Dizziness at the dentist

[Blue Kat]

I'm posting this on this particular board because I really don't think it's Sjogren's related, at least that I can imagine.  I just wonder if anyone else has had this before.  I was at the dentist office this past Thursday to basically have my tooth ground down in preparation for a crown.  Just a few minutes they gave me the lidocaine shot to numb my mouth, I became very dizzy, with the room seeming to spin around me.  This has only happened to me once before about three or four years ago and at the time it was figured that maybe they hit a blood vessel and that caused the medication to run through my system.  At that time it only lasted for maybe five minutes, but on Thursday it lasted for at least 20 minutes and closing my eyes only helped a little bit. 

My heart was not racing, which is good, but at one point I feared I might lose consciousness before it eventually passed.  With all my years of having dental work done, as I said this has now only happened once.  Any ideas what might be causing it?  If it's an allergy to the medication, why doesn't it happen every time?  Do you think somehow it could be Sjogren's related?  Have you or anyone else had this reaction?  It makes me nervous of what might happen the next time I need to be numbed for dental work.

[Scottietottie]

Hi

My dentist had to send away for something to numb me down before dental work. He said he couldn't give me what he normally gave because of interactions with it and medication I was on. (I wish I'd asked for specific details - but I didn't - sorry)  He tried using an alternative that he thought would do the trick but my mouth refused to go numb and he couldn't do the work. Eventually he had to send off for a third kind of anaesthetic, which thankfully worked.

Maybe you could research whether lidocaine reacts with any meds you happen to be taking. Sometimes docs slip up with mixtures of meds - dentists may too.

Take care - Scottie