To ask what it's like to go under GA

[HerRoyalStressHead]

I've never been under general anaesthetic and I'm due to have an operation on a herniated disc in my neck on Wednesday.
I know I always need more local anaesthetic than they think. Does that mean I'll need more general or is it completely different? In case you haven't gathered yet I'm absolutely clueless.

I had my preop and they said I'll be out for the count before I even count back from 10 to 6. But I've got this fear I'll get to one and still be awake.

What happens if I am still awake?
What if it doesn't work for me?
What if I wake up during surgery?
I'm panicking.

It's a big deal as its the forst time ill have ever been under.

They've said the op is an easy one
They've said that it'll be quick and over with before I know it. But what if there's complications? What if I don't get my grip strength in my hand back? What if I'm still in pain with my neck after? I know I should have asked the preop nurse all this but we were worried I wouldn't even be able to have the op as I'm waiting on an echo to confirm there's nothing structurally wrong with my heart and confirm doctors diagnosis of POTS. She said she'd phone me if things were not going ahead and I've not heard anything yet so I have to go under the assumption it is still going ahead and now all these fears have surfaced. Argh.

It's the best thing ever! (I've had several).

I really enjoy the whole build up to it too, the first thing they give you I think is a small shot of fentanyl which is rather fun and then the main GA drug and it's lights out.

I love them and have had a lot. It feels so relaxing

It's true magic. I can never believe the procedure has been done when I wake up. It's really incredible

It weird. When I last had one, the doctor said count back from 10 and I was doing it and thinking ‘Am I doing it right?!!’ I got to 5 I think and the next thing I knew I was in recovery and my husband was there. It’s a very dead sleep with no dreams or anything.

If the surgeon doesn’t ask you why you’re there, TELL THEM!! No joke, when I went in for my op, I had two anaesthetists come to see me. The second one thought I was another patient!! 😬 Luckily, the surgeon asked ‘what do you think you’re here for?’ before I had the chance. I think it may be a standard thing now as my sister had the same question before her caesarean. Don’t want to wake up with a leg chopped off 🤷‍♀️

There are probably more people bustling around in the operating room than you might expect, and it is probably smaller than you expect too. (It’s not Grey’s Anatomy). The anaesthetist will put a cannula in the back of your hand, and probably put a fairly tight-fitting oxygen mask over your face which has a sedative gas, and into which he will inject the sleepy time drugs into the cannula. It will feel like the best sleep you’ve ever had. Whenever I have had to count backwards I’ve managed to get to “Teeeh” and then I’m being woken by a nurse.

I was terrified but there's nothing to be scared of. I always had a fear of never waking up. I had the injection and its lights out within a few seconds. You just disappear and don't exist for that time. Then you wake up and the procedure is over. I still have a fear of never walking up so I wouldn't choose to go under GA again unless there was no choice though.

You drop off and don't even know. I can imagine it's what like dying is like

I'm red headed so need more anaesthesia, I have been put to sleep twice. Obviously knowing I need more anaesthesia I always quiz the doctor to make sure they know this too (of course they do I'm just seeking reassurance).

This is what happens -

• big cannula is placed in your hand (can be painful if you are dehydrated from fasting)
• they give you a substance that's cold and shoots up your arm, not painful.
• they put a mask over your face and tell you to take some big deep breaths, the gas is sweet/menthol tasting
• you try to keep taking deep breaths but it gets harder.

• you wake up in recovery.

I wake up straight away in recovery and usually never fall back asleep. I have been told to stop talking on occasion too. That's the red hair side effect. It doesn't last very long with me.

The last time I had one, I woke up with a really sore throat and just remember needing water straight away as I felt my throat was stuck together and a tiny bit panicked as couldn’t breathe properly. Weird.

I’ve had it four times. Every time, I’ve been wheeled into the room before the operating room, the nurses chat to me and make random cheerful small talk and the anaesthetist says I’ll feel a little scratch. I feel the prick and then remember a few words more of small talk and that’s it - I’m out like a light. Someone mentioned masks and that rings a bell but I can’t remember. I don't recall any cold feeling from anything going in. When I wake, it feels sudden (as if a loud noise or something would wake you naturally) but I feel drowsy same as I would if I was if my alarm went off. It’s bloody lovely. Like that feeling you have during a massage or if you have a nap. Never have any bad effects from it. I’m quite anxious about hospitals but I’m absolutely chilled about GA as I wake up feeling like I had the best sleep ever.

I’ve had three in the past couple of years, prior to that I’d never had one and was absolutely terrified. Before the first one I was really panicking, terrified I wouldn’t actually be asleep and I’d be aware of everything because I couldn’t comprehend how it was possible not to be.

The first one was quite different to the other two for some reason. A nurse held my hand and I was given an IV of fentanyl and a mask was put over my nose and mouth. It made me feel weird so I panicked right up until the point I went unconscious. But it was mercifully quick.

The second one was bloody lovely. They gave me a little bit of midazolam a few minutes before. The last thing I remember is the anaesthetist telling me about her pet goldfish and I drifted off watching a goldfish on the ceiling. No mask or any strange feeling.

The third was for a particularly unpleasant procedure so I was panicking again for that one. The last thing I remember was being told my eyes would start to feel heavy, then I was rudely awoken from a beautiful sleep in recovery

You’ll be monitored very closely the whole time and a nurse will be there when you wake up. I know it feels scary but honestly it will be fine. Ask for a premed.

I haven’t looked at any of the other replies, so it’s likely already been said - but I thought I’d say my experience. I’ve had too many surgeries to count involving general anaesthetic since I’ve been 4 years old (I have a chronic illness). I remember always being so nervous and trying to fight it but as soon as they give the initial medication in your vein, you feel relaxed and happy - it’s honestly a great feeling. Any worries disappear and you feel very warm and comfortable. Shortly after they give the medication that sends you to sleep. It’s weird, because one minute you’re drowsy and falling asleep and the next minute you’re waking up in recovery. Without being dramatic I have been put under probably over 100 times in my life and I’ve not had a bad experience with the anaesthetic side of things.

Since being a parent, when I had my last surgery being put to sleep was a treat as it was a rest that I desperately longed for😂

Another that's not read through all, but I went under for the first time back in March. Was an interesting experience. I dreamt whilst I was under. The dream was vivid when I woke up, but I cannot remember it now. It was a strange experience in that there is no sensation, and although I dreamt, it's not like a normal sleep where you move in and out of REM and consciousness. I felt super nervous before going under, but the staff were great and I felt reassured. If there is a next time, I will be far less nervous.

Does anybody else feel a kind of pins and needles spreading all over them as they go under? I was terrified by that and remember asking if it was normal and them saying yes...next thing I was awake. I guess it's the nerves going to sleep?

Its the most solid sleep ever.

I always wake up really emotional and saying random things. It usually makes me feel quite sick as it starts getting administered so i get an anti sickness just before. Next thing you know, you're waking up groggy.

i found it incredibly difficult as I hated the not being in control. However the staff were fantastic. They talked me through everything. When they said about the fentanyl making you a bit woozy first I said I didn’t want that and just wanted to be out under asap. When I asked how quickly it could be done, he said less than three seconds and he was right! Once they put it in, I was out within three seconds. I smelled and tasted a horrible taste as I went out. When I woke up I was in my bed, I exactly the same position as when I had gone in. Didn’t even know I had had an operation!! I wouldn’t hesitate to have another one.

It's simple. You're taken into the anaesthetic room, they chat nicely to you whilst the anaesthetist inserts a cannula into the back of your hand. They do it all the time and are very skilled, so it's generally not painful. They then chat to you whilst injecting the anaesthetic into the cannula. Your arm feels a bit warm then you're out 😴 next thing you know you're waking up, but feel relaxed and sleepy. You're given pain relief whilst under, so generally don't wake up in pain.

I think one of the reasons I'm so anxious is because one of my best friends passed away yesterday (not under GA, she was very poorly) and I'm now thinking about life and how precious it is.

Its lovely, like being dead but you get to wake up.

The last time I had a GA the anaesthetist told me to think about something nice. I remember thinking I wonder if this is what it’s like for people who are executed by lethal injection! And then I was being brought round after the op, it seemed like seconds later. And I just kept falling asleep, I was so drowsy. The first GA was thirty years ago, I had a baby that didn’t sleep well and I remember looking forward to it! The hardest part for me was the fasting. You’ll be fine.

I don’t know how long ago you had h experience but the last time I had one there was no pain or nausea at all. However the one I had thirty years ago I experienced both, so I think the procedure has improved a lot since then.

That's what scared me actually! The thought of this is being what dead is like. You just don't exist and can't even care that you don't exist. The idea of oblivion really scares me though. Plus the chance you never wake up. I know it wouldn't even occur to me that I'd never woken up but I find it difficult to get my head around.

I had a GA to have my episiotomy tear restitched a year after birth. As you can imagine I was very nervous.

I was given a premed before which really helped. I remember the anaesthetist above me and feeling the warmest glow and such deep feeling of bliss, relaxation and contentment wash over me, when I woke up (it felt like a second had passed) the op was over.

I spent a while after that op reliving that perfect moment in memory.

Ive always imagined that must be like the high some drug users are always trying to relive.

I’m sorry for your loss hopefully this operation will really improve your life.

There is something strangely beautiful about the experience. I have an odd thing with GA where instead of feeling drowsy afterwards, I feel wide awake and euphoric and can’t stop talking.

The second GA I had I woke up sobbing but had no idea why. I was so embarrassed and kept apologising to the nurse, I’m not normally a crier. Apparently it’s quite a common thing. Once that passed I was on top of the world.