and or asking for brain MRI?

Hello, I have been on zoloft for a while now and I'm pretty sure that it is the cause of my TMJ and bruxism issue that has been ongoing for the past 3 years. I started getting jaw tension after going up to 100mg 3 years ago but didn't make the connection for a long time. I went up from 100mg to 150mg last month and the jaw tension increased tenfold after the 3rd week. Problem is that zoloft works really well for my anxiety.
We have tried adding 30mg of Buspar a day to counteract the bruxism from Zoloft but it did nothing. Now my psychiatrist is suggesting 300mg Gabapentin, but I've heard that the withdrawal from that is insane. I have also tried Seroquel years ago, which did nothing apart from horrific withdrawals. I did a trial of Wellbutrin 3 years ago, which spiked my anxiety to unmanageable levels. I'm starting to think that SSRIs are best for me.
I am just wondering where do I go from here? If I switch to a different SSRI will the jaw clenching continue to be an issue? Should I try reducing the zoloft as much as possible and adding something else? I'm just so disheartened right now.

Hello, I have been on zoloft for a while now and I'm pretty sure that it is the cause of my TMJ and bruxism issue that has been ongoing for the past 3 years. I started getting jaw tension after going up to 100mg 3 years ago but didn't make the connection for a long time. I went up from 100mg to 150mg last month and the jaw tension increased tenfold after the 3rd week. This has just confirmed that the Zoloft may be behind this the entire time. Problem is that zoloft works really well for my anxiety.
We have tried adding 30mg of Buspar a day to counteract the bruxism from Zoloft but it did nothing. Now my psychiatrist is suggesting 300mg Gabapentin, but I've heard that the withdrawal from that is insane. I have also tried Seroquel years ago, which did nothing apart from horrific withdrawals. I did a trial of Wellbutrin 3 years ago, which spiked my anxiety to unmanageable levels. I'm starting to think that SSRIs are best for me.
I am just wondering where do I go from here? If I switch to a different SSRI will the jaw clenching continue to be an issue? Should I try reducing the zoloft as much as possible and adding something else? I'm just so disheartened right now. I finally got to a stable place mentally after 3 years of hell.

So trying to figure out if my TMJ symptoms are mostly caused by anxiety or not.
First thing in the morning I’m totally fine but after 2-3 hours of being up and at work or whatever the pressure in my face head and jaw come on and cause a dizzy disorienting feeling.
Intake my buspar first thing in the morning and then again by noon and after taking my doses my symptoms do get better but don’t go away completely and by the time I’m home from work or say 5pm I feel much better.
Anyone experience sunrooms relief at certain points of the day?

I had a panic attack 11 or so months ago, I have not felt right since.
22M, 5’9 170
I have always been a pretty anxious person my whole life. Constantly moving my leg up and down, random bouts of anxiety over school, being overwhelmed etc.. but I have always been able to overcome this anxiety.
Nothing compares to a panic attack I had last June. I had some bouts of health anxiety in my life but those passed after a short time frame. Last June my mom was looking at my ankles, and asked if they were swollen. Instantly I was nervous and felt a rush of anxiety as I looked at them and we quickly realized that nothing was wrong it was just how they looked in my shoes. Well, I couldn’t stop fixating on this thought. I went to a friends house and was looking up symptoms, looking at my friends ankles and comparing them to mine, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
I went home and later that night I was on YouTube just watching random videos when I felt a pain in my chest, and shortness of breath. I knew that it was most likely a panic attack in my head and tried to just ignore it but I failed. I began feeling hot, breathing fast, and shaking. I ran downstairs and told my mom and I couldn’t stop freaking out. After sometime it calmed down a bit but I was still very anxious. I figured I’d sleep it off and be fine.
I have not returned to normal since that day. In the beginning after the panic attack I was still very anxious, short of breath, shaky, etc.. the whole entire day. It eventually went away after it was prescribed Zoloft and was diagnosed with GAD.
I was feeling less anxious in it but the main thing that has stuck with me is this feeling of constant drunkenness? Sometimes I feel some head pressure, like around my eyes and temples (I did get diagnosed with TMJ) I feel tired everyday, it’s hard for me to focus on things, I feel foggy, I feel disconnected at times and it has been this way every single day, every single hour, for the last 11 months.
I’ve had blood tests, heart tests, brain MRI’s everything fine.
I stopped Zoloft, did Wellbutrin, now on Buspar.
I fixate on a lot of health problems, and it’s hard for me to accept these physical symptoms I feel are just from anxiety.
Has anyone else had a similar situation and can offer some guidance? Is this maybe depersonalization/derealization? Thanks.

I’m going to see my psychiatrist today and I need recommendations on medications that help you get out of that clenching loop, it seems to get really bad in the evening and it will just throw me into a mad panic because I can’t stop clenching I currently take Wellbutrin, buspar and hydroxyzine, Clonazepam and a muscle relaxer. Clonazepam is the only one of those medications that will get the clenching to stop. My tmj is only muscle related and i recently had Botox in my massetars but I’m still struggling. I feel like this is taking over my life and I am miserable! Any recommendations or thoughts would be great!