TMJ 'dysfunction' - Health implications

Three months ago, I was in the USA where I started experiencing an uncomfortable bloating sensation in my stomach shortly after eating. I had taken an antibiotic a few days earlier and thought that this may have disturbed my gut bacteria. Having never suffered this problem before, I was unsure what the cause was. This bloating issue continued to worsen with every meal, causing my abdomen, just below the diaphragm, to swell up. It made breathing a bit difficult as the swelling appeared to be pushing the diaphragm upwards. It felt as though my food couldn’t pass through properly, leaving me in considerable discomfort.

I asked my family for advice, and they recommended trying a probiotic. Sadly, it didn't help much, and I kept experiencing sleepless nights without any improvement. I'm reluctant to visit a hospital in the USA because simply stepping into a Wall Street-controlled emergency room can result in a $10,000 bill. I couldn't, in good conscience, let my travel insurance company be taken advantage of either. Based on my experiences, letting hospitals know you have travel insurance inevitably leads to them orchestrating expensive, complicated and unnecessary procedures for profit.

After a week, I returned to the UK, with the problem persisting, becoming increasingly painful each day and resulting in more sleepless nights. Eventually, the situation became so dire that I had to call an ambulance one night to take me to the hospital. Due to the high demand and my condition not being deemed life-threatening, it took hours before I was seen by a doctor. When I was finally attended to, the doctor decided to conduct a CT scan. The results suggested that I had a back problem, with the doctor hypothesising that some nerves were pinched, causing the abdominal pain! I had never suffered backache before.

I reminded the A&E doctor that I was not aware of any spinal nerve that could cause gut pain, which is typically supplied by the vagus nerve. Despite this, he concluded that I would likely have to endure this pain indefinitely due to my back issues and prescribed painkillers for the rest of my life before closing my case.

Returning home with no alleviation of my pain, I did not take the prescribed painkillers without understanding the true cause of my discomfort. I remember that when I initially arrived at the hospital, they tried to give me a morphine injection to ease the pain. I declined this because morphine affects breathing, heart function, and causes constipation, which would have severely worsened my condition. Additionally, many hospitals use morphine as part of helping patients along the end-of-life care, which I was very aware of and did not want to join that queue yet!

Two days later, with the pain still intense, I had to call an ambulance again. At the hospital, the attending physician reviewed my CT scan and concluded there wasn’t much they could do. He did not suggest any further exams. I was told that the problem was from 'wear and tear'. After waiting for hours in discomfort, I decided to return home once more.

A few days later, I sought help from my general practitioner, who suspected I had an ischaemic bowel that might require urgent hospital attention and possibly surgery to remove the affected part. He provided me with a letter for the emergency department. Upon presenting myself at the hospital, I was seen by several doctors over many hours before being referred to the surgical department for potential emergency surgery in the middle of the night.

Upon my arrival, at the surgical department, the hospital registrar summoned a surgeon, who immediately insisted that I start taking a drug called Omeprazole and some other drug. I am highly sceptical of this type of care. Having researched this drug extensively during my other research writing these articles, I knew that Omeprazole was often prescribed to patients like candy for any gastric problem, including if the patient is on Aspirin for blood thinning purposes. Omeprazole has serious side effects. It also makes patients susceptible to bacterial infections like Clostridium. I questioned the surgeon about the need for this drug when it has such a poor record. He was dismissive of my concerns, insisting it was a good drug and that I should follow his advice.

Fortunately, the registrar seemed to understand my concerns and allowed me to stay in the hospital until I could see the day senior surgeon. Around midday, I saw the surgeon, who insisted that nothing was wrong and suggested I go home and adjust my diet, which he believed would resolve the issue. He diagnosed me with IBS, meaning, I have a syndrome for which medicine has no treatment and I should get used to living with this condition.

Reluctantly, I somewhat agreed with him and returned home, continuing to try different probiotics and changes to my diet. He also prescribed an ultrasound of my abdomen and gallbladder and a Gastroscopy. These were duly done in the ensuing days, with no cause found.

A week later, with no improvement and the pain worsening, I sought help from my cardiologist. He recommended increasing a specific medication to enhance my cardiac output. Shortly after following his advice, I noticed a 50% reduction in my pain.

Suspecting that there was a possible compromise of the blood flow through my abdomen I concluded that perhaps my superior mesenteric artery might be partially blocked because an improved blood flow had helped, I shared this hypothesis with my general practitioner, who agreed and referred me to a different gastroenterology hospital for an abdominal vascular examination for which I had to wait for an appointment.

My blood tests consistently showed elevated pancreatic amylase levels, indicating pancreatitis. I continued to research into different probiotics to help my digestion, hoping it will stop the bloating, Eventually my research led me to discover a more effective probiotic. Within a few days of starting this new probiotic, my pain began to subside, and after about three more days, it was completely gone.

This experience underscored the importance of the gut microbiome, which had perhaps been affected when I had taken an antibiotic three months earlier. Further reading revealed that as we age, beneficial bacteria struggle to survive, the Covid vaccines have been a disaster for patients' guts. Maintaining a healthy gut requires a balanced diet rich in vegetables, proper salt intake, and the use of probiotics.

No medical doctor had mentioned the significance of the gut microbiome or suggested checking it. I found that the National Health Service does not cover such fundamental tests for patients suffering from conditions like IBS, IBD, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, or leaky gut syndrome.

The extensive hospital stays and scans I underwent would have cost approximately $200,000 in the USA, likely also costing the UK government significantly, when it all could have been avoided by a more judicious choice of diagnostic procedures. If the National Health Service provided these microbiome services, many chronic conditions could be alleviated, reducing healthcare costs and allowing patients to return to work and contribute to productivity in a much shorter time frame.

The takeaway from my experience is that I wasn't afflicted by a syndrome, nor did I endure wear and tear that necessitated lifelong palliative medications. I ponder how many millions suffer from chronic illnesses due to the misguided notions of conventional medical practice.

I plan to expand on this article extensively in the coming days.