To ask you to explain what general anaesthesia is like...?!

[nonotquite]

I'm getting a gastric sleeve surgery on February and I am TERRIFIED of the anaesthesia!
I haven't ever been put under before and so I have absolutely no idea what to expect. I'm praying it will all go smoothly and I won't freak myself out too much, but right now it's just consuming me and I'm feeling more anxious about it by the day!!

Is anybody able to put my mind at ease..!! What is is really like? Do you really wake up and feel sick and nauseous afterwards?! (I've got a terrible phobia of sickness)

Thank you for any help in advance!!

Before August I had never been in hospital other than to have children. I was very nervous and at the end of the list, so had a long wait. I walked round to theatre and got onto the table and was quite tearful. The anaesthetist was lovely and very reassuring. They put a cannula in and I was asleep in seconds. Coming round in recovery I was very drowsy and I didn't feel the tube coming out. I was very sick afterwards but I don't tolerate any medication well and it only lasted about an hour. Next time I would know I needed anti-sickness.

It's nothing like falling asleep or being asleep. You don't dream. You have no sense of time passing. It's more like being switched off and on again, brain-wise.

I've had one, no pre-med. I was out for a few hours. My subjective experience was that I was talking to the anaesthetist and then I was waking up.

The idea freaked me out too but the reality was fine and I'd be happy to have one again.

I've always been sick after I try to eat or sip water. Feel fine the next day.

Have we had a Chris Whitty looks terrified post yet

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Ignore

I've had two many years ago which I loved! But then got anxious when I needed an op last year , had good chat with anaesthetist beforehand and then in theatre she and her assistant were great - clearly distracting me but it worked. I have very bad veins due to chemo years ago but she found a vein and they were so excited as was I , I hadn't realised they'd actually injected me until
I felt myself going and I said 'oh you've done it ', and that was that. Felt fantastic for hours after waking - couldn't stop talking !'

My advice is to tell the anaesthetist they're always lovely !

It wipes my memory for a while afterwards. I remember dozing off but never remember the recovery room. Last op was bowel removal in May. Six and a half hour surgery, two hours in recovery. I went down to surgery on Thursday, can’t remember anything much until Friday night on HDU!

I've had several related to childbirth so maybe a little different as I had other issues (massive blood loss, emergency surgery).

Going under has either been like I'm drifting off into sleep or that feeling when you feel like you're falling in a dream.

Both times have woken up fine, a little dazed on one occasion, another time I apparently came around singing Disney songs 🤷‍♀️

I absolutely love it as when you come around, you get an ice lolly to stop any nausea.

I've only had one thank goodness. I normally hold out for locals but even I couldn't blag one that time.

I woke up feeling only mildly sick - the nurses in the recovery room were very quick to give me an anti nausea drug which worked almost immediately.

I was far more perplexed about the odd buzzing noise coming from my dressing every minute! No pain though as I'd also had a local at the incision site.

The effects of the GA wore off very fast but the sore throat lasted about 48 hours.

I’ve just remembered another minor side effect. Mild muscle pain as a result of the airway but it’s gone within about 48 hours

These posts have been lovely to read (as strange as it sounds) and reassuring.
I’m also in hospital next week for surgery, and it will be my first GA since I was 6. I’m pretty sure the method used on children doesn’t match, I remember having the gas mask and screaming the hospital down!)

I’m day surgery and have been told my operation should take between 60 to 90 minutes, so under for probably just less than two hours. Reassuring to hear about the sickness.

Have to say I’m still nervous but reading this has put me more at rest. I think it’s going to be all the hanging around waiting for my turn that will get me.

Did the doctors tell you whereabouts you were on the list?

I’ve had it three times and every single time I didn’t have a single bad side effect. I woke up feeling bright and fully alert like I’d had the best, deepest sleep of my entire life. In fact, I remember wishing I could feel like that every time I woke up! Of the going under part, I can only recall being told I would feel a little scratch and then something like five seconds of feeling like I was falling asleep. Actually rather nice. And I’ve never done drugs in my life so it’s not like I’m used to weird stuff coursing through me!

@bananabuddy3

These posts have been lovely to read (as strange as it sounds) and reassuring. I’m also in hospital next week for surgery, and it will be my first GA since I was 6. I’m pretty sure the method used on children doesn’t match, I remember having the gas mask and screaming the hospital down!)

I’m day surgery and have been told my operation should take between 60 to 90 minutes, so under for probably just less than two hours. Reassuring to hear about the sickness.

Have to say I’m still nervous but reading this has put me more at rest. I think it’s going to be all the hanging around waiting for my turn that will get me.

Did the doctors tell you whereabouts you were on the list?

Yes. I was supposed to be 3rd but got bumped up to second due to a last minute delay with the person who should have been second!

I may have asked though. I’ve always been lucky enough to be at the beginning of the lists rather than the end

Hi OP,

I'm severely emetophobic/ vomit phobic so I asked for an anti-emetic to prevent sickness when I had a G.A.- they were fine about it.

You usually go under when counting and it just feels like going to sleep.

I had a reaction to the anaesthetic, which I think may have been caused by taking salbutamol inhaler / reliever immediately before the anaesthetic (on a nurse's advice) when the anaesthetic that I was given shouldn't be taken at the same time (this may or may not be relevant to you!) so I woke up struggling for breath a bit!

The first few days afterwards I felt swimmy and calm- very peaceful really but also absolutely exhausted!

The general anaesthetic is only one aspect of any op though and it's very possible that any gastro or intestinal surgery would carry a risk of abdominal pain and/or nausea.

I think that gastric sleeves tends to cause nausea because of the sense of fullness that they cause after eating so it might be worth asking for a prescription of anti-emetics to take at home after the op as necessary.

@AlternativePerspective

I’ve had two. As a child I had my appendix out and was given the injection. I don’t remember being asked to count, but I remember drifting off and I swear to this day I heard the dr say “ok, I’ve got these scissors, I’m just going to cut you open now. 😂. And waiting for it to happen and then waking up.

I was really quite sick afterwards and had to be given anti sickness.

My most recent one was for heart surgery 2.5 years ago. The worst bit about it was that I had to have probes fitted and chest pads etc for if I arrested. Having had a cardiac arrest two weeks previous the putting on of the chest pads brought back some not pleasant memories, but she then put in some sedation before doing the actual anaesthetic, and then I woke up 3.5 hours later with my mum saying how it had gone etc. I’d had something called a mitraclip inserted so it wasn’t open heart but through the groin, but was far more involved than e.g. an aortic valve replacement which is done under mild sedation.

Thing is I knew going in there was a chance I wouldn’t be coming back. But as you’re drifting off to sleep you don’t think of such things.

In my case both anaesthesia and sedation knock me out for about 12 hours, but this isn’t everyone’s experience.

IMO anaesthetists are under valued. I personally think they’re like Gods. Because they have to look after so many things and they are exceptionally skilled and hold a lot of a patient’s life in their hands. And where other dr’s have failed to find my veins for cannulas, and during childbirth the epidural space, the anaesthetist has often stepped in and just done it.

I love them.

My GP once told me that the anaesthetist is the most important person in the operating room.

@MulticatHouse

God I could have one right now. Love it.

Ditto. I would have it at least once a week for a decent rest.

Lucky thing.. I love them, count backwards from 12 as I'm going down and have have never got past 5.

My GP once told me that the anaesthetist is the most important person in the operating room. they really are. And they will override instruction from anyone in the interests of the patient’s welfare.

I woke up with a foul smell in my nostrils, otherwise fine.

I had a few as a child, then had to have one a couple years back as an adult. Like you, I was petrified! Cried waiting to be took in etc etc! Once you're in there, there's so many distractions. Plus, the people looking after you have literally trained for years and years to make sure you're ok!

I understand it's very scary when you're anticipating it but honestly, it's actually quite nice as many others on here have said, It's like a really deep, restful sleep! It's like blinking, there is no recollection of the time 'lost'.

I woke up before I reached recovery, was being wheeled to recovery, felt fine apart from being incredibly thirsty. Then I was home watching tv within hours.

You will blink and it will be over with.

It's never as bad as your mind will lead you to believe.

@bananabuddy3

These posts have been lovely to read (as strange as it sounds) and reassuring. I’m also in hospital next week for surgery, and it will be my first GA since I was 6. I’m pretty sure the method used on children doesn’t match, I remember having the gas mask and screaming the hospital down!)

I’m day surgery and have been told my operation should take between 60 to 90 minutes, so under for probably just less than two hours. Reassuring to hear about the sickness.

Have to say I’m still nervous but reading this has put me more at rest. I think it’s going to be all the hanging around waiting for my turn that will get me.

Did the doctors tell you whereabouts you were on the list?

My dad hadn't had once since well, he was a kid and he had to have one recently He was v quiet and nervous about it and I told him it was totally different. He came out "that was nice! Isn't it good what they do now?!"

I’ve had 2, terrified both times but the anaesthetist held my hand and talked to me. Then I was asleep. Woke from the first one as they were removing the throat tube thing, had a super dry and sore throat for a while and could barely speak.

Second time it was no problem I was just very drowsy. Must’ve filled me with fluids when I was asleep as I went to wee 3 times before leaving hospital (day surgery), and after 5 minutes in the car I was so bursting again that I couldn’t hold it and my husband had to pull up in a side street for me to wee outside

GA are lovely. Just dreamy, gorgeous sleepytime whilst you're being fully monitored and cared for.
I had no adverse effects at all. Would quite like another one tbh as I struggle a lot with sleep

I’ve had six in total and four in the last four years.

Every time, I remember counting back and thinking ‘ten, nine, I feel the same, it isn’t working, eight……’ and then I am waking up forty minutes or two hours later.

It seems like a very short sleep to me.

I was very sick after one surgery and the doctors did say they thought I may have had too much anaesthesia or pain relief. I did wake up in agony and was given additional medication (eventually). However, the internet and subsequent doctors said otherwise as I had all the symptoms of ovarian hyper stimulation that the IVF clinic would want to downplay. I did tell the anaesthetist this the next time I had a GA and she said it was unlikely to have been the anaesthesia or pain relief. And I didn’t have any ill effects after her care.

I wouldn’t have any issue having a GA again.

It's great.

If you are nervous they will give you a dose of something to help with that.

The anesthetist will come and see you on the ward, look down your throat and ask a few questions.

They take you to pre op, the room that leads into the theatre on a trolley and they will put a needle in the back of your hand and some white stuff, you will feel a bit dizzy / slightly drunk / light headed.

You are usually asked to count backwards from 10 and they may put a mask on you at this point.

You will say, "10, 9, " and then you will wake up in recovery feeling like you have slept for a week.

I was sick after one anesthetic but I don't remember it but they give me an antiemetic now.