View Full Version : General anaesthesia reassurance
:)People sometimes post about their anxiety at the prospect of having to undergo general anaesthesia. I thought it might be helpful if I posted about my positive experiences, since I too originally had a negative attitude to it. This came from my one experience of general anaesthesia as a child, when no one explained to me why I had to be put to sleep for the operation in question, or what the procedure would be. So many years later when told I would have to be put to sleep for an operation, I felt very upset. When the surgeon explained to me why this was necessary, my attitude changed, and I decided to find out all I could about general anaesthesia, and, on the day, to try to register all my sensations. I remember the anaesthetist administering the injection: I gazed upwards at the ceiling and felt my head begin to swim; there were fitments on the ceiling that seemed to float around. I felt a tingling in my head, and told the anaesthetist so: I think she said something, and then I was under. I had no sense of the passing of time; when I came round, it felt as if I had been away just for a second. But the operation was well and truly over and I was back in the recovery room. I felt groggy, but not sick. I asked the nurse how long I had been out and she said 50 minutes. Gradually, the grogginess wore off, and later that day I was sent home. There had been nothing unpleasant about the experience; i had felt very safe, and in some ways it was not unpleasant to let go, and trust myself to the doctors' and nurses' care. The last time I was put to sleep was with propofol; I think they told me it would work in about 30 seconds. I remember the anaesthetist looking down at me, and then I went out like a light. I came round about 30 minutes later, feeling that I had been pleasantly asleep. So if you have to have a general anaesthetic, feel free to put your questions to the medical staff, and if you are still anxious, tell them, and they will do something to help. Then just let it happen, and before you know you will be awake and it will be all over. You may even enjoy it!
:)People sometimes post about their anxiety at the prospect of having to undergo general anaesthesia. I thought it might be helpful if I posted about my positive experiences, since I too originally had a negative attitude to it. This came from my one experience of general anaesthesia as a child, when no one explained to me why I had to be put to sleep for the operation in question, or what the procedure would be. So many years later when told I would have to be put to sleep for an operation, I felt very upset. When the surgeon explained to me why this was necessary, my attitude changed, and I decided to find out all I could about general anaesthesia, and, on the day, to try to register all my sensations. I remember the anaesthetist administering the injection: I gazed upwards at the ceiling and felt my head begin to swim; there were fitments on the ceiling that seemed to float around. I felt a tingling in my head, and told the anaesthetist so: I think she said something, and then I was under. I had no sense of the passing of time; when I came round, it felt as if I had been away just for a second. But the operation was well and truly over and I was back in the recovery room. I felt groggy, but not sick. I asked the nurse how long I had been out and she said 50 minutes. Gradually, the grogginess wore off, and later that day I was sent home. There had been nothing unpleasant about the experience; i had felt very safe, and in some ways it was not unpleasant to let go, and trust myself to the doctors' and nurses' care. The last time I was put to sleep was with propofol; I think they told me it would work in about 30 seconds. I remember the anaesthetist looking down at me, and then I went out like a light. I came round about 30 minutes later, feeling that I had been pleasantly asleep. So if you have to have a general anaesthetic, feel free to put your questions to the medical staff, and if you are still anxious, tell them, and they will do something to help. Then just let it happen, and before you know you will be awake and it will be all over. You may even enjoy it!
Just out of interest, how long ago was your childhood op involving general anaesthetic (year or decade)?
I had a far worse experience than you sound like you had with GA when I had my adenoids removed at the age of 4 (in 1981). Mine involved gas inhaled from a mask (no injections) and it tasted dead horrible. Dare I say it, I vomited when I came round again (hope I don't trigger you and others), and I was actually in hospital for a few days.
4 years later at the age of 8 (in 1985) I had all 4 of my back teeth removed again under gas GA which was still a dead horrible experience but I didn't vomit when I came round, plus I didn't have to stay overnight in the hospital I had it done and I remember my mom had to carry me to the car afterwards. The most likely reason me not vomiting when I came round after that second one, perhaps was that the formulation of that particular gas anaesthetic administered on that second occasion was an improvement on the previous one 4 years earlier.
I'm sure they must have improved general anaesthetics even more since then but even now at the age of 46 I'm still scared witless at the thought of having to have an op involving one, especially as I'm still a bit emetophobic, but not quite as bad as when I was a teenager when said phobia was at its worst.
My childhood op was in 1967. I don't know exactly how they knocked me out because they gave me a sedative beforehand, and by the time I arrived in theatre I was already drowsy; I saw someone standing over me and remember nothing more. When I came round I felt sick, and had to call a nurse to bring me a bowl to vomit in. Before then, I had been put to sleep with gas a few times for tooth extractions, and I don't have any bad memories of that, unlike you. I think that in Britain injections are now more common than gas for anaesthesia, and though you slightly feel the injection when it goes in you are soon out. Propofol puts one to sleep very easily. I hope you never do have to have an operation with GA, but if you do I'm sure that the doctors will be used to dealing with such anxieties as yours.
As a control freak, general anesthesia has always made me nervous, but both times I've had it have been completely fine. One was for an emergency surgery, so I was already pretty groggy and drugged up on pain meds before going under. The second was for a hysterectomy. I was very nervous, but once I was wheeled back I only remember a moment of looking at the ceiling lights and then in a split second I was awake again in recovery, with no idea whatsoever that SIX HOURS had passed.
I'm glad you were fine both times. Yes, that's the strangest part of it, isn't it, the passage of time of which you are quite unaware. I think I understand about the issue of control, because one of the things that upset me when I was put to sleep as a child was the sense of being completely passive; other people imposed their will on me. I guess I can also feel the pleasure of abdicating responsibility.
My childhood op was in 1967. I don't know exactly how they knocked me out because they gave me a sedative beforehand, and by the time I arrived in theatre I was already drowsy; I saw someone standing over me and remember nothing more. When I came round I felt sick, and had to call a nurse to bring me a bowl to vomit in. Before then, I had been put to sleep with gas a few times for tooth extractions, and I don't have any bad memories of that, unlike you. I think that in Britain injections are now more common than gas for anaesthesia, and though you slightly feel the injection when it goes in you are soon out. Propofol puts one to sleep very easily. I hope you never do have to have an operation with GA, but if you do I'm sure that the doctors will be used to dealing with such anxieties as yours.
Well that definitely makes sense (BIB).
I suppose back in 1967 (which was 10 years before I was born), anaesthesia of pretty much all varieties must have been relatively rudimentary and for the most part 'one size fits all', and then from around the 80s onwards newer improved formulations were obviously developed with most of the undesirable side effects, in particular post-operative nausea and vomiting (PONV) inadvertently becoming lesser over the decades that followed, though I'm still wary as to how accurate the stats are for recorded instances of PONV as there seems to be a dearth of info about it.
Plus I'm reluctant to consult Dr. Google about it out of concern over potentially biased (and exaggerated/dubious/misleading) claims in favour of cases of PONV still being as prevalent as ever, but I would seriously hope that the gas anaesthetics with the problematic formulations prone to causing PONV are now no longer in use (at best), or hardly ever used nowadays (at worst).
BTW, I had a back adult tooth removed at the dentist's in June and that involved only local anaesthetic (jab in the gum), and that was pretty much easy-peasy for me with no issues nor anxiety, despite the upper-left side of my mouth feeling numb for about 2 hours after. But definitely no more toothache.
I've posted this before but having had many surgeries and procedures, I'm certainly no stranger to general anesthesia. I have no fear of it as it really is a good buzz ;) My wife told me this and I wish it was recorded because it would surely be a part of a 'people on anesthesia' video. When I went in for triple stents after my 2nd heart attack, I was coming out of the fog and my wife was standing next to me at the bed. A nurse had come in to check on me and I was just coming out of it. Mind, you, I don't recall any of this.... Apparently, I was waking up and saw my wife, started grabbing her butt and saying "My tushie" as I was squeezing and rubbing her behind. The nurse and her were hysterical! :roflmao:Don't sweat it. You'll be fine ;)
FMP
Yes, it is amazing how effective a local anaesthetic in the gum can be.
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