So Afraid

Hi Everybody I am a 54 year old woman who goes in this Friday to have all my lower and upper teeth pulled by an oral surgeon and I am scared to death. I will be put under with an IV and won't remember anything so why am I so scared? Its the thought I might not wake up again. I have high blood pressure which I take meds for and I have heart paptations but I think that may be from my panic disorder. I have Post Tramatic Stress Syndrome. All I can think of day and night is going in and dying. If anybody has any suggestions please help me. My teeth have to be pulled as I am getting absesses and my teeth are all loose and some falling out.

Hi Suann47
You are not going to die....you're more likely to die crossing the road to get the the office. Are you having full GA or i/v sedation only - either way, you will be fine. It's normal to worry about this because of the very small risk but usually once you have had one experience of GA, you stop being so pre-occupied by this aspect or at least I did re GAs for medical/dental issues.
Discuss your concerns with the doctor and I'm sure they will be able to reassure you. Your blood pressure should be monitored throughout.
Best wishes .

Thanks Brit. I am going to be all the way out so I won't feel or remember anything. It's the thought of giving up my control and if anything happens I won't be able to do anything about it.

suann47 said:

Thanks Brit. I am going to be all the way out so I won't feel or remember anything. It's the thought of giving up my control and if anything happens I won't be able to do anything about it.

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By the same token - you wouldn't be any the wiser either way...looking at it logially like that may or may not help . It isn't going to happen though anyway.
It's normal to feel anxious though so no one will think badly of you on the day...just go with the flow and focus on getting yourself healthy.

Hi

I can understand being concerned but you will be in good hands. IV sedation is extremely safe and proven. The whole procedure is very safe and straight forward. The medications in the IV should help lower your blood pressure. The heart palpitations are mostly likely from the anxiety, very common.

IV sedation is one of the best options for dental procedures. Your health will improve immensely once you get the abscesses taken care of. You will do great and be amazed at how easy it is.

Focus on how good you will feel once you solve this problem in your life.

Blessings

I guess I read too much about things. I just started my blood pressure meds a month ago and today I read where it said if your beats too fast or slow to call the doctor immediantly. Well like I said that was a month ago when I started taking the meds so if it was the meds and I waited a month then it shouldn't be the meds right? I am taking Lisinopril with HCTZ 20-25 mil. I called my doctor and he told me that Lisinopril usually lowers the heart not speeds it up. I worry too much but I am scared.

Should not be the meds. Lisinopril is an ACE inhibitor which lowers resting heart rate. The HCTZ would have almost zero affect on heart rate. Severve anxiety can and does raise heart rate due to excess Catecholamines.

The affect is short term. Try deep breathing exercise to calm the system. Breathe in through the nose to a slow count of "5," hold the breath for a second or two and exhale through the nose to a slow count of "7." Do this for a few minutes each day and it will start to relax the system.

Anxiety comes from a fear of what may, might or could happen but has not happened. It tries to convince you the worst will happen. However, there is an equal or greater chance that nothing bad will happen. Tens of thousands of these procedures are done every day without incident. Spend time thinking about everything that can go right instead of everything that can go wrong.

Ask yourself why you believe something terrible will happen. What data is it based upon?
What do you gain by thinking about the worst that can happen? Does it change your life for the better or give the fear more power?
Write a list of everything you will gain by having this done, be specific.
Come up with a reward you can look forward to when you have this done.
Stay positive and believe in yourself.

Blessings

Suann, trust me, you'll be fine! I'm a 56 yr. old woman who had all her teeth out July 7th with IV sedation..and I am on two different medications for my high blood pressure. I had no problems at all. There will be someone monitoring all your vital signs during the entire procedure and they won't let anything happen to you. You might ask your oral surgeon if he/she could prescribe you something to relax you the night before and morning of your extractions. Mine gave me Valium, which helped me sleep like a baby the night before..then I took some the morning of my extractions. When I arrived at the oral surgeons they checked my blood pressure and it was 123/62..AMAZING for me at a dentist or doctors office! I was surprisingly calm. In a matter of minutes they had my IV in and out I went.
Honestly, the worry prior to the extractions is much worse than the actual procedure. I was nervous to. But honestly..it was so much easier than I ever believed it could be.
I have a journal in the 'Support'/'Journals' area and have detailed my experiences since before my extractions until today. I've had my dentures exactly four weeks tomorrow and have been totally honest in my journal about what has happened. Feel free to read it..it might help you know what to expect and how to deal with various problems new dentures can cause.
Good luck!!

Thank you all so much for helping me out with my phobia. I am trying really hard to keep calm and will use the breathing you told me about. I asked about a nerve pill or something I could take to calm my fears but it was a no go. The Doc doesn't want me to eat or drink anything after midnight the night before. The only thing I am aloud to take is my blood pressure pill with 8 oz of water 2 hours before surgery.

Hi Suann, just want to echo what everyone else is saying in here. I am a 61 year old woman and I had all my lower teeth out 2 months ago, and I have LOW blood pressure. The less I eat, the lower it gets, so I start feeling light-headed, and because I was having GA I couldn't eat anything for 6 hours. Well actually, I was supposed to go in at midday so didn't have anything after my dinner the night before, and I didn't get to go into surgery until late afternoon. By then I was feeling very woozy and really concerned that my blood pressure would just give up the ghost during surgery! But they monitor you every step of the way, that's the job of the anaesthetist - watching blood pressure, pulse rate, etc.
You will soon be like everyone else in here who had all the same fears leading up to the day, and then woke up after surgery and said "hell, why didn't I do this long ago, what's the big deal, why did I waste so much energy worrying?"
And like you, Suann, absesses made my decision for me, and I can promise you that life is so sweet without constant nagging toothaches!
to you Suann, and please keep us up to date with your progress.

Well I wanted everyone to know that I did it!!!!!! I just got home and am still tired but I did it and am sooo happy,

Congratulations!!!

yey congratulations!! this changes should boost up your confidence level and makes you feel good everyday...