GA tomorrow - the fear is building!

[BillyDaveysDaughter]

I'm undergoing gallbladder removal tomorrow under GA. I haven't had a general since 1985, and I am very, very frightened of feeling or being sick afterwards (as in, emetophobic - the fear of vomiting is with me every day and has been for 40 years).

I'm pretty calm about being put to sleep, I don't think I'll want the pre-med - I'd don't like to feel groggy if it can be avoided. I have no fears of dying or not waking up, or of waking up during the op. It's just the sickness thing.

I've had a pre-surgical assessment, they were very kind and understanding and assured me that modern anaesthesia includes an intravenous anti-emetic anyway. I begged them to load me up with anti-sickness and they made a note and smiled indulgently.

I also asked if I could avoid the painkillers which commonly cause nausea, like morphine - I said I'm quite stoic and would like to stick with intravenous paracetamol at first, and see how it goes. The nurse said there are many alternatives to morphine, but paracetamol directly into a vein is just as good.

The majority of people I've asked said they felt fine after a GA and were actually starving hungry when they woke up. A friend who had a kidney removed via keyhole sent his wife for biscuits when he woke up, and he's the biggest wimp ever.

It's just day surgery, I'll only be under for an hour or so and I'll be home by mid afternoon. But I'm still catastrophising and having visions of all sorts of grim outcomes upon waking.

Please tell me your stories of it all being a piece of cake - and yes I have posted before, but now the op is TOMORROW and I'm bricking it.

Good luck today!

Well the anaesthetist has been. He seemed pretty ambivalent about my keenness to have plenty of anti-emetics and no morphine, just kept saying it was about balance blah blah blah. Eventually I said I would rather be stoic with pain than risk feeling nauseous, and I think he heard me.

God I have such a headache, they can hurry up and knock me out.

I’ve had GAs a long time ago that made me sick as a dog. I then that my gallbladder out last year and didn’t feel sick at all. I did however come round feeling very shaky and crying so don’t worry if you get that.

Good luck

Emetophobe here. Last time I had a GA (it was 25 years ago...) I threw lots of toys out of my pram and told the consultant 'look, if I feel like I am going to be sick I WILL panic big time and it is likely I will be up and out of the door, drip or no drip'. It seemed to work.

Well, my op finished at 9.30am, it's now 5pm and I'm still in my room sipping water and feeling absolutely dreadful.

They gave me 3 different anti-emetics and I haven't been sick, but I'm weak and shaky and dizzy and the nausea keeps washing over me. The pain is not bad but any movement nauseates me.

I just want it to end. I'm clearly feeling a bit better as I'm. Posting, but I feel horrible. Nursing staff are kind but there's nothing they can do.

Oh poor you - nightmare. This will get slowly better, you must be over the worst.

Are you staying overnight ? I was weak and very dizzy after my op. They kicked me out of the Hospital at about 5.00pm (op had been at about 8am) and I was not ready to leave as I could barely stand. I clung to my mum for dear life and we got in a taxi. Tomorrow will feel different.
Drinking water is good. Highly unlikely you'll V* at this stage. Plus you're pumped full of anti emetics :) x

Are you staying overnight ? I was weak and very dizzy after my op. They kicked me out of the Hospital at about 5.00pm (op had been at about 8am) and I was not ready to leave as I could barely stand. I clung to my mum for dear life and we got in a taxi. Tomorrow will feel different.
Drinking water is good. Highly unlikely you'll V* at this stage. Plus you're pumped full of anti emetics :) x

Hi Bumblina, no not staying - my op was at 8 and by 5 they were very keen to kick me out even though I was weak, shaky, nauseated and couldn't even raise my arms. They badgered me to eat but I just couldn't get anything down. I managed a tiny wee after sipping about 300ml of water all day, but they didn't check. Eventually they instructed me to call DH to collect me and left me to get dressed. I felt they were getting impatient and kept apologising for being such a drip!

The anaesthetist said they'd been aggressive with the anti-emetics and that I'd had a dose of cyclazine in recovery, on top of the 2 other types I'd had during the op - the nurse said it causes extreme drowsiness and hallucinations. I just felt so horribly ILL.

The hours trip home in the car was rough, but I'm in my own bed now and feeling much more human. I have a crashing headache but the surgical site is really not that bad - plain paracetamol is sorting it. No shoulder pain so far, other than a twinge in both shoulders just now.

Sorry to hear you've had a rough time. Hopefully after a bit of sleep
in your own bed you'll feel a bit better in the morning.

Thanks Sunshine. No idea what happened, apart from the fear of vomiting I expected to be one of those people who bounced right back and felt fine, but I was in a right state.

Feeling better already, I'm drinking and peeing freely now lol. Such a sore throat and headache though? And my jaw aches...

Oh, they said that lots of smaller stones were washed through during the surgery, but they saved the biggest and let me take it to my room for a picture!

Wanna see it? It's really gross...

Ewwww....

Glad you’re home OP.

The sore throat and jaw will be from the intubation tube. It’ll clear up in a day or so.

Hope you get a good nights rest. Be gentle with yourself.

That's an impressive stone! Better out than in! I had a wicked sore theist for 24 hours, lots of cold drinks help. Hope you get some sleep!

Sorry to hear you've felt rough today.

I react badly too. After my first two GAs (both within the past couple of years) I woke up being sick the second I came around, and then took hours to come around properly. I had my third GA last week. They gave me extra anti-emetics and while I wasn't actually sick I still woke up wretching, and I felt really sick for over 12 hours after the op and again took hours to come around properly. They gave me mild anti-emetics during the day and then during the night gave me the hardcore stuff with opiates that I'd had just after the op (which they said could make me high and hallucinate!) - that last dose finally got rid of the feeling. My op was more complicated than they expected (it ended up being a few hours) and because of that and my reaction to the GA I had to stay in overnight.

Sore throat is really normal. Ice lolly might help or lots of warm fluids
I'm phobic and had my second GA this year which turned out to be a 5hr op. Bizarrely I recover really well from them, the downside is I'm absolutely wired afterwards and can't sleep for 2 nights
I asked for a pre med because I'm a wimp and anti sickness and happily ate a full meal 2hrs after waking up and then a McDonald's because milkshake helped my throat
Lots of rest

If you were intubated that usually causes the sore throat. After my tonsillectomy I'd been warned my throat would be agony with the open wound (ouch) as well
As the intubation from the op.
I couldn't eat either and could barely sip water due to pain and being disoriented.
Codeine was vile (I've never reacted well to it) so I stuck with soluble paracetamol and voltarol.
I've been told you're more likely to V* following an op if you suffer with motion sickness (which I do).
Now you're home you'll be more comfy and can settle in to a recovery routine . You should sleep well after such an early start ! X

Thanks all...I suppose everyone reacts differently huh. I think of myself as a very stoic person, pretty resilient about pain, rarely ill, utterly irrational about vomiting of course but generally a down to earth, "brave" type. I was so annoyed with myself for reacting so badly, even though I couldn't control it.

From the moment they were saying my name in recovery I felt a bit of a rush of nausea, the kind you get with travel sickness or a migraine. The initial pain was just a pressure on my abdomen, the poor sod next to me coming round from a knee op was in agony.

They asked if I felt sick and I said yes - the nurse told me I'd already had 2 types of anti emetic during the surgery. But I heard them discussing me and they decided to give me some more of something else. I actually think it was that one which I reacted to - up to then I had been having a joke with the nurses and was mostly alright, just really really groggy and a bit sicky. By the time I got back to my room I couldn't speak or lift my head. I couldn't stay awake even when they sat me up in bed, I was so uncomfortable my back was killing me but they wouldn't lay me flat. I couldn't hold a conversation or respond with more than a grunt 4 hours later but the impatient nurse made me get up and sit in the chair - I even fell asleep there, with my face in my hands. Being asleep was the only way to escape the horrendous ill feeling.

Finally, finally, at about 4.30 they gave up insisting that I eat and pushing cups of tea and food at me, and said as long as I could pee they were not concerned and had no medical reason to keep me in. DH picked me up at 6.30 and I was home in bed feeling not too bad by 7.30.

I can't believe after posting my own thread asking for positive stories, I'm now ruining it! To my fellow phobics and anyone nervous of a GA, I am sorry. But I wasn't sick, the nausea wasn't even that serious. I just felt awful all over really.

Here's betting you had cyclizine in recovery?! Some people actually abuse it for the reaction you got! Hope you're feeling a lot better this morning.

Ah Welsh! Thanks for coming back to the thread!

Really, people use that shit for kicks? Doesn't seem like much fun to me!

Things are drifting back to me now - the nurse also said I was given Fentanyl, and the anaesthetist mentioned codeine. I had asked to avoid the opiate based meds if possible, given their capacity to make you really groggy, and although I was unsure about codeine I agreed that I had taken low doses of it in the past with only mild nausea.

He was excellent and very professional, but a bit bossy. He kept talking over me and saying it was "about balance", and it was more important to control pain after laparascopic surgery. I understand of course, although I did feel a bit - overruled. When I was awake but couldn't move or talk 4 hours later, he came to check on me and said he'd had to give me something during the op that I had asked not to have because "it was about balance". And pointed out that I hadn't vomited so it was a win.

But it's all bit hazy tbh, and I feel SOOO much better this morning! I had a horrible day yesterday but it could have been very very much worse, as all the PPs with stories of major surgery can attest to. My procedure was very mild and I know all this hand-wringing and post mortem is very self-indulgent, but it is cathartic!

And as an emetophobe, I got through a day of nausea with an emesis bowl right beside me and wouldn't have cared much if I had vomited, so that really is a win.

I wasn't sent home with any pain relief at all - there was talk of tramadol but I never got anything at discharge. I've taken paracetamol since home, haven't had anything since midnight and I've got next to no pain - no shoulder tip pain, and just some pulling around the incisions and where the gallbladder was.

So all in all, I am glad that shitty cocktail has worn off and I feel normal if a bit weak, and that I am lucky enough to be in no pain!

Well, it's day 3 and today I feel sick, giddy and shaky. I've forced down a warm bagel and a cup of tea. The incisions hurt, the dressings look disgusting and I feel like I've been run over.

But I am up, showered and dressed and crocheting an Ewok in front of Judge Judy. #postopgoals

How are you getting on OP? I've been following your thread but didn't have anything useful to add.

My DH had a hernia operated on last year. There was a room of 8 all operated on the same day. They went to surgery then recovery then back to the room. My DH was the last so I waited all day no one was sick.

Sorry didn't see the update. Hope you are improving every day.

I had an emergency laproscopy two weeks ago. I too felt horrible nausea afterwards but didn't actually get sick. I don't know what they gave me but there was a point when I still felt sick but the extra meds had dried out my mouth and throat so much. This was my third laproscopy and this time I had woeful shoulder tip pain for several days afterwards. I'm mostly back to.normsl now apart from a skin reaction to the bandage adhesive.

My DD has taken advantage of me being laid up and now her Barbie has a new wardrobe of knitted outfits!