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Is the anxiety pill- Xanax safe w/a heart murmur?

R

Roxy

Junior member
Joined
Jan 30, 2006
Messages
14
Hi,
I just found this board and you can not believe how it makes me feel!! I know others out their suffer from dental anxiety such as myself but everyone close to me just doesn't understand when I talk to them about it. They just tell me to be calm and I can get through it, easy for them to say! Anyhow, I'm the type that ends up writing a book when it comes to these things so I'll try to get right to the point. I have had terrible mouth pain on my right side since Dec. 30. It took 2 Drs. and 3 Dentists to finally figure it out or come close to the problem. I finally went to a specialist and he said that one of my teeth need a root canal done. The other one by it in the back has deep roots that go into my sinus cavities and may still cause me pain later in life. I need a ton of work done on my teeth, and I mean a ton!! So before all of this happened I had an estimate of over $5000 worth of work (mainly crowns) to be done. Then this and the pain. Well, I am going to go through with it, it is Feb. 7th scheduled. BUT.....heres my problem...I have dental anxiety and they said I could take a pill called Xanax and hour before I come in or have gas. I thought, oh boy the pill sounds like it is for me. Then I started to do some checking on it and it says it can cause heart palpatations and chest pains along with a million other things. I have a heart murmur (which will require antibiotics before the root canal) and worry on top of all of this, what if the Xanax makes things worse? Has anyone tried it before? I have never had gas either. Can you feel the pain with the gas and how does gas make you feel? Anyone, please respond it would mean so much. I am going to call my Dr. and ask her about the Xanax so I can get all the info I need before going in on the 7th but I would so appreciate hearing from others.

Thanks,
Roxy
 
Re: Is the anxiety pill- Xanax safe w/a heart murm

Hiya, I have taken xanax for panic disorder...It works nicely. Makes your whole body just relax and you can get kinda drowsy. You can stay awake if you reallly wanted to but you just don't care..lol. When I have a panic attack my heart rate jumps into the 150's and I have to take it then. Whithin about 30 minutes I can start feeling my muscles unclenching , my heartrate start slowing down, my breathing slowing. Those side effects that you read are not your run of the mill side effects. I mean, it takes away my palpitation and chest pains. You also have to remember that those side effects are not always from that pill but has just been reported from people that they had these side effects. This pill is made for panic/anxiety and palpitations and chest pains are a MAIN symptom of that. I would ask about the heart murmur but I dont think its going to make any difference. Take care, Traci
 
Re: Is the anxiety pill- Xanax safe w/a heart murm

Thanks,

I should let the dentist know by today what I choose as far as the Xanax or gas. I am still a little nervous about it though. But I guess I'd be nervous no matter what just because of the whole root canal. If anyone else reads this and has had good or bad experiences with Xanax for the dentist or gas (am sure it is called something else but can't think of the name right now), please let me know, I'd sure appreciate it. As I think I said, I've never had the gas either and have heard from some people that it makes them sick or they can still sometimes feel what is going on....so not sure?
Roxy
 
Re: Is the anxiety pill- Xanax safe w/a heart murm

Roxy,

I haven't had any experience with either but I can safely tell you (I am a HUGE dental phob too) that getting a root canal is not as scary as you think. I didnt sleep the whole night before mine, I think I only had 2 hours of sleep before I had to go in. The dentist just gave me injections to numb the area but it worked great. I was numb for SIX HOURS after the root canal was done. I couldn't feel a thing, just a little pressure here and there but no pain. I took along my discman as well so I could listen to music.

It was suggested to me to ask for Xanax when I get my wisdom teeth out. Now the only problem is making the phone call for my consult without panicing. So far I havent had any luck with that.
:hidesbehindsofa:
 
Re: Is the anxiety pill- Xanax safe w/a heart murm

Hi roxy. I have a heart murmur (actually they call it mitral valve prolapse).
Found out about it 25 years ago. Probably had it longer.
Anyway, I'm a severe dental phobic.

Because I have insomnia my doctor gave it to me to sleep.
I take one and a half pills before bedtime. It relaxes me to go to sleep.
Lunesta doesn't do anything for me and I can't afford ambien. My doctor had given me samples of the Lunesta but it worked for a while and then nothing.
So I take the xanax. I get the generic form. Alprazolam.
One pill is 0.5 so like I said, I cut another in half and take one and a half.

I generally believe that severe dental phobics have a lot of anxiety in their general life. My anxiety is that my son abandoned his family 4 years ago and I have not seen him since. Oh we talk on the phone but he could not care less about us. He's 24 and has been diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome but he is a gamber. His addiction has had a big impact on my health and my anxiety quotient. It didn't help that I was a dental phobe.
When I found my "good guy" as I call my NYC phobia dentist, before I went to my cleaning appointment, I took a half of a xanax, two hours before and the other half twenty minutes before entering the office. This means I was on a full 0.5 pill when I sat in the hygienist's chair. I was shaking like a leaf because the last time I had my teeth cleaned the other dentist (who was a kind guy but not a phobia guy) told me I had needed a deep cleaning and he could only do quadrants at a time so he would numb me totally. This was over 2 years ago so I had gone 2 years without any cleaning or work. I knew I had to fix a broken tooth and get my teeth cleaned so I found my good guy in NYC. before my first visit, we corresponded on line and I filled out a complete medical form (detailing my heart murmur). In the past i would have to take antibiotics before any work. So this first visit was only supposed to be talking only. I was sitting in the chair and after talking he approaches me saying. My next appointment cancelled, I'm fixing your broken tooth today and I said "oh no you're not, I have a heart murur and I need anti-biotics. The guy smiled, opened his hand and said "here they are". he had read my whole chart. So I just bit the bullet and hoped for the best. he used the wand. I FELT NOTHING. He prepared me for two crowns and put in two temps. It was amazing. yeah, I was frightened but I didn't have time to get REALLY FRIGHTENED, if you know what I mean. Then he said "next time you come, in two weeks, you'll get a cleaning and I'll put in your permanents."

So there I was, (as I said previously) sitting in the hygienist's chair and she just puts numbing gell all over my gums. I look at her and said "you mean I don't have to be really numbed to do this) and she said "no, you have taken excellent care of your teeth and flossed, you just need a routine cleaning, so don't worry". i started to shake. I didn't hyperventilate, I just said "are you sure, are your sure". and she said 'Just relax".
let me tell you!! I could not relax, but SHE DID NOT HURT ME. She used the cleaning tool and the cavitron thing. It's a buzzing thing. Did not hurt a bit.
She talked me through it. I told her "Can you believe I'm on xanax right now?" and I'm wide awake, she burst out laughing. It seems our bodies have a way of making adrenalin so it counteracts a tranquilizer.
but I did fine. My next cleaning is in May.
My treatment is completed . He is the best phobia guy in NYC.
Am I still a dental phobic? of course!!! Can I deal with it? Of course!!!
I believe, once you go and keep going and do the prevention thing, your mind gets to understand, calm down and not be so apprehensive.
Of course when you have to shell out thousands of dollars, it can hurt your pocketbook, but it WON'T HURT YOUR MOUTH.

take care,
Love, Melody :jump:
 
Re: Is the anxiety pill- Xanax safe w/a heart murm

:)
Hi to all. Just thought I'd inform you that all went fine with my root canal. I'll post more on the other board about it, I think it is called dental procedures, where I had a post on root canals. But all went great. I chose the gas (nitro) instead just because I had to change the date of my root canal and then I didn't have a driver if I would have taken the pill. First time for the nitro so I was nervous but I'm not sure if it was because they didn't know how it would affect me so they didn't know how much to start out with or what but I fell right to sleep right away from it. Which was completely fine by me!!! Woke up a few times but didn't feel a thing!

Roxy
 
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