Fear of general anesthetic?

I'm having one this year for necessary surgery and I'm worried. Not because of most people's common fears but because I hate the idea of not having control. I had a GA years ago and I remember being on the ward afterwards but nothing about recovery. Presumably, I spoke and interacted sufficiently that they took me back to the ward but I have zero memory of it. I'm teetotal and uptight and get genuinely upset that I have this gap in my memory. I also didn't drift off; I felt like I was suffocating and that was hideous. And I hated the pre-med. I felt woozy and weird.

I need a hysterectomy but I am dreading the GA.

I bloody love it! I have to go under twice a year and I’ve also had a couple of bigger ops too. It first started in covid where I had my own room and it was all lovely, less so now on a ward with 11 other people watching me being wheeled back in after recovery.

Beforehand I go in and over the course of a few hours I do a lot of waiting, they come to check blood pressure, temperature etc. A pregnancy test. Then both the surgeon and the GA people come speak to me separately to see how I’m doing. Then gowned up, stocking on and off I go. Last time I walked to theatre that was weird!

I go into a sort of holding room where there’s usually 3 people in. They insert a cannula which is always a bitch cos I’ve been nil by mouth. Connect wires to me. Give me oxygen and tell me to take deep breaths. Even that feels lovely! Then they tell me when they’re starting the good stuff and I count down from 10, I don’t think I’ve ever got to 7!

Recovery is weird, it’s as though they are shouting my name at me. But I’ve just had the best sleep of my life. Tell them how you feel - last time I couldn’t stop coughing and a previous time I was so cold I was shaking. But they have warm blankets.

After a bit of observation I got wheeled to my room or the ward and then could go home after I had a wee, my blood thinning injection and had eaten something. The next few days I’m quite anxious at night/bed time but that’s it.

Apparently that's what you're not 'supposed' to do, but the fact that you had a full blown panic attack and no adverse effects speaks to how effective it is.

In my case it's in a couple of months but indeed - need to focus on getting the thing out!
My best to you!

I was terrified… I was crying the whole way to the theatre, then when they started the procedure I had a panic attack, which I thought was my body reacting to the anaesthetic. Launch complete fear, tears, everything!!!… and then I knocked out. It was such a deep sleep, I woke up wishing they’d knocked me out for longer. Sooooooooo relaxing!!!

it's an opioid painkiller. There are better drugs for the job in anaesthetics that we use these days. It does still have a roll for some things (some women find it really useful in labour), just not so much for what we do routinely in theatre any more.

I was terrified for my one and only surgery. I was close to crying when I went into the pre-op room. The two ladies (one was the anaesthetist) were very patient with me and put me at as much ease as they could.

They got me chatting about something else and next thing I knew I was coming round afterwards.

Its not high on my list of things to repeat (the surgery not the ga) if given a choice but I dont think I would be as worried next time.

hate to disappoint but most of us stopped using pethidine 20 yrs ago!

I've had a few in my time and the waking up goes one of two ways for me. Either I wake up apparently totally lucid and conversant or wake up 'combatative' as one nurse put it. I'm sure the staff who got a very detailed rundown of some technical work stuff were delighted. I'm not quite so sure about the staff who got to hear me calling my DH all the names under the sun (they wouldnt tell me so I'm assuming it was bad!) after trying to whack a 2nd member of staff and declaring my desire to divorce DH there and then and marry a 3rd member of staff.

I'm a redhead. Apparently this means certain drugs are less effective but there are so many nowadays they can essentially personalise it to you.

I’ve had seven GAs and I’m still here. It’s very safe and they really look after you.

I am 55 and I think I have only experienced true peace and happiness once in my life. After the pethidine I was given before the anaesthetic for my tonsillectomy aged 18. I would have a GA again just for that.

Me too, had more than one, but you feel so well rested and all of my tension in my muscles disappear.

I've been under 3 times now, once in the 00's and twice in the past few years.
GA has come on a long way, when I went under in the 00's I was horrifically ill afterwards. I was so nervous for my next surgery a couple of years ago, it was on my neck (tumour removal) so a high risk site and I was so scared of throwing up afterwards from my previous experience as that could have caused a major bleed. But no, woke up and felt fine afterwards, fairly straight forward recovery.
The most recent op, definitely felt worse waking up, like I'd been hit by a truck but that's because they were very light on the pain management - they did warn me before hand, nature of a trauma injury recovery apparently.
I don't fully know the science behind it and what they do, but from chatting away with the anaesthetist, there's drugs that block the pain and drugs that knock you out. If they're worried about your vitals, they can increase pain blockers and "wake you up" - similar to surgeries that you are awake for, brain, c-section etc.
They're very skilled at what they do and they have one job in the theatre, and a team to do it.

As for discomfort, it will depend on your surgery but they're good at pain management in general. I personally experience acute, sharp pain at the incision site - have every time, but it's only when moving. The other pain, a little morphine and then paracetamol, Ibuprofen handled it to be comfortable when stationary.

Abdominal discomfort from GA will more be the painkillers, opioids cause constipation and so you need to be aware of that and make sure you're telling the nurses if you're not going (assuming you're not on full bed rest where they will know). To tell a cautionary tale about this, a family member has a major operation, on high dose of opioids and didn't pass a stool for over a week. When recovering at home, the blockage stopped them being able to pass urine for >24hrs and it became an emergency (risk of bladder rupture). Fortunately they only need an enema to fix it, albeit an uncomfortable and slightly embarrassing ordeal to go through. A simple laxative like Laxido (and sometimes a stimulant laxative too) reduces this risk significantly.

Finally, as others have mentioned, there's increase risk of blood clots, they often put you in stockings and also on blood thinners. It depends on how mobile you are post op and nature of surgery. I personally haven't been on blood thinners post op and both recent surgeries involved bed rest.

So, good questions to ask for recovery:

• What pain medications are available, what types are they, which ones can you take together and maximum doses can be asked for?
• Are they putting you on a blood thinner?
• What are the conditions to need to take a laxative?

Got it! My surgery was also in my chest (though not my breasts) and yes, if you have surgery on the top half of you, you will experience some discomfort in your shoulders and upper chest, moreso from the “jostling around” than just the anesthesia and… it’s really the equivalent of wind trapped where no wind should be trapped, if you can imagine such a feeling. And as a result, people’s feelings differ about this as much as people’s feelings differ about trapped wind - some barely notice it and some feel like they have barbed wire in their insides. Honestly, think about when you’ve had trapped wind, and it will feel a lot like that. It essentially just has to dissipate (takes about 72 hours).

I've had two general anaesthetics. The first just felt like I'd had a lovely deep sleep. The second was for an emergency C section. Being pregnant raises the risk, and I'd eaten a few hours before, and I still woke up from it. My stomach was a lot smaller than when I went under in that case 😅

When I can’t get to sleep, I remember the delicious feeling of being woken up in recovery after a GA - totally rested and blissfully relaxed, not a care in the world ..
recalling that feeling helps me to get off to sleep straightaway…
I'm going to do that now.. as it’s daft o’clock!
Good luck 🤗

I have a son who's an absolute pain and we've spent far too much time in hospitals and he's had so many GA's I couldn't count. In most settings I would say the anesthetist is the nicest part or the experience. They are very warm, caring & human unlike surgeons....most are weird .... they like chopping people up for fun 🤣

Ive also had GA and no problems at all. Was happily chatting to the chap one minute and waking up in recovery the next. Youll be fine, OP. I was super nervous too, i cried all the way to theatre x

As I recall it was painful. I forgot to ask for painkillers before I woke up on that occasion. Breast tissue is sensitive.

Ive had a breast uplift but I was advised at the time not to get implants as well. Mind you this was the 1990s they are better now. Im thinking of getting them after my facelift in may.

@Ponderingwindow are you a redhead by any chance? Apparently we’re harder to anaesthetise because of genetics being stubborn fuckers 😁

@Maria971 i’m another one who quite enjoys a GA, the warm fuzzy feeling when they start putting you under is like sinking into a warm bath while getting deliciously tipsy. When you wake up, just be prepared to a) possibly feel a bit queasy and b) chat absolute shit to the nurses - I’m reliably informed that i asked my anaesthetist to marry me, and my FIL once came round from surgery earnestly asking the nurses to take care of the little dragons he could see flying round his room 😄

I've had a couple of GAs. Genuinely wasn't worried about them. I know quite a few anaesthetists, and they're generally some of the calmest most capable people imaginable. I knew I was in safe hands.