Root canal pain

[GrumpyLovegood]

Sorry I know this isn’t AIBU but it’s late and little traffic elsewhere.
I had root canal prep done on Thursday, tooth cleared and drilled and packed with temp filling ready for root filling which is a few weeks away.
Yesterday I was fine but today I am in agony. I have already maxed paracetamol and ibuprofen, taking them alternatively throughout the day.
I can feel the pain relief wearing off now and my tooth, cheek, ear and jaw are throbbing. With stabbing shooting pains going up my cheek. It is not infected, I do think this is just aftermath of 1.5 hrs of drilling and scraping and poking.
What else can I take or do to allow some sleep.
I have had 1200mg ibuprofen since 9am (400mg at 9, 3 and 9) and 4g paracetamol ( 1g at 7, 12, 5 and 10). All day I thought it’ll ease off soon so I battered the pain relief and left nothing for overnight.
Ive been advised against clove oil as it can burn the gum and make it worse.
Any advice would be very greatly appreciated.

You need codeine. The best pills I've found for dental pain is Paramol - dihydracodine.

Do you have a late night pharmacy? It might be too late now though.

I've taken some terrible concoctions of drugs for dental pain over the years, and sod all else works unless you have leftover tramadol or similar....

Thank you. I don’t have any codeine in the house and it’s too late to get some but I will try tomorrow if it is still this bad.
Could kick myself as I recently cleared out the meds cabinet and got rid of a pack of cocodamol 30/500 as they were (only just) out of date.
An ice pack is actually helping a bit now. So I’m going to numb it and until it feels eased enough to sleep. I’m going to take another dose of ibuprofen before I go to bed as 1600 is not going to harm me as a one off.

Oh that sounds hideous! You have my sympathy - I had a fractured root a few weeks ago and the pain you're getting sounds very similar, with the "electric shock" type pains travelling up your cheek.

It does sound like pain from an exposed/damaged nerve but I thought root canal prep was supposed to kill and remove the nerve to stop the pain?

Hope you manage some sleep and that it settles down.

Sounds to me like a phoenix abscess

I think you might have to consider giving your dentist a call. I’ve had several root canals, and have never had severe pain like you are describing after them. Achy and sore maybe, but not stabbing, shooting pains.

I tried codeine when I had dry socket and it did absolutely nothing. Apparently it doesn't work for quite a few people as they metabolise it too quickly.

I agree with a pp, I've also had several root canals and the pain you're describing doesn't sound normal to me, it shouldn't be painful maybe slightly tender but you shouldn't be in any pain. It sounds like the nerve is exposed so I doubt codeine would make much difference either, you really would need to see the dentist.

You have my sympathies.

Why do you say it’s not infected? If it was just the aftermath of the drilling etc why would it be fine one day but then get bad? This sounds exactly like when I had root canal work and it got infected. I also had it on a Thursday and had an agonising weekend waiting to see a dentist on the Monday for antibiotics. 111 told me doctors wouldn’t prescribe antiobiotics (so no point going to OOH gps etc) because it was a dental issue.

That amount of pain is not normal for a root canal, I've had several and not experienced any pain at all. My dentist has said that it might feel a bit sore/bruised and paracetamol should be enough to sort out the pain.
I would call the dentist first thing tomorrow and ask them to check it out.

That amount of pain IS normal with a phoenix abscess

If it is infected then you do need antibiotics. I’ve had a similar problem and found that I got some relief by rubbing specialist toothpaste on the tooth and gum. Oral B sensitivity and gum calm works best for me. I brush the tooth gently for 30 seconds then rub neat toothpaste on the tooth. Seems to help a little.

Op how did you get on? Hope all went ok, I'm going through similar atm

You can take more then 400mg of ibuprofen, in Spain they give you 600mg over the counter and my gp said that was ok for short term use.

#kissmelittleass sorry you are going through similar.
I got cocodamol the next day but it made me sick 🤢
By Monday the pain had eased a lot and I continued with paracetamol and ibuprofen for a few days til it was bearable. But it remained very sensitive and achey for a good week or more.
I went back last week for part two. The dentist said there had been infection and it was very deep, towards bone,. But they had thoroughly cleaned and disinfected it hence no need for antibiotics. By that time I could eat with it.
I booked a day off work for the day after the second appointment but actually didn’t need it, it was absolutely fine. And now, nearly a week later, my tooth feels great. Better than it has done in years.
So hang in there!
And thanks for asking 😊

It sounds like it needs re dressing at the very least. Call your dentist. Unfortunately this can happen between appointments, it's why root canal treatment has such a bad reputation. Ice, pain relief until then. Hope you get it sorted soon.