I have been reminded this week how very useful these drugs can be. My TMJ disorder has been flaring up and one thing I can do to head it off at the pass is take a valium to relax my jaw muscles. I do this when I go to bed at night and the next day the incipient pain is gone or much lessened. Valium is a great muscle relaxant and sometimes just what I need to avoid having my TMJ escalate and cause awful pain and require much stronger drugs. Calista, when I saw how much valium you were taking, my jaw dropped. Thank goodness you are off of that. For my TMJ this last week, over the course of 5 days I took valium on 3 of those, each time 2.5 mg (half a pill) at bedtime. Sometimes I'll take a full pill, but didn't need it at this time. With luck, I won't need to take anymore for a couple of months (at the time of another flare-up). I am really glad I have a doctor who is willing to prescribe the valium for me, as it is a life saver. I hate when doctors say take Ibuprofen for something like this--just does not help but yet so many will say it. Ibuprofen does not relax muscles, docs, it helps with inflammation! I think doctors may hesitate to prescribe what the patient needs because of the addiction worry.

Interestingly, my TMJ doctor said another thing that might me is occasional physical therapy treatments on my jaw and face muscles. Will my insurance pay for this? No. Will my insurance pay for a valium prescription? Yes.