31 Yr Old Trying to Improve Her Self-esteem and Dental Health. Cincinnati, OH

I don't normally do this kind of thing - reviews or blogging - but I'm on my second day of Invisalign treatment and having crises left and right. There were a lot of things I didn't know going into this, like how you have to wear them 22 hours a day or how you can't eat or drink anything (aside from water). It feels like reinventing everything about your day-to-day - all the things you took for granted before, like eating or speaking properly or living without pain. I'm terribly afraid I've made a mistake so I've been reading a lot of other people's experiences and I thought I would catalogue mine as well in the hopes that I'll get the same result I noticed in a lot of blogs: the confidence that I did the right thing after all.

Aside from the pain, I'd say one of the hardest things has been the lisp. I work in an office environment where I have to speak a lot, often on the phone. I felt like a lot of people noticed my lisp or strange speech yesterday but today - day two - people started commenting on it. Some people even made fun of it. And combined with the pain and the fear and the frustration, I actually ended up crying at work. I'm terrified that I'm not going to get rid of this lisp. I spend time when alone trying to PRACTICE speaking and there's no noticeable improvement. In fact, it feels like the lisp gets worse as the day progresses...

Of course, I think part of that might be the pain. Yes, my teeth hurt but the worst part honestly is the sharp edges slicing up my lips, gums, and tongue. I've tried filing everything down - multiple times, in fact - but by the end of the day, it's agony to move my mouth in any form. Everything is sliced or diced or minced or whatever.

I understand from other people that this goes away, particularly if you can file them down successfully... but I'm supposed to change trays every week. For 72 weeks. That's a lot of filing and then fresh cuts.

At this point, I'm afraid to admit that I regret this. It's a lot of money to drop on something that leaves you in agony, feeling ridiculous and hungry/thirsty to boot. But I want to believe it will get better. I'm just not sure how long I can wait for that feeling...