Root Canal

It's a long story, starting with some friends, some two stepping, some beer and some good times at a Stampede party, followed by some tears, broken teeth and a lot of time at the dentist over the last 18 months. After a series of dental work last year, I thought I was out of the woods. But then my dentist advised me a month ago that I would need a root canal on one of the teeth. I put it off, imagining that my tooth would magically regenerate and that I might avoid the proceedure altogether. This was a bad idea. After a mild but managable three day toothache during my trip to Kelowna, which turned into what I thought was a raging toothache, I finally called my dentist to schedule the root canal. Fortunately, they were able to fit me in the same day. I've always had a bit of a psychological issue with freezing but, for the first time, I was really happy to get some relief from the toothache as the dentist stuck a needle (actually, several) into my gums and the anesthetic went to work. I figured that was the end of the discomfort.

WRONG.

The pain was too intense to get any work done, so I called my dentist to beg for some stronger pain killers. They moved the extreme pain to a manageable level of discomfort, but made me stoned, nauseous and sleepy. That's not a good combo at work, especially when you are in nice restaurants for lunch meetings! And then there are the antibiotics, which my body was really really not interested in keeping inside. It's now been a few days since the procedure. I'm still in pain, but I think I've figured out how to balance the pain and side effects. What I'd like to know is how long this will last? Certainly not everyone goes through this? I hate Stampede.