M
Mr152
Junior member
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2013
- Messages
- 2
Things seemed to be going ok. The dentist even gave me the Novocaine with no problem. Then the assistant brings out the dam and bite plug and tells me I may have trouble breathing through my mouth. That was the trigger: "I may have trouble breathing." I felt adrenaline surging in my body and a full-blown panic. I even pulled out the bite plug myself and just could not go on. I was shaking and felt total panic. The dentist had to stop. He rescheduled me for two days later and gave me a prescription for Valium. I was still dreading the whole event.
Here's what I did to get through this: I practiced at home with a wine cork propping my mouth open with a plastic bag over my mouth for 20 minutes at a time. I also learned a word game to distract me from triggering thoughts. The game was to go through each letter of the alphabet and come up with an item in the grocery store starting with that letter. The last thing was the drugs. On the morning of the root canal I took 10 mgs Valium and 10 mgs Inderal an hour and a half ahead of time. When I was in the chair I kept myself distracted with the word game and I also reminded myself that the dentist is doing me a big favor in taking care of my tooth. I also kept my eyes closed the whole time. After about 10 minutes, I knew I had conquered the panic. I was fine. I felt a wave of gratitude and relaxation come over me. It was all easy after that.
Here's what I did to get through this: I practiced at home with a wine cork propping my mouth open with a plastic bag over my mouth for 20 minutes at a time. I also learned a word game to distract me from triggering thoughts. The game was to go through each letter of the alphabet and come up with an item in the grocery store starting with that letter. The last thing was the drugs. On the morning of the root canal I took 10 mgs Valium and 10 mgs Inderal an hour and a half ahead of time. When I was in the chair I kept myself distracted with the word game and I also reminded myself that the dentist is doing me a big favor in taking care of my tooth. I also kept my eyes closed the whole time. After about 10 minutes, I knew I had conquered the panic. I was fine. I felt a wave of gratitude and relaxation come over me. It was all easy after that.
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