General anaesthetic recovery

[Brittapieandchips]

I had a general anaesthetic on Wednesday (minor procedure, just a coil, but I'm weird so it was a bit more complex physically) and it was very traumatic. What actually happened was fine, but the nerves beforehand were terrible - seeing and hearing things, paranoia, everything. They had already identified me as being at risk of this and so I got a side room rather than just the day case room and got a pre med and the staff were really lovely.

However, I'm still not right. Really tired and a bit confused and numb. I feel sick and headachy and keep getting pins and needles and going dizzy.

Could this be a kind of hangover from the stress and meds? If so, how can I get better?

Give it time. Have you had your iron levels checked? I took ages to recover from a general (my symptoms were different though) and I was very anemic, which was what made me feel terrible.

Would they have done that in the pre op blood test last week?

Ask them tomorrow. Talk to the medics there about your other concerns too. Hope you can get some sleep now. :)

I can't just randomly ring them up can I?

Sorry, it was so late last night, I was imagining you still in hospital!
If you are not feeling well it is worth going to see the GP.
If you want tosee whether it is worth mentioning low iron, look at your tongue in a mirror. If it is dark pink then you are not likeely to be anemic. If it is pale, you might be. Second place to look is inside eye socket where all the many capillaries should show up as a deep red.

Yes, you can ring the ward.
It does take time for the effects of a GA to leave your body. I think I was told something like 1 week for every hour of GA?
It sounds like you might be having some form of panic attack but to set your mind at rest I'd see your GP for a chat.

So maybe a week recovery is normal? I thought it was a 24 hour thing, but that puts me more at ease.

This coil better had sort me out!

I'll call my GP on Monday if I'm still not right. Or should I call the ward?

I have a sore throat too, and keep desperately needing a wee but hardly any happening.

Maybe a general infection of some kind?

I felt spacey and slightly not right for a month but best to ring up and check if concerned

I'd call the ward, for your peace of mind as much as anything else.
It sounds as if you might have a UTI, and that can make you feel very weird, so def mention the "wanting to go but not happening". If it is a UTI you need antibiotics today.
Take care. You've been through a lot.

I didn't have the wee or throat thing but my procedure wasn't in that area. But I did feel pressure and discomfort in the area they the procedure on though and it lasted a week or two. I felt mentally spacey for a month in total though.

Are you drinking enough?