What does it feel like as you go under in surgery?

tom91x91 said:
Anyone know what it is thats used mainly to put you under?
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Most likely propofol, or a similiar fast-acting intravenous anaesthetic. Then the anaesthesia is generally maintained with inhaled gas, although can be a constant infusion of propofol via a syringe driver - kind of like a drip but precisely controlled.
 
tom91x91 said:
Anyone know what it is thats used mainly to put you under?
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Its usually Propofol, a milky white liquid, that is used to induce anaesthesia. The same stuff that idiot Jackson killed himself with :rolleyes:. They also use a paralytic agent (atracurium or such like) to relax the muscles and stop you gagging on the tube. They might keep you on a propofol infusion for the duration of the procedure or most commonly once you are tubed (endotracheal tube or laryngeal mask airway mostly) start you on inhaled anaesthetic (Sevoflurane).
 
You know nothing about it really. You get a local anesthetic on your wrist a while in advance, then when they wheel you in they inject the anesthetic into your arm and you fall under in about 3-5 seconds. I remember the anesthetist asking me to count to 100 as fast as I could as he injected the anesthetic, I managed to get to 15 I think...
 
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I think I've had 3 surgeries now, 4 maybe, I can barely remember a single one of them. Going in, can't really remember falling asleep, can just about remember waking up in my room later on but can really not remember recovering room waking up. All three surgeries were when I was a kid, my mum tells me I woke up a few times in the recovery rooms and I have this vague feeling I had been awake but just can't pull up any real memories of it, and basically can't remember a single detail about the recovery rooms at all.

Stuff zonks you out good, nothing to worry about really, a silly number of people get a general anesthetic every day and incredibly few have issues and even fewer have real complications.
 
Getting knocked out is ok. Its when they tried to wake me up, i just wouldnt breath. Cue being properly ventalated then a burley nurse giving me a pain reflex to wake me up. I had a sore throat and chest for weeks, and the Op was on my leg.
 
tom91x91 said:
I know medical questions are not aloud but im not asking for a diagnostic or anything like that, im just asking about people experiences with this and what it feels like just before you go under? I have to discuss with my doctor about possible surgery for something and im quite scared about it if im honest :eek:
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I felt absolutely nothing when I was put under. Literally nothing - I didn't even feel the anaesthetist put the needle in the back of my hand. He then told me he was going to inject the anaesthetic, I said OK and then I was under. Inject, a couple of seconds of nothing unusual, unconscious, come to somewhere else some time later as if no time had passed. Forget the old "count to 10" thing - you wouldn't get to 3 unless you were really rushing.

I was off my head when I came to, because they'd given me some morphine. That was a bit odd because I didn't know they'd done it, but it's not like I cared at the time. Everything was very fine indeed. Not so fine when the morphine wore off, but that was due to having my scrotum cut open and my balls poked around with, not the anaesthetic.

EDIT: I was nervous beforehand, so I did what I normally do to reassure myself - learned more. You hear about things going wrong with anaesthesia and that does happen sometimes, but very rarely. It takes 7 years to qualify as an anaesthetist in the UK. That's 7 years after qualifying as a doctor. Anaethetists know their stuff.
 
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I remember waking up, twas a bit disorienting since it felt like no time had passed - sort of like when you hit the snooze button on your alarm a bit too hard, blink and you're suddenly 3 hours late for work. It's certainly not like falling asleep, though.
 
I've been under general anaesthetic twice and couldn't tell you what if feels like to go under. Its just BANG i'm gone. Last time I asked how long it'd be and they said about 10 seconds. I didn't even get a chance to start counting.

When I'm more awake I'm really thirsty but have trouble keeping water down for a few hours which is probably the worst bit.
 
I absolutely hate the taste of pre-med, so I was always allowed to have it in the form of a tablet instead. Same effect, just tablet form. Then you leave it for an hour or so until you're ready to get into the theatre. Like with most of the responses on here, I counted from 10 and I got to about 3 when I nodded off. My last op was aged 14, having a new ear drum constructed for me.
 
Seems like I was lucky with after-effects like nausea. They did warn me there might be some, but I was fine. Shortly after coming round, I ate the best food I've ever had.

It wasn't actually the best food ever made, but I hadn't eaten for about 16 hours and that makes any food so much better. Hunger is the best sauce.

Oh yeah...make really sure about allergies. They're very careful about allergies, but they can't magically know. They had my medical records and 4 different people asked me if I was allergic to anything, just in case it wasn't in my medical records. I wasn't all that alert after not sleeping well and starving, so I was thinking only about drug allergies, allergies to anything they might put into me. Anaesthetics, painkillers, antibiotics...no, I'm fine with all of those. I didn't think to mention that I get some pretty startling contact dermatitis because I'm allergic to rubber and some adhesives. The mask is edged with rubber, the tube is rubber and they stick it to you with some sort of tape. I was a total freak show for a week or so and it was rather uncomfortable.
 
I remember feeling a cold tingling sensation in my veins and then just fell asleep. The next thing I remember was waking up in the recovery room and only being able to move my eyes.
 
I remember trying to be as nosey as possible and looking around the operating theatere.

Best feeling was waking up, I woke up fully awake like a robot being switched on, never woken up that easily before.
 
simulatorman said:
I remember feeling a cold tingling sensation in my veins and then just fell asleep. The next thing I remember was waking up in the recovery room and only being able to move my eyes.
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Thats a feeling ive had in my arm. Like its gone ice cold. Started to tell them that my arm had gone cold and next thing some one is waking me up.
Very surreal feeling.
 
It's good! Though when you wake up it's odd! As the adrenaline kicks in and then you feel the pain too when you wake up.

Then you have to stay in a poxy bed and have stats checked every hour and can't sleep again and the pills make you constipated and then you have to wizz in the cardboard pots :P - Hate hospital!

I had knee surgery in June 2010
 
last thing i remember was the irish guy injecting me with the sleeping potion, then i woke up with 1 fit blond telling me its all done ! and im in recovery :D
 
I was put out by injection, no gas. I didnt feel strange at all, I remember talking to the nurse about the heart monitor they put on your finger and it was saying I was dead as my fingers were so cold it wasn't picking up a reading. next I felt something going into my arm, didnt hurt at all and within a few seconds I was gone. They didnt even ask me to count to 10 which im gutted about :)

Coming round was strange to put it positively. the operation was ment to take 45-60 mintues in the end I was out for nearly 3 hours. when i awoke My eyes would not focus and all I could see was white and nothing else, after a minute or so they started to return to normal and I could make out two nurses standing over me calling my name and shaking me. next thing I remember was the pain then passing out, then being shaken waking up feeling the pain, then passing out again. this went on for a while untill they pumped me with loads of pain refief drugs and took me to recovery. Apparently the surgeon came and spoke to me after the op but I dont remember that.
 
AMAZING!!! I proper **** my pants before i went under last year.... they put a neddle in your hand and next thing you know your body feels like its 50stone..... then next thing i blinked twice and woke up in a nice warm room!!! Loved it!
 
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