Toothache worse than labour! Talk me off the edge

[mawof3soontobe]

Currently 32 weeks pregnant with DC3 and I hands down have the WORST toothache I have ever known in my entire life (and I've had a tooth knocked out accidentally).
Went to the dentist yesterday who gave me antibiotics as she suspects internal infection. I've now taken two full days of antibiotics and I'm taking the maximum dose of soluble paracetamol which isn't even touching it!
My poor DP thought I was in labour yesterday watching me pace floors moaning and howling like a deranged animal!!! I NEED RELIEF ASAP! How the hell do I get through this pain?! I would gladly give birth weekly over this! I have a very high pain threshold and have given birth twice drug free but JFC this is horrific!
Someone give me a remedy safe in pregnancy? HELP!!

Really feel for you OP, the pain when I had pulpitis was the worst I've ever felt and I gave birth to twins in 10 minutes on gas and air (would rather have done that again then feel that pain.) Mine came on at 11pm whilst I was trying to sleep and by 3pm the next day when my dentist could finally see me I was a sobbing, shivering mess. I couldn't move my head at all as any movement made it feel like my jaw was going to explode. As soon as they drilled in and released the pressure the pain vanished and I'd never been so grateful. Demand an emergency app tomorrow at your dentist. Have a cocodamol and use clove oil if you have it, a hot water bottle helps too. X

OP, my heart goes out to you. I had my first ever toothache while on holiday in Ireland in 2017. It.was. AGONY. The kind of pain that keeps you awake at night is pulpits, an inflammation of the blood vessels in the pulp chamber right in the middle of the tooth. It’s hell on earth.

Then what can happen is that the nerve dies due to lack of blood supply and the pain can subside fir a bit because there’s no longer a living nerve to send pain messages to the brain. But the pulp is now filled with dead tissue and bacteria feed on the dead matter and create gases which I think causes that feeling of pressure and -you guessed it - more pain.

You, poor, poor, poor thing. I would not wish it on my worst enemy! I also had antibiotics that just didn’t touch the pain.

You probably do need emergency root canal therapy. I don’t think they try to pull it until your infection has calmed down because it’s very difficult to numb you while an infection rages.

I had my offending tooth pulled in the end, after literally months of agony. Best decision I ever made, even though it’s just inside the smile zone. I swear, “Upper Left 6” will be the title of my autobiography, that wee bastard.

I hope you get the treatment you need soon. In meantime, a damp teabag surrounding the tooth for a while seemed to help me in drawing out any infection and relieving some of the pain. With a shot I would say.

Good luck!

• WORTH a shot. You’re pregnant, so a shot probably not advisable. Otherwise I would prescribe several shots.

Salt water washes. Clove oil. Ice presses.

Toothache is fucking awful, though I hate earache worse.

Have taken cocodamol and still climbing the walls! Holy fuck I cannot cope with this for another 11 hours!!!! I don't understand how a body can feel this level of pain and not pass out, I feel totally delirious

Do the ice water

God you poor thing OP 😥

I feel for you OP I was in agony last night with my tooth and gum. A hot water bottle will help with the pain but don’t do what I did last night and burn your face I now have no feeling in my face where I burnt it. I have taken paracetamol and co codamol and nothing was taking the pain away.

Have woken the whole house up with screaming in agony, DP is away for ibuprofen I don't give a shit about the rules anymore I need this to stop!!!! I would drive hours to a dentist if I could trust myself not to drive into a wall. I honestly can't express how much pain I am in

This is awful, I'm so sorry

Is the pain worse at night?

I do find the heat gives me short breaks away from the toothache. Things like breathing in the radiator heat, hot water bottles on my face or putting a thick towel or duvet over my head while I'm sitting up helped me gain some sanity.

I'm so sorry OP it really is effing nasty. Like PP said try and sleep sitting up if you can, I ended up being sick from the pain but like you couldn't understand how my body hadn't just given in and passed out for a while. I was an absolute mess with it and wouldn't wish it on anybody x

Root canal? Seriously versus the pain the root canal is a walk in the park, to be in that pain your nerve could be dying anyway.

Oh god OP get yourself to hospital! You need proper pain relief

Co-codamol is the best analgesia I think you'll get, there are different dosage available. You'll always get 1g of paracetamol but can be anything from 16mg to 60mg of codeine with it, theyll be marketed as 8:500mg or 30:500mg for instance. Pharmacist may prescribe but best chance probably from your dentist.

Be careful with ibuprofen, one off is low risk but there are known complications with pregnancy. www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/pregnancy/can-i-take-ibuprofen-when-i-am-pregnant/

Also regards people advising to goto a&e there's limited point unless your local has a dental unit which is rare. They're not insured to treat dental problems so typically will have to turn away dental pain.

I am so sorry OP

The state of pain relief in dentistry is inhumane. I find it bewildering. In no other medicine would this be remotely acceptable, for things to get to this point.

Sending unMNetty hugs and hope that you get it sorted somehow asap.

I've already spoken to my out of hours there is zero dental assistance within 80 miles until 9am! I've had max dose paracetamol including 2 x 8:500mg cocodamol which hasn't touched it, I took 600mg ibuprofen half an hour ago and I'm still in a lot of pain but feel a bit more coherent. At 32 weeks pregnant with a male baby my last concern is possible infertility risks for female babies if ibuprofen is taken in early pregnancy which is what the main issue is with ibuprofen apparently. I do not believe I am doing any more harm to my baby than what the extreme stress levels are through the agony or compared to what pain relief you are given in labour, and after two previous labours with only gas and air I can be damn sure this pain deserves a higher form of relief! At least you get a ten second breather between contractions. This is relentless!! I'm now stamping across my living room floor panting into a pillow whilst cursing stupid bloody rules on pain relief in pregnancy! Insanity to leave someone in this state

I had similar in pregnancy and it was utterly horrendous, so much worse than labour and I cried a lot. I took codeine for a few days. Eventually they started root canal and it was immediate pain relief (they didn't do it sooner as they weren't entirely sure which tooth was causing pain as there was loads of referred pain too).

You have my every sympathy.

*in no other area of medicine, that should have said

I’m so sorry OP I have had this once and it’s far and away the worst pain I’ve ever experienced. Antibiotics did eventually help me. However can you call a midwife and ask for advice the pain relief?

You poor thing OP sounds horrendous - I clearly remember banging my head against a wall with my tooth infection (infection in a root canal led tooth) this was two weeks after giving birth to my first child. I had to take a second anti biotic (Flagyl) as the first one didn't touch the pain. Also had to stop breastfeeding for that period which.

Don't put heat on your face to ease pain - my entire face swelled out and I looked like desperate dan!! It did provide a bit of pain relief though if you don't mind your face swelling up!!

Really really feel for you OP. Hope you get sorted first thing in the morning x

If you are ok to take ibuprofen you could take nurofen plus for your next dose, and alternate with the cocodamol. That way you'll get more than twice as much codeine (or take 2 nurofen plus and one normal ibuprofen to get 600mg of ibuprofen as well as the extra codeine). Just to get you through the night. If you're sending DH back to the pharmacy, anbesol liquid might help numb the area for a bit.

The drugs I've taken today, quite worrisome when written down but by rights I've only gone over the daily maximum of paracetamol by 500g. Now that the pain isn't as excruciating I'm worrying over what I've consumed but the worst part is I still feel like a hot knife is stabbing my face even with all of that!

Try and get a higher dose of codeine, 16mg isnt very much.

I know the pain is unbelievable, I work as a paramedic so see people in pain and know you'd do anything to be rid of it. Please be careful with ibuprofen and consult your doctor/midwife about taking it, it causes a reduction in amneotic fluid and us associated with an increased risk of birth defects.

All I'm aiming to do is get through to the morning then hopefully I'll get an emergency appointment and have no need for any painkillers anymore. I seriously have considered pulling it out myself twice tonight but the only thing stopping me is the thought of causing more pain if that's even possible