Hi everyone,
I have suffered form health anxiety a lot of times...but it has always been manageable and I have gotten out of it without any medication/therapy etc..
Last year I had a lot of dental work and after countless dentist visits...things finally have settled down and my teeth don't ache etc...However, for some reason they feel loose and I am now worrying that I have gum disease and will loose my teeth very soon...I'm too young to have this happen (26) and am totally freaking out...I am ready to tell my husbnad to leave me ...I don't want him to be with a toothless person...quit my job...I feel unable to talk at meetings etc...for fear that my teeth will fll out..so I feel how will I ever manage...better to quit...No dentist has told me that someting like this is going to ahppen...but perhaps I ahve read too much about dental procedures this last year..or I don't know what...but I can't shake the feeling that my teeth will fall out very soon....they actually feel loose while talking etc...I am treading really delicate territory and am about to lose verything...but I can't believe that my teeth are fine...does anybody have any suggestions for me..?
I am seeing a therapist and have started zoloft and xanax a week back...do these help?

First of all, yes the Zoloft will help with that, so will the xanax. Zoloft needs a couple of weeks to kick in properly so don't expect it to be a noticeable change straight away.

The second thing is, I've had exactly the same fear that you have, so I know exactly what you're going through. You poor thing. After I had my third child when I was 30 I hadn't been to the dentist for five years and for some reason I decided that it was time I went. Anyway, in the weeks leading up to it I was TERRIFIED - convinced the dentist was going to tell me every single tooth was rotten and I'd need them all out. Anyway I went, and I needed two fillings but the dentist said I did have some gum problems and referred me to a periodontist. Well my paranoia went in to overdrive, and by the time I went to see the periodontist I was literally having a panic attack. She cleaned my teeth very, very thoroughly, and after i'd had them cleaned I thought they felt loose and was scared to chew on them and stuff.

But let me tell you this. Your teeth are not loose. Your anxious mind is playing tricks on you. The mind is a very, very powerful thing. Seriously. If no dentist has said anything to you about you having gum disease and your gums don't bleed when you brush them then you are not going to lose your teeth. No way. When you feel that they're loose, tell yourself that they're not loose, that it's your mind playing tricks on you.

And I used to tell my husband to leave me, too. Couldn't bear the thought of him with a toothless person!! He used to laugh and pretend to talk with no teeth.

But the zoloft and the xanax will help. The xanax should be working now.

i feel that zoloft saved my life!!!!!! it took a good month or so to feel the change , i have been on it for 4 years and i am doing well
good luck to you.
xoxo
lightlover

Annaf: I do not suffer from your same situation, but the obvious thing I'd want to say is to try to not put your husband in this as well. Although I don't know you I'm SURE that he loves you - and even would, with or without your pearly whites!

Again, without knowing your situation, with all the other concerns you have about the specific issue, try to look to him as a rock and not as one of the things you need to separate from.