Dreading The Dentist

[potsyturvy]

So, one of my fillings came out . I have been avoiding the dentist for a while now because I'm not sure how my POTS is going to handle it, but now I have to go in and get this filled. The last time I had a local anesthetic, my doctor said it did not have epinephrine in it, however, I still reacted to it. I shook for hours and had tachycardia. Then I had anxiety attacks and dizziness for literally months after. So I am absolutely dreading getting a filling!! Do any of you have any ideas on things the dentist can do so I won't have a reaction like that again? I'm terrified to go in to the dentist, but I know if I don't get it filled it's just going to make things worse

[louloutinks]

Me too. I told my dentist that the injection makers me feel awful but that day it didnt - so I am not sure if he used one without adrenaline?

I too get the tachy and terrible shakes. Once I even collapsed (years ago) just after the injection and it was as they sent me to the waiting room to wait for it to go numb....so there I was on the floor in front of all the strangers having a siezure of some sort.

The dental nurse drove me home - but I never did find out why I reacted in such a way.

[jenwic]

The exact same thing happens to me. I avoid fillings like the plague. I have severe adrenaline rushes and tachycardia within about a minute after the injection ( without epinephrine) and then I start having shaking and tremors. This was after I took a Benadryl pill an hour before I went in. I think my dentist uses mepevicaine(sp?) to numb me.

Dr. Grubb suspects I have a mast cell disorder, so since my last dental appt. I have started taking 2 Claritin per day (one in the a.m and one in the p.m.) My next step is to add an H2 blocker like Zantac and see if it helps. I am hoping that before my next filling I will be on the right meds and it will help a lot. I will probably still take 1 or 2 Benadryl pills before I go in.

By the way, I am extremely sensitive to many meds and have bad episodes of tachycardia when takin most new meds. I have to start off slow with a small dose and work my way up.

Hope you can find a medicine to help you!

Jenny

[louloutinks]

Hey I just found this link and it says it is physically impossible to be allergic to epi and some other stuff

http://www.dentalfearcentral.org/fears/allergy-novacaine/

I don't see it as anxiety - I do not like the dentist but I react within a minute of the injection and not before.

[jknh9]

I was at the dentist two weeks ago for a cleaning and to get a crown fitting and I had to stop them in the middle of putting the temporary tooth on because I was having pre-syncope symptoms. I figured at the time that it must be from the chair being tilted back too far, but thinking back on it, I was fine during the cleaning. After the cleaning they gave me the injection and that's when I started feeling weird and tachy, then after it set in and they leaned me back, boom! Ugh, it was so embarrassing, even though they were really cool about it when I explained. Still, I'm dreading going back for getting the actual crown put on.

[potsyturvy]

It's weird that we all react even without the epi in it. I went in to the dentist today to get evaluated. It turns out I didn't losing a filling (it was wear from tmj teeth clenching), but I do have 2 cavities that need filled. My dentist was real cool about it when I explained my situation. He said he'll make two different appointments to fill each of them. He said he would use an epi free anesthetic and will use only a small amount and will only add more if I say I need it. So I'm still nervous, but am a little less nervous after the appointment today. Thanks for sharing all your stories! It's good to know I'm not the only one that reacts to this stuff!

[sisblostg]

I'm in the same position. I tiny piece of a filling came out a few weeks ago. I went to the dentist (a new one because my favorite one got called to Iraq). I have 1 cavity and this one that needs to be fixed. He said he would work with me and had 2 options for numbing he could try. After my appointment was lunch. He let me lie back in the chair for the same amount of time it would take to fix my teeth. Somehow it made me feel better to see how it would feel and what my pulse would be like in the chair for the amount of time it will take. I have to wait 3 weeks and Im nervous. It has been 8 years since I had a cavity or any dental work besides a check up.

I guess I was lucky for years because I was born with only 1 adult molar so I had baby teeth molars. Since they do not have roots I would get them filled without novicane. Now that I am older I have needed pulp-ectomies and crowns on some of those and I have had fillings in my non baby teeth and had trouble with the noivcane. I ended up in the ER once years ago after getting multiple novicane shots(If I had known that I had POTS I would not have needed the ER, the dentist just got scared when my vitals went so crazy and I blacked out). Since then I take 1.5mg of klonopin .5 12 hours before .5 6 hours before and .5 45 minutes before my visit and it helps.

I also a bad clencher/grinder. I have had little luck with traditional night guards. Have you seen or heard of NTI? It is a small but expensive nightguard. My new dentist sugessted it because I am really hurting my teeth/bone.

[potsyturvy]

The NTI is actually what my dentist suggested I get too. He said he would fit me for one when I come in to get my first cavity filled. He said it would work a lot better for the clenching than a normal mouth guard would.

That's cool that your dentist let you lay in the chair long enough to see how you would do in that position! I talked to my dentist about the chair already and he said he can leave it in more of a sitting position than a lying position because my bp drops a lot when I'm laying down. I'm really nervous about the anesthetic still. The dentist said he would only use a small amount of it and increase it as I say that I need it, but I still am freaking out a little. I just don't want it to be something that takes weeks or months to recover from!

[flop]

Hi,

I have previously had the horrid tachycardia symptoms after regular dental anaesthetics and I didn't go numb.. I have even had molars filled without any anaesthetic at all (not something I'd recommend!!).

Last year my family found a new dentist who has been fantastic with me. He uses local anaesthetic on a cotton bud to numb the gum before doing the injections. He uses bupivacaine with epinephrine - I was worried about the epi but he explained that it is there to make the blood vessels contract so that the local anaesthetic stays in the area it is supposed to and isn't cleared away by the blood.

I don't know why I got so tachy from lidocaine but it doesn't happen with the bupivacaine + epi.

Another option is to talk to your dentist or PCP about taking small doses of a benzodiazepine before the visit to reduce the tachycardia response. My Dad has EDS and finds that 5mg diazepam the night before and 5mg an hour before allows him to tolerate treatment with no problems.

Best wishes for your appointment,

Flop

[potsyturvy]

So, I had my first cavity filled today and have to go in in another week or so to get the other one filled. I got really tachy and dizzy right after the injection. I don't remember what he said he gave me but it was epi free and he only gave me a small amount. He also used the smaller/faster drill because the other one gives me bad vertigo. Overall, I did okay with it. I took some tylenol and xanax about an hour before my appointment and I listened to my ipod while he was filling the cavity. He also didn't put the chair as low as normal and I kept my legs crossed to keep my bp up. I've had a low grade fever ever since then (99.6), had some near-syncope and low bp for about an hour after it, and had some blurred vision for a while too. Hopefully, I'll feel my "normal" tomorrow!

[sisblostg]

Today I got my filling done. I actually had another tooth crack 3 days ago and it was hurting so I opted for that tooth since my orginal tooth was not hurting. Maybe this low vitiam D is suddenly making my teeth bad?

I took a .5 klonopin at 8am and another at noon. I was still nervous so who knows if it helped but I did not have a surge.

The tooth I had done was on the bottom, the first tooth in front of the molars. I took one small dose of carbanade(sp?) injected very slow and didnt even feel it. The dentist wanted to do a second shot but I felt numb and said lets just try. I think I was nervous because my whole left side felt a little weird after the shot. I didn't feel any pain with the one shot. I think the dentist was surprised since he had to push around the gumline. My pulse was in the 90's before the shot, in the low 100's during the procedure. I was a bit viasably shaky after for about 30 minutes. The shot has been wearing off quicker which is fine. Besides my nerves this has been one of my more positive trips to the dentist.

The dentist was nice. He had never dealt with POTS and I'm not sure if he understood it fully. He is the only dentist certifed in some sort of extra heart training and deals with our large senior population with heart issues and had full monitoring equipment and is next to the hospital so it is better then who I was seeing before.

My orginal plan was to try and do both teeth at once but since they were on opposite sides I opted not to. I think getting through one, will help with that "secondary anietxy" next time.