I meant ‘propofol’
Never once helped with pain for me. I didn’t actually notice a relaxant effect, though it did seem to make me very talkative. Either the shot worked or it didn’t.
I also don’t really find dental work to make me nervous. It’s the dentist chastising you that makes me not want to go. And the pain when they seem to not care about making sure I got a full block.
I had laughing gas once during a dental procedure and quite enjoyed it!
Shot? It’s a gas.
Some dentists do use other drugs that may be given as a shot, but not nitrous.
When I had gas, I was amusing the hygienist by adopting a “stoner surfer dude” accent…
“Whhhhoa, I can totally read the ceiling tiles… in Braille, they’re the first chapter of the Hobbit, man…”
Not since the '40’s! Wow. Weird that the word is so commonly known, almost like “Kleenex” for tissue paper, or “Hoover” (in Britland) for vacuum cleaner.
I had no idea.
I think the gas has a slight surface numbing quality. Anyway, it suppresses my gag reflex, which is really strong. I threw up during a dental cleaning once, so I get light nitrous even during a cleaning. They turn it up higher during a filling, and it helps with the pain of the shot-- a little, it makes me not care about it, but really, it also makes it hurt a bit less, and yeah, that shot hurts like a mother.
I used to have a severe dental phobia because of the sadist I used to see as a child. He used to call me names, and tell me he was going to get my mother to come in and spank me if I didn’t sit still for fillings. I had a lot of fillings as a child, and it wasn’t my fault. I was a good brusher and flosser, drank my milk, and avoided sweets as much as a child can, but I had soft enamel. I also had braces. My brother, who once went a month without brushing his teeth, has never had a cavity, ever. Jerk. Also never had braces.
Anyway, I think I saw a dentist once in my 30s, which is how I learned about nitrous. Then I hit 40, and decided I needed to take my teeth seriously if I wanted to keep them, so I got private dental insurance, and found a nice dentist who used gas. Mostly got over my dental PTSD. Nitrous is my friend.
Articaine and epinephrine. Never heard of the former until I got it myself - and the whole side of my face was numb and paralyzed for about six hours! That was worse than the procedure itself, and when I needed another procedure later, I feared that long analgesic effect almost as much as the procedure. The dentist used a shorter-acting agent, quite likely lidocaine, for that one, and it started to wear off before the procedure was finished, although by that time he wasn’t doing anything painful.
At my old hospital, there was a doctor who sometimes used Novocaine for spinal anesthesia. That’s the only time and place I’ve ever seen that brand name.
Which reminds me, I need to make a dentist appointment. Maybe in the morning, since the office isn’t open now (11:45PM in my time zone).
Many years ago, a man I was dating got his hair cut, and said that when the beautician washed his hair, there were cartoons all over the ceiling, and she replied that her gynecologist did that. I was telling some co-workers about it, and one of them said, “She probably goes to [her OB/GYN]!” She had really liked this doctor, who safely delivered her high-risk pregnancy, and yes, he did that to relax his patients.
When I had radiation treatments earlier this year, I noticed a woodland scene off to the side on that ceiling, and they told me that when they had the old machine, patients would look up and see that and not the machine like they do now.
LOL at the Braille thing! Wouldn’t it be a hoot if that’s really what it said?
Wait…epinephrine is part of an anesthetic cocktail?
Yes, it constricts blood vessels and the anesthetic lasts longer, in addition to reducing bleeding.
Huh. I’ll remember to use my Epi-pen and take more of my Ritalin next time I drop some Quaaludes. (Do those still circulate as recreational drugs? * Remembers sloppy stupid states in HS in the '70s *)
ETA: :smack: Equals, close enough, the ever-popular speedball.
I wonder when they made the change. I had nitrous for the first time in the mid-80s and it made me a little loopy. I felt like I was high in a room full of sober people and I had to act cool so they didn’t catch on. I didn’t have it again until a couple of years ago. My current dentist gave me nitrous because my blood pressure was a little high. I was looking forward to it because the first time had been kind of fun, but it really stressed me out. I could hear my pulse and it was getting louder and louder, and I started feeling panicky and paranoid. Maybe I just needed a higher dosage the second time.
I tend to get a headache after sucking down the stuff too long and deeply, usually when it’s basically all over, when the dentist or hygienist tells me she’s set the thing to 100% O2 to flush my brain.
Did I mention that I request nitrous (and pay extra for) even during cleanings? For the high, man.
Ritalin yes, Quaaludes no.
I’m not sure where the epi-pen comes into place (it’s used in a local anesthetic, from what I can tell, to to help keep it local).
On a side note, a speedball would be more like Ritalin and Vicodin or even better, Adderall and Percocet.
And for the record, Epinephrine isn’t good recreational drug. I had a good dose of it at the doctor’s office when I broke out in hives while getting allergy shots. I felt like a big shaking pile of crap with a backache for about 3 hours.
EpiPen is–as it’s trade name says–an injector of epinephrine and some inactive ingredients, prescribed as an emergency response to anaphylaxis.
ETA: We were also given one in the IDF during the Gulf War–as I believe all US troops were–in case we were hit with whatever the fuck Saddam was supposed to be packing in the Scuds.
I know what it is, I mentioned epinephrine in the same post.
OK. Cool. Pass me that bong, will ya?
Yeah, 'ludes were never like, and are completely different chemicals, than Vicodin or Percocet, which I didn’t know then, and since have taken much more often in the course of various injuries, etc. I don’t think I took blues more than twice. And it’s fun to remember now that reds were bennies and blues were 'ludes.
That’s what I think, too. I went to a dentist who used it. I thought it gave me a bit of a high, but finally I realized my skin was slightly numb, which produced a vaguely floating feeling. After that realization, my enjoyment of the gas ended.