Tired and anxious a week after general anaesthetic?

[NewAccount270219]

I had an operation last Thursday. It went well and the operation site is surprisingly painless now so I'm recovering quicker than they told me to expect - but I'm still SO exhausted, and also - worse - incredibly anxious/jittery, and quite tearful. Is this a post- anaesthesia thing? I have suffered from anxiety in the past but the speed with which this has come on is something I've not experienced before.

Yes, all totally normal (in my experience). Your body has been through trauma, even though it was “controlled” trauma.

Thanks - when did you find it lifted? I'm finding it really upsetting and also it's tough on everybody because I have an 8 month old and at the moment I'm not doing anything in the night, or much during the day - I feel really guilty because I feel physically fine, just tired, but I'm just sort of flopping.

It depends (among other things) on how big the operation was, how well or unwell you were at the time and how long you were under GA. But in my experience of a relatively straightforward elective laparoscopic procedure lasting about 3 hrs, the crushing tiredness lifted after about a week following discharge.

Then again my experience of a complex emergency laparotomy was that it knocked me sideways for months on end! (Including psychologically).

Hope you’re at the more straightforward end of the spectrum and that you feel more like yourself before too long. Take care.

Very normal. Everyone will tell you the same. I was completely unprepared for this as no-one told me beforehand! I cried a lot, lost confidence... push through it and you should start to feel better very soon.

Thank you! It was a partial thyroidectomy and I think I was under for about two hours. Hoping I'll feel normal soon - as I said, I was expecting to feel very sore but haven't (luckily) but it never occurred to me that I might feel so bad mentally

3 weeks for me for a 5hr op. Basically did nothing except nap and watch TV!

@NewAccount270219 it could be a post GA thing but it might be a thyroid issue. Will you need to have replacement thyroid hormone now or are you euthyroid?