I Need An Extraction But I'm Too Scared To Do It

[Cinkat84]

I’m literally on your same boat. Sometimes I dream that someone could just grab me in my sleep, sedate me and get it down without me ever knowing. If the anxiety is going to make you sick over it, it’s best to take baby steps until you are ready. The problem is that the pain may get so bad that you will have no choice.

 

[tazey]

Thank you, both of you, for your posts. I swear the only place I'm able to find someone who understands is here on this forum. It makes me feel better about my own fears and anxiety. I mean obviously I'm not the only person who has ever felt this way. But unless you have someone to talk to who is experiencing the same thing, you start to feel very much alone.

I'll be honest and say that long about now I've pretty much decided that I'm not going through with this. I can't, I don't want to and I'm not ready for this. I'll still go to the consultation this week, just so I have that in reserve in case I change my mind. But I've reached my limit and I'm not doing this anymore. I'm done.

For the past week or so I've been experimenting with home remedies such as garlic, oil pulling, baking soda and salt water rinses and clove tea. I've managed to eliminate 95% of my pain this way. Any pain I feel now is minimal and doesn't last long, if I feel anything at all. I was able to cure a sinus infection with garlic a couple years ago, so if I keep trying I can hopefully cure the infection in my wisdom teeth.

I mean think about it. Why am I considering having them taken out? Because I'm in pain and they are infected. So if there is no pain or infection, then there is no reason to have them removed. Or at least that's the way I look at it.

The doctors basically told me that they can't give me anymore antibiotics anyway. They told me that last week, saying that I've had too many and they're worried about dangerous side effects if I keep taking them. They said the only way I can have more is if I go to the emergency room and have a CT scan to see if there's an abscess in there. And then they'll give me intravenous antibiotics, but the doctor added, "I don't know that they won't give you pills."

All of this just makes me more determined to do things on my own. Because that's how it is now. I'm pretty much on my own at this point. I can't have intravenous antibiotics, there's no guarantee that they'll give me pills, and I don't even know if my insurance will cover the cost of having a CT scan. So I'm done. I'm done with all of them.

And the doctor that I saw, he was trying to schedule an appointment with my dentist to have my wisdom teeth removed! He told me he would check to see how soon they could get me in for the procedure then immediately left the room. He came back and said they can see me on the 18th, and I'm like no, that is not happening. I explained about my anxiety and panic attacks, and all he did was tell me, over and over, that I have options.

I said no, I don't have options. I was specifically told by an oral surgeon during my second consultation that I need inhaled general anesthetic due to the fact that they can't calm me down for the procedure, because their strongest sedatives aren't enough and they can't even get anywhere near me because I go hysterical. At that point the doctor didn't seem to have anything more to say. He just kind of seemed at a loss for words, handed me a slip of paper and shoved me out the door.

So, as of right now I'm not planning on having the surgery. I'll go to the consultation, then it'll take four to six weeks for my insurance to approve the procedure. At that point, if I'm not near death from chronic infections, then I think I'll just tell them sorry, I've changed my mind, or that I'll have to reschedule or something when they give me an appointment date. Even if I am seriously sick at that point, I still don't think I'll be able to do it.

I have never been so terrified of something in my entire life. I honestly think that the only way I'll be able to do this is if I'm half unconscious on the day of my appointment and someone drags me there against my will and I'm too sick to fight them off.

I feel your anxiety,do you know if the antibiotics did get rid of the infection or are you just guessing it has? please don't wait till you get an abscess they are not pleasent+can cause more issues. Sent you a pm

 

[MountainMama]

I understand your fear and it is absolutely valid. I do think you need to step away from this for a little while but please continue trying to find options that might work for you.
The infection cannot be cured while the tooth is in your mouth. Antibiotics and natural remedies may help stabilize the infection but it will not go away until the tooth is out.
My husband tried to do the same thing as you with an infected upper second molar. He put it off for several years and it didn’t hurt until one day it had unbearable pain and he ended up losing two teeth as the infection ruined the root of the tooth next to it as well, which is very uncommon.

 

[Catie McBain]

Honestly, I'd rather deal with the pain and run the risk of losing more teeth due to the infection spreading. My mother lived for years with abscessed teeth, more than twenty or thirty years of her life, and all she did was use salt water rinses and she was okay. I keep thinking that if she could manage on her own like that, then I can too.

For all I know the infection might not even be in the tooth itself. It could just be a gum infection. I have copies of the xrays, and there isn't a visible abscess or anything out of the ordinary that I can see. Aside from two broken wisdom teeth it actually looks normal.

The one on the top right has been infected multiple times, just gum infections, though. This has been happening on and off for about eight years. But the other teeth around it are okay, even when viewed on my most recent xrays. It's kind of strange, because despite all the problems with my wisdom teeth the others are still healthy after all these years. Never even had a cavity in any of the others. It's just my wisdom teeth that bother me occasionally.

If I keep taking baby steps until I'm ready, it'll take years. I can't see myself doing anything about it this year or the next. This is an absolute wall that I can't get around or over and I'm tired of trying. I can't even walk out the door for a dentist appointment without having a panic attack and collapsing. My anxiety gets worse the more I try to push through it, not better.

 

[Cinkat84]

Omg that’s terrifying. I’ve never heard of that happening. Was in tooth in the gum ?

 

[Catie McBain]

@tazey

I'm not entirely sure that the infection was completely cured by the antibiotics. It might not have been cured because the symptoms keep coming back after about a week of being off them. But the last time they gave them to me, I took them for ten days instead of the usual seven. They also gave me more to take, I was basically taking them every six hours. Which was exhausting because I had to set an alarm at night and got very little sleep because my sleep schedule was disrupted from waking up to take medicine.

I think that was when I started feeling worn down by all of this. The lack of sleep for more than a week, the sickness and frustration. It gets to you after a while. And then I just started thinking enough is enough. I need to just stop and back away from everything.

The good news is that my symptoms are less severe this time around, and it took longer for them to come back. I only felt bad for a day or two, then I really started adding more natural remedies, using them more often than before and have slowly been recovering and getting better.

 

[Jay45169]

@tazey

I'm not entirely sure that the infection was completely cured by the antibiotics. It might not have been cured because the symptoms keep coming back after about a week of being off them. But the last time they gave them to me, I took them for ten days instead of the usual seven. They also gave me more to take, I was basically taking them every six hours. Which was exhausting because I had to set an alarm at night and got very little sleep because my sleep schedule was disrupted from waking up to take medicine.

I think that was when I started feeling worn down by all of this. The lack of sleep for more than a week, the sickness and frustration. It gets to you after a while. And then I just started thinking enough is enough. I need to just stop and back away from everything.

The good news is that my symptoms are less severe this time around, and it took longer for them to come back. I only felt bad for a day or two, then I really started adding more natural remedies, using them more often than before and have slowly been recovering and getting better.

When I was goin to my appointment for the first time in 30 years I was like that , wondering if I was gonna go ..the anxiety is horrendous when it gets to you ...I just kept saying to myself you can do this you can do this....my anxiety is starting already for my appointment on Wednesday .. haven't had any food today ...doubt I will have any until after Wednesday appointment... I do that not eat don't sleep constant worry and overthinking, I know I need it done tho alot of work .....hate myself sometimes

 

[Cinkat84]

You’re not alone. We are all on the boat. Sometimes I just sit and imagine that I was one of those people whom think these things are a cake walk

 

[Catie McBain]

@Jay45169

Please don't hate yourself for being like that. I say that, even though I'm really not pleased with my own behavior and thinking. But look at it this way, you've gone way farther than I have. You've accomplished so much, and I think you should be proud of yourself for coming so far. Really, I mean that.

Heck, if I even had a teaspoon of your courage and strength I'd probably be in a much better place right now.

 

[Catie McBain]

So apparently I'm going for my consultation tomorrow. This will be my fourth consultation. I don't know why I'm trying so hard to go to this when I feel like I'm at the end of the line, about to hit a brick wall and will most likely not go through with seeing this through to the end.

I suppose it will be useful, just to see if the infection has cleared up. But I don't think the infection is gone completely. Most of the time it doesn't even hurt. Once in a great while I'll have some mild pain in my jaw on the bottom left side... but there has always been a hole in my gums where my wisdom tooth broke off, and it's been filling with pus and smelling really bad.

Who knows? They might try to clean it out and give me antibiotics or something. I don't feel sick, though. I feel nauseous from anxiety, I feel stressed out and I just want to curl in a ball and hide somewhere because I really don't want to do this. I've lost my appetite and just... not happy in general. Afraid as usual. But I think the worst of my infection symptoms have passed. I don't feel like I need antibiotics right now.

 

[Cinkat84]

How long has your pain been lasting?

 

[Catie McBain]

Not long. When it happens, I feel a dull ache that might last a couple minutes, maybe a half hour or so. If it lasts longer or keeps coming back, I'll use some cloves or clove tea and that stops it for several hours. But I haven't had any significant pain for over a week. Mostly just mild discomfort that is easily relieved with natural remedies.

That's why I feel this is odd, because if I had a serious abscess or an infection, I assume the pain would be much worse. The pain was worse when I felt really sick and was on antibiotics. But I haven't experienced anything like that for a long time.

 

[Cinkat84]

It would be much much worse. I agree

 

[tazey]

So apparently I'm going for my consultation tomorrow. This will be my fourth consultation. I don't know why I'm trying so hard to go to this when I feel like I'm at the end of the line, about to hit a brick wall and will most likely not go through with seeing this through to the end.

I suppose it will be useful, just to see if the infection has cleared up. But I don't think the infection is gone completely. Most of the time it doesn't even hurt. Once in a great while I'll have some mild pain in my jaw on the bottom left side... but there has always been a hole in my gums where my wisdom tooth broke off, and it's been filling with pus and smelling really bad.

Who knows? They might try to clean it out and give me antibiotics or something. I don't feel sick, though. I feel nauseous from anxiety, I feel stressed out and I just want to curl in a ball and hide somewhere because I really don't want to do this. I've lost my appetite and just... not happy in general. Afraid as usual. But I think the worst of my infection symptoms have passed. I don't feel like I need antibiotics right now.

Just out of curiosity (regarding the nausea) have you tried those anti sickness bands for your wrists? I've recently bought some (not used them yet) but worth a try.Also know you said you don't or can't take medication but what about the natural stuff like rescue remedys?

 

[Catie McBain]

Funny you should mention that. I actually stopped and looked at those anti sickness wristbands the last time I was shopping. I thought about getting one and decided against it because of the price, but now I'm thinking that I really should have bought one.

Rescue remedies are something else I've considered. I'm hesitant to experiment with such things though, because I know that people in my family are very sensitive to herbs and medications. We have to take children's dosages of everything. Even when I take allergy medication, I take the lowest dosage of children's Benadryl. So I substitute with my own herbal concoctions, mostly just a lot of sage and chamomile. I'm more comfortable with that because I made it so I know what is safe and what went into making it.

The only downside is my herbal stress relieving teas make me need to go to the bathroom a lot, so I don't take them before appointments. Otherwise I'd be running the bathroom constantly. I typically don't eat or drink before appointments anyway to reduce the chance of vomiting. I'll still throw up bile though, and that stuff really burns. But after a while my herbal remedies stop working. It's like the more my anxiety builds the less effective they become.

 

[tazey]

Funny you should mention that. I actually stopped and looked at those anti sickness wristbands the last time I was shopping. I thought about getting one and decided against it because of the price, but now I'm thinking that I really should have bought one.

Rescue remedies are something else I've considered. I'm hesitant to experiment with such things though, because I know that people in my family are very sensitive to herbs and medications. We have to take children's dosages of everything. Even when I take allergy medication, I take the lowest dosage of children's Benadryl. So I substitute with my own herbal concoctions, mostly just a lot of sage and chamomile. I'm more comfortable with that because I made it so I know what is safe and what went into making it.

The only downside is my herbal stress relieving teas make me need to go to the bathroom a lot, so I don't take them before appointments. Otherwise I'd be running the bathroom constantly. I typically don't eat or drink before appointments anyway to reduce the chance of vomiting. I'll still throw up bile though, and that stuff really burns. But after a while my herbal remedies stop working. It's like the more my anxiety builds the less effective they become.

That's the problem tho not eating/drinking can make you feel nausea/dizzy so it's tough to know what to do.

 

[Jay45169]

That's the problem tho not eating/drinking can make you feel nausea/dizzy so it's tough to know what to do.

Tbh iam use to not eating when anxiety starts that one of my coping methods sounds mad ..but I've always done it ..that's just my own way .. everyone is wired different especially me lol

 

[tazey]

Tbh iam use to not eating when anxiety starts that one of my coping methods sounds mad ..but I've always done it ..that's just my own way .. everyone is wired different especially me lol

Wish I could eat,fed up of having no appetite.

 

[Catie McBain]

Well, guess what, people. I have been given the wrong information once again.

For starters, I was told that if I come in today, they can squeeze me in between appointments. I was also told that they have inhaled general anesthesia. I had enough sense to call and discus this before going in. And, like always, I was very specific, stating that I don't want nitrous oxide, I want the kind you inhale through a mask that makes you unconscious. I always specifically state that, I make myself very clear, and I ask two or three times just to make sure they understand me correctly and that they have what I need. Keep that in mind as I continue.

So, I got up at five this morning because of the long drive to reach my destination. It took about three hours. I get there and the first thing the lady behind the desk does is ask me for my referral. I handed it to her, she took a look and seemed surprised. "Oh, this is for your wisdom teeth?" she says, acting like she's shocked and wasn't expecting this. Which is funny because my dentist faxed them a copy of the referral a few weeks ago.

I told her yes, then explained about coming in for the consultation and getting squeezed in between appointments. She then proceeds to tell me that they are completely booked and she'll have to schedule an appointment because they can't fit me in. That made me stop and think. I wondered if they had inhaled general anesthesia seeing as how I'd already been told one thing over the phone and then I get there only to be told something different.

I asked them about that, and the lady gave me a weird look and says, "You mean nitrous oxide?" Now this I found rather annoying, because I've had this problem a couple times before where I explain that I need general anesthesia and they say the same thing, thinking that I mean nitrous oxide and I have to tell them no, then I have to explain that it's the kind that makes you unconscious.

I mean seriously, if you're in this business then why don't you know the difference between the two? One makes you unconscious, the other doesn't. I didn't go to dental school, I don't have a degree in this stuff, and yet I'm the one explaining the difference to these people and then trying to make them understand what I need.

To make a long story short, this lady went in the back to check, then returns and tells me they only have nitrous oxide and IV sedation. So by then I know there's no point in even making an appointment with this place. I told her, "But I was told you have general anesthesia." And she got loud and got an attitude, yelling at me, "Well, I just asked and he said no!"

So I'm like fine. Whatever. I've been through this before and it's another wasted trip. I asked her if she knows any place that uses general anesthesia through a mask, and she gave me a list of three places and still, with an attitude, tells me that she doesn't know if they offer that. But they take my insurance so here it is, good luck, goodbye and get out.

I'm so fed up with this. I don't really want to do any of this anyway. If I call anymore of these places, it won't be for quite a while because I'm just done.