Tue, Jul 10 2007

Benzodiazepines for dental phobia

My trip to the endodontist is now a memory, with a rather thick amount of haze surrounding the later events of the morning. They prescribed for me a tranquilizer, which worked very well, though I dozed away a great deal of the rest of the day and am still feeling quite hung over this morning. My spouse brought some soft-textured fast food for me about 2 hours after the root canal, when I was safely nested on the sofa at home. I recall eating some of it, but I was so drowsy that he had to prompt me to stay awake to finish the meal.

My usual keen sense of the passing of time was greatly suppressed. Yesterday afternoon seemed extremely short to me, but was in reality as long as any other afternoon.

Under a non-medical situation, the dosage they allowed would be something I would absolutely avoid. The reason I say this is because the substance has a certain hypnotic effect. I've always said I would not be easy to place in a hypnotic state, but I can see that this particular drug would lend a person very susceptible to suggestion. The hypnotic leaning wasn't as long lasting as the drowsiness, but it was definitely a factor.

If you have severe medical/dental phobia and need a lengthy or traumatic-sounding procedure, I would recommend at least asking the dentist or doctor about this drug. But remember that I'm not a doctor. I only write about doctors. I'm really just a writer—a writer who could definitely use an 11am nap.

posted at: 10:53 | category: /Health and Fitness | link to this entry