Burning Mouth Syndrome (and a few general TMS questions!)

I have read a few posts about burning mouth but not sure if I have seen this specific question answered. I am currently working through this. I have no doubt is is TMS b/c it came on during stress and because of how it acts - it can disappear for hours at a time only to return at almost predictable times of day. I know a lot of people say it doesn't matter what type of TMS you have, you treat it the same but I find buring mouth a bit challenging as it's hard to really just "ignore" and go about your business when it's really flared up. I'm sure there are other conditions that are similar in terms of pain level. With that said, my questions would be:

1. If you have dealt with this, any suggestions for what you do to try to ignore the pain or not give it attention when it does act up?

2. This is a more general question for any type TMS but how do you not just "wait" for the symptoms to flare? I feel like when they aren't there, I'm just waiting for them to show up. How to break that cycle?

3. Related to that - does anyone have a symptom that shows up at a predictable time of day? How have you dealt with that?

4. Does anyone find talking to your brain successful? If so, I have heard to do it in a stern boss - letting the brain know you are in control vs. using a soothing type voice?

Thank you for any advice you may have!

 

Hi @Maobadger11

I've numbered my replies in relation to your questions...

1. I experienced and was diagnosed with burning mouth syndrome after I had an extraction (bottom jaw, a molar next to a wisdom tooth) despite my gum having healed just fine.

My burning mouth pain was with me for a long time (probably 18 months or more, can't remember exactly now) but it eventually went away when I had virtually exhausted all possible medical advice. It finally dissipated after having the extraction site thoroughly inspected by a expert at a major dental hospital in London (I'm a Brit and had to wait my turn on our National Health Service to be seen) and they found physically nothing wrong. I was offered a drug by them that was developed for treating anxiety which apparently had the side effect of helping reduce physical pain to include dental pain. Having tried a couple of similar drugs for my so-called 'fibromyalgia' (with which I had been diagnosed many years before) and finding the side-effects of those drugs intolerable, I declined.

So, I resigned myself to suffering the burning mouth pain -- coping with it by using heat packs and over-the-counter (off prescription) painkillers, possibly for the rest of my life -- which was a depressing prospect at first, but then I got to remembering how my other numerous bodily symptoms, often extremely intense, either fizzled out completely or reduced to a tolerable level over time. Anyway, once all the investigations were over with, my burning mouth pain very very gradually disappeared and my TMSing brain moved on to paining other parts of my body instead, the way TMS is more than inclined to do. As far as my brain was concerned it had 'hit the buffers' and there was no mileage left in trying to get my attention by paining my mouth.

Moral of the story... get your mouth checked out by an expert if you need the reassurance, and just get on with your life, despite the discomfort and the pain and discomfort will go.

2. I just get on with life as best I can, despite the discomfort. When you're busy doing and thinking about things you're simply not waiting for the symptoms to re-appear.

And with symptoms that are hard to ignore, the best thing I have found to do is to say to my brain "okay, brain, I feel ya... but there's no danger here, so I'm getting on with this now" (a la Helmut aka 'The Mindful Gardener'). I repeat saying that when I find I'm feeling ratty/irritated with whatever the discomfort might be.

3. Yes, I have wide-spread muscle stiffness in the mornings... so I do some gentle 'bed yoga' type movements to ease that, and then tell myself "I got this" (a la Dan Buglio) and hum a happy tune to myself as I get myself up from my bed, and then think about what I'm going to do with my day. (My burning mouth was often worse when I was tired but was always present, until it very very gradually subsided and just wasn't present anymore.)

4. Yes, my advice is to experiment with what you say and with the intonation etc., to see what your particular brain will respond to. With me what works, particularly well to stop new symptoms in their tracks, is to tell my brain that it's being 'ridiculous'... I actually say, "You're being bloody ridiculous!" (well, I am a Brit!)

 

Thank you for the suggestions. I have had my mouth thoroughly checked out and know there is no physical cause but will continue to approach through TMS avenues. I like some of your other suggestions - I have heard things similar to just saything "Thanks brain but I've got this. There's nothing to see here" so I'll keep with that. I'll also keep on the intonation. I have head various responses on that one and recently talked with one TMS coach who suggested trying to get very stern/commanding and was curious if anyone yet had tried this. He said a few people had success with that. I appreciate you taking the time to answer!

 

Yes, that has worked on occasion for me too, but not consistently so I stick to telling my brain that it's being ridiculous. Some people find talking gently to their brain works (like the brain's a sensitive, fearful, little kid) and with others they need to be stern (just as Dr Sarno suggested). As I say, it's best to just experiment and see what helps. If you do a search of the forum threads (in the box, at the top right hand corner of this thread) you'll find some threads about talking to your brain; I just used the search term "what do you say to your brain" and some came up andthey might give you some other ideas about this.