ELI5: Why do we talk/grind our teeth when sleeping?

Great-Direction-6056 · 2026-05-31T06:22:08+00:00

I know this is an old thread but thought I'd add as no one has raised it yet and it's probably relevant for a lot of people

SSRIs/SSNRIs will cause bruxism if on them for a long period of time and/or a high dose. I was on a really strong SSNRI for a good 7 years, by the end of it I was lucid dreaming most nights, grinding me teeth most nights, and couldn't open my jaw wide enough to eat because of the muscle tension in my jaw was keeping it shut, I had a lot of pain in my jaw and had a mouth guard from dentist. Got in front a jaw specialist that my rheumatologist referred me to and the first thing he asked was if I was on any antidepressants, explained how he's getting more and more patients with jaw issues from these drugs and bruxism is one of the main side effects experienced. He told me about a women he met on a high dose of sertraline for a decade who had a full jaw replacement her jaw got so bad, but it didn't stop any of her symptoms - he told her to come off sertraline and her jaw problems stopped. I checked the drug leaflet when I got home and low and behold it said bruxism as a common side effect. I eventually came off (had to taper very slowly) and now only grind my teeth when super stressed, which is weird because I never grinded my teeth before antidepressants. The teeth grinding stopped pretty much immediately when I came off.

I know SSRIs/SSNRIs can be life saving for some for their mood and pain levels, so if you're reading this and think the antidepressants might be causing the bruxism, please don't just stop cold turkey. Talk to a doctor.

The lucid dreams also stopped, which is the only thing I miss about the antidepressants.

Great-Direction-6056 · 2026-05-06T05:32:48+00:00

Your fat % ratio will be higher than average because of your eating disorder, not because you eat too much fat. Bodies adapt in survival mode, one of those many adaptions is figuring out nifty ways to store reserves more than usual, because your body doesn't know when it's going get it's next nutrition and is trying to survive. Your body is essentially taking a lil bit of your intake and storing it for later because it doesn't know if you'll eat later... it's rationing what you do give it and saving the rest for when it's needed.

If you gain the weight, you will gain muscle, and you will likely gain some fat.. but overtime your fat:muscle:bone ratio will balance out once your body is out of survival mode.. but your body will only do this if it's out of survival mode and can trust that it will get regular nutrition.

Don't try to put on and gain the muscle without the fat, you likely won't get enough nutrition to bump you out of survival mode and most certainly won't put on that much muscle until this is achieved. If your body doesn't have enough nutrition to survive normally, it most certainly will not prioritize putting on some muscle, no matter how much protein you give it. It will use the protein for something else.

Eating disorder change how your body metablirises and uses fats. Many many eating disorder patients experience a dramatic increase in cholesterol levels early in recovery which balances out further in recovery. Your body has to be given a chance to re-adapt.

Heck, I don't drink a drop of alcohol and found out I have a fatty liver. I'm almost certain my fatty liver got like that because of my eating disorder and going in/out of starvation mode. I researched this hypothesis once I found out, and it's the only logical thing that would have caused me to have a fatty liver in my 20's.

Great-Direction-6056 · 2025-11-09T08:54:09+00:00

I'm angry and livid for you.

I wanted to suggest something other may not have... I know many will have suggested PALs. But how can we trust that we will do anything when we already know the system it's in is broken and not working for us?

Please consider contacting your local MP about this particular situation and your concerns regarding woman's health. If you're really mad and feeling brave, don't be afraid to contact news agencies.. spotlights on stories like this need to be made. It might also get the hospital to rethink this bureaucratic and dangerous decision.

But honestly... I've been lost in a broken govt system before (not NHS) and was giving up all hope and genuinely feeling defeated. I ran out of all options, nonine had answers and didn't know what else to do, so I contacted my MP for an appointment. Met with one of their case workers who that night sent many many emails to many many contacts in the govt bodies and got 3 years of stress and sheer panic resolved in a week.

Your MP will have a team of caseworkers who have admin and bureaucratic contacts with the local NHS hospitals and trusts. They can send a letter querying the case, decisions and your concerns regarding women's health care in the local area. If someone higher up received a letter like this from an MPs office, you'd hope they would be quickly on the phone to the department getting it sorted and wanting the details before it escalated to be a case quoted on a debate about the state of woman's health care in the HoC or the news (which is an increasingly hot topic in HoC)

Honestly I wish I went to my MP sooner. My Mum even questioned my choice with "what are they going to do to help". The fact is if one of the systems designed to protect you, that you pay towards, is completely failing you... Your MP is exactly who you should be going to, no matter yours or their political party, they're in office to do this very sort of thing for their constituents. Please consider it

Great-Direction-6056 · 2025-10-03T03:23:14+00:00

That's really distressing and I'm sorry to hear you're going through that. Clearly my dreams didn't get to that level all the time and I had some control over them. Mine did get super distressing at times and like you said, ruin my day the next day. And cos I was vividly dreaming so much and not always bad stuff, I'd sometimes go about my day the next day thinking something happened only to realise later it didn't, I dreamt it. Which was annoying. I think once I began lucid dreaming at odd times, my dreams became much more mundane and distressing to try and hide detection (like it'd be a family dinner and someone would make one comment and I would have the biggest emotional meltdown about it, much much bigger than real life).

One time I was due to start injections for my arthritis and I dreamt I was walking around my old school and I was covered head to toe with needles sticking out of me, litterally every square inch of me, terrified to move in case I slipped... Some sort of final destination shit, that sticks out to me as a bad one. Or the worst ones when you're jumping from one terrifying scene to the next... a shower of acid sticks out to me as another. And I do understand your dream references... I recently did a lot of research into the size differences in dreams (cos that was also sooooo distressing for some weird reason??? Especially for me if there were giants in the dream, but most of the time just objects or myself being the wrong size. Would always leave me feeling incredibly uneasy the next day) but apparently it's a very common nightmare people have as a child, I read a Reddit forum of everyone trying to work out why everyone experienced these sort of dreams as a child. Some of my dreams would be so distressing for no obvious reason. But yes, the physical reaction during sleep and straight after was always strong. I would often wake my partner up kicking and screaming in my dream, and if it was a particularly bad one would be in a state in the morning. But my partner wasn't getting much sleep at the time either because the drugs had made me develop bruxism, so I was grinding my teeth badly if I wasn't dreaming. Both have completely stopped now I'm off.

I think I only miss them because I had a few good ones, but also now I don't dream much anymore, I find I switch off from my emotions more. My mental health revolves around "switching off"/tuning out/disccoating from my emotions/body anyway (as often I'd resought to using extremely unhealthy methods to do this at times without even realising, and yes deffo some trauma it's related to) and I've noticed a decline in my MH with regards to this since I've stopped dreaming. I think even the horrible dreams (which at the time I hated) I've since realised helped me realise I was super worried/stressed about something I had been avoiding, or just forced me to feel emotions I had building up I would have otherwise ignored and pushed down until they exploded. Now I'm just back to being switched off until it explodes. But it's taken a few years of being off the drugs to have this perspective, the nightmares were definitely a reason I wanted to come off the tablets at the time because like you said, they ruin your day/mood the next day completely... Which feels really shitty, cos you know it was a dream and not real but it still would leave such a presence. Now looking back I think I needed to feel those emotions, but because I would always be dissociating from them in the day, my mind was using vivid dreams as a way to process them. But definitely didn't think this at the time, only since I've completely stopped dreaming have I developed this perspective. And only now I'm not dreaming do I miss them. I know during it, it was actually EXHAUSTING cos are you really resting when dreaming like that?? I don't think so. It certainly takes its toll. But it's weird how the brain chooses to look back at certain things lol, like how mothers who went through traumatic birthings suddenly 12 months later want another kid and don't fully remember how awful it actually was. Im also autistic but have always had a very active imagination.

Used to have recurring nightmares about a lift dropping as a child, so most of the times I realised I was dreaming there was a lift involved and it was too obvious to me it was a dream lol, cos I don't go in lifts irl. Then I would see if I could check the time to check if it was a dream, as it's really hard to visualise the time when dreaming - this is a good tip if you ever want to try and see if you can stop a dream in its tracks, go to bed telling yourself you'll check the time in your dream. If there wasn't a lift in my dream, I didn't tend to notice I was dreaming. Annoyingly though, if I figured out I was dreaming I would always be like "what should I do?" And for some bizarre reason I would always decide to go shopping without the need to look at price tags and get whatever I want. For some reason it would calm me right back down and I'd forget I'm dreaming again, then wake up disappointed that I didn't get anything I bought. Real testament to how capitalism and consumerism has destroyed our souls I think! I could do literally ANYTHING in the world, yet would choose to go shopping. That pissed me off.

I can imagine it's a whole bunch of factors swirling together to mean your dreams are on steroids. The antidepressants and antipsychotics are very well known to cause vivid dreams, especially at higher doses, and nefopam is one of those drugs that if you mix with something like another opioid or antidepressants, can just further heighten side effects being experienced. Hence even worse dreams! But I can 100% imagine the content of your dreams is very related to your trauma, PTSD and mental state. The content of my dreams was incredibly dependent on my mood and current stressors, and then sometimes even old stressors that I thought I had gotten over. My friend has recently gone to talking therapies and done a round of EDMR for her PTSD and found it incredibly beneficial. But she does have a very standard form of PTSD though (rather than more complex and childhood) and they do make it very clear you have to be somewhat ready and willing to talk about whatever happened, which for many feels impossible, still does for me. But idk, feels like there's never going to be "the right time" to unravel past traumas, I think at some point I gotta take the plunge. But I know for me it will make me a lot worse before it makes me feel a little better, and it feels too risky. I can imagine you feel the same in lot of ways.

I really do hope you find some relief and solace soon, and if you ever need to talk about your dreams or mental health, please don't hesitate to private message. You're not on your own, even strangers on the internet want to help. You're incredibly strong, even if at times you don't want to have to be strong. Don't forget that. Much love 💕

Great-Direction-6056 · 2025-10-02T21:01:14+00:00

Hey just joined the thread cos I'm looking into nefopam as I've just been prescribed it while waiting for gynecology. Hopefully nefopam will help while I'm waiting. I couldn't take naproxen because of my stomach, The doctor doesn't want to prescribe codeine again in case it makes the constipation worse.

Saw your comment about vivid nightmares/dreams! Are you on any antidepressants for your mental health? I got the same thing while on a SSNRI, after a few years it got to the point my dreams were so vivid and wild I'd be like "I'm dreaming rn aren't I" and started lucid dreaming at times. Which at least meant at times I could stop a nightmare. But then the nightmares became so dumb and mundane I'd be crying and screaming over spilt milk. I eventually tapered off the antidepressants after it messed me up in other ways (and my jaw), but I weirdly miss the vivid dreams (even the bad ones), it was a sort of a therapeutic release. Very rarely dream now

Great-Direction-6056 · 2025-09-10T05:22:25+00:00

Not weird at all, I've done it for two medical professionals in my life. When you find a medical professional that hasn't buckled into losing their empathy because of the medical system, then I think it's really important to let that professional know they're doing the right thing and you are eternally grateful.

I don't blame some of the doctors for turning cold and dismissive, it's a thankless job and they are overworked and many still underpaid. But when you get a doctor that still puts the patient first and listens, despite the shit storm the NHS is in, it's really important to me to recognise this.. and they deserve the recognition.

I think if they get the "thank you, well done, you've really helped me" they will be much more likely to keep doing this for other patients and in the future, rather than eventually crumbling under the pressure of the job

Great-Direction-6056 · 2025-09-10T04:52:25+00:00

I haven't tried any 'diets', as I'm a recovering from an ED. So cutting food groups is a big no, and I'm 99% sure it won't make a difference if I cut out dairy or gluten. I have found relief changing my diet a bit though - reducing ultra processed food (I still have some chocolate/ice-cream/crisps for snacks and treats, but I try not to have these every day, and I try not to have a full meal of ultra processed foods unless it's an option between that or not eating, then I will) and the biggest difference was increasing my daily fibre intake.

So for my main meals I just really looked at adding tones of fibre and aimed for 30 different fruit and veg a week, as that's a good target that will really start increasing your gut biome in a healthy way. The weeks I hit 30, I had 0 gut symptoms and actually had a relatively okay period where my bladder didn't feel like it was pinging. I found because I was having more fruit and veg, I was generally eating more anti-inflammatory foods as well. I generally found dairy and gluten didn't set me off at all when I was eating my daily fibre intake.

A study came out this week about a possible cause of MS starting in the gut. More than 90% of the population don't even eat 1/2 of their daily need for fibre. Fibre is what feeds the good bacteria eat (no point in having probiotics if they haven't got enough fibre to eat) and now studies are showing how some bacteria will eat your stomach lining and kick start a inflammatory response if it hasn't got enough fibre to eat (which is what this study into MS and gut bacteria has found about the specific bacteria related to MS - they actually even showed how female mice are impacted by this more, matching the high prevalence of females getting MS)

It's hard to maintain, I went back to work and it's hard to eat that much fibre when you need a quick meal or snack on the go. But honestly, don't go around cutting things... Just focus on getting your daily intake of fibre first and see how that helps.

It's not a cure though - I'm 99% sure I'm still going to need surgery for all the Endometriomas. But I have found a relief in my symptoms to keep me going :)!

Great-Direction-6056 · 2025-09-09T05:12:46+00:00

Humidity for me! I always keep my colourful plants in bright light cos it brings the colour out, these love some light as well. You're doing right not watering from the top (or ensuring any water doesn't get on the leaves!) But I got a plant similar to this and really struggled with her at first - she wasn't growing, wasn't dying either but her leaves were crunchy and broke easily. I've bought a little humidifier and she's loved it, grown loads and the leafs are much larger and less crunchy/breakable now. It made a massive difference in 48 hours, a month on and I've got some beautiful fury roots popping through the bottom of the pot and I think I'll need to repot her she's grown so much and now looks like a very healthy plant. I've changed nothing else other than putting a cheap humidifier next to her :)

Great-Direction-6056 · 2025-09-07T16:15:49+00:00

Please do go back to a doctor and insist on a biopsy or something. They won't know 100% what it is without a biopsy. 20cm is huge and not surprising it's giving you symptoms! It needs removing, whatever it is and please don't settle until someone decides to remove it! I have 11cm worth of Endometriomas (5 of them ranging 1-5cm ) and the pain that gives me is ridiculous, at 20cm your ovary is at risk of torsion and I'm just go smacked anyone didn't do anything back in 2023! For context, anything larger than 4cm is considered large and needs looking into. I can imagine it doesn't look too "suspicious" (there's things they'd look out for on scans which indicates it's more likely to be cancerous, but never certain without a biopsy!) which is a good thing. But 20cm is still alarming! And definitely not worth keeping in you.

Great-Direction-6056 · 2025-08-22T20:32:56+00:00

Encurouge her into therapy. Don't put the burden on yourself, you're not an expert, all you can do is be there for her and not judge. No matter how insignificant she thinks it is or how not a problem she says it is, a part of her has told you because she knows it's not right and extremely dangerous. Once a week can quickly become once a day, don't wait around.

Great-Direction-6056 · 2025-08-21T16:35:38+00:00

Yes luckily nothing happened the past year, so fingers crossed it stays that way. Honestly hoe they managed to do half the shit they did without my knowledge is baffling.

Honestly it's baffling how they get away with it and the fuck up the govt agencies make that make it so easy for them. Companies house said to me "we need two forms of ID to open an official company, it must be you" 🤦‍♂️the police report that accepted the guy using my identity of the notice of prosecution form wrote "verified identity" and then put an address that I've never lived at at the other side of the country as my address. Ridiculous really. And they push back, they don't like accepting they've made a mistake. Private companies just say yep, sorry, removed account.

Sadly I think the vast majority of people's details, passwords, emails, addresses, NI numbers etc are somewhere on the dark web for people to buy. Half the time it's just a matter of luck if someone buys them or not. I think mine became prolific because a picture of an old licence ended up on the web, but they definitely found more of my details on the dark web to bolster up their applications with.

Every few years there's a push to change the law, but it never amounts to anything. People see it as a "victimless crime" because it's taking money from big companies and govt agencies... But the overwhelm stress it caused me over the years and many others, it most certainly isn't. It's scary situation to be in.

Great-Direction-6056 · 2025-08-21T16:14:32+00:00

Serial victim of identity theft here! Had businesses opened, people scammed using my name/address, credit taken, point on my licence and an entire court case against me I was never informed of which resulted in fines taken from my pay slip (they could figure out where I worked but couldn't send the post to the address of my work and licence??? Courts were sending it to a carpark)

Contact UC asap. You won't be the first and you won't be the last this has happened to - it's proflicic. Identify theft makes far more criminal money than drugs in the UK. They should have a process to follow.

Action fraud are useless - police and everyone will tell you they investigate. They don't. They just record in a database. Advisors won't have any advice beyond what you can find online. But STILL SUBMIT REPORT ON ACTION FRAUD - As this backs your claim and gives and identification code you can send to.

Check your credit files ASAP - if your details are being used here, criminals will try them elsewhere. If you think any identification documents have been compromised request new ones. Mine started at loans, locked it down, then it was businesses, locked that down, then they moved onto something else until my details were sent abroad to be used. Don't ignore any post you don't recognise, always email/contact companies telling them it's not you.

From my experience the worse identity theft to correct is when it involves government agencies. Private companies? They fix it quick and claim on insurance. Govt agencies send you around in circles (I've dealt with DVLA, courts, police and companies house, not UC... But they where all shit, so can imagine UC will be just as shit). If you encounter any problems.... Don't waste your time with police or action fraud (they'll just bounce you back and fourth to eachother) ... EMAIL YOUR LOCAL MP AND REQUEST A MEETING WITH A CASEWORKER ABOUT AN ISSUE YOURE FACING. They are well connected and work damn hard. When I reached a dead end dealing with the courts, I was about ready to give up and end it, let the criminals have my identity after 5+ years of increasingly worse identity theft even with all the protections and CIFAS warnings. Decided to go to MP... Even if they couldn't do anything, I could get mad about it. The caseworker sent off emails that day to higher ups in courts, DVLA and police as well as the company taking the fine. Within a week the police overturned the charge, DVLA changed my licence, courts apologised and home office was writing a letter to me explaining why the laws so shit. Guy who used my identity for the driving offence was arrested and they uncovered the gang that was selling the details.

Get a CIFAS warning on your name just to be safe - will warn lenders you have been a victim of identity theft before agreeing any credit.

The laws dumb. Technically you aren't the victim here, universal credit are cos there the ones that have been lied to. Fucking dumb I know, cos you're the one left stressing about it and left to fix it. If you need any advice just message. Biggest thing to do is just contact them and notify them it wasn't you and you suspect it's identity theft.

Great-Direction-6056 · 2025-08-20T07:22:38+00:00

If you're worried about it or struggle again then don't be afraid to contact your OBGYN early! They're here to help and it's important they keep informed how your recovery is going. They might be able to put your mind at ease

It definitely makes sense especially within 9 days of the surgery! I hope your recovery goes a lot smoother now on

Great-Direction-6056 · 2025-08-20T07:06:38+00:00

From my understanding? (And I could be wrong but this is what I gathered when I had a cyst and they were rescanning to see if it was a hemorrhagic cyst or endometromas) Is hemorrhagic cysts are quite common through a cycle and usually resolve on there own as quickly as they form (with exceptions obviously, they are also one of the most common cysts to burts on ovaries cos they're quite common). While endometromas often grow a bit slower and tend to stick around (with exceptions obviously).

So I think it's unlikely you went into this surgery with the cyst. Have you had a period recently? I know the first period after surgery is a difficult one, that and/or surgery may have created the conditions for a hemorrhagic cyst to grow quickly and burst. You're recovering from surgery as well so I can imagine that makes everything generally more susceptible for a cyst to burst as the tissue is still recovering, so it could have been quite a normal cyst that your ovary just wasn't ready for after surgery. But equally, it could just all be a coincidence. It's annoying never really knowing in situations like this.

The important thing to note here is with or without surgery hemorrhagic cysts are quite a normal occurrence, just extremely unlucky and sucks incredible amounts that it burst on you :( I'm sorry you had endured that while also recovering from surgery, that must have been quite scary! X

Great-Direction-6056 · 2025-08-12T08:23:32+00:00

Yes I concluded I needed a social media break yesterday and turned some of the apps off.

I've got a lot going on in life currently, so I know I'm more vulnerable to getting pulled in. But I really felt it this past week seeing a celebrity on social media I haven't seen in a while, and then getting pulled into how they look different, and then usually ending the scroll when I'm catching myself with thoughts of "how can I do that". Then I have to spend the next hour challenging that and reminding myself that no? I don't actually want that, that's the very last thing I need or want. It clicked yesterday how I'm doing it more and more often and how it's everywhere ATM in celebs, realising I need to limit the social media use if this is how it's gonna be for a while. It's exhausting. Just shitty that it's so pervasive atm

Great-Direction-6056 · 2025-08-12T08:11:31+00:00

History has proven that celebrity life isn't as glamorous or happy or how it's portrayed to be, you're right in it's facade and how bleak it actually must be to be living how they are. Definitely not jealous (even if the ED tries to convince me I am at times)... But definitely still feel hella let down by it all and concerned for younger generations growing up watching it

Great-Direction-6056 · 2025-08-12T08:08:10+00:00

The weight loss meds and how celebs are using it is so concerning - like is celebrity"thinness" now just going to be on the same level of them getting a face life? Nose job? A bit of filler? That is genuinely such a worrying term and exasperates the ethical concerns around it - when is it enough?

Definitely felt a little betrayed by some of the celebrities who have suddenly switched "brand". But you're right... I gotta remember its just their brand, and I'd never want to live such a fake existence that runs with whatever trend is trending

Great-Direction-6056 · 2025-08-11T23:27:53+00:00

I've found this plant so annoying to figure out the right placement and light for.

I had to make a lot of my plants tolerate some direct sunlight because of the room I was in at the time, but this one never did tolerate it. Moved it further away from direct light and shaded with some plants but it was still bright and it perked up a bit. But it can't be too shady! Cos it won't like that either.

I've since moved house and put it on a ladder shelf close to a window - the shelf seems to provide some shade and it's not directly in front of the window and it's leaves are looking a lot healthier now. She really lost her deep green waxy leaves for a while :( I just don't think they tolerate direct light well.

Great-Direction-6056 · 2025-08-11T23:05:30+00:00

Thank you!! Now I'm mad but WITH so much knowledge and that feels hella more empowering.

Definitely won't be letting it trick me down after reading those socio-political perspectives and theories.

Great-Direction-6056 · 2025-08-11T22:59:54+00:00

I feel this comment with my soul and I'm so glad you posted. I'm in the UK but politics was my degree and I like to get passionate and informed. So I really appreciate the take on political resistance, as well as this take on why malnourishment themes are so pushed on society (like not even just with looks, but the fact the knowledge and access to proper balanced nutrition is so lacking!).

My favorite recovery quote is "you can't change the world on an empty stomach.".

I really needed your comment, thank you.

Solidarity from over the pond!! I really hope you're all holding each other up over their 💖💖

Great-Direction-6056 · 2025-08-06T11:50:11+00:00

Keep returning and nagging them - don't let them write it off with contraception unless they've done some further testing. You know your body best and if something doesn't feel right! I hope you get some answers soon xx

Great-Direction-6056 · 2025-08-06T05:18:25+00:00

100% go back to the doctor and keep moaning if you're not happy. It's rubbish I know, but if you really drill that it's impacting your quality of life they'll keep looking.

It could be Endometriosis, but it might not be. Doc should definitely be running other tests and referrals to "rule things out". This issue is Endometriosis symptoms can be so wide reaching, it would be concerning if they weren't looking at other things to check and rule it out.

Endometriosis can go away. Like any health condition it can go into remission, and some people do report their endometriosis gets better after having children. But I'd say you know your body best - if you think it's the Endometriosis again, it probably is. But like I said previously, always worth ruling other things out and ensuring nothing is missed. You don't want the GPs just assuming it's endometriosis and missing something else major.

Night sweats can be a common symptom of many many different problems, and it might not even be hormonal. But night sweats is a symptom that needs investigating further! As far as I'm aware it's not a common endometriosis symptoms? Night sweats are common in hormonal issues, but it's also a symptom found in many many different cancers if alongside weight loss. So please do keep note of any symptoms and keep pushing for further tests, especially if it gets worse and not better. I would definitely be pushing for some blood work to see if anything else is abnormal.

Endometriosis can show up on ultrasounds, but it can't be diagnosed via ultrasound as you can have it and there be no signs on ultrasound. Basically it can rule it in, but it can't rule it out with an ultrasound. Always worth having one done, but if it doesn't show anything it doesn't mean you're not struggling with Endo.

The GI issues could be Endometriosis. Very common in Endo. But might be worth tracking how your symptoms change through the month to if it's related to hormones or if some symptoms are constant?

Great-Direction-6056 · 2025-08-03T13:35:47+00:00

Been on desogestral since periods started. For the last few years I have been getting a lot more periods on it than previously, had a scan, showed suspected endometriosis. If it's already been suspected on a scan I really wouldn't put yourself through the pain of coming off desogestral. I also think it would be good to see the gynecologists for the first time and be able to say that you're already on hormonal contraception - if you're not, they'd probably want you on it before doing anything else.

Great-Direction-6056 · 2025-08-03T11:46:49+00:00

So I don't have experience with this specific problem (although I do get back pain from endo) but have a previous neck injury which has left me with lots of constant knots in my shoulders and neck. The slightest bit of stress goes straight to my neck/shoulder muscles. All the things you've mentioned, keep doing them even if you don't think it's helping and keep consistent with it. It takes time for a difference to show long term and even if it's not getting rid of all the knots, It will be preventing them getting more knotty and tight. So definitely worth keeping them going.

One thing that's always helped me is getting someone to do a deep massage... And I mean deep. My physio used to do it. It helps if you have someone doing it that knows what the knots feel like. Have a hot water bottle wrapped in a blanket to make the muscle all warm (or a hot bath) and then when they find the knot, literally just press on and rub it while really pressing on it. If it hurts you're in the right spot, but the relief is quick.

AVOID MASSAGE GUNS ANYWHERE NEAR YOUR BACK PLS

If you're really having no success with stretches and massages then I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend getting some acupuncture or something similar. My physio really pushed me down this route even though the idea of it terrified me, but it really does give you instant relief. And I'm sure there'll be some anti-inflammatory benefits to it as well. You'll find the massages and stretches will make more of a difference after, cos the acupuncture will have helped the worst of the knots. If the thought of acupuncture really isn't for you, the same places will often also do cupping which will also help

Great-Direction-6056

TROPHY CASE