The Time I Had Dental Work While Stopping Pramipexole

I normally suffer from dental anxiety, but when I recently had to taper off from pramipexole and found myself needing an emergency root canal, my dental anxiety was the worst it's ever been.

My fibromyalgia and RLS can impact dental procedures

Not only did I have concerns about how bad it was going to hurt — because my fibromyalgia makes the pain I am experiencing worse — but I was also very concerned about being able to hold still during the root canal.

I've previously written about how holding still can be a challenge for me, so much so that being told to hold still is a dreaded phrase for me. Coming off of pramipexole, my RLS symptoms were worse and more frequent.

Knowing my needs and advocating for myself

Knowing what my challenges were, I looked around for a dentist that did sedation. I had 2 options for dental offices: staying in town or going to the next town over. Thankfully, I was able to get into the local dentist, so at least I didn't have to worry about a long drive on top of things.

Discussing my concerns with the dental office staff

On the day of the root canal, I made sure to tell the dentist and dental assistant all my concerns. They reassured me that if the freezing wasn't enough for me, they would hook me up to nitrous oxide and see if that would also help. I was also told about other options if those didn’t work.

Pain management and taking breaks

The freezing was definitely not enough on its own, but thankfully the nitrous oxide helped. I felt very loopy and was easily able to drift off into daydreams, which helped keep me calm and still. There were some hiccups here and there because of my gag reflex, but overall, it went so much better than I thought it would. It took about 3 and a half hours, but the dentist did take a 45-minute break, which allowed me to get up and stand for 20 minutes.

Splitting up treatments into multiple appointments

Thankfully, they don't do a root canal and crown in the same appointment. Two weeks later, when I had to have the crown put on, I was on pregabalin and experiencing fewer RLS symptoms. The crown also did not take as long to do, and I got a 55-minute break while we waited for my crown to bake. (It was made in the dentist's office while I was there — so cool.)

Lowering my dental work anxiety with the help of medication

In accordance with Murphy's Law (anything that can go wrong will go wrong), between the appointment for the root canal and the appointment for the crown, a different tooth partially broke.

Next year when the insurance rolls over — I think in March or April — I will have the root canal and crown done. By then, the pregabalin will totally be in effect, thus helping make my dental anxiety be a little less.

Have you ever had to have dental work done while either not being on any RLS medication or while changing medications?