Anxiety Attack?

[orporg]

I like the idea of this forum. I think a lot of people are terrified of the dentist but don't want to admit it. It's not popular to admit fear of dentists, doctors, or needles, especially if you're a man.

I hadn't been to the dentist in 10 years until I went in for my pre-wisdom teeth yanking appointment. And now I remember why.

I don't get this anxious about seeing my physician. I guess, in my mind, doctors help relieve pain and suffering and dentists cause it. Perhaps this has something to do with all the horrible smells of chemicals and the sounds of drills and things.

When I went in today for a post-yanking checkup I had what I suppose would be called an anxiety attack. The severity surprised me. I was just fine driving to the dentist. Then when I got into the waiting room I immediately started feeling.... weird. I got a little lightheaded, began sweating a bit, and started breathing heavily.

Then I got into the exam room.

I had to wait several minutes. They didn't do anything to me. I was just sitting in my chair, reading my book. But then I started to feel awful. I felt very queasy and had to fight to keep from throwing up right then and there. I started sweating profusely. I got lightheaded and somewhat dizzy and just generally felt awful. And I was just sitting there! It didn't get any better and I just wanted to get the hell out of there. I almost though I was going to faint. I had to take deep breaths and try to relax and it didn't help. Five minutes after I left the office, I was fine again.

Is this normal? Does this happen to anyone else? Stuff like this just makes me even less prone to go see the dentist, even though I really should go more often. and I know I'll need some fillings soon.

Maybe I'm still pissed off that when I was a kid I got all mercury (amalgam) fillings instead of porcelain. I must admit, they've help up well but I wish they would have asked me first.

It doesn't help that dental services are so expensive and I have no dental insurance. My folks are, kindly, picking up the tab. But as hard as medical insurance is to get in the US, it's even harder to get dental insurance.

You Brits and Canadians are lucky to have socialized medicine.

 

[harper]

hi
well i dont know if i feel as bad as you but when im waiting i do get very hot and usually feel sick . i do get light headed but sometimes its because i can never seem to eat on the day. you might find you feel better as you get more used to going? just had to mention im a brit dont feel very lucky though the so called nhs is a shambles went private ouch 3 months ago. although to be honest i could have stayed nhs but went with my dentist so it was my choice

 

[arry]

Is there a way you can go to a doctor and get anxiety pills that you can take on a need by need basis? My friend has to take those and she only takes then when she needs to take one. She doesn't live on them or anything. I think she got them from her therapist. I'd just tell them that you are phobic and get panic attacks at the dentist office and you need to get exams and dental work done.

I asked my dentist for an anti-anxiety before my extractions and he gave me a perscription of 2 valium (dizapam) to take. I was really really calm and not all freaking out.

In the past I tried taking the herbal drug Kava-Kava and taking it with camomile tea.. it didn't seem to help too much. But you could try that at some pont and see if it works better on you than it did on me.

 

[brit]

Re: Anxiety Attack? Socialised medicine

It doesn't help that dental services are so expensive and I have no dental insurance.  My folks are, kindly, picking up the tab.  But as hard as medical insurance is to get in the US, it's even harder to get dental insurance.

You Brits and Canadians are lucky to have socialized medicine.

Yes we probably are lucky to have socialised medicine, but in the UK at least, it is 'free at the point of use' (dentistry less so) BUT paid for out of far higher taxes than Americans ever seem willing to pay.

I'm not knocking this at all (I would always vote to preserve socialised medicine in one form or another - I rarely opt out into the private sector myself - usually only dentistry).  But I see little political will to change anything in the US....I seem to remember years ago Clinton being elected (the first time) on  a 'sort out healthcare ticket' - did anything actually change?

The rest of Europe tends to be more insurance based but everyone has to be offered 'basic packages' by insurance companies regardless of pre-existing conditions and membership of (Government) schemes is compulsory, so effectively you get 100% coverage and no one is left to suffer that much.

I still don't understand how in a supposedly free market, US dentists get away with charging so much for simple procedures that would cost a fraction of that in Europe - is there a shortage of dentists in the US, like in the UK, surely not?

It seems to be a difference in philosophy, Europeans tend to assume, however well off they are, they might one day fall on hard times and so they support the 'social safety nets' almost without question.

From my European perspective, it looks like access to healthcare inequalities is an issue that the American government would do well to take much more seriously.

 

[dental_hell]

Hey Orpog - You ask if your reaction is "normal" - maybe not normal but certainly not weird or unusual either. I cried, shook and sweated through my entire first appointment. The anxiety never waned during the entire hour and a half of the first visit (after many years). I just accept that I will have it - will feel it -- every time I go.