Lord, I hope this day is good.

I had a FA-REAKY experience at the dentist today.  I had a filling that needed replaced.  The dentist asked me if I wanted it numbed and I asked it the drilling would hurt.  I thought maybe since it had already been filled, it would be okay without the Novocaine (or whatever they use.)  He said some people can tolerate it and some can't.  Since the shots give me a sore jaw for a couple of days, I figured I try it without.  He says to raise my left hand if I want him to stop. 

After the flailing of both arms stopped, he gave me a shot.  After about 30 seconds, I had the most sudden, paralyzing panic attack I ever. I bolted up from my 3/4 prone position and swung my legs over the side of the chair.  My heart was racing; beating out of my chest and I began to shake. Uncontrollably. The dentist and his assistant then turned around and saw me, realizing I was struggling.  I told them I was having a panic attack and the Dr. said I was reacting to the shot. Said he wanted to get me on 100% oxygen and that would fix me up. They took me to another room that had the equipment.

I kept insisting that it was a panic attack.  The weird part was the shaking though.  I handed my glasses to Missy, the assistant and she could see how bad I was shaking and commented on it. She put a small mask on my face and the Dr. told me to take deep breaths.

After a while, maybe 20 minutes, I felt better.  The Dr. asked me if I wanted to continue and at that point I realized the Novocaine hadn't worked.  He went on to explain  that the nerves in the lower (back?) teeth are not always in the same place in each patient and the arteries and veins can be where the nerve should be. (or something like that.)  The adrenaline in the shot, if going into a vein, will go to my heart and produce the fight or flight feeling that adrenaline creates.  (Apparently, I had the flight urge!)

 I found this online:

Fortunately, there are very few serious Novocaine side effects and this drug is very safe. The most common problem is related to the epinephrine (adrenaline). Adrenaline is the fight or flight hormone and when it gets into the blood stream it forces the heart to beat hard and fast. This can be very scary. Some patients think that they are having a heart attack and some patients will faint in the dental chair. This novocaine side effect can be avoided if the dentist withdraws some fluid before injecting to see if the end of the needle is in an artery or vein. If it is, blood will enter the carpule and the dentist will not inject into this spot. The procedure is called aspiration.

So much for the aspiration technique.

I agreed to another shot when he offered one without adrenaline.  It didn't work either.  I told him I would let  him try one more time and the third shot worked.  It was all smooth sailing after that.  

I've never been fond of visiting the dentist and have,  just lately, been feeling more comfortable in the chair.  Self-hypnosis helps, but there was no chance for me to practice that.  Not that I could have prevented that feeling anyway.  It sucked donkey balls.  Anyway, I'm glad it's over and if I've learned anything from this, I'll be goddamned if I know what it is.

Comments

[One Wink]

Considering the extensive dental work I'm having the end of May, after reading several lines of this, I decided to ask PD to read it and let me know if I should continue. Didn't want to add to my anxiety. He read it, raised his eyebrows, said wow a few times and then assured me that I could read it. I kinda, sorta just a little bit wish I'd waited until after my surgery but I feel so bad for you! That had to have sucked more than just about anything. You poor thing!
It seems I've passed my anxiety on down to JuJu. It will probly reach the next generation too, it's very deeply rooted...

[JuJuBee]

I hate going to the dentist and I get nervous even when my kids are getting check-ups. I hope they never pick up on my anxiousness. Sorry you had to go through that! I would have never thought that it had adrenaline in it!