Page 5 | To want to experience a general anaesthetic again?

slightlyovertiredalways · 2025-12-04T22:53:49+00:00

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?!

hazelnutvanillalatte · 05/12/2025 06:00

Justputsomeyoghurtonit · 05/12/2025 05:52

Yep. Codeine is horrific. I'd have to hang onto the sofa I'd feel so dizzy.

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I asked for NSAIDs only after surgery. They thought I was crazy but I just could not handle the opioids - I chose more pain over dealing with the side effects

Original poster

slightlyovertiredalways · 05/12/2025 06:30

k1233 · 05/12/2025 03:27

Phenergan can help. It's an antihistamine that makes you sleep. I find it's a deep sleep. If I take one about an hour before bed it's a restful sleep. Two make it harder ro wake up.

I read a breathing technique recently and ever since have been crashing. Very easy to do. In bed, do some calm regular breaths. Exhale and hold for 15 seconds. A couple more deep regular breaths and exhale and hold for 15 seconds. Do a third time and then I'm out like a light and have a deep sleep for the night, which is usually difficult due to high pain levels.

My dad has phenergan and it makes him so horrifically moody, it makes me a little worried to try it!

OP posts:

Original poster

slightlyovertiredalways · 05/12/2025 06:33

Tigerbalmshark · 04/12/2025 23:18

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

I don’t think I was given morphine, it was a minor procedure and I was discharged with just some ibuprofen

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WhamBamThankU · 05/12/2025 07:06

Mirtazapine (dirty mirtys) gives a very deep sleep, but unfortunately hangover like symptoms when you wake up

breezyyy · 05/12/2025 07:23

WhamBamThankU · 05/12/2025 07:06

Mirtazapine (dirty mirtys) gives a very deep sleep, but unfortunately hangover like symptoms when you wake up

Together with some other awful side effects. I tapered off that poison very slowly. But, yes you’re right, it does aid sleep. There’s always a price to pay for medication isn’t there!

breezyyy · 05/12/2025 07:28

slightlyovertiredalways · 05/12/2025 06:30

My dad has phenergan and it makes him so horrifically moody, it makes me a little worried to try it!

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Meds can affect people in different ways, that’s for sure! I mentioned earlier that I’m now addicted to zopiclone and someone I know used it together with illicit drugs - it turned them into a monster (obviously the illicit drugs contributed but once they removed zopiclone as a downer, their personality normalised). Dangerous stuff these meds. I’d like to be completely free of all medication.

LupinLou · 05/12/2025 07:34

Tigerbalmshark · 04/12/2025 23:18

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

Yes, morphine is lovely 😊 Although not particularly sleep inducing for me, just total relaxation which after spending several days in pain is bliss.

Although to be honest, I've had the same feeling with a local anaesthetic at the dentist after suffering with toothache for days.

batterypark · 05/12/2025 07:50

Melatonin and Lush sleepy cream give me the best sleep ever. Melatonin from Biovea, they deliver quickly too.

WhamBamThankU · 05/12/2025 07:57

breezyyy · 05/12/2025 07:23

Together with some other awful side effects. I tapered off that poison very slowly. But, yes you’re right, it does aid sleep. There’s always a price to pay for medication isn’t there!

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I took myself off it as the side effects were horrendous! But if I need a proper sleep I’ll pop one now and again.

Pedallleur · 05/12/2025 08:12

Opiates? Basically you are experiencing death as your brain activity and your nervous system are turned down. Worth a Google. The drugs are in your system for a few days hence the naps.

catontheironingboard · 05/12/2025 08:39

Millytante · 05/12/2025 03:06

Moggies were the Prosecco to Mandrax’s Champagne, and these great hypnotics were replaced by Rohypnol, itself replaced, tragically for insomniacs, with the modern bloody Z-drugs (Zolpidem and Zopiclone), which are both useless against chronic sleeplessness, and are very dangerous.

Given the fantasy choice of old school barbiturates (Tuinal, Quaaludes etc), Mandrax, heroin, Tramadol, dihydrocodeine, or morphine, I’d take a lifetime supply of morphine every time.
The most mellow, serene, comforting and somehow ‘clean’ narcotic of all, for me. Every time I’ve taken it, it’s been like the missing piece from my psychological and physical jigsaw has been put back into its place, and all is as the universe intended.
I wish to God I could be given it as a combined sleep aid (chronic, intractable insomnia here) and general mood/life sorter-outer!

I remember reading something Keith Richards described, eons ago, about narcotics or ‘downers’ (ie barbiturates, hypnotics, and the opium family) as opposed to uppers such as amphetamines and cocaine.
He said some people thrive, feel restored and alive taking downers, while most others will succumb to slumber and aren’t temperamentally all that keen on the effects.
Those who feel ‘improved’ though have some mild kind of neurological dysfunction which is rectified with opiates. (Receptors? Something like that)
A few lines of speed will make anyone feel jazzed up and confident, but the same of morphine makes certain among us feel re-tuned, in the zone.

Anyway…I think he talked sense, and it’s a damn shame this sterling remedy isn't more easily available!
At my advanced age I wouldn't give a damn about dependence on any drug which made everything work properly, any more than I’d resist insulin were I diabetic.

(I manage insomnia now with pregabalin and codeine, prescribed for a pain condition, and it’s very much a third rate solution compared with what one would prefer!)

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Interestingly, contrary to all those drugs information films that we had to watch in the 80s and 90s, only a certain proportion of the population is susceptible to opiate addiction. Growing up I was definitely left with the impression that if you so much as tried any Illegal Drug you would become instantly addicted and inevitably shortly be living in a version of Trainspotting. Except that I now know that just a snifter of an opiate and I’ll be vomiting for days, having nightmares and flashbacks and the occasional hallucination. I definitely don’t have any nice feeling at all from them - nightmarish is more like it!

Turns out my DD has inherited this — she recently had to have a GA for a routine procedure and the surgical team were quite surprised by how sick she was afterwards — even though I warned them that I have bad reactions to GA and opiates.

Kuretake · 05/12/2025 08:46

I absolutely love general anaesthetics. And oromorph was so delightful it scared me. I can completely understand how people become addicted to opioids.

breezyyy · 05/12/2025 09:05

catontheironingboard · 05/12/2025 08:39

Interestingly, contrary to all those drugs information films that we had to watch in the 80s and 90s, only a certain proportion of the population is susceptible to opiate addiction. Growing up I was definitely left with the impression that if you so much as tried any Illegal Drug you would become instantly addicted and inevitably shortly be living in a version of Trainspotting. Except that I now know that just a snifter of an opiate and I’ll be vomiting for days, having nightmares and flashbacks and the occasional hallucination. I definitely don’t have any nice feeling at all from them - nightmarish is more like it!

Turns out my DD has inherited this — she recently had to have a GA for a routine procedure and the surgical team were quite surprised by how sick she was afterwards — even though I warned them that I have bad reactions to GA and opiates.

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So interesting how different people react to different drugs. I know someone who attempted suicide on opiates, instead of the calm drifting into a peaceful death they hoped for, they were violently sick.

I’m appalled at the madness of some scientists who come up with this utter garbage:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music that you love, upload original content and share it all with friends, family and the world on YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2k7KQ5L5Jg

Original poster

slightlyovertiredalways · 05/12/2025 09:08

Kuretake · 05/12/2025 08:46

I absolutely love general anaesthetics. And oromorph was so delightful it scared me. I can completely understand how people become addicted to opioids.

Finding out it’s the opiates that cause the nice feelings makes me realise it’s totally possible I’d become addicted!

although I do remember a sleeping pill I was given in Greece or Cyprus once. It was called “snip” and it gave me the most wonderful floating sensation as I drifted off. No idea what was in them to cause it

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lickingfingertastingfood · 05/12/2025 10:13

Kuretake · 05/12/2025 08:46

I absolutely love general anaesthetics. And oromorph was so delightful it scared me. I can completely understand how people become addicted to opioids.

I was admitted a few months ago in agony and was handed this large plastic tube of Oromorph which was amazing. It's a while since I've had a GA but have had many procedures with the twilight sleep. I believe they use a mix of fentanyl and midazolam. I sleep for hours afterwards. I use an antihistamine currently if I think I won't sleep which is Dimenhydrinate .

zingally · 05/12/2025 10:24

For me, my GA was like turning off a light. There was no sense of drifting off. One minute I was fully conscious and "in the room". The next I was completely gone.

Coming out of it was diabolical! I slowly became aware of someone gently shaking my shoulder and calling my name, and coming out of it was honestly like trying to crawl out of a very, very sticky swamp!

It was an interesting experience, but not one I'd want to repeat too often!

rubbishking · 05/12/2025 10:27

No because they wake you up, which is so annoying

rubbishking · 05/12/2025 10:28

slightlyovertiredalways · 05/12/2025 09:08

Finding out it’s the opiates that cause the nice feelings makes me realise it’s totally possible I’d become addicted!

although I do remember a sleeping pill I was given in Greece or Cyprus once. It was called “snip” and it gave me the most wonderful floating sensation as I drifted off. No idea what was in them to cause it

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Who gave you a sleeping tablet

Original poster

slightlyovertiredalways · 05/12/2025 10:29

rubbishking · 05/12/2025 10:28

Who gave you a sleeping tablet

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The pharmacy, I worded that really badly! We all caught a cold towards the end of our holiday and asked for the e equivalent of night nurse. But it was actually just sleeping pills.

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BillieWiper · 05/12/2025 10:32

It felt lovely to me too! I sleep badly and have very very vivid dreams. I guess it was my brain's opportunity to really rest properly!
It seems almost like magic. And I felt like I was so happy when I woke up!

JHound · 05/12/2025 10:32

I have been under twice and love the sensation so I understand your viewpoint OP!

redannie18 · 05/12/2025 10:33

Such a lovely but dangerous thing to crave!

I haven't had GA but I did once faint in a a department store and it was such a lovely feeling that I was just slipping away and letting go of all responsibility, woke up to being looked after by really kind people.

Pregabalin is amazing for that proper deep lovely sleep, unfortunately I am prescribed it for a degenerative disease but I will take it as a small win getting some nice meds.

RosesAndHellebores · 05/12/2025 10:33

Amitryptiline, prescribed off book, for sleep. I take two about twice a month fkr a guaranteed 8 hours. The rest of the time I get about 5.

breezyyy · 05/12/2025 10:34

slightlyovertiredalways · 05/12/2025 10:29

The pharmacy, I worded that really badly! We all caught a cold towards the end of our holiday and asked for the e equivalent of night nurse. But it was actually just sleeping pills.

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I heard something similar on a show I watched where they were ill in a foreign country and wanted help with it. They got some unknown pills and got really high on them.

It’d be great if it was that easy in the UK, (I half jest).

redannie18 · 05/12/2025 10:36

breezyyy · 05/12/2025 10:34

I heard something similar on a show I watched where they were ill in a foreign country and wanted help with it. They got some unknown pills and got really high on them.

It’d be great if it was that easy in the UK, (I half jest).

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I once got travel sick tablets in Holland and we all took them on the ferry home and were SO HIGH, it was lovely, we all just stared at the wall and listened to the terrible on board radio station. No idea what it was, not the standard Kwells thats for sure!