Please please help....

[laura442]

I dont think any of you will have any answers for me but you never know hey. Ive had an abcess on my tooth since december i have tried 3 times to have it out. I have adrelaline free injections but still feel like im going to pass out and thats after a 2mm of it. Im convinced i will pass out or die with the injection and even if i can do that my body will go into shock if i have it extracted. I suffer from agrophobia panic attacks anxiety and severe phobia of anything medical and medication and i i would be way too scared to take any form of sedative. They have given me an appointment at the hospital if i can even get myself there (fear of hospitals) there is no way i would go into hospital let alone be put under. My family are all upset and distressed as im in pain and ive had to stop working due to the stress this is putting me under. I actually feel suicidal after just coming back from the dentist again just now and couldnt do it. So sorry to be so negative but I have no hope anymore. I have spent all day crying and I feel so ill and trapped I really feel like this tooth will be the death of me.
Bless you all x

 

[carole]

Hi Laura442
Sorry to read how upset and desperate you are feeling. If you read a thread by Carys about being phobic of medicines, her story might give you some hope. She was so afraid of the injections, not the needle but the medicine inside it.

I had an abscess for 20 months untreated and I know the pain you are in, I have had it treated now and it wasn't anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be, much better than the pain and panic I was suffering with it.
It would be over in less than 2 minutes to get the tooth out, it is really quick. I don't know how you will get over the fear of medicine etc.... But if you could just find the strength to have it done in hospital, you will be sat at home after, feeling so much better and proud of yourself. There are people there that know what they are doing, and they won't let you die. The stress you are suffering at the moment is so much worse than the treatment you need, when you have had it done you won't believe how much better you feel. It's like the weight of the world has been lifted from your shoulders.

It does take nerves of steel but you can do it, when you are ready you will. One day you will just do it and amaze yourself and others around you.
Don't think of the last three attempts as failure, it is a case of the time wasn't right for you, one day it will be.
It's like stopping smoking, or wanting to jump off that top diving board, or even learning how to drive, you try many times; but one day something just clicks and you do it, that will happen for you with the dental treatment you need.

I hope you can manage to get your mouth sorted out, I know how bad you are feeling, there are a lot of us on here and we all understand and if we can offer you support or just a listening ear, we will.

Best wishes.

 

[Pianimo]

Hi Laura.

So sorry to hear how bad things are for you right now. Really hope you can find the help you need here, and get through this.

Here is a link to Carys' journal, that Carole mentioned:

My teeth - 'medicine' phobia and periodontal battle

Ok, so I've posted a few times, but thought I would start a thread where I can add posts as things happen. I am doing this partly for cathartic reasons, and partly because someone in the future may find it of some minor assistance in their own battle. I last visited my dental practice 1.5 years...

www.dentalfearcentral.org

There may also be something on this page that could help you:

Feeling Depressed or Suicidal?

Find out where to get help if you are feeling depressed or suicidal.

www.dentalfearcentral.org

And this page is all about why some people have a reaction to the local injections, and some advice on how to cope with it:

Allergy or Bad Reactions to Local Anaesthetics

Have you had a bad reaction to local anaesthetic? Do you think you may be allergic to lidocaine? Find out all about the causes and possible solutions!

www.dentalfearcentral.org

Do you believe you are physically reacting to the anaesthetic, or that it is a panic attack brought on by the thought of having had the anaesthetic?

I don't want to bombard you with links, so I'll stop there, but there may be some other pages on this site which could be of help you - if you look under the headings at the top of the page, hopefully you can find the right pages for you. Also, if you search the forums (search box is just underneath the sragon/dinasaur on the top left), or especially browse the Success Stories section, you'll find there are other posters who have been at the point of feeling suicidal over their teeth or their fear of undergoing treatment, and who have managed to find a way to cope with the work they needed doing, and come out the other side. If nothing else, I hope it shows that that you're not alone, and there are people who understand what you're going through (we all do on here to some extent, and some have been there exactly). And I really hope you can find a way for this one day to be your story too.

One thought, I don't know where you live, but in the UK it is possible for agoraphobics to be treated at home, so this may be a possiblity.

I do hope you find some relief soon. Thinking of you.

 

[brit]

I dont think any of you will have any answers for me but you never know hey. Ive had an abcess on my tooth since december i have tried 3 times to have it out. I have adrelaline free injections but still feel like im going to pass out and thats after a 2mm of it. Im convinced i will pass out or die with the injection and even if i can do that my body will go into shock if i have it extracted. I suffer from agrophobia panic attacks anxiety and severe phobia of anything medical and medication and i i would be way too scared to take any form of sedative. They have given me an appointment at the hospital if i can even get myself there (fear of hospitals) there is no way i would go into hospital let alone be put under. My family are all upset and distressed as im in pain and ive had to stop working due to the stress this is putting me under. I actually feel suicidal after just coming back from the dentist again just now and couldnt do it. So sorry to be so negative but I have no hope anymore. I have spent all day crying and I feel so ill and trapped I really feel like this tooth will be the death of me.
Bless you all x

Hi Laura
Sorry to hear you are having such trouble getting yourself out of dental pain despite a few attempts.
I think you need to sit back and analyse what it is that is really stopping you from getting the care you need.
Every way modern medicine has to make it easier for you, you have an objection to, meaning that you cannot move forward....what is really driving this?
Is it really a fear of the effect of the drugs (like Carys?) or is that a convenient 'excuse' to avoid the care.
Is it really because you don't trust your dentist to not hurt you? Or do you fear needles? Are you worried the local (especially without epi) won't work?

At the end of the day, you will want to get the tooth sorted out, that may as well be sooner rather than later. What do you need to go through with it? Someone to hold your hand? Music playing? Someone to reassure you that if you get a racing heart from the LA it is not dangerous and will subside?
The hospital may well be best able to help you in that they have nitrous oxide, i/v sedation etc but if that environment is very scary for you, just taking it slowly and under your control with a mainstream dentist may be easier for you...you maybe haven't found the right dentist for you yet.
You need to feel in control and unrushed...local takes longer to work if you are anxious as well. So I would go with the normal stuff(with epi) but build in lots of time for you to calm down and take breaks. It won't take long to extract the tooth once it is numb in any case.
Good luck. Something has to give....the epi cannot harm you. Your body produces the stuff naturally.
If you feel like you are passing out, that could well be your anxiety rather than the LA itself. Eating a light meal before the appointment would help in that your blood sugar would be more even. There's info under needle phobia about fainting as well:

Fainting During Dental Injections

Why do I faint when having a dental injection? Is fainting dangerous? What can I do about fainting during numbing shots? Find out here!

www.dentalfearcentral.org

Allergy or Bad Reactions to Local Anaesthetics

Have you had a bad reaction to local anaesthetic? Do you think you may be allergic to lidocaine? Find out all about the causes and possible solutions!

www.dentalfearcentral.org

Feeling Powerless (Loss of Control)

Feelings of helplessness and lack of control are very common when visiting the dentist. Find out how you and your dentist can put you in control.

www.dentalfearcentral.org

 

[Carys]

ROFL !

AND here is Carys herself about to say that I have felt the same and written a journal, but my friends have already got here before me..........lol

Im convinced i will pass out or die with the injection and even if i can do that my body will go into shock if i have it extracted.

SNAP !!! I have now had about 10 injections (ended up having the ones with adrenaline eventually as the non-adrenaline did not work for me) over the last few weeks. I suffer from panic attacks and thought I would have an anphylactic reaction or 'go into shock' after the extraction. Heres a few things that could help you, based on my own experiences....

1. Ask the dentist to get out and show you the emergency recusitation equipment, mine actually offered to put it all out on the side. I did actually decline that kind offer, but I saw where it was and knew that they could 'save me' if I went into shock or had an anaphylactic reaction. They also explained that they were trained in first aid/life saving skills, but had never had to use it !

2. I asked my dentist if he or his colleagues had ever seen an adverse reaction, in all their years of practicing...he said he never had, nor had he heard of one.You could ask your dentist the same question.

3. I found it has been helpful to have the injection and then be allowed to sit up (or even stand up), as I go into a panic attack after/during the injection I found that lying down and feeling constrained did not help matters. I was able to get myself 'under control' and self-talk about the panic attack if I was given a bit of space and time after the injection.

4. Understand and re-enforce to yourself........Your response to the injection isn't because of the medicine in the injection, it is because your fear of it is triggering a panic attack and your own adrenaline rush. I had my dentist explain to me about the special needle they use, which guards against any of the medication entering your blood stream (can you tell I'm not a medical person ?LOL)

Hope some of this helps ?!

 

[laura442]

Carol - Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to me. How did you manage to do it ?? I book the appoinment then as soon as we get near to the dentist I crumble and burst into tears and then when i get in there the smell just sends me into a wild panic and i cant breath and am hysterically crying.

Pianimo - I have an intense fear of medication. I have just managed to take a full course of antibiotics this week for the first time in my life. its taken the abcess down a bit but not completely. My exacts fears are passing out when i have the injection/going crazy out of control and have a heart attack after the injection then after having the tooth my body will go into shock and i will have a fit or pass out. As soon as I get there its extreme terror. I do so desperately want to have it done though. I have tried so many dentists and some understand a little but all of them say well i think its better to be referred they dont want the hassle of me I can tell whicj
h I understand. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to me xxx


Carys - Wow you have done so well you are such an inspiration. How did you calm yourself down after the injections ? Then how did you cope after the tooth was pullled ? I think if i could run out and get straight back home but I honestly think ill die in there. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to me. Ive hardly slept all night and tears are rolling down my face as i speak I just feel like I have no way out. I just dont know how to cope with thsi anymore.

 

[carole]

hi laura442 I haven't got a clue how I did it or for that matter how I carry on doing it. But I have a fantastic dentist, he has been patient with me and he probably didn't know what to do all the time but once I trusted that he will make sure I am numb and he won't just rush on, I felt a bit easier. I am still nervous and I have to go next week for another root canal treatment, I can't believe it, but I will go and trust him to look after me as well as my tooth.

I wish you luck and send best wishes to you, You can do it too when you are ready.

 

[brit]

I think if i could run out and get straight back home but I honestly think ill die in there. .......

Okay, so what has happened in the past that makes you think you could die from a syringe of local anaesthetic?
You really cannot die from it, except in overdose, which for an adult would be something like 12 carpules full which obviously is not going to happen.

From what you have described in the last post, I think your 'adverse reactions' are likely all panic attack/anxiety related and nothing to do with the actual local itself (I am not a dentist btw).

If you are not willing to be 'sedated' (hospital) to reduce the panic attack tendency, you need to find a dentist (probably a private one) who you can pay to spend as long as it takes to learn to relax (breathing exercises) in the environment BEFORE doing any treatment.

Wanting to get in and out asap is not a long term solution. You need to find someone who also knows a bit about human psychology:

How to find a dentist for nervous patients

Discover how to find a dentist who is good with nervous, scared or phobic patients - and who to avoid!

www.dentalfearcentral.org

I promise you you won't die and you do have a way out. What do you think they need to do differently from what happened at your last visit, for you to able to stay put for slightly longer?

 

[Carys]

Yep, I even said that I felt I was walking to my execution, literally......I was certain that I would die and even mentally 'said goodbye' to people before I left. Seriously. Either I would have a reaction to the local or have a heart attack or go into shock - I was totally convinced one or the other would happen.

Here's the thing though, eventually I had such dreadful pain from my wisdom tooth that I couldn't cope. Painkillers weren't touching it and I was crying on and off for three days and unable to function. Desperation and the pain became a bigger issue than the extraction, so it wasn't so much that I behaved in an inspirational way, but that I had no choice really, my back was against the wall LOL.

Just over three weeks ago, I was not so 'inspirational' LOL, and three weeks from now you could be the same as me - with a lot of this fear behind you.

I read all the information on this site repeatedly, everything about lidocaine/mepivacaine etc. It was really positive stuff (about how safe it is) and so I read it and read it, over and over, until I internalised it. I used it as re-enforcement, whenever I went into major panic overdrive I read it again and again.The other thing you can do, that worked for me the second time I went, was to plan for after the dental appointment. You see, as I am living proof, there is life after the visit and the injection...and planning what you will be having for tea later, if you will go shopping tomorrow and thinking about events after the dentist will remind you that you WILL be alive afterwards. Trust me.

 

[laura442]

Hi brit,

Thank you for taking the time to reply to me. Im just scared of anything outside of the house in general to be honest but mostly about anything medical and medicine. I tried a dentist recommended on here and she did 2mm of the injection and i started to panic and she told me that she was getting stressed now as she is going to be late for her next appointment so i had to leave with a partly numb mouth. She also told me that if I didnt have the abcess treated it will spread doewn my neck and I will be unable to breath and die. THOSE WERE HERE WORDS. Once I had that 2mm of injections my legs were shaking and Iknow its just the adrelaline in ME but i know that will happen again and I dont know how to calm myself down and stop shaking x

 

[Carys]

Sorry - hijack of thread - Pianimo - SNAP ...I am like that about ALL meds too and avoided even paracetamol for 12 -13 years .

 

[Carys]

Iknow its just the adrelaline in ME but i know that will happen again and I dont know how to calm myself down and stop shaking

Accept it. Accept that you may well have a panic attack, but you will come out the other side of it, it won't kill you and it will pass. You are now afraid of fear, frightened about 'what if I have a panic attack' so if you think that you may well have one, then it won't be a surprise. It is about taking the fear out of panic attacks ! You can say to yourself inside 'oh what a surprise, a panic attack, well it will cause all the familiar symptoms and then it will go....I will just let it be there for the moment'. I don't know if I am allowed to mention another site, but I will anyway and if this is name is removed then I can PM you. There is a site called 'No More Panic' that specifically deals with giving support to panic attack sufferers, I just wondered if the combination of specific panic attack advice from there and the advice from a dental persepective here, could help ? I also think it sounds like this is not the dentist for you !

 

[brit]

Can you pm me the dentist's details and I will probably remove her from our listings?

 

[laura442]

Accept it. Accept that you may well have a panic attack, but you will come out the other side of it, it won't kill you and it will pass. You are now afraid of fear, frightened about 'what if I have a panic attack' so if you think that you may well have one, then it won't be a surprise. It is about taking the fear out of panic attacks ! You can say to yourself inside 'oh what a surprise, a panic attack, well it will cause all the familiar symptoms and then it will go....I will just let it be there for the moment'. I don't know if I am allowed to mention another site, but I will anyway and if this is name is removed then I can PM you. There is a site called 'No More Panic' that specifically deals with giving support to panic attack sufferers, I just wondered if the combination of specific panic attack advice from there and the advice from a dental persepective here, could help ? I also think it sounds like this is not the dentist for you !

Thanks carys. I am aware of the site and have used the telephone line many times. I have suffered with them since I was 14 and I am now 32 so you think id know by now that nothing will happen to me but whenever I have one i remove myself from the situation hence not really going out. Ill reread one of my books x thank you x

 

[carole]

What a horrible experience for you and the dentist has no sense, as I mentioned I had an abscess for 20 months and I did not die, I am still here. You will not die from this abscess but the quicker you can get it sorted the better because one dose of antibiotic will not cure it, and you may have to take more if you leave it. If you think about it you did really well even taking the antibiotic, and you have done it, so CONGRATULATIONS on doing that.
What a totally nasty person your dentist was and so wrong in the way she treated you.

You know there is an old but true saying, THAT YOU CATCH MORE BEES WITH HONEY, THAN WITH VINEGAR. A little bit of care and understanding can move mountains, and I am a mountain, not in size but in getting dental treatment.

My dentist books longer appointments than is needed to deal with nerves to allow extra time to keep things calm. Your dentist wouldn't have got near enough to me to even do a check up never mind approach me with a needle so you did really well. You should be proud of yourself for going as far as you did.

You need to find a sympathetic dentist, try e mailing a few and see what reaction you get.

 

[laura442]

Can you pm me the dentist's details and I will probably remove her from our listings?

Done x

 

[laura442]

Thank you carys I have contacted the beehive in WGC which I have seen mentioned on here a few times. Ive been crying non stop for 24 hours now and shaking I wish I could take you with me ! x

 

[brit]

Done x

It was an ancient recommendation where someone had recommended the whole practice and not one specific dentist and they had 10 dentists lol. As useful as a chocolate teapot really so I have deleted it.

 

[brit]

Thank you carys I have contacted the beehive in WGC which I have seen mentioned on here a few times. Ive been crying non stop for 24 hours now and shaking I wish I could take you with me ! x

Are you going to see Lincoln? Great idea. I'm sure he will give you the time you need. He wrote one of our articles. Think about what you want him to do and not do (don't worry he will have some ideas of his own no doubt unlike your last dentist).

 

[Carys]

Oh great, a way forward in the practice Brit is talking about ! If I lived nearer you I WOULD come with you...really I would.......