To want to experience a general anaesthetic again?

[slightlyovertiredalways]

Or something like it?!

I had a general anaesthetic for the first time a few months ago, and as someone who struggles with sleeping the feeling was unreal. One second I felt a bit drunk, the next I was waking up from the deepest sleep of my life with a warm blanket on me and someone bringing me tea and toast 😂 some nights when I’m extra tired and struggling to sleep I think about that feeling and crave it in a weird way.

Is there anything I can do to help me sleep in that way?!

Oh I'm sorry 😞 xx

No, because I know there's a chance I'm not waking up. Plus, nausea. And the show and tell, hey, look at this that we got out, dude, no, get that body horror movie thing out of my face. And the aftereffects, omg, I become a super smeller and people smell nasty, food smells weird, and no, I do not like general.

That's really weird about the naps, I love a nice little nap.

That warm cosy feeling is the morphine I’m afraid OP. Which is why people abuse it.

It’s probably the opioids that give you the feeling you like, but you really don’t want to mess with them unless under medical supervision.

I find these things help me sleep..

Exercise, especially dancing to with friends. Or a comedy night where the acts are genuinely very funny.

A hot shower before collapsing into bed at night. Fresh bedding.

A good long walk in the fresh air.

Orgasms. Deep breathing. Sauna sessions. Not necessarily all at once 😂

Some people swear by meditation, yoga or qi gong.

The last couple of times I have had a GA I have woken up very very sick. And realised I have badly pulled my neck while unconscious, definitely not something I want to repeat.

Yep I’ve had a few GAs and I love that heavy, woozy sensation just before you crash out. Don’t enjoy the waking up part as much as I often feel quite groggy.

Had a (sort of) similar experience when I recently had an op under local /sedation - I was given fentanyl and I felt sooo relaxed and zen, like all was right with the world 🤣 I totally see how opioids are so addictive! Mind you they had to give me more during the procedure and I think it was too much for my body, as I felt rough as hell about an hour later, though thank fuck it wore off quickly!

I found it completely different. Complete blackness and unconsciousness. Total oblivion, as close to death as you can get.

I have to take some pretty sedating antipsychotics for schizoaffective disorder. Currently on quetiapine & carbamazepine.

It can be pretty disabling as they really knock me out for over 8 hours & I need 10 hours before I can function properly & then have to take another (albeit smaller) daytime dose

I do experience a mini general anaesthetic every night though & definitely don't need to worry about insomnia.

It hits very suddenly about 30 mins after taking it.

I've taken all of the heavy duty anti-psychs etc at various points in my life.

Lorazepam is prob the most pleasant & haloperidol the worst

Meh I have an allergy to GA ! Last time I had one I was 11 and woke up being blue lighted to another hospital.

I had a GA earlier for breast cancer surgery and I’ve been dizzy and spewing 😫

I had day surgery and got diazepam. It was glorious. Felt so calm and not anxious at all. Not overthinking. Walked home from the hospital and had the best nap.

On general aesthetics, I woke up with locked jaw. Figured it will sort itself out and just fell back asleep. Then woke up again and wiggled the jaw back in it's place. All happy and chill. Great stuff.

Same. I asked for some help last year after my mum died too. GP gave me antihistamines 🙏🏻

Amytriptiline helped me when dh died. Relaxed me and helped me sleep.

OP maybe being on Mumsnet/screens at this time of night is the cause of insomnia?

I wonder if that’s the sedation I had when I got eye surgery a few years ago. It was wonderful, I was able to hold a conversation, actually had a lovely chat with one of the nurses while the Dr was fixing my eye, I just felt blissfully calm and serene. I had a man cutting 3 small holes in my eyeball and attaching parts of my eye back together and I didn’t care at all.

I also loved GA which I wasn’t expecting, I was full on terrified of it, to the extent that when I broke my hand I talked them into doing the surgery to screw it back together with a nerve block instead of GA so I was wide awake when that was being done too ( they even showed me the inside of my hand when they were putting the screws in). When it came to it though and I had no choice to be awake for gallbladder removal, it was fab. One second I was awake then I blinked and it was all over and I felt like I’d had the best sleep of my life.

Get them online and fill out the pharmacy form. I mention that I use them as a temporary remedy and never had an issue.

Obviously don’t overdo it

I'm really not sure if I should say this.......... but I'm going to

In my 20s I had a GA and the last thing I remember was an intense tingling in my nether regions. It was gorgeous 😄

It’s not impossible. I’ve been prescribed Zopiclone by my GP continuously since 2017. I can nap without it but take one every night. Never had a side effect and always wake up refreshed.

Even better IMO was midazolam, which I was given for my colonoscopy. All of the gloriousness with less grogginess afterwards. I told the nurse I was going to “treat myself to a little nap” as it started to take effect

I was tired but alert afterwards, but when DH drove me home I fell back asleep in the car and then had the best 2-hour nap of my life when I got home!

Totally agree, I've had 4 GA's and loved all of them, never had such a good sleep and the relaxing feeling of waking up slowly is just bliss.

I think being under GA is what it’s like to be dead. Just…nothing. And I find that really depressing.

Have you tried melatonin?

Wasn’t it Michael Jackson who was prescribed and administered Propofol (GA) every night to sleep?? Didn’t end well for him!

YANBU, OP. I still miss morphine sometimes, and I was only given it briefly.

I hate the feeling of being put under, it terrifies me. I’ve also come round during one procedure (nothing major thankfully) but still horrendous and felt everything during one surgery under sedation. The more GAs I have, the worse I seem to feel afterwards and take longer to recover from too. I’d happily never have surgery again!