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 had my first last year aged 53. I was really worried about, shaking a bit when I went into the theatre. But it was fine. I was talking to the anaesthetist about holidays, then I woke up a few hours later with a sore throat and dry mouth. She was absolutely lovely.

i mentioned it in my pre op phone call in the hopes they’d prescribe something and they didn’t :( nails are coming off - my nail lady offered to see me on day 4 after surgery to get them done again but I said I think that’s a bit too soon lol! I’m trying to focus on all the things I have after the surgery to make me feel like me again, because that’s keeping me sane

Not my experience at all. The IV has always been placed for me well before the operation.

I had one and it was very uneventful, my sister also had one which was uneventful except when she woke up she massively and totally out of character flirted with the doctor. He was utterly unfazed by it.

@RainSoakedNights the NHS website has lots of useful guides for patients, which is going to be your best source of information about what to expect in general. Your specific NHS trust and hospital website will have more detailed information with more specifics as well.

ChatGPT attempts to synthesise all that information and summarise it for you, but it will also misunderstand context, include irrelevant information, misunderstand factual information, "hallucinate" information that just isn't true, and so on. Just not a reliable source of information about something as specific as this.

I was terrified the first time, in floods of tears. I even asked my Catholic MIL to pray for me and I’m not religious!

I’ve had three now and they’re fine. They’ve never asked me to count down, they put the initial medicine in and you feel like you’ve had a large gin, they tell you to think of something nice and then you wake up in recovery.

It can make your blood pressure drop and you may be very cold when you come round. This is normal. They may put an insulated blanket over you and a heater blowing air.

The nurses in recovery are very switched on and remember, the anaesthetist has one job and will be focused entirely on you the whole time. You’ll be grand xxx

I loved it 😂 felt like a big deep sleep and felt very rested and then they gave some cracking drugs after for pain that I quite liked 😂 recommend 10/10

I have had GA 4 times. I hate being out of control and asked would they just numb me instead. Major ops so no chance could they just numb me.
I was so scared every time, they used to give pre-meds on the ward beforehand but this has stopped. You feel a scratch, then wake up and it’s all done, you may feel sleepy and sickly afterwards.

I honestly would just sit and stew on them, write them down, bring them with you, better to stew on them, then get a bunch of wrong info or not relevant info and go in expect something very different.
You will have time to ask aftercare question and stuff before you discharge

I've had a GA 3 times, I actually love the feeling of going under, I realise from this thread I'm not the only one. My mum was quite teary once after a GA, I've felt a bit groggy initially on wakening but no real after effects, you do talk rubbish initially though.

Maybe, but it’s also quite nice to just be able to vent and be told I’m not going to die. It sounds overdramatic I know, but I am terrified. Especially re. The Mounjaro etc. I know my hospital know what they’re doing but it’s still really weighing on my mind- and there’s nobody I can call up about that

Can't comment on the mounjaro part but I also struggle to fall asleep and had no issue when I had a GA. Mine was an emergency procedure (ruptured ectopic) and it all happened pretty fast but the NHS were fantastic. Recovery was fine, I just felt a bit groggy for a few days.

Remember, the team do this day in, day out so you'll be fine.

I had a GA a few weeks ago. I don't remember the needle going in at all, but I remember them saying it would feel cold when the anesthesia went in and I remember thinking "that feels quite nice actually". I also remember that everyone was very kind. I can't remember going to sleep really, I just remember them putting the oxygen mask on me and then next thing I knew I was waking up in the recovery room, still feeling very sleepy.

I did start to feel very, very sick a couple of hours after waking up. The hooked me up to a drip with anti-emetic meds and within an hour I felt much better. They also gave me the same medication in tablet form to take home and I did have to take some the next morning. It takes a while for everything to leave your system.

On the whole it was ok. I felt really tired for a couple of days afterwards but I was told to expect that.

Anesthesia is completely different because its a combination of medicines. The first one completely relaxes your muscles so they can move you around without you fighting them. That's my favorite. It's like instant relief. The second knocks you out. You're not really asleep, you're not conscious which is bit different. You will not have dreams or feel like you've been asleep when you wake up.

Also when I had surgery on my knee they told me when I came round I started waving my leg in the air. I have no memory of that thank goodness! They found it very amusing.

I've only ever had it once, to have my wisdom teeth surgically removed. They were just chatting to me, asking me about where I went to uni etc and I remember feeling like some very cold liquid was running up my arm and then I woke up in recovery feeling like I'd had the best sleep ever.

Had it twice and don't love a canula, momentary pain then out like a light. Then the feeling when you come round is the most relaxed, peaceful feeling I've ever had 😂 I love it. I feel so at peace with the world, and everyone in it, not everyone reacts like that but I did.

I’ve seen a lot online that the medicine going in feels really hot and painful? Is that true?

I had a GA a couple of years ago. About 2 hours after I woke up I got up to go to the toilet and realised I had been sitting in wee from probably quite a while! I’m guessing I retched when the tube was removed and probably wet myself then. That alone puts me off having another one!
For a few nights after I was waking up with an awful sense of doom, thankfully that passed quickly.

Don't feel shame about being scared. My first surgery was to get my tonsils out at age 21 and I was terrified. I started crying when they took me into the operating room. The nurse said, why are you crying and I yelled out because I'M SCARED and she held my hand.

I’ve had GA 6 times (plus once as a kid) and 5 of those for FESS.
Going under is fine then it’s the best sleep of your life.
Recovery from FESS is actually remarkably easy but I have found that each time I have had a GA it has taken me longer to come round and also to ‘get over’ it once home.
Last time I felt odd for a good week and slept an awful lot.
I am likely to need FESS again but definitely think it’s worth it.

I’m definitely going to be emotional - I could cry right now just thinking about it. I’m terrified of dying, like I have this horrid sense of doom about it

Not for me - it felt like liquid ice, but was also only for a second or two before I was asleep.

It feels like nothing basically.

They take you into surgery, and the anesthetist and surgeons and nurses introduce themselves and tell you what you're going to do.

They then give you an injection and often ask you to count down from five or ten. Then by the time you start counting you'll be fully knocked out.
You don't feel anything whatsoever or have any memory at all of it.

They bring you back and then they tell you your surgery was successful (hopefully) and let you recover as you'll be a bit groggy for a while.

Then you'll get hungry as often you're NBM before it. So make sure someone can bring you whatever food you crave when you come round fully.

Many people feel euphoria after they come back from anaesthesia. I know I did.

Oh gosh, why have you had to have it so many times? How is recovery?