I would like to thank everyone
who has taken the
time to write and share your stories
with me.
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Root Canal |
In November of 1990, I began to notice that my left ear popped every time I swallowed. In January of 1991, my ear began to feel like it was full of fluid. By April of 1991, many times I couldn't hear the doorbell or phone ring. I began going to my doctor. Began getting on antibiotics and predisone. I might feel better at times while on the medicine, but soon got to the point, there was no difference. The doctor was not able to see fluid in my ear, I told him that at times it was hard to swallow. He told me that nerves could make it feel like it was hard to swallow. (It was hard to swallow because the infection would cause my throat to swell until it felt like it would almost close, predisone would open it back up) It was if to him I had become a hypochondriac over night. I wasn't one to go to the doctor unless I had to, my records could prove that. My tooth never hurt, the nerves to it were about dead. I had bit down on a hamburger gristle and hurt the tooth a few years before, hating to go to the dentist, I didn't go. It wasn't wise but the dentist still would have wanted to do the root canal, so probably the end would have turned out the same. I thought that I was too young to start losing my jaw teeth. Think about it, how wise is it to keep a dead tooth in your mouth and that is what a tooth with a root canal in it is. I'm not telling anyone what to do with his or her teeth, just telling my story.
I do not remember all the exact dates that I went to all the doctors that I went to. But I do, remember the pain and suffering and how doctors treated me when they didn't cure my health problems. No doubt there are people who draw attention to themselves by going to doctors, but after going through what I did, I wonder how many people are treated as though their problems are all in their mind, which are in reality very sick. If an abscessed tooth and root canal did to me what it did, how many others out there have sacrificed being healthy for saving a tooth.
Later on in 1991, I began having gynecological problems. I went to 3 gynecologists. The last one that I went to in October 1993, he gave a name for my problem (which the others had not done), said that I would always have it, no cure for it. Later I was able to call back and tell the nurse that worked for this doctor that my problem was gone.
I went to 3 ENT doctors, one finally got tired of me and put a tube in my left ear. He never saw the fluid, I think that he got tired of hearing me complain about something no one could see.
My children were about 6 and 9 when I first got sick. I would get up and take my sons to school. Come back lay of the couch, not eat or drink so that I would not have to get up to go the bathroom. Get up and go get my kids at school at 3:00 and come back and lay of the couch. I was no good for anybody. At times when I was laying down, I felt like my heart was going to stop beating, it felt like it was under such a strain. I weighed about 105 when all this started. I began gaining weight, I told the doctors. The reply was that I was under weight to begin with and was now the weight that I ought to be.
In September of 1992 I was forced to get a job a Wal-Mart to pay doctor bills. We were getting letters from doctors wanting their money or else they would ruin our credit. I didn't feel like living much less working to pay doctors who did not help me.
In the back of my head behind my left ear, it would feel like something eating away in my head. My body felt like something was taking over, that my immune system wasn't fighting off. My vision was affected. Every bone in my body ached, at times I wondered if I had bone cancer, because they hurt so bad. Someone could just touch me and it felt like I had been hit. I wrecked my brain daily trying to figure out what was wrong with me. The thought kept running through my mind that I was healthy until that jaw tooth gave me problems. Doctors would not listen, the dentist would not pull it.
I worked in layaway at Wal-Mart, I had not worked since my kids had come along. I wanted to stay at home with them, and that is what Kenneth wanted also. He had worked two and three jobs in order for me to stay home. In layaway there was a lot of running up and down stairs, I would get so hot, but could not sweat. When I would get really hot, I would have this white looking discharge come out of my skin. I would have a white discharge from my tear ducts. At times, the fluid that doctor's never saw would run down the side of my face, after having the tube put in my ear.
At night I would grit my teeth, I couldn't understand what was happening to my body. I clenched my teeth so tight at night, until I broke the jaw tooth behind the root canal in half. My face would hurt from clenching my teeth so tight. I ended up losing two jaw teeth. I was glad that the tooth broke so bad the dentist didn't want to try to save it, most of the time they will do anything to try and save a tooth. They do not want to pull teeth.
I went to an ENT/allergy doctor who started me on allergy shots. Many times I felt like a human pin cushion, most times I was too sick to care. Doctor's just started testing me for everything to rule out illnesses, rather than find the problem. They drew blood for this and would draw blood for that, which costs money, but didn't solve anything.
One day my husband called me at work, and told me that he was coming to pick me up and take me to an herb store. We went and I began taking some herbs, and could tell a small difference. At lunch one day some friends were kidding me about the herbs and someone overheard them. This person walked over to our table and told me that I should talk to a particular person, who was into herbs. I went home and called this lady, she worked in the clinic where I had been many times. I told her some of my problems and when it all started. She asked, "You don't have a root canal do you?" When I told her I did, she invited me to come to her home. She lived within walked distance, but I drove and I remember running out to the backyard and telling Kenneth that I had found someone who might be able to help me. I had just about given up hope. She handed me the article about Dr. Meinig's "Root Canal Cover-Up Exposed." It confirmed everything that I had thought. This was Sunday afternoon, first thing Monday morning I called the dentist office and told them I wanted an appointment to get the root canal pulled.
It was January of 1994, I got the root canal pulled and was on the road to better health. It took several months to feel a lot better, but was able to see a difference the day the tooth was pulled. I had the infection in my body so long, it took a while to see a big difference. I still am not 100% and feel that some of the infection is still trapped in that jaw bone, but my health is far better than I ever expected it to be. The quality of life came back. Just about a month before I got the tooth pulled, I told my husband that no one was worth living for, it wasn't worth the pain that I had to endure to live. When you are constantly sick and only getting worse, it is hard to concentrate on anything else. I don't think that I would be alive today, if that tooth had not been removed. This may be an extreme case and then again maybe not. Most doctors will not believe it, most dentists will not believe it, I know it can happen.
I contacted the doctors that I had went to during this 3 years, and let them know the root canal was what had made me so sick. The funny thing about it, when I contacted them after I was better, some of them admitted that they had heard of such things. Why didn't they admit it when I was sick instead telling me that wasn't the problem? Unless your doctor is one in a million, he will think you are crazy for believing what I have written or Dr. Meinig's "Root Canal Cover-Up Exposed." I know what I lived and words can not express or adequately describe, what it was like. One word that comes to mind is Nightmare.
This is just a very short article about a very long illness. The purpose of me sitting down and writing this, is that I hope to help someone out there, that is sick and wants to get better. Like I have said before, I am not trying to tell someone what to do about his or her teeth, just telling my story in hopes that you can learn from my mistakes. By the way, the tooth looked good on x-ray, the tooth looked good the day it was pulled, but looks can be deceiving. If you would like to ask me any questions, feel free to e-mail me.
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I would like to thank everyone
who has taken the |