To be scared of anaesthetic?

[TrueFriendsStabYouInTheFront]

I am having an operation at the end of October and I keep getting cold feet as I'm so scared of the thought of anaesthetic. Please tell me IABU and that all will be fine!

Could I ask for your experiences if you've ever had surgery?

Had 3 GA surgeries without any problems.

I'm sure yabu but im.terrified too, my son Has to.have one for having some teeth removed ( he's severely autistic)he's had one before but I'm terrified it keeps me awake at night but I know I'm being ridiculous.

TrueFriendsStabYouInTheFront that's kind thank you, but I promise it really doesn't affect everybody in the same way. My MIL had a GA for her hysterectomy and she said she'd never felt better when she came round! Everybody is different though, but you do the right thing in asking.

@DocFartin oh no!! Bloody bands eh they sound like an absolute nightmare for some people! Feel a bit scared doing something irreversible but it's gotten to the point now where enough is enough for me

I was really scared of having a GA, burst into tears and wouldn’t let the anaesthetist near me. He kindly asked why and when I said I was afraid I wouldn’t wake up he gave me a brilliant reply. He said it would cause him huge amounts of paperwork and potentially screw up his career if he got it wrong so he was really incentivised to keep me alive. By making it personal to him it really helped me. I hope that helps you as much as it helped me.

@zenasfuck that's something I could imagine myself doing got images of myself; gown billowing in the wind, standing in the car park, having escaped haha!

@alwayscoffee actually yes, that has helped! I never thought of it like that but how true!

GAs were my worst fear - seriously. Then, after my daughter was born, I was rushed into surgery. When they told me they were about to administer the anaesthetic, my heart raced so fast that everyone turned to look at the monitors. But, I think most of my fear was based on my fear of falling asleep. I get sleep paralysis, and thought I would feel myself going under, and be unable to stop myself. All that happened was, he told me I might taste onions, I thought "Hey, this does taste like onions". Next thing, someone was putting surgical stockings on me. It felt like the next moment, so I worriedly asked them if I had had the surgery. In all honesty, the worst bit is being thirsty afterwards, and not being allowed to drink! The actually anaesthetic is fine, and I would not be nervous about another one.

I had a cholecystectomy a couple of years ago and I was very frightened of the anaesthetic - but only because I was very frightened of feeling or being sick! I wasn't sick after - I felt pretty rubbish but I believe that was a reaction to cyclazine, one of the many anti-emetics I begged them to give me.

The process itself is a bit odd as an adult, I had a couple as a child and only recall an early injection that makes you drowsy then they sort of whisk you through and you blink and wake up again. But as an adult I didn't like the idea of being drowsy or woozy beforehand, so I didn't have the pre-op sedative (you can choose not to). They are very calm and reassuring and talk you through everything, and although nobody got me to count backwards, the anaesthetist put a mask over my nose and mouth, peered over the top of it at me and said cheerfully, "See you in a little while!"

I didn't much like the chemical smell of the gas - sort of strongly medicinal - but did as I was told and took a big lungful of it. The first sensation is slightly blurry vision, and then its like a shutter going over your eyes from one side to the other, and although instinct made me want to fight it I just let myself fall asleep.

Waking up is just like waking from a nice sleep - I was rather irritable at being woken and then bombarded with questions so I was a bit stroppy, and couldn't understand why the nearby nurses sounded so amused. I had apparently been somewhat outrageous upon first waking, although they never told me what I said...

Honestly OP I'm the biggest wimp - I reacted badly to one of the drugs and felt horrible for 12 hours (only in the sense that I could hardly move and couldn't wake up properly while everyone else was having tea and biscuits and going home), but if I can survive it anyone can!

Every time I've had a GA I've been in recovery laughing my head off and joking with all the staff. Also if you get oxygen it's lovely like really pure fresh air and if you get the warm air blanket that's the jackpot because it's soo nice

I had a general anaesthetic at 11am this morning. Woke at about 1.30pm. I expected to experience that time lapse thing I've had before where you feel yourself dozing off and immediately waking up, all done. However today I recall gently dozing off, then being woken from a fab dream where I was on a white sand beach fretting about whether my sunhat was big enough!

Now I'm currently a bit high and unable to sleep for some reason. Hence mumsnetting.

I can’t ever remember dozing off with GA. I go out like a light, have no memory of anything in between and then come to by being shaken awake.

At which point #DemonButchy usually takes over.

So, OPs, enough positive experiences for you? 😉

Thanks for posting this. I am due to have an operation early next year and I'm terrified of the anesthesia.

I was very lucky in that I had my operation (to repair an injured finger) in a German hospital and I had a meeting with the anaesthetist the day before to choose my form of anaesthesia and it was lovely, he made me feel like he had all the time in the world.

I wasn't sure about the idea of local anaesthetic once he explained what it would be like, but I was worried about the risks of general. He smiled and said that somebody healthy and my age had absolutely nothing to worry about from a general anaesthetic. I don't know what it was about his tone but he made it sound as harmless as drinking a cup of tea, I was completely reassured.

It wasn't like blinking and I was awake for me. I felt as though I had been asleep. I had no idea how long I'd been asleep for but it took me probably about an hour to come round and I was talking absolute bollocks while that happened. It was a very nice sleep with no dreams but it felt like it had been very deep and possibly for hours and hours.

Then they wheeled me into another room and I made the mistake of asking if I could be helped to the toilet and they just decided to leave me in a chair from then on

I did have a nausea reaction to the anaesthetic afterwards but they gave me an anti emetic injection into my drip and it immediately went away.

And I had a sore throat for a few days afterwards. It can be worth asking for a child sized breathing tube as the adult one is apparently a bit too big for the average woman.

Considering you’ll have an entire anaesthetist and likely an ODP too, solely looking after your anaesthesia and your airway, I’d feel pretty safe. And you’ll likely be nursed 1:1 in recovery too so I really wouldn’t worry too much.

I'm another fan of GA, really weird when they tell you to count down from 10 and you make it to 8. I love it.

I’ve had one to sort a very broken elbow a while back and I LOVED it. I woke up in recovery listening to the nurses chat and I was so comfy and all tucked up in my bed. I had no memory of anything except being brought into theatre in the first place. I was taken into the ward and didn’t even go back to sleep right away.

These guys are so skilled (consultant anaesthetists are some of the most highly-trainer doctors in the hospital) and keeping you comfy and asleep is what they do day in and day out.

Stop suggesting people ask for this or that.

The staff give you an appropriately sized cannula, an appropriately sized airway tube; the appropriate dose of premed; the appropriate amount of drugs for the procedure. Because they're appropriately trained to do it.

There'll be 500 threads of people saying 'It'll be fine', but some people only want to clock any that say 'mine wasn't great' to justify their anxiety? Though there are none.

Time to (wo)man up.

You, via counselling, know that you really want this gastric sleeve. This is your best hope, I'd imagine, for weight loss.

If your fear of anaesthetic trumps your desire to try the sleeve as a way to help you lose the weight that's holding you back; you don't maybe want to lose the weight that badly.

Put like that...?

Nothing in life is risk free. I am massively projecting in assuming you want a gastric sleeve because you are obese....?

The risks of obesity waaaaay outweigh anaesthetic.

Had plenty of surgeries - the sleep is the nice part it’s the wait and nil by mouth I hate! End up really weak and feeling ill but have no reserves and natural low bp; I’d really advise asking for iv fluids if you get the same Pre op and somewhere to lie down

You'll be fine. I've had GA 6 times in my life due to various issues. I always found I got a really chesty cough a few days after the operation, but aside of that, never any issues.
Plus they give you codene to take home... the codene cuddle makes it all worth it I'm joking I'm not really a codene addict

This has been a great thread to read. I'll be having surgery in the next year or so to remove a kidney and the only thing that scares me is the idea of dying under GA. These posts have definitely helped. I may post a thread of my own nearer the time for some reassurance

I actually don't mind anaesthetic. I'm a proper stress head and worry about absolutely everything but I kind of like the fact that I can go to sleep and someone wakes me up when it's all over. It beats staying awake any day