It turns out that…wait for this amazing revelation; exposed nerves in the teeth are very painful.
I went to the dentist today and after a week of getting used to this layer of molded bandages in my mouth….they were gone. There was huge holes in my gums (like a millimeter, you know how the tongue loves to exaggerate everything: "There was a fish in your mouth 22 feet long! Honest!") Anyway, after an initial exploration, there was some odd floating stuff in my mouth from under the molded bandage. So I took a swig of Gatorade to clear it out and…...AHHHHHHHH!
When I could speak again I asked the assistant, “Would this be the sensitivity to cold you mentioned BEFORE operating?”
The assistant said, yes and here is a pamphlet all about it. She held out a pamphlet with about 6 pictures of snapped, rotting, bleeding gummy teeth each page.
“AHHH….” I actually held up my hands the way vampires react to having crosses shoved at them, “That’s okay, I don’t need to know THAT badly.”
Only it turned out I did. Because, in case you haven’t read me before, I have a slight OCD/Type A issue which has been solved MOSTLY by a single pill. But I still have little aspects of it (I don’t anymore, for example, have to check the stove element 5-8 times before leaving the house, or drive back to the house to check it again). Today, what it means is that I have drunk cold Gatorade. My tooth (and jaw and the tooth in the lower jaw on the same nerve line) HURTS.
I wait 3-4 seconds and then think, “Wow, that really hurt, I wonder if it is really that sensitive?” And drink the Gatorade again. OW!
Ten second later, I think, “I wonder if I swish it around the tooth, maybe it will become numb to it…” Drink the Gatorade. OWWWW!
“Okay,” I think to myself, “they said that it may hurt for a few days afterward or sometimes a few weeks. If it is a few days, then it should get better as time goes by, right?” I look at my watch. Two minutes have passed since my FIRST drink of cold Gatorade. “I wonder if I can notice any difference in the sensitivity going down yet?” I take another drink.
By this time my Jaw is THROBBING. I panic, “They said the tooth would be sensitive but my whole jaw side is throbbing, what is happening?” (sadly, this is a transcript of how I think)
I wonder, if perhaps, there is some sort of crack or problem they didn't mention about the crown lengthening. To find out I “gently” probe the around the sensitivity with my tongue 40-60 times over a minute or two (yup, once every two seconds!). Gee, the gums actually seems somewhat sore NOW, I have to wonder if it is infected? I decide I should take another drink and see if the pain of this one seems WORSE than the others.
I know in the logical part of the brain that I have had dental surgery and that my lengthening needs to be exposed for two weeks so the gum around it settles and heals and the dentists know exactly where to put the crown. I know LOGICALLY that it will be sensitive, maybe I didn’t expect it to be THIS sensitive but I will need to wait and see in a few days how things are. That’s logic. I know as this is my first crown I have GOOD teeth, that this surgery is something I did so I can continue to have good teeth and this is a good thing to do.
Okay, the other side of my brain says; “tooth hurts, you did something bad, now tooth is rotten and horrible things will happen!” Drink cold Gatorade and confirm.
There also seems to be a part of my brain that knows I have to wait some time for the nerve to calm down and be less sensitive but I kept thinking that I should DO something. Indeed, the idea of DOING something seems wonderful. If I could only figure out what I needed to DO, and do it again and again and again, I wouldn’t have to wait days for the sensitivity to die down.
At 11:00 am, I was given toothpaste for sensitive teeth and told to use that as it would “help”. By 6:00 I had brushed my teeth with the toothpaste TWICE already. I really only stopped because the toothbrush was covered in blood from my opening up the stitches in the gum. But I expect I will be brushing about 6-8 times a day for the next few days. I simply can’t STOP myself (Hey, they said it would HELP!).
Also, because I have the pain and the going to and from the bathroom to brush, I get really tired very quickly. I mean, I have throbbing pain (which I might not have if I didn’t take another cold drink every five minutes and probe the inside gum pocket every 30 seconds; but this is like wanting to have the ability to fly; we can all wish things were different but we know that unless I literally sit on my hands, we are stuck with what is....time for another drink?). And so I go to nap early and sleep for a few hours. And I wake up WITHOUT ANY PAIN.
So what was the first thing I did? First, I went to the bathroom and brushed my teeth. Then, because a few hours had passed and surely I must be all better by NOW, I went and found an ice cold coke and took a big drink. OW! (was anyone surprised at that?)
Well, I was surprised. I was supposed to be better by now…..this is wrong, I took another big drink. OW! I can’t go on because it really is far too pathetic to talk about how I tried to guzzle it and see if that was better (wasn’t), waited a long time to see if it got better (like maybe 45 seconds), etc.
I can’t help it, I’ll admit it, I’ve always been a scab-picker! Even with the molded cast in my mouth protecting the gum surgery, Linda would ask, “How is it today?”
And I would say, “I’ve found that if I push hard at the part where they did the surgery with my tongue 40 or 50 times in a row, it hurts…..and keeps hurting……do you think that is normal?”
Linda laughs and says, “Oh Beth, at least you make ME laugh.” Then she knocks me on the head with her knuckles when I look puzzled.
“Do you think I should push that place again with my tongue?”
Linda smiles and walks away with a “Like I am going to manage to ever stop you doing things like this” sort of shrug.
So, that’s been my day, in pain, and probably in MORE pain than I should have been due to what I will charitably call “my scientific nature.” I really hope this sensitivity goes away soon. And for those who have already condemned me as a hopeless idiot who is determined to hurt herself, I want to point out that THIS time, I have matured enough over the years to not put toothpicks and sticks in my mouth. See, normally I would do that to find the EXACT spot it is sensitive and then check it by poking it again and again. Admittedly, I’m not likely to win an award for that accomplishment but it is an accomplishment all the same (It is almost like "being adult" isn't it?).
I hope by tomorrow I am used to the new shape of my mouth and gums, my tongue has gotten bored of poking the area and I can mentally move on to solving world peace and the other projects of my normal day.
Actually I would just like to have any kind of non-tooth obsessed life back. I hope that happens soon, because right now I have to go brush my teeth.
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When I was deep in the throes of health anxiety and panic attacks, I'd get a massively scary symptom and look at all the online medical webpages to find out what the symptoms meant. And when I did, I'd see there'd be one or more symptoms I didn't have and thought "Yay, I'm not dying." And then, like, within hours, I'd develop that symptom too.
I kept doing this over and over, for hours at a time, until my list of symptoms had reached the point of no return and my doctor gave me clonazepam.
On the brighter side, I learned a lot about medicine, and was able to help - no, practically do - a friend with her medical-type homework.
Um, that sounds unfortunate (and that you have a very powerful mind). With experiements in high school (when I heard about people getting sick when they WANTED to be sick), I don't seem to have this ability. I also don't seem to have the "common sense" which most people have which says "Things don't heal if you poke them over and over and over again."
I also have this sort of wide-eyed bewilderment of "Why does this happen to me" which drives Linda crazy/makes her laugh. For instance, it is well known for the last several months that if I push myself REALLY hard and do all sort of stuff on Monday, on Tuesday, I will be in pain and hardly able to move. Yet, though I appear an intellegent person, on the proverbial "Tuesday", I always say to Linda: "Geez, I'm in so much pain, and I'm totally taking it easy today, why is this happening to me?"
And she says, "Because you decided you wanted to go for a two hour handcycle ride yesterday and had to come back on oxygen and our neighbors had to lift you into the bed....maybe!"
And I'm, "But that was yesterday....do you think that has something to do with how I feel today?"
I think you can imagine Linda's response.
Yes i can imagine Lindas response!!
What are you like?!!!! x
You made me laugh really hard. In my family we refer to this behavior as my floating brain tumor. I notice and pick and worry and eventually get upset enough to mention that I think I'm dying and then someone tells me it's just my floating brain tumor again. In fact, I use the fact that at any given time I have several different dread maladies (a totally improbable occurrence) competing for my fear to help me see that they couldn't all be real and that chances are none of them are real.
sigh.
Yeah, it was more the obsessive "I have to keep poking at this!" because I was waiting for my insurance to start and couldn't afford to see a doctor while my mind played tricks on my body.
It's not really a sign of a powerful mind, it's just one way anxiety can affect how the body functions. Or...several ways, given the weird constellation of symptoms I gave the doctor. She did me the service of not looking at me like I was insane, ran tests to be sure, and said "nothing physical is likely wrong with you, and here are some drugs to make the panic attacks stop." I didn't want to be sick, and was trying to prove to myself that I wasn't. I picked a bad way to do it, though. I'm sure that if I had just stopped looking at wrongdiagnosis and emedicine and those other sites, I wouldn't have been developing new symptoms every day.
Anyway, it just seems unfair that stuff you do on Monday should affect you on Tuesday. Shouldn't whatever happens in Vegas stay in Vegas? I'm...not helping, here, am I?
Ha!
Of course, after several attempts with the cold stimulus, I would have given it a rest. I don't think I have OCD, though.
But then I would have tried a hot beverage to see if it was sensitive to heat as well. And then something sweet. In order, you know, to fully understand all of the conditions under which it might possibly hurt. Oh, and if it's cold enough out? I would have gone outside and taken a deep breath to determine whether that hurt too.
And of course brushed my teeth between testing each variable, to, um, neutralize the effects of the previous one. Or something.
After a nap, I would probably experiment with different textures of food.
I probably shouldn't have brought all that up, now that I think of it.
But yeah, that's how I am. I hurt my knee just a little the other day -- it only hurts when I walk up stairs (down, not so much) or get up from the toilet (not regular chairs, which seems strange, but I guess it has to do with the height, and the geometry of it all). So over the weekend I tried on about ten different pairs of shoes, walking up and down a couple of steps in each pair, to determine whether heel height, arch support, ankle support, etc. made any difference -- not that I intended to avoid certain styles of shoes, only so that I'd know what to expect based on the shoes I chose.
Then I said fuck it and wrapped it in an ace bandage and stayed off of it for a day or so, as instructed. Took a coupla epsom-salt hot baths. It feels a little better. I think. Unless I try to run after the bus, which I did yesterday. Turned out it wasn't my bus, which was good, because I missed it.
But now I'm worried that I'm going to overcompensate and hurt the other knee as well, because that's what happened our dog Stella when she had one knee surgically repaired -- she blew out the healthy one as well.
It could happen.
Lisa -- I work in a medical school and have worked in & around hospitals for a long time. Some of us should really avoid looking up our own medical results. Or any symptoms. I feel really bad for some of the medical students, who routinely develop the very most obscure symptoms they read about in whatever rotation they happen to be on at the time. Fortunately there's usually someone around who can talk them down.
I have left you an award back at my blog! After this experiece you certainly qualify! :)
Ow ow ow ow ow! And yes, totally familiar.
I suppose keeping pitchers of Gatorade or other beverages of choice out of the refrigerator for the duration would be out of the question? The liquid would still be colder than your mouth (or, gosh, I hope so), but maybe not quite so horribly much colder?
You have my sympathies, for what they're worth.
aiyiieeeee that made me shudder and twitch just reading that. frankly i'm surprised there aren't more horror movies about going to the dentist, complete with -those pictures.- the closest i know is "Little Shop of Horrors."
and yeah, what Lisa said--i think -most- people don't really tweak the whole
"Doc, it hurts when i go like that."
"Don't go like that."
...if they did, the world would probably be a different place.
then again i suppose that impulse evolved for a reason. like, uhm...the appendix. oh never mind.
In the States, there's a new mouthwash which is for tooth sensitvity. My friend who uses it swears by it, since sweet and cold don't hurt anymore. It's "Theradent Oral Rinse, Teeth Desensitizing". Doesn't taste so good, but maybe this will get you faster results.
Casdok: I'm....I'm like a person who is in pain and tries to make it funny?
Em: Actually I used to have a phantom brain tumor too.....Whenever I had some ailment I couldn't explain I would say, "Well Linda, it could be a brain tumor? Ya think?" Of course once you get innundated with real dread maladies that make doctors give up, then you kinda think "Geee...wish I had those brain tumor days again."
Lisa: YES, it IS unfair for things I do on one day to count against me on another - what happened to the concept of "Do over?"
alphabitch: Yeah, you definately don't sound like you have an A-type personality or mild OCD - sacrificing body parts for gaining objectives - yeah that sounds....logical. haha!
Marla: Woo hoo! I win an award and it comes with a costume! Cool, I wonder if there is a Goth Wonder Woman costume, you know, black bullet deflecting wrist braclets with skull etchings?
Sara: yes, it looks for the next few days are going to be "British Days" - nice WARM cokes and stuff. Yum, yum!
Belledame: See, but what if....what if it no longer hurts anymore and I just don't know....let's take another sip..
Denise: I am definately picking some of that up today, thank you for the suggestion!
I believe there should be do-overs and save points in life. So you can say "Okay, SAVING LIFE HERE" and then skydive off a cliff or something.
Someone really needs to implement Life 2.0.
. . . want a gothic Wonder Woman costume . . .
Alphabitch: It really was almost exactly like that, but tied up in the anxiety disorder and so it went from "floating brain tumor" fears to serious anxiety that I was on the verge of dropping dead. Not fun, but I totally learned my lesson.
I once had a CT scan of my head to rule out a brain tumor, which (oddly enough) had never even occurred to me to worry about, despite years of headaches, migraines, falling down, and dropping things. I listened to the radiologist's report on the dictation line and gathered that the results were negative for a brain tumor, but there was something about it I didn't understand, quite. Because they have to describe every little thing they see. I've forgotten the exact words (this was over 20 years ago now), but before I panicked, I grabbed a nearby resident and replayed it for him and asked what exactly it meant. He said, "You have some, um, snot, in, like, your nasal passages?"
So much for the brain tumor theory.
To be fair, the snot was not causing any of the problems I was experiencing at the time cataplexy , as it happens, doesn't generally show up in CT scans, and is -- at least in my case -- rather more entertaining than I imagine a brain tumor would be).
Ah yes. Health-related OCD. As someone who has OCD tendencies related to a (fairly well-controlled) mental health problem anyway, it gets *really* ridiculous when you combine that with my physical health. Since my EDS diagnosis, I've been discovering how many joints I can move around and/or sublux. This is not good for my joints. Do I stop? No, I keep clicking my ankle out of place, just to see whether it happens every time. Now that I've established it doesn't, I'm playing the 'Under what conditions can I click it out of place?' game. Um...
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