Valium anyone?

Ok, so as some of you know I have been having tooth/dentist issues. I went and found out that I have three cavities, one of them is a possible root canal-she said she won't know until she gets in there. This whole thing stresses me out because it is ALOT of money. I shouldn't complain, because it is much, much more if we didn't have insurance. Anyway, I have been feeling pretty confident about it because it really hasn't been bothering me, which she said was a good sign it was just a cavity...until today. Holy mother of Pete, I have had to different times tonight where I had just shooting pain in that tooth-and I can tell it is to the nerve. I am afraid to eat or drink anything, the tooth is sensitive all of the sudden even to the touch. My appointment isn't until next Tuesday-first time she could get me in. So I will make due-and Barry said we will do whatever we have to financially and it will just work out. So-here is my question-and Tanna maybe you can ask Brandon-have any of you ever done "sedation dentistry"? The dentist gave me a prescription for valium-one to take the night before and one to take an hour before my appointment. I of course am having to stay the night at a friends house so that she can drive me to the dentist. I have never taken pain pills-but this is more for anxiety-because I am already working myself up over this-a week in advance-and the new pain in my tooth is not helping calm my fears! Will it really help me? Or will I just be really sleepy? Do any of you have these same fears or am I just weird? Can you help a sista out??