Breathing difficulties after general anasthetic

[Nickinoo30]

I had my gall bladder removed 6 days ago via keyhole.

Recovery has been fine apart from my breathing problems. Im very short of breath and its starting to panic me.

I have very mild asthma but the ventolin is not helpibg at all.

I have no issues sleeping at nightand its not keeping me awake.

Is this a side effect or something else?

Are you normally health anxious?

Because of your mild asthma (not that mild if you have a puffer) I wonder about phoning the OOH for advice.

I think you need to be checked out. There are several reasons why you might be feeling breathless post anaesthesia and surgery but they are tricky to diagnose over the internet.

Definitely get yourself checked out! Let us know how you get on.

I had a very tight chest after my last GA. I had to have a nebuliser in hospital and then take salbutamol regularly for a week or so. They however did keep a close eye on me as they were concerned could be a DVT. Definitely call OOH. Breathing problems are not something you should ignore!

I had an operation a couple of years ago and found that when I came round I couldn't talk for about 12 hours and not properly for about 24 hours. It was really quite distressing especially when the anaesthetist and surgeon checked on me and didn't care that I was communicating in sign language.

Anyway the next time I went to my GP I told her and she said there is a known but relatively rare reaction to a certain anaesthetic that affects the throat, vocal chords and respiratory system and it sounds like I may have had this mildly. She told me that severe cases can end up on a ventilator for some weeks.

Could it be this?

I am sorry but I don't recall the name of it.