i'm in canada. the anethesist (sp?) said he was giving me a benzo which i assume was iv (i told him i have problems with psychosis and wanted to know what he was giving me, they don't volunteer this information i suppose) when i had my wisdom teeth out today. the dental surgeon called later on and i had my mom ask which one it was, it ws something like medazonal? i don't know which one it was. it seems to be staying in my system hardcore for a long time, it's been like 20 hours already. anyone know if they perscribe it to crazy people? i found this on wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medazepam

also anyone know what they use to put you out for wisdom teeth? it wasn't general anesthetic, it was "deep sedation".

i hope this makes sense, i'm all doped up on codine and benzos AND i can't sleep. huzzah!

Midazolam (Versed/US trade name) is what's commonly used for brief procedural sedation around here.

However, for my wisdom teeth 10 years ago, they gave me IV diazepam. I have no idea what happened for 6 hours after that. I just drove our 23 year old sometimes-employee in for her wisdom teeth, and she was given IV diazepam as well.

20 odd yrs. ago was my first encounter with benzo's. went in to get fixed (proper word for male sterilization eludes me right now0.
MD was a total journeyman. he had no time for a patient doing the twist, bugaloo and so forth. man stuck me with "valium" right in the mainline.
while rushing on the run, i told my new best buddy surgeon-"go on man cut what ever you wanna while you are down there".
that's some powerful stuff even for an old ex junkie.

I had my wisdom teeth done before I officially went crazy. I have no idea what they used. I know they gave me gas and maybe and IV. Whatever it was it knocked me out good. They also prescribed me some Tylenol 3's for the pain afterwards.

-Tom

Used to be what they called a "twilight" anaesthetic. It was a combination of Valium and something else.
It was WONDERFUL!

I have a fun story of a very cute nurse after I started coming out of sedation!

(Too long/ boring to others, I'm sure! to tell.)

tell it steve, even if you came out of it with a dose of the clap, you need to share!

OMG

rmcmurphy - is it your goal to come up with the most offensive posts???

db

It's OK, DB. I'd share the clap with Murph anytime!

Well, OK, Murph, it's probably one of those "you had to be there" moments that's not entertaining to anyone else -
EXCEPT those in the permanent fog of a mental "Oregon Mist"! and who, like me, survive on old memories!

To a dentist on Capital Hill in Seattle. Brother drove - per dentist instructions. No place to park nearby so we ended up maybe 4 or 5 blocks away from building. A good 5 minute walk.
Got to appointment. Had 2 Wisdom teeth pulled at same time. Gave me "Twilight" IV. Out like a light. Nothing recalled 'til IV stopped. Then totally 'back' - but stupid, joking, playful 'drunk'!

THEN this assistant comes out and tells me she has to help me to car! THE MOST BEAUTIFUL person my Benzo'd eyes had ever beheld (Of course, this was the ONLY time my eyes had been benzo'd! So...!) But my brother later confirmed that she was REALLY CUTE!
Anyway, I'm protesting. Don't NEED help to car. I'm "fine" etc. But she says it's a legal requirement!

So I finally 'click' & go "Ohhh Kaaay!" And I put my arm around her waist and pulled her into me and headed for the door with a goofy grin on both our faces and a 5 block walk ahead! I had become totally captivated.
Out the door. Off to the races!


But isn't that MY car???
Parked in loading zone.
RIGHT OUTSIDE THE DOOR!!! ???

As my head is trying to process this my brother is opening the car door and he and the assistant are both grinning from ear to ear! Probably laughing! And I was too disappointed for the humor to really register. (Luckily, I guess, the benzos were still working!)

True story of "true love" in the life of "Benzo the Clown!"
(I do love Valium. Too much to trust myself to not 'abuse' it!)


PS - DB, if Lithium worked so well, why the fear? I understand it's a lot safer than it used to be and the monitoring is easier? - Don't "know" this. Just what I've heard compared to what it was when I took it with, I think, weekly blood draws at a hospital some ways away from where I lived. Big hassle!
Maybe you should try again. Or were there other issues?

i've had versed a number of times for a few different procedures. of course, they didn't start the line with versed until after they had me sitting chilling with some nitrous oxide for a few minutes so i wouldn't jump out of my skin. i'm good like that ... jumpy and rammy whenever i know someone is going to open me up with a scalpel soon. or stick a weeeeeeee scope in my body and shave bones and what not. *SHUDDER*

but yeah, i can understand what you mean by the versed making you groggy. i'm actually surprised that you're able to sit up and write even after 20 hours ... well, that combined with pain meds and your body's natural response to trauma. (let's face it. having your wisdom teeth dug out, especially if impacted, is a bit rough on the old jaw. especially if one of the four shatters while they are yanking it out and you briefly come out of your stupor for long enough to know something happened, but not remember quite what it was)

all the times i've had versed, i've been flat on my ass for at least 24 hours, more like 48 after the procedure. i'm sure that being zombified had more than a little to do with the different narcotics i was given after the fact to keep me from crying like a little girl's blouse for days, but still. my experience with it is positive. knocks me out, leaves me with enough memory of the event so i'm not freaked out because there's no memory yet everything seems kind of fuzzy and nice and i don't remember anything at all after they started the line and i began my countdown from ten. i think the furthest i've ever gotten in that countdown is six. and that was even with the anesthesiologist helping me limp along toward my goal. seriously.

i think the anesthesiologist may have been fucking with me for his own amusement, but hey - i can't blame him too much. as long as he knows what he's doing and monitors my vitals and doesn't accidentally cause some freakish multiple organ failure, i'm totally down with him having a chuckle at my drugged-ass expense.

Medazopam is used exclusively in clinical settings as a fast acting sedative either alone, or as a pre-medication prior to surgery with general anaesthesia.

The half life varies from 2 - 6.8 hours, so figure that 5 times that, it may take as long as 40 hours to totally clear your system, or as quick as 10 hours. Still, having your wisdom teeth out is like getting kicked in the head by a mule, and just throw the sedative on top of that. It is perfectly reasonable to feel like crap for 4 or 5 days afterwards.

The PI sheet lumps pych side effects unamed, and says they were less than 2% of all reports.

These reports were <1% :



So really it is a pretty benign drug.

Hope you feel better soon.

a.m.

dear "benzo the clown"; my esteemed friend steve,

we are not allowed to goof on one another here. all nutzoid peeps are SAD peeps. if i were in the alley, out by the dock when your supertanked ass was being led to the car - i would NOT have been laughing and throwing empty beer cans at you.

the loss of that 5 block stroll has had incalculable but devastating results. drug fucked and draped around a splendid specimen of womanhood is what power walking has at it's core. it may be years but you will recover.

there is always a sunday p.m. card game that floats here for you if you travel south. $20 buys in and there are more tales dredged up than pots paid out. last sunday a pair of visting friends of a regular arrived and one was an femme eye surgeon. amazing what a few jelly jars of cheap aussie red wine and some give a shit company can do to a reserved personality.

last i was up wash way was in 1970. setting chokers in a lumber camp out on the peninsula. rain you mother fuc....!