Any doctors or dentists in the house?

[lougle]

I went for a filling today. First injection went in, all good. Drilling started but I could feel it, so the dentist put two more injections in (I think... It could just have been one but I thought it was two). Drilling resumed, all good.

Then the dentist asked the dental nursing student to mix the amalgam. Suddenly I felt really unwell. Light headed, nauseous. I managed to say 'I don't feel so good' before I passed out. I then drifted in and out of consciousness, although I can't have been totally out because I could still vaguely hear the dentist at all times, I think.

The dentist shouted for some glucose powder, but I couldn't hold the liquid in my mouth because I was numb and drifting. So he shouted for some hypo-stop gel. I came around a bit, then promptly vomited. I gradually felt better by the time I'd had half a cup of glucose solution, a whole tube of hypo-stop gel and two digestive biscuits. About 10 minutes after that my colour had returned enough for my dentist to feel happy to continue with the filling.

He asked me if I am pre diabetic (my BMI has always been underweight or just in 'healthy', but my Mum's side of the family has a strong line of type 2 diabetes) and said that I had a hypoglycemic crisis due to the adrenaline in the local anaesthetic. He said that a healthy person wouldn't have that reaction, so I needed to see what my gp thinks.

I hadn't had lunch (I forgot the appointment then my alarm went off to remind me just in time to get there if I left straight away) but he said that despite that I still shouldn't have reacted as I did, or have taken so much glucose to return to normal.

Any thoughts?

I have sometimes wondered if I could have POTS -I often see stars and feel faint if I stand quickly. I also get a lot of migraines and often wake with a headache in the morning.

Did they actually check your blood glucose? Or is it just supposition that it was low?

It was just his judgement. He said I went extremely pale, he took my pulse a lot but I can't remember what he did about that. He said that the adrenaline had made my muscles take up the glucose for fight/flight and my liver hadn't been able to keep up.

I don't know if a dental surgery would have a bm monitor? He had enough trouble getting the dental nursing student to get the glucose.

Lougle...I have POTS too and have never had a reaction like that at the dentist, no matter how many injections I have had!
With the strong family history of diabetes I would get it checked.
It really does sound like a hypo.
(My sis is T2 diabetic)

It's just hard to say you were hypo if they didn't test your blood glucose. I guess your GP would need to do a fasting blood test first and take it from there. With a strong family history it would be something to look at but I don't think it is a barn door diagnosis at all.

It could also have been a reaction to anything in the local that they gave you, or a blood pressure problem - if you are underweight and feel faint on standing. Also, it sounds as though you were dehydrated as well as having not eaten.

All in all, it sounds horrible. It musty have been awful to lie down and have the filling finished . Hope you're feeling much better and get sorted.

It was pretty awful. Mainly because I could hear the dentist but I just couldn't tell him I was conscious. Plus vomiting all over his chair, including under the plastic protector at the bottom and on his equipment tray.

I had the GTT done in 2009 when I was pregnant with DD3, which was clear.

I must have been pale because even when I started to feel better and said 'right let's get in with it' he refused and said I was too pale. He sent a message to the next patient to say there would be a delay.

It sounds horrendous, what a rubbish experience.

I have had many patients do this in the dental chair ( been in practice for nearly 30 yrs) and it's usually due to lack of food.
It is no longer recommended to have BM kit. But we do tend to give oxygen if a patient doesn't recover quickly.
When you go back to complete the treatment remind the dentist what happened and make sure you have eaten.
Hopefully it's a one off and you will breeze through next appointment. Your dentist may suggest using an anaesthetic without adrenaline to try and prevent it happening again if he feels it's an underlying factor.

That's reassuring. He said he'd put a note on my file that I can't have local with adrenaline again.

You poor thing I read your msg last night as I had a dental appt this morning. I made sure I had breakfast. Last time I went the adrenaline in the injection made my heart race & I was very shaky. I had scalp biopsies done once too & the adrenaline made me feel woozy. I just had 4 amalgam fillings drilled out & replaced with white ones. The girl was very gentle & I feel fine now. I don't seem to feel quite so numb either. I'm not in the UK now as dentists are private in Australia. We have a health fund but still have to pay a gap. It's costed me $1,150 with clean, check up & X-ray too. It's a times like this I miss the NHS.

Forgot to say the dentist used a different injection must be without adrenaline.

Seconding what willdo says. Adrenaline (both in the Local and from your adrenal glands) is a powerful hormone. Although there isn't much in the LA, this reaction is more common than you would imagine.
We have a blog glucose monitor but tbh, I'd rather just give some oxygen and hypostop ASAP than faff about with the monitor given those symptoms.

Hope it hasn't dented your confidence.