Same reaction here. Now my dentist has it marked in HUGE redletters all over my file that I must only have anaesthetic without added adrenalin. It was an incredibly frightening experience - for us both! The adrenalin is added to make the anaesthetic effects last longer and to "contain" it in the area by constricting the blood vessels apparently. It means now that I have more but shorter sessions for dental work - a pain but anything better than a repeat of that experience.
Had similar situation with general anaesthetics for appendectomy and for d&c. My heart rate went through the roof (didn't help that the display was visible to me on a large digital screen in the operating theatre plus the sound magnified and beeps going off everywhere). I went into a major panic as did all there, they rushed and clamped a mask over my face and I went unconscious in seconds but convinced that I was dying.
I need more minor and non urgent surgery now but cannot overcome this fear that I now have of a repeat experience.
My daughter has major food allergies so she is in a real bind because she has a similar reaction and of course the first line treatment for allergic reactions is adrenalin and cortisone.
Other than my dentist, no other medical professional accepts that it is the adrenalin or the cortisone (which they reason away, saying that they are produced naturally in the body anyway) but say that it is the preservative in the carrier solution. I don't think so.
