TIFU by sleeping in a wrong position and thus not being able to eat for two months

So. Obligatory: It happened last year.

It was a fine summer, I was being single and getting my masters. Summer was hot. At the beginning of June I managed to sleep weirdly and dislocate my jaw a bit. No worries, I'm only 25, what's the worst that can happen, right? Well, at that point of time - nothing.

BUT

The day before my graduation ceremony (end of June) I went out with a friend. We had a few drinks and decided to go over to his place. We fooled around a bit and then went to sleep. I fell asleep on his shoulder and I guess alcohol played a role so I don't remember being uncomfortable. In the morning I got up and went home to get ready for the ceremony. My jaw was a little stiff. No problem, it will go over just like last time, right? Right!? Well.. No.

I guess it is important to notice at this point that I've had arthritis for the past ten years. Nothing too bad, I'm not on any meds and mostly I've had troubles with my left knee in the past.

So a week goes by and I can't eat anything you have to chew more than twice. So all the garden parties with grilled meat.. No. I also had trouble opening my mouth more than about two fingers. All the hamburgers, sandwiches and so on. I just couldn't eat. It went on like this until August.

I tried to look for exercises to make it better. I told my friends and one of them recommended a great  dentist who had done his PhD in relation to arthritis. Perfect! I called my GP and pushed her to get the note I needed to get to this very specific dentist. She was reluctant, but I finally got it.

Dentist was really great and positively surprised that I decided to turn to him first - many of his patients get tossed around the system (rheumatologist and so on) before they go to him.

After a discussion we deciced to make me a special retainer that I have to keep in my mouth every night so that I can not clench my teeth and my jaw can rest. It helped! I also had to loan some money from my sister cause this shit wasn't cheap, but I got it!

One drunken slumber cost me two months without proper foods and almost 300€.

I still wear it most of the time because if I dont then it'll go slowly back to being in pain and not being able to eat.

TL;DR If you have arthritis you have to pay attention to everything - even your jaw joints - or you could badly injure yourself. It will cost you money and make you suffer.

And if you think that was the last time I slept wrong and managed to injure myself, then you're wrong! One night sleeping on my shoulder a bit weird gets you two weeks of insufferable pain and probably a steroid injecton straight to your joint!

Sorry for any spelling/grammar issues, English is not my first language.

---------------------------------

If you enjoy these, please donate:

Tezos    (XTZ)   @ tz1RWPDoMABjLect6dkETjPWgva5SRMtWGVw
Bitcoin  (BTC)   @ 38TM7xJnN4tV2U2La8bh5Rcu2muASkyQZn
Ethereum (ETH)   @ 0x6e9644FaD57F93b58573bAdEe3Cb0596F32C9852
Litecoin (LTC)   @ MUyMZejFyJsVpmZ5omg8yzh6nRQwhdQM5U
Dogecoin (DOGE)  @ DG82bQUFRTVyfkExwLwoSj8k6zQRoTCC6h
Stratis  (STRAT) @ SYWpro6QK8gbAfivNAkmiHy6wCuUs6qLjQ
Dash     (DASH)  @ Xe6VHQi5DPdufsGSSWRg5ZmPkiU4oBxebQ

PM me if you have any requests for content.