Extremely anxious over Wisdom Teeth removal- feeling of doom

[AnxiousThesia]

Hi, i'm sure posts like this get posted all the time, I apologize if I am being repetitive. But I am such a wreck lately I just need to talk.

About two weeks ago, I think. I've been so anxious that I don't really remember. I was scheduled for a filling, and when I did I pointed out that it kind of ached after I had other fillings done. And at first they told me it was normal and we proceeded to have my last filling done. However after that was done they brought the person who would be driving me home into the back room with me, and told me I had impacted teeth and they should be removed, right then and there my heart dropped into my feet.

So, I have two impacted teeth, but i'm having all four removed at once, and that means some form of anesthetic that isn't localized. And the anesthetic is what I am most terrified over. I am having an IV sedation and not full blown general anesthesia apparently. But i'm still such a nervous wreck. since i'm having conscious sedation i'm not worried about waking up. I'm worried about complications, and having some condition that I don't know about causing a complication.

I also get small palpitations sometimes, I think they're ectopic beats. But I never got them checked because I've had them for years and they never got worse or bothered me. But i'm worried that they'll get worse or my heart will flat out stop while i'm under. Even though from what I've read IV sedation is a lot safer than GA.

Guys, i'm so anxious and so confident that i'll meet my end that literally as we were driving home fro mbeing told I needed them removed. The person driving me home thought we should call it off right off the bat. And literally the next few mornings I had these awful thoughts that "I probably won't make it, what's the point of taking care of myself"

This is all before consultation, I finally go to have my consultation tomorrow and i'm still anxious about all this. I don't think I've been so stressed about something in my almost 21 years of life.

Sorry this is such a long post, thank you for reading.

 

[AnxiousThesia]

Another thing about my palpitations.

They don't appear to get worse or anything when i'm anxious. THey just happen randomly most of the time.
Sometimes they pop up when i bend over really quick. (As you might imagine that gets me pretty anxious too)

And again i think they are ectopic beats. Where i'll get one big beat followed by a second smaller one before going back to normal. Sometimes they happen only once. Sometimes i'll get a few of them in the span of a few minutes i think.

Really hope they don't affect me during my operation.

 

[Enarete]

Dear AnxiousThesia,

sorry to read about what you are going through right now. Rest assured that this is the best place to talk, to vent and to get help as well and no post is too long or repetitive..
You mention impacted teeth, so it sounds like it's your wisdom teeth that need to come out?

Here are my thoughts to your situation, in the hope that it might help.

1. Information, knowledge and good communication with your dentist can take care of a lot of fears. From reading your post it seems to me that there are aspects of the planned treatment that you are not entirely sure about or lack information. I can only encourage you to ask as many questions as you need to know and get all the information you need to be able to get through the procedure. Talk to your dentist and get a good clarity about what will they do, what kind of anesthetic and if there are any risks for you.

2. Heart palpitations. It's responsible and valid to be nervous about something that you feel might be a health condition relevant to your dental treatment and I am sure your dentist will be interested in this too. So again, explain them what is happening and how you feel about it and let them assess if the treatment is safe for you. You might want to put the treatment off a bit and get in touch with your general practitioner to make sure to get this checked and get some answers.
By the way, your dentist will do a thorough assessment prior to the treatment and your safety is on the first place. You will also be monitored closely during the treatment.

3. Some stress and anxiety prior to iv sedation is normal. If you look around here on the forum you will find a lot of posts of people who are scared of it, even without heart issues. I would be very scared myself if I would have to deal with sedation. The only important thing is for you to make sure that you remove any insecurities about the treatment and get answers to all questions that are bothering you. Also, it is your right to have all information before you agree to treatment.

4. Be kind to yourself and take all the time you need to deal with this. It is ok to take your time to process the fact that you need to get the teeth removed. It's also ok to think of what scares you and prepare questions and it is ok to collect information for some time before you feel confident enough to get the needed treatment.

Hope this helped a bit and let us know your thoughts

 

[AnxiousThesia]

Dear AnxiousThesia,

sorry to read about what you are going through right now. Rest assured that this is the best place to talk, to vent and to get help as well and no post is too long or repetitive..
You mention impacted teeth, so it sounds like it's your wisdom teeth that need to come out?

Here are my thoughts to your situation, in the hope that it might help.

1. Information, knowledge and good communication with your dentist can take care of a lot of fears. From reading your post it seems to me that there are aspects of the planned treatment that you are not entirely sure about or lack information. I can only encourage you to ask as many questions as you need to know and get all the information you need to be able to get through the procedure. Talk to your dentist and get a good clarity about what will they do, what kind of anesthetic and if there are any risks for you.

2. Heart palpitations. It's responsible and valid to be nervous about something that you feel might be a health condition relevant to your dental treatment and I am sure your dentist will be interested in this too. So again, explain them what is happening and how you feel about it and let them assess if the treatment is safe for you. You might want to put the treatment off a bit and get in touch with your general practitioner to make sure to get this checked and get some answers.
By the way, your dentist will do a thorough assessment prior to the treatment and your safety is on the first place. You will also be monitored closely during the treatment.

3. Some stress and anxiety prior to iv sedation is normal. If you look around here on the forum you will find a lot of posts of people who are scared of it, even without heart issues. I would be very scared myself if I would have to deal with sedation. The only important thing is for you to make sure that you remove any insecurities about the treatment and get answers to all questions that are bothering you. Also, it is your right to have all information before you agree to treatment.

4. Be kind to yourself and take all the time you need to deal with this. It is ok to take your time to process the fact that you need to get the teeth removed. It's also ok to think of what scares you and prepare questions and it is ok to collect information for some time before you feel confident enough to get the needed treatment.

Hope this helped a bit and let us know your thoughts

Hello, and thanks for reaching me. Sorry it took so long for me to reply. Been offline trying to get my mind off of this.

Thank you for all of the advise, I will try my best to remember all of it . for further context, apologies for not providing all this information earlier. Yes this will be the first time I've been exposed to any form of anesthesia or big operation since I was a very small child. Besides local anesthetics for fillings and stuff like that. My two bottom wisdom teeth I think are the ones impacted. But they're going to go ahead and get rid of all of them at once.

They said the roots were very small or something of that nature and should be easy to remove without breaking them up. Also they aren't fully impacted, they both from what I can feel are partially erupted.

They said it wouldn't even bee that long, I think they said at most it'd be an hour (I don't know how long these typically last)

And about the palpitations, i'll have an appointment scheduled after consultation tomorrow. Will I be able to get back to the surgeon with new information should it arise before the operation?

 

[Enarete]

And about the palpitations, i'll have an appointment scheduled after consultation tomorrow. Will I be able to get back to the surgeon with new information should it arise before the operation?

I am sure you will. It's all about communication and being open. You can call your practice any time and provide them with new information. Make sure to rise this during your consultation with the surgeon today, he might provide you with additional advice.

Good luck today and keep us posted