Surgery tomorrow

[Anxious_gal]

I'm having my wisdom teeth surgery under general anaesthetic tomorrow morning.
I'm as prepared as I can I be really.

But I am a little worried about how I will feel after I wake up.
I have heard it can feel like your choking, or there's something stuck in your throat due to swelling and the injections to numb you up.
I know this will freak me out big time, I am rather worried about my anxiety going into over drive :(
So if any one can enlighten me on this it would be helpful.

How drugged up will I feel? Will it be too drugged up to the point I don't care.
Will I say anything stupid, embarrassing to my family!
I do suffer from palps and a fast hear rate so I am assuming they will give me valuim or something.

I had two generals before, and my mum told me I spend the whole day sleeping, so I am hoping I'll be able to sleep the first 24 hours off.
I have put her in charge of my meds in case I accidentally take too much!

Any idea how long the numbness from the injections last?

Lastly is there anything I haven't thought to expect?
Because of my health anxiety I over react to pretty much everything but if I know it's normal and to be expected it does help me be more rational.

Thanks x

[eternally optimistic]

good luck Mischel

[swgrl09]

I had all four wisdom teeth out, all were impacted, about 7 years ago. It really was not that bad, definitely not as bad as I thought it would be. I'll try to answer as best as I can.

From what I experienced and what others have told me who have got it done as well, you may say stupid things but you may not (after you come out of surgery). I only said stupid things when I took vicodin for the pain (prescribed to me after the surgery). I hardly remember coming out of anesthesia, but it wasn't bad, just sleepy feeling. I took a vicodin for the pain once and then acted goofy so I stopped taking it.

My face was numb for maybe a few hours after the surgery, but again, I had all four out - are you having all four? If it is less, you might be numb for less time.

I really don't remember feeling like something was stuck in my throat at all. The gums were a little swollen, but that went down within a day or two. Also my cheeks were swollen for maybe 3-4 days. One side was more swollen than the other so don't worry if that happens, it's normal. Other than just feeling ugly, it really didn't bother me much.

Honestly, the thing that bothered me the most was just the holes in the gums. It was a pain because occasionally food would get stuck in them and you'd have to use a water pick to get it out. Other than that, it really wasn't too bad. I wasn't in too much pain after the Novocaine wore off, maybe a little the first day and when I tried to eat food the second, but that was really it.

Anything other questions feel free to ask! Good luck!

---------- Post added at 13:55 ---------- Previous post was at 13:53 ----------

Also just remembered having lots of gauze in my mouth for the bleeding the first day. But other than just being gross/kind of uncomfortable, it wasn't that bad. Just don't be afraid if there is blood! And now that I think back, I probably was numb for maybe most of the first day, if I had the surgery in the morning and started to regain feeling around dinner time - not that I was able to eat the food easily!

[ann88]

Hi mishel,

I understand your anxiety - I would be exactly the same! I've had a general anaesthetic for a procedure a few years ago, and it was absolutely fine. I was probably out for a couple of hours, and when I woke up I just felt tired. I wasn't behaving strangely or feeling weird, and I didn't feel like I was about to choke or anything like that. I'm sure it will be the same for you. I haven't had the same procedure you're having so I'm not sure what painkillers they will give you afterwards, but if my experience is anything to go by then the general anaesthetic shouldn't give you any scary side effects.

Most people find that a local anaesthetic wears off after a couple of hours, but I had one a few months ago and it took about 7 hours to completely wear off! I was so scared but the worry leading up to the event is always worse than the actual event itself.

You might be a bit sore afterwards, and I can sympathise with that because I've got an abscess at the moment and it is HORRENDOUS.

There is a brilliant website at dentalfearcentral.org - definitely worth a look.

Good luck (although you won't need it!)

xx

[Hazel B]

Hope it goes well. I've had all mine out in 2 separate ops. You will be a little groggy after the op but the main thing I would advise is to have the painkillers ready for when the anaesthetic wears off.

[Anxious_gal]

Thanks everyone for replying it made me feel much better
I know tomorrow I will be very scared and there is nothing I can do about that, just have to accept it and breathe through it.

[nicola1980]

Good luck, i had an op about 8 wks ago when my anxiety was at its worse but they gave me 4mg of diazepam to take in the morning b4 i went so i was more relaxed!! i felt fine when i came round, i did cry but that was out of relief i think!! i didn't even feel groggy either considering id had diazepam aswell!!
Nicola xx

[Dizzy_Dave]

I'm having my wisdom teeth surgery under general anaesthetic tomorrow morning.
I'm as prepared as I can I be really.

But I am a little worried about how I will feel after I wake up.
I have heard it can feel like your choking, or there's something stuck in your throat due to swelling and the injections to numb you up.
I know this will freak me out big time, I am rather worried about my anxiety going into over drive :(
So if any one can enlighten me on this it would be helpful.

How drugged up will I feel? Will it be too drugged up to the point I don't care.
Will I say anything stupid, embarrassing to my family!
I do suffer from palps and a fast hear rate so I am assuming they will give me valuim or something.

I had two generals before, and my mum told me I spend the whole day sleeping, so I am hoping I'll be able to sleep the first 24 hours off.
I have put her in charge of my meds in case I accidentally take too much!

Any idea how long the numbness from the injections last?

Lastly is there anything I haven't thought to expect?
Because of my health anxiety I over react to pretty much everything but if I know it's normal and to be expected it does help me be more rational.

Thanks x

I liked waking up after my surgery, bit dizzy but really relaxed, enjoy the experience.

[Anxious_gal]

Aw thanks for the reply Nic , glad your surgery went well

Ya I'm hoping I'll be happy out like all those girls on the YouTube videos , they are pretty funny to watch them all loopy after their wisdom teeth surgery .

I must ask too if and when I can take my own sedatives if I need to.
I think they might give me codeine maybe for the pain, and that on it's own relaxes me and helps me sleep so we shall see

Again thanks for all the reiplies , it does help a lot x

[crystal17]

Thinking of you