Diabetes and dental anaesthetics?

[tina d]

Hi, i hope someone can help, my dad has just been diagnosed with diabetes and he, has been having really bad reactions with dental anaesthics, he vomits, sweats and shakes and feels really down, after the anaesthetics, now also he has spots on his liver, which are getting worse. Also no dentist will fix his tooth, because they have to give him anaesthetic and he will have the same reaction again, and they refuse to help me.

Can anyone please help him, with an alternative, to local anaesthetic to fix his tooth, is there any other numbing solution he can take.

PLEASE EMAIL ME tinadichiera@yahoo7.com.au

thankyou in anticipation

[Spectre]

I am having a very hard time accepting that this is related to diabetes. Is it type 2? Is he over-weight? Does he drink? Is he very old? I know I am making a lot of assumptions based on a short paragraph, but I am going to assume that AT LEAST one of these is true. If so, I would be looking at not drinking and losing weight before looking for a miracle drug. The elderly sometimes do have strange reactions to drugs and diseases (if that is applicable here). Consult an endocrinologist to confirm that this is or is not related to diabetes. I can only imagine it having a connection to side-effects of medication or possibly the effect of diabetes related complications (cardiovascular problems, etc.). I have been diabetic for years and have had many friends and family members who are too. I have NEVER heard of anything like this. I have even personally had local and general anesthetics and had NO diabetes related complications. Those symptoms are actually more reminiscent of high blood glucose. If this diagnosis is truly recent, you need to be monitoring blood glucose at LEAST 8 times a day, even in the middle of the night. Those symptoms upon diagnosis, are, unfortunately, part of the disease for many people. I had them the 2 weeks before I was diagnosed, for a week after, and then again a year later when I became insulin dependent; I wondered if I would die.
If all of my assumptions are false, gas might work, and if your dentists are really that inept, try an oral surgeon. If that fails, tell your dad to be a man and to take it like a man: give him some clear rum and send him in to the dentist.

[Sidra A]

Sweating and shaking is a sign of low blood sugar...but I think anesthetics would raise blood sugar if anything.

Dentists usually give epinephrine along with lidocaine to help prolong the anesthesia and reduce bleeding. Epinephrine is the same thing as adrenaline (the famous 'fight or flight' hormone) so it promotes a bunch of reactions in the body like increasing heart rate and blood sugar.

I can think of a few possibilities
1. your dad is going to the dental appointments with low blood sugar in the first place and by the end it is super low
2. the epinephrine raises his blood sugar too dramatically, and then he gets a reactive hypoglycemia to compensate.
3. sulfite allergy to preservatives in the lidocaine.

it is very important for your dad to get his tooth fixed, especially since diabetics are more prone to dental problems. i would call around for a dentist--im sure there is one willing to take your case--after all, about 20% of adults have diabetes and i'm sure most of them get dental work. And tell the dentists the truth about his case but do not be too alarmist or give a long sob story, because then they'll just think ur an annoying, demanding patient or a potential lawsuit and they will not want to take your case.