... my oral surgeon, Dentist and staff at her office were amazing, but they were puzzled as well. Long story short, is a full-out hysterical panic attack soon after the nitrous is started, normal?

I went in yesterday to have 11 teeth pulled for same-day partials. Yes, I was nervous in the days leading up to appointment, but actually, other than a few random butterflies, I really was almost looking forward to finally having it done when I arrived at their office. Opted for Nitrous as I did not feel brave for just the needle, could not afford the expense associated with full sleep. I did do my research ahead of time so knew what to expect and found many positive experiences, in fact, had never heard of a bad experience on Nitrous so was totally unprepared for what happened. When they put the nose-thing on my nose, and was told to breathe through only that, I felt like I wasn't getting enough air and I did comment on it. (I was not congested and could easily breathe through my nose before the nose-thing was placed) but they assured me that there was oxygen running through there and to just breathe deeply. I remember feeling a bit uncomfortable but was determined to relax and wait for the gas to take effect like everyone spoke about. The gas did, and I began to feel floaty, but the more floaty I became, the louder the screams in my head were, until I couldn't hear anything else. I felt like I was crouched down inside my head, screaming, in a blind panic. I was somehow able to swipe the mask from my nose. And then all I could do was shake. When I came to myself, I was as shocked as everyone else and I couldn't explain it. The staff was wonderful and cut me a deal on the anesthesia and I was able to finish the procedure but today I'm trying to figure out what happened.

I've read that alcohol or narcotic drugs can trigger this type of reaction, but I cannot take either, due to the fact that they are a trigger for my chronic migraine and will land me in the ER, very ill. Have checked all my other meds to see if there may have been an interaction and I think that's ruled out. The only conclusion I can draw is that I know I am severely, extremely claustrophobic. In a situation where I want to move, but can't, such as an MRI, it takes a Xanax, a washcloth over my eyes and a *lot of not thinking about the fact that I can't move, to get through it, and that's just barely. The more I think about it, I'm now wondering if this wasn't what happened yesterday, and because I did not have time to prepare, and it happened so fast, everything went South, so to speak? I think I may have answered my own question?

If so, thank you for listening! But again - have you heard of anyone having this type of reaction? I guess in the future - were I ever to consider it again, (can't even think about it right now - but you never know what the future holds) possibly Xanax first?

Thank you!