To ask you what general anaesthetic is actually like?

I’ve got recurring nasal polyps and every 5 years I need them taking out again. As I age I do worry about my resilience waning but recovery has been fine. Paracetamol for 2-3 days for mild to moderate pressure. I think possibly inflammation. I can’t tolerate anti- inflammatory meds which might be better.
Honestly, I’d have it every 2 years if I needed it because I feel so much better afterwards.
Unfortunately I’ve no longer a sense of smell and therefore very little sense of taste.

We don't do sedative premeds anymore outside of paeds, learning disabilities and cardiac surgery

I found GA to be very pleasant. The feeling as you drift off and lose consciousness is the most relaxing experience imaginable. It feels like the most perfect sleep ever.

It is a bit weird when you first come round as you’ll almost inevitably be a bit disorientated but overall I genuinely liked the process.

That's not standard unless youre already an inpatient. Elective operations we do 5mins before going to sleep

Had GA a couple of months ago for a double coronectomy. You can wear a bra to go into hospital, then they'll likely ask you to remove it when you get called to change into your gown. I kept my pants on but had to take everything else off. The advice was to bring a dressing gown because the hospital gowns are open at the back, some people didn't and were just given an extra gown instead.

Take a bag with you to put your clothes in, they make a note of any valuables you have with you like money in your purse, make of mobile phone etc then it gets taken off you and put into a locker until after surgery.

The waiting around to go in was the worst part and when you wake up in recovery they monitor you for a while before you can go home, which is pretty boring. The GA itself isn't bad at all, I have a busy mind, so it was nice to be 'shut down' for a couple of hours. I felt groggy during early afternoon the couple of days following the surgery, but it wasn't as bad as the consultant I saw for my pre op said it would be. He basically made it sound like I'd have the mental capacity of a child for the week following the GA and that I would need at least one week off work to recover.

You will have a "full" breathing tube (no breathing tube goes into the lungs it sits above the division of the trachea). Mounjaro increases the risk of aspiration (undigested food coming into the airway as you go to sleep), so everyone on it gets fully intubated. Depending on the guidelines of your trust you may be asked to stop it for up to a week before

My GA I just remember the drip then being in recovery with huge mind gap, tis v odd. All of us anaesthetists are generally lovely people and super reassuring so try not to worry too much

I’ve had a couple of operations in the last year and when I ask ChatGPT about them they’re wildly wrong, from what will happen to aftercare etc!
I love ChatGPT for basic stuff, but for medical it really could just be giving you a wildly different view of what you should or shouldn’t do or what will happen compared to what will actually happen.

honestly you won’t die! But I’ve also had that same fear with ahh this might go wrong, it sounds flippant but just don’t get caught too far down the research hole esp with ChatGPT try and live your life as normal, write down questions so you don’t forget what you want to ask but don’t dwell on the operation

Also I woke up crying because I was in so much pain. I’d had my gallbladder removed, I heard one nurse ask another if I’d received any pain relief already and apparently I’d only had ibuprofen - whatever the nurse then gave me knocked me out and I felt much better when I woke up again.

I’m not advising you to eat ‘for the sake of it’ just advising not to fast longer than advised by your trust and to follow their guidelines. There are very good physiological reasons for not fasting for a long time; it’s actually been shown than long fasts increase risk. It’s not ‘just food’, it’s fuel that your body will need. Also, remember that your admission time isn’t the time of your surgery; you will be on a list of patients and you may have a wait of several hours in reality before you go to theatre. If you’ve fasted for much longer than advised, you will potentially have spent many hours without anything to eat, by which time you will be uncomfortable/hungry/thirsty and also not in an optimal physical state for your op. I’ve been a recovery/anesthetic nurse for many years. Good luck

Sometimes it burns a bit. They will warn you. Hot and painful is a bit exaggerated. Many strong drugs burn when they enter your body, including strong painkillers. I've had Demerol injections and it literally feels like someone is sticking a hot poker in your butt.

It feels like nothing basically.

They take you into surgery, and the anesthetist and surgeons and nurses introduce themselves and tell you what you're going to do.

They then give you an injection and often ask you to count down from five or ten. Then by the time you start counting you'll be fully knocked out.
You don't feel anything whatsoever or have any memory at all of it.

They bring you back and then they tell you your surgery was successful (hopefully) and let you recover as you'll be a bit groggy for a while.

Then you'll get hungry as often you're NBM before it. So make sure someone can bring you whatever food you crave when you come round fully.

Many people feel euphoria after they come back from anaesthesia. I know I did.

Not for me - it felt like liquid ice, but was also only for a second or two before I was asleep.

I’ve had GA 6 times (plus once as a kid) and 5 of those for FESS.
Going under is fine then it’s the best sleep of your life.
Recovery from FESS is actually remarkably easy but I have found that each time I have had a GA it has taken me longer to come round and also to ‘get over’ it once home.
Last time I felt odd for a good week and slept an awful lot.
I am likely to need FESS again but definitely think it’s worth it.

Don't feel shame about being scared. My first surgery was to get my tonsils out at age 21 and I was terrified. I started crying when they took me into the operating room. The nurse said, why are you crying and I yelled out because I'M SCARED and she held my hand.

I had a GA a couple of years ago. About 2 hours after I woke up I got up to go to the toilet and realised I had been sitting in wee from probably quite a while! I’m guessing I retched when the tube was removed and probably wet myself then. That alone puts me off having another one!
For a few nights after I was waking up with an awful sense of doom, thankfully that passed quickly.

Had it twice and don't love a canula, momentary pain then out like a light. Then the feeling when you come round is the most relaxed, peaceful feeling I've ever had 😂 I love it. I feel so at peace with the world, and everyone in it, not everyone reacts like that but I did.

I've only ever had it once, to have my wisdom teeth surgically removed. They were just chatting to me, asking me about where I went to uni etc and I remember feeling like some very cold liquid was running up my arm and then I woke up in recovery feeling like I'd had the best sleep ever.

Also when I had surgery on my knee they told me when I came round I started waving my leg in the air. I have no memory of that thank goodness! They found it very amusing.