The moral of this story is that a noticeable decline in physical well-being can be caused by something so ostensibly minor that you'd never suspect it of significantly impacting your health.
My summer break was not that great. I had a lot of stress up until the end of June. On June 23-25, I had to do a project outside in the summer heat. The project was hard work, and I am very heat and sun sensitive. I got up before daybreak each day and worked on this project from slightly before 6 AM up to 10 AM or so. It was brutal.
Right before I did this project, I had thyroid labs done, and they were perfect.
Around July 1, I noticed that I was in an autoimmune flare. Currently, my primary flare symptom is that my lips become unbearably dry. My lips are dry all the time, but any flare increases the dryness to an unbearable level, resulting in my lips stinging for several days. After a few days, the stinging subsides, and my lips return to my normal dryness, which is annoying but bearable.
Beginning around July 1, my lips began stinging. I decided that my project of June 23-25 was the cause and figured that the stinging would subside within a few days. It didn't.
By July 8, I was really freaking out mentally. My lips were stinging 24 hours a day. They felt like they had been rubbed with commercial-grade paper towels. It was very upsetting, and I spent hours online trying to figure out what was happening. I was miserable.
You need to understand that when my lips become inflamed that nothing helps. All brands of lip balm irritate my lips. Even brands for sensitive lips irritate my lips. Aquaphor was my savior for a couple years until it badly burned my lips one night. I looked like a clown the next morning.
I can only use Vaseline or petroleum-based hydrocortisone on my lips. Everything else irritates them. The Vaseline sometimes irritates my lips.
During the last 4 1/2 years since my lips became unusually dry, I've tried drinking more fluid, drinking sports drinks, changing my toothpaste, and everything else you can possibly imagine. So don't give me any advice. I've read every piece of advice imaginable and acted on most of it, to no avail. I just have to put up with it.
My bouts with stinging lips never last more than around three days. This is why I was so upset by July 8. I was past the one-week mark.
Around July 8, I realized that I had been bitten by something. I worried that it could have been a tick. I figured that I had been bitten when I did my outside project on June 23-25.
I was then really freaked out. I am fearful of ticks and Lyme disease. A former student of mine was bitten by a tick around 16 years ago and got Lyme disease. It wasn't caught quickly, and she still has continuing very serious health problems.
So... I worried about Lyme disease. However, I talked myself down, reasoning that I probably didn't have Lyme disease.
I was distinctly more tired than was normal, which was odd for summer break. I had an increase in muscle aches. My thyroid was more swollen than normal for me.
I tested myself for Covid. Nope.
I feared that I had Sjögren's syndrome, which causes excessive dryness. I have suspected Sjögren's syndrome for years, but I tested negative in the past. Most people with Sjögren's syndrome do test negative, so that doesn't rule it out. I plan to be tested again later this year, just in case the test shows something.
But autoimmune thyroid disease causes dryness as well. The problem was that I was on summer break, and nothing was going on. Why were my lips stinging? They continued stinging all of July and into August.
I was set to go back to work on August 8.
On August 7 as the day progressed, I noticed that the infernal stinging was easing. By evening, it was gone. Oh, the relief! My lips had stung for approximately six weeks, and suddenly they weren't. They were still dry, but the stinging had eased.
I was perplexed. Something must have changed, but what?
I thought back to recent events. I purchased my new car on July 29, and it was a very tiring experience. However, that would make me worse, not better. I was feeling stressed about going back to work, but that would also make me worse, not better. None of this made sense. Why was I better?
I then realized. I went to the dentist on August 5 to fix a broken filling.
Bingo.
Let's back up to late June.
I went to the dentist on June 27 for my six-month cleaning. That doesn't have anything to do with it, but I noticed either slightly before or after the cleaning (between June 24 and June 30) that the outside front corner of tooth #18 had become sharp. It had chipped just a little. It seemed fine, so I decided not to worry about it. I don't think it could have been repaired at that time unless I wanted to be extreme and get a crown to fix a mild chip in a tooth. That would have been illogical. I figured the tooth was okay. It didn't hurt. I just had a sharp corner that had not been like that before.
On the late afternoon of August 2, after the dentist was closed for the weekend, the front wall and part of the filling on tooth #18 broke off, causing a hole. It didn't hurt. I did clean the hole by aiming a water pick into it. That was a mistake, but even then, it was just a dull ache. I tested the tooth by biting down on it and found that it was mildly pressure sensitive. But at least I wasn't in pain aside from some cold and pressure sensitivity.
On the morning of August 5, I called the dentist, and they worked me in that afternoon. The filling was repaired.
I have to comment about the dental assistant. She didn't seem to understand my concern, simply because I was not in pain. I'm sorry, but a hole in a tooth needs to be repaired ASAP. It will break further, and I will do anything to avoid extreme tooth pain like what I experienced in 2021.
Fortunately, the dentist was not dismissive like she was. The assistant's attitude was odd.
It's now apparent to me that the minor chip in tooth #18 must have also caused a crack in the filling, just not enough for me to know. The filling must have become leaky, causing bacteria to get inside and then enter my blood stream.
I had a leaky filling for six weeks. That's why my thyroid became more swollen and why I was so tired. My lips burned all of July and into early August because of what appeared to be a mildly damaged tooth. Who would think that such a minor chip would cause that much discomfort for six weeks?
In 2022 in my post "What Happened with My Teeth and Some Advice," I mentioned how my health improved after two bad teeth were removed. Having good teeth is extremely important. If you have any kind of problem with your teeth, get it fixed if at all possible. I guarantee that any bad teeth are impacting your health in some fashion, even if you don't notice anything.
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