Finally figured out my air hunger problem and it could be tmj? I need help figuring it out
Hey guys, new the community but if this is what’s been causing over a year of panic attacks over not breathing correctly then FUCK tmj. Truly. I’m going to lay it out as short as I can but I just need help figuring out of this could be the case from experienced tmj personnel.
About a year and a half ago I quit vaping. Got sick terribly shortly after (pneumonia and flu) and shortly after experienced air hunger and feeling like I couldn’t take a deep breath. So badly I swear I was going to call someone to take me away and keep an eye on me because I couldn’t deal with the feeling any longer. Naturally, I blamed those two things (extreme anxiety from quitting nicotine and lung problems from pneumonia) for my air hunger, but it never really went away. Recently I remembered just a tiny snippet- around the same exact time, I remember dislocating my jaw. (Yawning.). I remember it because my boyfriend and I were in the mirror looking at how creepy it looked. For some reason maybe I thought it had always been like that. Even now, every time I open my jaw to yawn, i can see it slip out then slip back in. I’ve worked up the courage to start working out again even with how uncomfortable my breathing is, and I noticed that when I’m gasping for a breath, it’s never a problem with my lungs, it feels like something is collapsed- and specifically on the side my jaw unhinges. Sometimes too, it unhinges and I can barely hear on that side, which proves to me that when it happens, it could be blocking something, maybe even my airway partially. I used to be a runner, so I know this isn’t normal.
Anywho. Has anyone here experienced problems with breathing associated with tmj? Is it even possible? Also, I know this is probably considered a super mild version of tmj if it is at all. Thank you for the help and for reading this all!