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Anxious about sedation

A

andyo

Junior member
Joined
Apr 14, 2009
Messages
12
Afternoon. I am trying to be better. Recently I managed a filling with my usual dentist and felt great in doing it. Unfortunately I need to have a few teeth removed and we agreed on sedation. I just do not think I will get in the door! Two weeks to go and I panic about it every minute of every day. The plan is that I buy some EMLA cream to not feel the needle in my hand, fall asleep then wake up job done. What happens if I am awake and feel and see everything? How can I get past the panic? Apparently I cannot pop a Valium before I go - that would be better. Any advice please, I am so close to cancelling the appointment due to this. Sorry for being such a wuss!!! Thank you.
 
Hi andyo, first of all give yourself a huge pat on your back for having the filling done. Now to your sedation. Please do not cancel the appointment. The anxiety you are having now is very different to what will be going on during your procedure. You will really feel like falling asleep and in the next second waking uo and it‘s over. Now to your fear of being awake. You will actually be awake (but very relaxed) and even be able to communicate. It‘s just that the medication causes memory loss so that you won‘t remember anything afterwards. By the way, they will numb you up properly like every usual patient so you won‘t have any pain.
If you like, just look for some success stories here on te forum, there are plenty members who did iv sedation and they were all very happy with it. Just imagine that the procedure takes just one second because that‘s how it will feel for you.
I am not too sure about the valium.. https://www.dentalfearcentral.org/f...-anxiety-medication-before-iv-sedation.13281/
it might be a good idea to talk to your dentist about this once again.

All the best wishes, hang on there and may all go smoothly
 
I just had my third sedation appointment this morning (third time in 3 months!). I didn't elect iv sedation, I only had conscious sedation with halcion and nitrous. Even with the conscious sedation I was being monitored closely the whole time (blood pressure, oxygen, etc) and I remember very little of the procedure. I usually dose off and on and when I'm awake, I really don't give a hoot about what's happening. There is no pain and there was plenty of numbing just as if you were without sedation. Pretty much every time i woke up i thought "oh I'm still here."

So anyway, I hope this makes you feel better. The whole purpose of the sedation is to make you as comfortable as possible which for me, has been life changing.
 
Afternoon. I am trying to be better. Recently I managed a filling with my usual dentist and felt great in doing it. Unfortunately I need to have a few teeth removed and we agreed on sedation. I just do not think I will get in the door! Two weeks to go and I panic about it every minute of every day. The plan is that I buy some EMLA cream to not feel the needle in my hand, fall asleep then wake up job done. What happens if I am awake and feel and see everything? How can I get past the panic? Apparently I cannot pop a Valium before I go - that would be better. Any advice please, I am so close to cancelling the appointment due to this. Sorry for being such a wuss!!! Thank you.

Well done for getting the filling done, that's a great achievement.
I've had sedation for 15 years, and am having my first extraction in a couple of weeks, under IV sedation. All i know is that I have had many root canals, fillings and gum surgery under IV, and I don't remember anything about any of it. The canula goes in, the meds take effect, the next you know you are awake again, with no recollection of what happened or of how much time has passed, and wondering "why didnt they do the work" when they actually already did :)

Regarding the canula going in - another technique you could add to your emla cream, is to pinch your arm or nip your leg as they put it in, and it sort of defers and distracts things. I was worried about this part too, but found that the canula going was in the end very uneventful, just a scratch, and this is from someone who hates needles :)

Post procedure i plan to take lavender baths, take pain meds methodically, use cool packs, use the aromatherapy rolls-ons and arnica. i find that making my own after care plan also makes me feel better about things, more in control and happy that i have things at the ready that i can turn to.
 
Yes do the cream on your hand I had that for my last op+didnt feel it at all (also just ask them to keep any needles out of your sight).
 
My daughter was crazy scared about needles and iv. and she had the emla cream too and did really fine with it.. I was actually surprised how good she did.
 
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