General Anaesthetic Phobia

[Bethanysbody]

Hi you lovely lot,

I’m having a gastric sleeve on 26th October. Nothing about the procedure or life style change is worrying me.

My one and only worry, is general anaesthetic. I can’t quite put my finger on why. I think it’s mainly to do with not wanting to feel sleepy and that I have no control over my body. I hate the thought of feeling drowsy but thinking I’m scared but don’t want to sleep, that lack of control really worries me.

Has anyone got any personal general anaesthetic stories…good or bad. the more I know, the good and the bad, the better I’ll feel. I guess it’s the fear of the unknown!

Thanks,
B x

Ooh I love GA. Maybe because I’m such a poor sleeper so as I’m heading to theatre I always think ‘I hope this is going to get a good sleep’ which is ridiculous because you wake up and are tired for a day or two anyway due the the after effects of the anaesthesia & your body healing. My only concern prior to going down is ‘I hope I wake up’ but tbh I wouldn’t know about it so once it’s actually happening I don’t worry.

I’ve had 4 or 5 GA’s & only had one where I was left feeling disturbed and that was because there was no gentle drifting off. It was just needle in hand, started to feel the anaesthetic entering my vein then 2 seconds later (so it seemed) I’m awake and it’s over. It was disconcerting.

The staff are very used to nervous patients and someone will happily hold your hand and talk to you, you probably won’t have time to even think “I’m scared but I don’t want to sleep”. You’ll probably get as far as “I’m scared.. but…I….” Zzzzzzz

Do you have an iPod? Maybe some meditation or relaxation techniques would help & you could stick earbuds in whilst waiting for the anaesthetic to be administered.
This is proven to reduce heart rate & BP.

info about it here being used to calm patients pre op.
www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/relaxing-song-best-weightless-marconi-union-youtube-surgery-anxiety-a9011971.html

I hope all goes well and you have a speedy recovery.

I have had 5 or 6 GA's, the first as a child left me scared to death, so I've always carried that with me. My last one was a couple of weeks ago, and it was absolutely fine. I was apprehensive of two procedures that needed to happen under local before the surgery, but on the day of the operation. They were out of the way by 9 am, and I felt so happy that I only had the surgery ahead of me.

I walked to the theatre, climbed on the bed, they inserted the canula, gave me an oxygen mask to hold over my nose and the next thing I remember is being in the ward eating a cheese sandwich! It was a totally stress free process - although I had warned them that I was a total wimp beforehand, so they were very thoughtful.

Good luck!

I had one a few months ago for gallbladder removal.

I walked from my room to the pre-med room with a nurse. Lay down on the bed. Anaesthetist and nurse chatted to me. I did not feel drowsy at all. One minute I was awake, the next - nothing. I can remember what I was saying to the anaesthetist when I zonked out.

Coming to was much slower. I was aware of hearing chat and noises in the recovery room and was surprised because the last thing I remembered was chatting to the anaesthetist and nurse in the pre-med room where there was nobody else. It took a second for my brain to realise I was no longer in the pre-med room but must be coming round from the op. I'm not sure if I could move or not. I had no desire to do so for a while, just lay there listening. I didn't feel scared. After what was probably only a minute the nurse seemed to know I was awake and started using my name and talking to me. After a little while I opened my eyes. After a bit longer I had a bit of water and some drugs given me by the nurse. A bit later still I had some tea and biscuits.

The only bad thing about it was that I felt really, really nauseous and as I had just had abdominal surgery the last thing I wanted was to start heaving. That can be a side effect of a GA and if it happens you should tell them at once so they can give you a drug to calm it down.

I was terrified of the operation and the GA before going into the hospital. But the anaesthetist was very reassuring, while also businesslike. I trusted him and by the time I was in the pre-med room chatting the staff had put me totally at ease.

Hope it all goes well.