L
leela
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2009
- Messages
- 172
- Location
- Canada
Hi everyone,
Well I just posted over in the dentistry questions forum, but it looks like I need a root canal. I won't get into the "why" here as I did that in the other forum, but I just need to vent over here.
I'm at work right now and I just feel like crawling under my desk and crying. I can't believe I went through all I did to get the filling, and for nothing. I had to call on every ounce of emotional strength I had to do that. I knew going in of course that the possibility existed that it may not solve the problem, but God, was I hoping.
The domino effect that this unleashes is getting next to impossible to deal with emotionally, and I'm sure it's something almost everyone on here has felt. It starts with the pain, and then moves into anxiety and panic because I don't want to feel pain - then I take pain meds (narcotic so as to ensure I don't feel ANY pain), and that unleashes it's own problems. Then all of that moves into absolute obsession and the inability to sleep (sometimes the pain meds can help with this), but it completely takes over my life, resulting in self hatred for not getting the stupid root canal done in the first place and feeling like a complete idiot - which then moves right into severe depression.
A TOOTH TAKES OVER MY ENTIRE LIFE. What kind of insanity is this? I mean I think I've figured out that it's my fear of PAIN that is driving all of this. I call it a dental phobia, but really I think it's a pain phobia. I've been to the dentist every 6 months for a cleaning and the past 20 years not needing any dental work done. So I wasn't afraid of going to the dentist's office to get cleanings. Cleanings aren't painful. Maybe a little uncomfortable, but no pain.
But then again, why I am so afraid of getting a root canal done under IV sedation? My brain knows I won't feel any pain. I had one done 20 years ago and I was fine - so why can't my left brain and my right brain agree on this? One side of my brain intellectually understands that my fear is ridiculous, but the other side is causing my life to be hell.
I went from a normal (whatever that is) well rounded emotionally stable (again, whatever that is) human being into a crumbling mess in a matter of weeks. I had about 24 hours after the filling that I thought everything was fine and I actually felt "normal" again, then slowly as the pain came back the reality of what was happening started to surface, and once again, my emotional state deteriorated.
SIGH.
Well I just posted over in the dentistry questions forum, but it looks like I need a root canal. I won't get into the "why" here as I did that in the other forum, but I just need to vent over here.
I'm at work right now and I just feel like crawling under my desk and crying. I can't believe I went through all I did to get the filling, and for nothing. I had to call on every ounce of emotional strength I had to do that. I knew going in of course that the possibility existed that it may not solve the problem, but God, was I hoping.
The domino effect that this unleashes is getting next to impossible to deal with emotionally, and I'm sure it's something almost everyone on here has felt. It starts with the pain, and then moves into anxiety and panic because I don't want to feel pain - then I take pain meds (narcotic so as to ensure I don't feel ANY pain), and that unleashes it's own problems. Then all of that moves into absolute obsession and the inability to sleep (sometimes the pain meds can help with this), but it completely takes over my life, resulting in self hatred for not getting the stupid root canal done in the first place and feeling like a complete idiot - which then moves right into severe depression.
A TOOTH TAKES OVER MY ENTIRE LIFE. What kind of insanity is this? I mean I think I've figured out that it's my fear of PAIN that is driving all of this. I call it a dental phobia, but really I think it's a pain phobia. I've been to the dentist every 6 months for a cleaning and the past 20 years not needing any dental work done. So I wasn't afraid of going to the dentist's office to get cleanings. Cleanings aren't painful. Maybe a little uncomfortable, but no pain.
But then again, why I am so afraid of getting a root canal done under IV sedation? My brain knows I won't feel any pain. I had one done 20 years ago and I was fine - so why can't my left brain and my right brain agree on this? One side of my brain intellectually understands that my fear is ridiculous, but the other side is causing my life to be hell.
I went from a normal (whatever that is) well rounded emotionally stable (again, whatever that is) human being into a crumbling mess in a matter of weeks. I had about 24 hours after the filling that I thought everything was fine and I actually felt "normal" again, then slowly as the pain came back the reality of what was happening started to surface, and once again, my emotional state deteriorated.
SIGH.