[SMF11]

Going to the dentist makes me shake and cry. lol no kidding!

I am not quite as bad as that, but almost! Valium and Ativan don't really help (I've tried them).

Sorry to hijack, but what does everyone recommend? Would nitrous oxide remove my overwhelming anxiety? Or has anyone done dentistry w/sedation? (then I worry about a reaction to the anasthesia!).

[Beentheredonethat]

marianne--Thanks for the advice! I maybe will hook up the heating pad for my head tonight. That might work better than my frozen meat.

Whatever they used to block out the pain when he did the procedure worked just fine. I didn't feel a thing, and I'm super sensitive.

I have used the salt water rinse, which helped a bit when I couldn't sleep the other night.

The tooth is in the lower jaw.

It's good to know the sore neck, glands are a good thing. I was a bit worried about something going amiss.

You need to stick around. I'm sure a lot of people would love your expertise!

[SarahandSam]

I hope it's continuing to improve a bit... I totally feel your pain. We didn't have dental coverage when I was little, so my teeth were completely jacked up by the time I went to the dentist for the first time at 14 or so, at which point I was at the throbbing ice-pick-to-the-head kill myself point of pain and required three root canals, and the dentist botched two of them and I eventually had to have them out. I am still terrified of dentists and wish I could just get knocked out completely, have them rip all my teeth out and replace them with implants.

But the antibiotics, speaking from experience, should really start to help within a day or so now. I hope they kick in soon!

[Beentheredonethat]

Feeling somewhat better. The heating pad was a much better idea than my frozen meat to get through the night last night. The jaw is throbbing much more and much less of the ice pick in the ear and temple. I took a vicoden about 11 last night, but am going to see if I can get through the day without any today. I've been taking 800 mg ibuprofen about every four hours and it's manageable.

Maybe I'll be able to eat something other than oatmeal or soup soon! I visited a friend last night and tried to eat a yummy lemon chicken chunk. I couldn't get my mouth open enough to eat a big one.

OT day has been a godsend! I would have been freaking out way more than I was (which was bad for me!) if I didn't hear how normal this was. Misery sure loves company!

[raff]

When I had an abscess, the only thing to stop the infection building up and causing pain, was to leave the tooth open. I did eventually lose the tooth after several months of antibiotics and treatments to the tooth. It was a miserable experience, in all, but particularly the first two weeks where the dentist would treat the tooth, then close it, then the puss would build up causing agony etc and so on.
Eventually she put a pliable substance over the top of a dressing which I could lever out if the pressure became unbearable. (the horrible thing was releasing floods of bloody goop into my mouth daily, never been so glad to see the back of something as when I finally had that tooth extracted!)
Perhaps, if the dentist thinks the tooth can be saved, you could have a similar 'remove in case of dreadful pain' filling? Good luck!

[Beentheredonethat]

Sorry to bring this up again, but wanted to get feedback. I'm going to call the dentists and emailing my doctor unless I feel way better tomorrow. I am not taking vicoden (it's Monday night) but I do not feel good. My chest has been hurting since yesterday and the head pain isn't excruciating, but it's there. I'm taking a LOT of ibuprofen.

I certainly am a lot better off than Friday, but I thought I would be better by now. Am I just kidding myself I'll feel back to normal so soon, or something's not right?

[vacation1]

Go back and explain emphatically that you're in pain. Sometimes it takes a while for it to sink in that you're not just pulling their leg about pain, and sometimes you get a doctor whose empathy chip got installed wrong, but they can figure it out. I've found that using the words "I want to kill myself because it hurts so bad," in between sobs and preferably while standing in their reception area in front of other patients, work a treat in getting their attention.

[Beentheredonethat]

It's not that bad. It's better, but I thought I would be getting better and feeling better sooner. The dentists gave me his cel and told me to call ANY time if I need to, so I think he's being very sympathetic.

I'm just used to feeling better and getting back to work and wondering if I'm just pushing it or something is off. I talked to him Saturday worried I Still needed the vicoden, and he said I should be because that was a big abcess and I should feel better by Monday. I do feel better. I don't feel good, though.

[pony4me]

Glad you're feeling better. Flossing is one of my often-forgotten, least favorite things to do, but maybe that needs to change. Hang in there!