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Could allergies cause my pain?
I'm a 23 year old woman and I've been having severe and debilitating pain in my neck, back of head, jaw, face, ears, and shoulders for almost three years. Most of the pain is high up on my neck, behind my ears and into my head. I get hard lumps that can easily be felt, and my trapezius muscle swells up visibly. It has gotten continuously worse and nothing seems to help. I live day to day wondering if I will have a day of pain, because the pain can be so severe that I can't function and I have to rest, take hot showers, and use a heating pad to control the pain. This happens frequently, sometimes even four or more days per week.
I have been to my general practitioner, an orthopedic doctor, two chiropractors, a neurologist, a TMJ dentistry specialist, and an ENT. My xrays have shown only minimal arthritis, but significant straightening of my spine (indicative of muscle spasms). My MRI didn't show anything.
I have lots of painful trigger points, which led my neurologist to say I have fibromyalgia and he treated me with several trigger point injections and told me to do stretches. Each doctor, in fact, has recommended such stretches, and although I do them daily and avoid prolonged activity that could provoke pain episodes, nothing I do seems to help.
I just think that there might be something else causing my pain besides just the fibromyalgia. The doctors have told me that I just "need to live with it," but it's so hard because my life has been so affected by this and a lot of times I'm in such severe pain that I can't hardly stand it, even just laying down. I've always thought I was pretty tolerant of pain, but this leaves me in tears. I also have trouble sleeping because the pressure on my head from my pillow hurts my neck, head, and face. (and I've tried several pillow types and also wear a mouthpiece prescribed by my TMJ doctor).
When I saw the TMJ, he said that he believed my sinuses weren't draining properly. I don't know what led him to say that, but something led him to think that. I found that interesting because I have always had severe allergy problems (when I was tested in high school by an allergist, I tested positive for nearly everything on a skin ***** test). I also had chronic sinusitis when I was in high school, even though I took allergy medication every day.
What I find significant is that every time my pain flares up badly, my throat also swells, my ears ache, and my eyes water. Although my doctors don't seem to think my pain could be related to allergies, I do think it's a possibility. I'm just trying to find some cause, and I don't know where to go next. This is so frustrating.
I have been to my general practitioner, an orthopedic doctor, two chiropractors, a neurologist, a TMJ dentistry specialist, and an ENT. My xrays have shown only minimal arthritis, but significant straightening of my spine (indicative of muscle spasms). My MRI didn't show anything.
I have lots of painful trigger points, which led my neurologist to say I have fibromyalgia and he treated me with several trigger point injections and told me to do stretches. Each doctor, in fact, has recommended such stretches, and although I do them daily and avoid prolonged activity that could provoke pain episodes, nothing I do seems to help.
I just think that there might be something else causing my pain besides just the fibromyalgia. The doctors have told me that I just "need to live with it," but it's so hard because my life has been so affected by this and a lot of times I'm in such severe pain that I can't hardly stand it, even just laying down. I've always thought I was pretty tolerant of pain, but this leaves me in tears. I also have trouble sleeping because the pressure on my head from my pillow hurts my neck, head, and face. (and I've tried several pillow types and also wear a mouthpiece prescribed by my TMJ doctor).
When I saw the TMJ, he said that he believed my sinuses weren't draining properly. I don't know what led him to say that, but something led him to think that. I found that interesting because I have always had severe allergy problems (when I was tested in high school by an allergist, I tested positive for nearly everything on a skin ***** test). I also had chronic sinusitis when I was in high school, even though I took allergy medication every day.
What I find significant is that every time my pain flares up badly, my throat also swells, my ears ache, and my eyes water. Although my doctors don't seem to think my pain could be related to allergies, I do think it's a possibility. I'm just trying to find some cause, and I don't know where to go next. This is so frustrating.
Best Answer
If you have had cronic sinus infections as I have you may have had the drug Cypro or some version thereof to treat them. This drug can cause Fybromyalgia like symptoms. I have a receeding gum line which exposes the nerves in my teeth. They used to give me Doxepin which is a powerfull antihistamine to treat "Fybromyalgia" like symptoms. interestingly everytime I stopped taking Doxepin my teeth would hurt for a day or so. I am guessing due to elevated hitamine levels. My teeth also hurt when I get a cold or upon the initial onset of allergies. I am living with tight trapezius muscles and upper back pain also. What is interesting is that if I drink red wine my back pain always immediatelhy flares up within a few hours. Red wine is high in histamine. My backpain also worsens during allergy season. Putting it all together I would say, for me at least, that my pain is amplified by allergies. I feel it in my teeth, which are like the canary in the coal mine, and my back. Just my experience
I am also going through the exact same thing and I'm a 34 year old female. I'm very active, love life but when these "episodes" occur its hell and my life goes on "hold." This has been going on for 3 years and it seems to happen in the fall and spring. I have seen 8 specialists in various fields and no one has helped yet. I am also keeping a log of everything I eat, take, etc. All of my blood work so far says I'm healthy as can be. I do find that icy hot patches/spray, heating/icing, saunas, stretching, and hot baths do give temporary relief. My episodes last 1-2 weeks at a time and I have to take pain pills. Its so debilitating and I just want answers. If anyone has any other ideas please keep posting.
You have just described exactly what I have been going through. I am seeing an allergiest and getting 4 allergy shots twice a week and I haven't had a migrane since February and i was getting them twice a week. I do take zyrtec and dymista daily. I still get a bit of neck, jaw and head pain but it is far improved. I hope this helps you.
I've been taking over the counter claritin (10mg) every day for a while. Last week, I went to an ENT specialist and he prescribed me Astepro and Nasacort nasal sprays, which I've also been using since then. He also found a lot of inflammation and nasal blockage, as well as problems in my ears. I have to go back next Monday and he's going to review the CT scan I had done and do allergy testing to see which type of medication/treatment I'll need. I'm hoping all this might help with my pain as well.
Oh, I also get extreme fatigue from gluten intolerance, so I know food sensitivities and allergies do play a role. So do the environmental allergies that a lot of us have.
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I do find that the sinuses drain better if I have my chiropractor adjust the TMJ, since I have this dysfunction as well.