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anesthetic causing heart to pound!

For the first time in 37 years, two weeks ago when I received regular dental anesthetic my heart raced and I started having palpitations. It passed of course in a few minutes and when I went in yesterday for a root canal I asked for the anesthetic without epi. The first shot was fine, but the second injection sill caused my heart to pound hard, my chest felt shallow and made me feel a little panicy. It passed and the 3rd injection did the same. The assistant said "we did not give you epi, but that does happen to some people". I do have a history of sinus tachycardia and palpitations, but just had a full cardiac workup in April and he said I was fine just having PACs and they were harmless. Does this anesthetic issue have something to do with heart rate possibly and is it dangerous of just uncomfortable? I also can't understand why the non epi injection caused the same issues and epinephrine. It's never happened until just recently and I've had more than my share of dental work through the years. Nervous to continue with dental work.

Thanks
3 Responses
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540545 tn?1377622918
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Ya, if they are giving a mandibular (or inferior alveolar) block, there's a possibility of injecting into or near a major blood vessel in that area.  The anesthetic can travel to your brain and cause some of those symptoms.  It does pass as it clears up though and its transient for the most part.  A larger dose though can create further problems though.  Ask them to make sure they aspirate frequently to ensure they're not in the blood vessel.  

Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
It was tooth #31. I required about 6 carpals total. The initial injection was fine. The second and third caused the wooziness and heart pounding, but it passed fairly quickly. started about 30 sec after injection and passed within minutes then I was fine. I do suffer from anxiety, but didn't especially feel anxious at the moment.

Thanks
Helpful - 0
540545 tn?1377622918
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
It may be due to the epinephrine but since they removed that element, it could be either anxiety/nervousness or what we call lidocaine toxicity.

The anesthetic may have made its way through the bloodstream and into your brain, resulting in some of the symptoms you've described.  

Which tooth are they treating?
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