Published on 12, July, 2020
I'm recovering from a long bout of depression during which I neglected to look after my teeth as a form of self harm.
About a month ago I visited my dentist for a checkup and I have been referred to a clinic which offers sedation for the extractions I need, but due to the waiting list I will have to wait until January.
Unfortunately my jaw has become infected. I went back to my dentist and was given a course of antibiotics, which I have completed but the pain from both the damaged teeth and the swollen lymph glands is still present.
I get the feeling that if I go to my GP, they'll tell me to go back to my dentist, who will tell me to contact the other clinic, who will tell me to wait until January.
Please can somebody give me some advice? The pain is overwhelming my ability to concentrate and is causing me to lose sleep.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Just a quick update, I've been back to visit my dentist and been prescribed a more powerful antibiotic.
There's been a huge increase in the pain level and my dentist will be closed all weekend and on Monday.
Still a few days of medication left so I'll try to be patient. It's difficult to focus through all the pain.
Hi Anthus Tenebris,
I'm sorry to hear you have been depressed, but glad you are recovering and now have some stronger antibiotics too.
GPs used to be able to get whichever service or clinic they were referring their patient to to prioritise that patient (i.e. regard them as an urgent case and put them at or near the top of their waiting list) - it may be that they still can, so can your dentist tell the sedation clinic that they need to see you urgently because you are in so much pain?
Otherwise, hospitals (I assume all of them) provide emergency dental treatment, including extractions, so you could try your local hospital, if your dentist can't get the clinic to prioritise you - or if the pain is too much over the bank holiday weekend.
There is some information here: https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/dental-health/how-can-i-access-an-nhs-dentist-in-an-emergency-or-out-of-hours/ about emergency NHS dentists and a section called 'When to go to hospital' (i.e. A&E), which lists 'severe pain' as one of the reasons. From what you have said, you are in very severe pain so would be entitled to go to your A&E.
I hope you manage to have the extractions done somewhere soon, as that sounds really painful.
Thanks Miaow_Purr,
I'll see how the antibiotics affect it.
When I last spoke to my dentist he said it was out of his hands, so A&E might be my next point of contact.
That's really bad of your manager - a lunch break is meant to be a break.
As for the 'safeguarding risk', that would only have been true if you had been taking illegal drugs onsite, bringing them with you or attending the support group while under the effects of either them or alcohol - but you weren't doing any of those things. It just seems incredibly unfair and a real shame that someone has lied about you and left you with an inaccurate reputation.
As for your jaw, I hope the pain doesn't come back in any serious way and yes, do take pain meds if you need to, rather than suffer through it.
I don't know if they could legally force me to stay on site, but the local manager told me to "concentrate on work" during my lunch breaks.
I don't know who approached the support group leaders, though I could speculate. I was told that I present a "safeguarding risk" to the children and vulnerable adults who attend, so I feel it would be less worry and work for everyone if I kept my distance. If it's the person I suspect the most of contacting the support group, they have a nasty habit of exaggerating. Although I don't recall seeing any children at the lunch time sessions, so they must have been catered for on evenings and weekends.
Today I can feel an ache in my jaw again, though it's still very mild. I might have to start taking paracetamols again soon.
You've really been through an ordeal there.
A few points particularly stand out...
Could your old employer lawfully force you to stay on site during your lunch break? If it wasn't stipulated in your contract that you had to, I don't see how they could.
They might have been put out that you were now taking your lunch break because they had got used to having you available, but you were perfectly entitled to, so they had absolutely nothing to complain about!
The impact (practical and emotional) of meeting another autistic person can be huge, particularly in the early times of 'realising' and learning more about oneself.
Who approached the support group leaders and how did they even know who/where they were? Had you told your old workplace that you were going to a support group and which one it was? Whoever it was clearly completely lied about you - taking one overdose is not even close to having a 'drug habit'. That's a truly heinous thing for them to have done.
Did you ever try to approach the support group leaders yourself to set the record straight? From what you have said about them, it sounds as though they might have listened to you and realised the truth. I don't know what kind of support group would evict one of its members for an overdose.
You have no need to feel guilty about the effect of your overdose on the rest of the support group - people attend support groups because they need or want 'support' - the assumption is therefore that not everything is ok with everyone attending (i.e. people might be/become depressed, anxious or any number of things - acting on that is not intended to harm anyone else and the other members would/should be more concerned about your welfare in that situation than any slight effect it may have had on them).
You've done a great job of keeping everything you've described and everyone you've mentioned above entirely unidentifiable.
As for the long post - there's no need to apologise. I've been writing far-too-long emails for years, since long before I knew I was autistic, and am still always trying to reduce the length of my emails and forum posts!