I just read a comment that mentioned how depressing the lack of "success" stories is. So here is one
I'll leave my answer to that comment and post it here as is:
I want to give you hope by telling you my story.
I finally fixed my TMJ after 2 years of being aware of it and probably having issues for 18 years in total. I just realized this after every single bodily problem i had, went away in the matter of ~ 48 hours.
My issues were:
Headaches, tinnitus, bad sight, nerve pain in my face, arms, hands, 6 of my fingers, every part of my back, including a herniated disc that needed surgery because i could not move my left leg anymore and had nerve pain from absolute hell like my legs are on fire and being electrocuted 24/7. Pain in my hip, hurting knees that constantly made sounds, more, other pain in my feet. I am pretty sure i forgot some of them.
I also thought i was mentally ill because i could not concentrate, had social anxiety, even though only weeks earlier i had no problems speaking in front of a lot of people.
I had lost nearly all of my friends and didn't even want to meet anyone. My life was absolute hell.
I will spare you the whole path of finding out what the issue was, but the most important parts on my way to solving my personal nightmare were a good physician who has some special, certified training for treating TMJ and, although not cheap, Botox injections.
After around 3 weeks not all but a lot of my symptoms just disappeared. All the others were at least slightly better. Most of them still a lot better than just weeks ago.
At that point i actually seriously considered to be mentally ill afterall because the difference was crazy.
What followed were different treatments with a bite splint, occlusal splint and night guard and a few things i forgot. Some helped a bit, most of them made it worse. What helped me a lot mentally was the fact, that i could use my Botox Joker if i really needed to. Knowing this alone made me calm down as much as possible, given the situation. In total i had 3 injections over the course of ~ 2 years. They were like a vacation. Sounds weird but it felt like it. I was able to recharge my batteries and i am convinced that this gave me the energy to keep going and just testing everything while giving each enough time.
It turns out, that my dental bridge i got a looooong time ago was the problem. It was just a bit too high and after i finally convinced my dentist to sand off just a tiny bit, it only took around 8 hours until the first changes happened.
In the evening i sudenly got extreme headaches and lost my hearing for a few seconds. What followed was the most euphoric feeling you can think of. I got goosebumps in showers that whole evening and i suddenly had the urge to go for a walk even though it was already dark and quite cold. And while walking the first few meters i suddenly had to RUN! I ran until i couldn't physically move my legs anymore and suddenly i had to cry out of happyness.
In the following days i noticed that i slept like a baby nearly every night. Something that before only happened after an injection.
The symptoms also returned after a certain time of day. But that time shifted back nearly every single day. I was actually excited to see when that would be the next day.
I also "forgot" to think about it most of the day. Something that didn't happen ONCE in the 2 years prior.
One week later my nerve pain in the legs was still there from time to time but just for a few minutes and way less. I can live with that - no problem. Especially after what happened before. ALL my other problems went completely away. Turns out that my knees are still good. It wasn't the fact that i am getting older. I remember feeling like i had jetpacks under my feet. Life felt like "easy mode" instead of "very hard". Especially because i still had goose bumps several times during the day. In the end it settled on "normal" and i am fine with that.
My social anxiety also went completely away. That evening after my dentist appointment i made new friends.
I know that this sounds absolutely crazy and like i pulled this out of my ass and i wish it was. But it is exactly what happened. Just shortened the suffering part a bit.
I also remember saying "WHAT. THE. FUCK?" several times a day. The difference was that immediate.
So please don't give up. Learn some strategies that help you with getting the energy it takes to tackle this issue (again and again) and try to stay positive.
Feel free to ask me anything if you have questions. I still have the deep desire to share whatever might be helpful to others because i am so shocked about the difference this tiny change made.