To ask you what general anaesthetic is actually like?

[RainSoakedNights]

I’m having functional endoscopic sinus surgery soon. As far as I can tell the recovery is going to be fine - a bit like a head cold (if anyone has experience of this operation though please let me know!). But I’ve never had so much as a blood test (I’m 26). I’m on Mounjaro so used to injecting myself but I still hate needles (I know, I know!)

Any experiences would be appreciated!

I asked this! She was like a) unlikely as you’ve fasted but b) even if it does we work in healthcare it’s nothing we haven’t seen before, they will essentially clean you up and it is what it is.

I had it for keyhole gall bladder surgery. I started to feel panicky so the nurses started chatting to me to distract me, when actually I wanted them to be quiet so I could go in to myself. Next minute I was in the recovery room, all over. I was sleepy for a while which was annoying as the consultant came round to give me a debrief but I kept dozing off and apologizing to him instead of asking intelligent questions 😊

It's nothing like sleep, imo. For all my generals I've gone from fully awake and alert one moment, to unconscious the next. No sense of wooziness, no sleepy drifting off, just bam lights out. Very strange, but you can only reflect on that afterwards, as you're obviously not conscious to notice when it happens!

Recovery is where I've had that detached wooziness - for me it's like being a bit drunk, and slowly sobering up.

I have a million and one questions which I can’t really ask because I’ve not been given any contact details!

can I take my iPad with me for before/after? What happens to my phone? Can I wear a normal bra with wired?

Oh god - I’m a very giggly drunk!

I’ve had two, the first for an emergency op on an ectopic pregnancy- I remember going under very suddenly (10, 9, gone), and when I came round I was high as a kite on morphine for a while. Took me ages to get over that one, felt sluggish and aneamic, but there was trauma in there to get over too. The GA was the easiest bit.
The second was for a minor procedure on my foot so I don’t think I was out for very long, maybe half an hour? The thing I remember was that when I came round, I felt so refreshed, like I’d just had the best, most restorative sleep of my life. Wish I could do that every night!

I get upset and said I couldn’t do it, they put the oxygen on my face and the woman kept asking me questions about myself, my pets, random stuff and then I woke up
every time I get upset and panic and every time it’s fine
that’s about it really! I was a bit sleepy waking but I was under for a full day

Yes you can, they keep your belongings secure
wear a bra and you can always take it off if needed
ask here, people will probably know

The staff will have seen it all before, I promise 😊 I think I told my nurse how lovely his voice was at least three times 😂

How long will my mum actually be allowed with me for, and will she be allowed to come and see me when I wake up? The lady on the phone made it sound as if she has to drop me at the door and then leave, and can’t see me again until I am ready to leave!

Will you be staying in or is it day surgery?

I had one four weeks ago. The anaesthetist said he was giving me some oxygen. I didn’t recall needles or anything. My surgery was 2.5 hours. I woke up after seven hours as they couldn’t wake me up!

Fingers crossed it’s just day surgery!

I’ve had quite a few, nice chat with anaesthetist whilst they administer it, realise sleep is coming… wake up in recovery. How I wake up can vary, I’m often frozen but they have ways of managing that!

it’s a lovely nap 😴

I've had a GA about 6 times for various things and the PPS that have said it's like a switch and you're switched off is my experience too, there was no drifting or wooziness, just the feeling of the meds going in and feeling a bit weird but before you can really form that into a proper thought or try and express it you're waking up in recovery and confused as to why they've not done the operation!
I had my tonsils removed as a adult and by far the best thing about that was they gave me some morphine before I went under because it's such a short operation they give you some just before so it's taking full effect by the time you wake up.

Now that was a pretty sensational feeling, I've had it when I've been in pain before (and really appreciated it after I woke up) but the few moments of high were great!

Recovery has been different for me each time, the longer ones I've been groggy and emotional, though I have no idea why I'm crying and the shorter ones I've been a bit rude I think, trying to get up and shouting at people 😳 but both are perfectly normal reactions to the anaesthetic and wear off fairly quickly, and the team will be experienced with all aspects of recovery, and know what to do.

I'm usually fine once I've come around completely, my body feels sluggish for a day or so but I feel alert and mentally normal.

I think it's normal to be a bit nervous about something you've never experienced before like this but anaesthesia and surgery are very safe and the people doing it highly trained.

Anaesthetists are the kindest doctors, with the best bedside manner. I had my first GA when I was 8 and misunderstood the premed so worried that I wasn't falling asleep and didn't know whether to say anything or pretend! Luckily, that was only for a few seconds.

Had a couple of GAs as an adult. Beforehand you're naturally a bit nervous and I'm always disorientated afterwards - feel I wake up crying but not sure if that's true. The staff with you have been through this lots of times so just ask them any questions.

I‘ve had it twice, once following miscarriage and once for knee surgery.

There’s nothing to it, you just fall asleep really quickly. I didn’t have a mask, it was through a cannula I believe. My main worry was whether they would take into account the MC1R “ginger” gene which research suggests makes us more susceptible to pain. The anaesthetist was aware and very reassuring.

I was copiously sick afterwards both times so watch out for that.

Yeah, mine weren’t allowed into the day surgery unit until the evening of the surgery when I had an unexpected stay over. They then collected me from the door when I left. I was in my own sat in a room with four other women waiting for my surgery and that was boring. But no, no one allowed in with anyone. There just isn’t the space of facilities.

Another thing - is it a particularly American concept to be given something to ease your nerves? I keep being told this happens by ChatGPT but I’ve no idea if that’s in England too!

I am having one very soon and I am not nervous , I have had so many in my lifetime.
It's a lovely feeling because you wake up and you think nothing has been done but actually it's all over and you can just have a rest , brilliant feeling and lovely staff

DP had one last week. He was told I couldn’t go in with him, even for the waiting around before prep, but other patients had people with them, so might be worth double checking what you’ve been told. He also travelled very light, just phone, dressing gown and slippers. There should be somewhere to leave valuables, but it might be quite compact.

He bounced back from the GA surprisingly quickly, o but got a little emotional a couple of times; he was warned that apparently this is very common. What he wasn’t told, which might have been useful, is that constipation is also quite common, because the GA slows everything down, including your digestive transit. When that happened and we looked for advice, Dulcoease was recommended; you don’t want anything too powerful, and apparently that’s relatively gentle.

If they give you compression stockings, keep them on until you’ve been told how long you need to wear them for. In DP’s case, it’s 14 days, but he wasn’t told that until a nurse saw he’d taken them off.

Hope all goes well for you.

Yeah in my experience you don't have someone to accompany you on the day surgery unit.

I've never been given anything for my nerves, even before major surgery!

I've had probably 10 GA's and I think they're really nice actually.

Every time, all the staff have been lovely. They chat along, make you laugh, then before you know it you're getting this lovely heavy, warm feeling up your legs and then...... I've always found it really pleasant.

I do however always wake up crying and a bit cold, which I'm told is normal. You get well looked after so the confusion doesn't last long when you come around.

I had my gallbladder out last year and was on the trolley just outside the operating theatre, while the needle was being inserted. There were three young medical students there to observe and I started to chat to them, then next thing I was aware of was that I was back on the ward.

I had a general anaesthetic five times within a ten year period.
The first time I was anxious because I remembered having an anaesthetic to have my tonsils out when I was six which had been an unpleasant experience.
Things have improved a lot. On every occasion I was asked to count and didn't get very far before going straight to sleep with no wooziness. I woke up with a sense of having had the best sleep ever and feeling happy-I might have been given some medication but I felt great.