Vagus Nerve? Jaw? Heart?

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elizzza811

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Does any of the vagus nerve happen to run through the base of the skull and branch into the lower jaw? I found this, but I'm still confused...? Sounds like it starts at the base of the skull but runs downwards towards the organs?

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-vagus-nerve.htm

I ask because my top 2 symptoms when I'm not seizuring is this aggravating pressure at the base of my skull and this irritating 'upwards-pulling' tugging sensation in my lower jaw. Specifically, it feels like there are magnets (just two of them) sitting inside my lower gums? jaw? (hard to tell?) on either side, and they are constantly being pulled upwards against my will - in one direction only - up. My lower jaw never relaxes. My upper jaw is fine.

Crazy at it sounds, occasionally I am able to get my lower jaw to relax a tiny bit by placing a stack of neodymium magnets on my forehead.

Sometimes placing them in front of my ears (where the jawbone meets the skull) helps some, but not nearly as much, and sometimes it doesn't help at all.

Placing the magnets directly over the areas in the lower jaw that 'tug up' constantly usually only makes things much worse, simply changing the angle of the 'pull' ever so slightly or having no effect whatsoever.

Could these sensations be related to my vagus nerve?

I read this, too, and got scared...

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/20...jaw-0210-20100209_1_jaw-pain-blood-flow-aches

Thing is...mine is steady, non-stop...not just with activity. Definitely worse with stress. But can seizures affect blood flow to the heart???
 
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I wasnt planning on coming back this soon, but I have been poking my nose in and felt the need to comment on this.

It sounds like 1 of 2 things. TMJ which is a problem with your jaw muscles, or it could be my problem. Which is my molars dont touch when I close my mouth. In a person that has generally normal teeth, when they close their mouth their tongue touches the roof of the mouth and the teeth touch together. This sends a signal to the brain. When they dont touch and your still breathing through your nose, the brain gets scared that your going to stop (because you cant breathe through both nose and mouth at once) and then it sends a signal to the muscles in your jaw area to clench.

It feels just like magnets to me and it gives me a headache at the base of my skull (made much worse if I am wearing my hair in a ponytail)

My advice would be to go to the dentist and let him know you've had the clenching.
 
Thanks, but my tongue does touch the roof of my mouth when I close it?...I just checked. Plus, this symptom is new...it started in maybe 2005, after I stopped Klonopin for my 'anxiety'? I have not had this symptom my entire life (the daytime clenching), though I have grinded my teeth at night my entire life.

Plus, what really scares me is the fact that my gums completely dissolved on me in these areas of 'magnetic' sensation?...around the front lower bottom teeth. And they attract stain like crazy, too, in this area...a stain which often appears grey on the surface and brown in between and along the gumline, a stain which can only be scraped off with dental tools...brushing does nothing. Is the staining some metal perhaps?

I've already had my teeth cleaned on Monday, brushed them religiously after every single meal, and within a week found them coated like below. Here is a pic from last summer...the two darkest areas of stain are where the magnetic 'pull' sensations originate...

http://postimage.org/image/175yi3750/

The dentist tries to blame this on my smoking habit when I mention it, but I had beautiful teeth and gums most of my life, at least until this 'magnetic' sensation all started, and I've been smoking for 28 years. Granted, maybe smoking gave me a general overall 'yellowing' of my teeth, but definitely not thick, scrapable, brown and grey stains that needed chiseling!

I have OCD, too, and some researchers now believe strep in the bloodstream might cause it? And my OCD has DEFINITELY worsened along with this staining...ALL of my jaw symptoms have worsened alongside my OCD. Could this staining be somehow related to strep in my mouth or bloodstream? The staining seems to accumulate only when my tongue has a thick white film on it, which is often.

Can You Catch Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/22/magazine/22OCD.html?_r=2&pagewanted=2

PANDAS: A link between strep throat and OCD
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1769

It's embarrassing because it looks like I don't brush my teeth, and I do!

I wonder, too, if high strep titers in the bloodstream and this abnormal neuroimmune response (PANDAS) could potentially be triggering my seizures, too? I am hoping to find a doctor soon who will agree to test my strep titers in the future, even though the OCD-strep link is still quite controversial and a link between strep in the bloodstream and seizures hasn't even yet been considered. All of this happened at once though...worsening OCD, gum tissue loss, seizures. Coincidence?
 
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I have the Vagus Nerve stimulator and on occasion my right jaw suddenly is paralyzed with intense pain for a few moments. Can't speak, eat, etc. and placing my magnet to my jaw doesn't help. It passes in a few moments.

From WebMD:
The vagus nerve is one of the 12 cranial nerves, the paired nerves that attach to the undersurface of the brain and relay information to and from the brain. Cranial nerve fibers conduct impulses between the brain and other parts of the brain and various body structures, mostly in the head and neck. The vagus nerve - the longest of the cranial nerves - also extends to organs in the chest and abdomen. (The word vagus comes from a Latin word for "wandering.')

Some cranial nerves bring information from the senses (like touch or sight) to the brain (sensory) and some control muscles (motor). Other cranial nerves, like the vagus, have both motor and sensory functions. The vagus nerve serves many organs and structures, including the larynx (voice box), lungs, heart and gastrointestinal tract.
Click to expand...

Since I've had the VNS, other than the jaw pain, I experience the change in voice while it is charging, the shortness of breath, wheezing on occasion.

And Rae, Welcome back!
 
elizzza811 said:
I have OCD, too, and some researchers now believe strep in the bloodstream might cause it? And my OCD has DEFINITELY worsened along with this staining...ALL of my jaw symptoms have worsened alongside my OCD. Could this staining be somehow related to strep in my mouth or bloodstream? The staining seems to accumulate only when my tongue has a thick white film on it, which is often.

Can You Catch Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/22/magazine/22OCD.html?_r=2&pagewanted=2

PANDAS: A link between strep throat and OCD
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1769

It's embarrassing because it looks like I don't brush my teeth, and I do!

I wonder, too, if high strep titers in the bloodstream and this abnormal neuroimmune response (PANDAS) could potentially be triggering my seizures, too? I am hoping to find a doctor soon who will agree to test my strep titers in the future, even though the OCD-strep link is still quite controversial and a link between strep in the bloodstream and seizures hasn't even yet been considered. All of this happened at once though...worsening OCD, gum tissue loss, seizures. Coincidence?
Click to expand...

Have you seen an endocrinologist?
 
I've seen every specialist you can think of...a rheumatologist (for chronically elevated rheumatoid factors), gastroenterologist (for chronic...?...I'm thinking it's gastroparesis?...though they never find anything to explain my symptoms...my digestion seems to come to a screeching hault quite frequently) endocrinologist, dermatologist, neurologist, infectious disease specialist, and even a Lyme Disease specialist.

The Vagus Nerve Stimulator though...is that implanted in the brain? And what has to happen for you to try that?

Also, one of my very first symptoms was the loss of my voice from what I knew was some sort of infection because my sinuses were clogged, I was having some sort of asthmatic-like attacks, and I'd burst my L eardrum. They discovered a L vocal chord polyp. Could this be seizure-vagus-nerve-related? My voice is gravely now, and I can sing high and low, but nothing mid-range ever since.
 
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elizzza811 said:
The Vagus Nerve Stimulator though...is that implanted in the brain? And what has to happen for you to try that?

Also, one of my very first symptoms was the loss of my voice from what I knew was some sort of infection because my sinuses were clogged, I was having some sort of asthmatic-like attacks, and I'd burst my L eardrum. They discovered a L vocal chord polyp. Could this be seizure-vagus-nerve-related? My voice is gravely now, and I can sing high and low, but nothing mid-range ever since.
Click to expand...

The Vagus Nerve Stimulator is for control of seizures, since I had an unsuccessful lobectomy, tried 10 AED's, all to no avail. It is also used for depression. It is like a pacemaker (pulse generator)and is implanted in the chest on the left side with a lead wire connected. The wire is guided under the skin up your neck to the vagus nerve, where it is connected.

See illustration:
http://www.riversideonline.com/source/images/image_popup/mh7_vagalnerve.jpg
 
Does part of it stick out of the body? And if so, doesn't the skin around it get infected, irritated, or even tear? Can you still shower?

Guess I'm asking because I have OCD, and I'd go psycho if I couldn't get that thing wet?
 
elizzza811 said:
Does part of it stick out of the body? And if so, doesn't the skin around it get infected, irritated, or even tear? Can you still shower?
Click to expand...

No, it doesn't stick out of the body and yes, I can shower. Some have had it get infected or the skin was irritated or torn, but I haven't had that happen, yet...

There are two scars, tho. One on my neck where they made the incision to wrap the wire around my vagus nerve and the other scar is on my chest, where the generator (pacemaker) is.

This is my 2nd VNS and I've had it now for 8 years, so any time soon will be time for another replacement.
 
Thanks for the info. I wasn't sure how that worked! Is the VNS preprogrammed to 'zap' you occasionally, or do you press a button somewhere when you feel you need 'zapping'?...a seizure is coming on, for example?
 
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