wisdom teeth and general anesthesia!

[anxiousmomma]

 Im gettint my 4 impacted wisdom teeth plus one other tooth extracted on thursday and im absolutely terrified of general anesthesia.  I have this ceazy fear that I wont wake up and I will die. Please help me!!

[dancer67]

I know exactly how you feel. I had nnot had general anesthesia since I was 3 yo. I had to have my appendix out last January. They did give me some ativan. The anesth. lady knew I had HA, and was petrified. So reassured me that I WOULD wake up, and then proceeded to let my husband stay with me in the holding area. She then asked me what I liked to drink or if I did drink. I was a little confused by her question. So she said "As in alcohol do you drink it, and if you do what is your favorite"? So I said Tequila. She had asked if I ever had enough where it just made me feel relaxed. I said yes,and she said that she was going to give me a" Tequila Cocktail", and  I was going to be so relaxed that I would feel so much better. Yep, in two seconds, I felt wonderful. Even when they rolled me into the OR and they told me to scooch over to the OR table, I just did it. Didn't care. Then she said think of your warm beach. And next thing I know I was awake. I did not get sick. My BP was fine the entire time(I have HBP, so that is why I am scared). I was able to go home the same day. It IS scary. But know that you will be in good hands, and make sure you tell them how scared you are so they can give you something. I also had my wisdom teeth out. And that was worse then being sedated. Mine were very impacted. And was in pain for about a week. I was out of work for two weeks. Make sure you get some ice packs, pain meds, and lots of fluids. No straws. You will do great!And you will never have to worry about them again, and if you ever need surgery again, you will know what to expect.

[kazoo]

I've been under general anesthesia four times in my life, three of which were before the age of 18.  One of those was for wisdom tooth extraction.  I think the fear you have could be based on the fear of not being in control, which seems to be a recurring theme for us HA sorts.  Anyway, based on my experience, it's a safe and easy procedure.  You will not even realize any time has passed, and then you are waking up!

[missworry]

You will not die! Keep calm ! And breathe

[mollyfin]

I think a lot of people worry about this, even the non health anxious!  But it's really very safe.  Even if something goes awry, they're trained to know what to do.  My friend's dad did stop breathing during surgery, and the doctors barely mentioned it to his mom.  They were like "Oh, we had a little trouble when he stopped breathing, but other than that, it went fine, you can take him home now!"  Scared her good, but he suffered no ill effects because the doctors knew exactly what to do. 

And for the record, that is a rare thing.  He's an elderly man and it was more serious surgery than a tooth extraction.  I've been put under twice for surgery and there were absolutely no problem.  I had some strong shivers coming out of it the last time, but that was it.  Weird, because I didn't feel cold, but apparently that's normal. 

[msgb98]

You will not die.
Two and a half yrs ago in the course of 8 weeks I had three surgeries and was put under for each one.
I went under also when I had my wisdom teeth removed as well and mine were impacted as well.

[bev1234]

I just had my wisdom teeth out earlier this month and I was so terrified for the exact same reason. It is scary to think about but I promise it will be okay. I remember when I was worried about it, I looked up somethig that said something like I. The past 15 years there have been so many advances in anesthesia that it is nearly impossible to die from it. I don't remember the exact website it number, but it was something like 1 in 500,000 or something like that? Maybe a lot less than that because i'm just going off memory of that number. They monitor your heart and breathing and everything the entire time to make sure everything is okay. If you absolutely don't want to be out to sleep (trust me I understand) then they can take the wisdom teeth out while you're awake. I had my wisdoms out plus 2 other teeth while awake and it didn't hurt at all. I'll be praying for your surgery. Let us know how it goes! You will be fine I know it :)

[sassparella]

How did it go?