Who have had general anaesthetic (not medical related)
- Thread starter acharris
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They gave me an injection and told me to count down from 10, reckon I got to about 8
Yep same!
When I woke up I felt so drowsy I went straight back to sleep too. It's pretty much the longest I've slept, apart from the time I drunk a bottle of Calpol (the strawberry kids stuff) when I was 5
I had it when I had an operation on my back.
Told me to count to 10 and I got to 23.
I count very fast.
Any way yeah its rather strange... you are there one minute... 5 hours later you wake up throwing up everywhere for a few secs... go out like a light for another 2 hours, throw up some more... feel fine... drink some orange juice and throw up even more and then feel fine once you realise that you canny drink orange juice without it spending less than 20 secs on your body.
Well thats what it was like for me.
Told me to count to 10 and I got to 23.
I count very fast. Any way yeah its rather strange... you are there one minute... 5 hours later you wake up throwing up everywhere for a few secs... go out like a light for another 2 hours, throw up some more... feel fine... drink some orange juice and throw up even more and then feel fine once you realise that you canny drink orange juice without it spending less than 20 secs on your body.
Well thats what it was like for me.
First time I was injected with anaesthetic I think I counted from 1 to 3 and then was asleep. Apparently I woke up quickly after the operation and told them my name and everything but fell back asleep. I woke up in the morning with no recollection of it. The surgeon had a bet with me that my first words would be "Is it finished". Luckily he didn't follow the bet through 
.
The second time I don't even remember counting any numbers. In fact I don't even remember them injectnig me, was pretty nervous so guess they just got me by surprise. This time I woke up after the operation and was fully alert (well I realised I was awake anyway).
However the second time, after the operation, later on in the night; I needed the bathroom, so I went and after I finished my "business" I started to feel really faint. Blackness shrouded my vision and I was almost completely deaf. I managed to stumble outside the bathroom and luckily one of the nurses saw me and wheeled me back to my bed. As soon as I lay down the feeling passed. I actually thought something had gone wrong and I was going to die! (Isn't the imagination great eh?
)Apparently if there is still remains of anaesthetic in your bloodstream, it can have an affect on your body if you are 'overdoing' it. I'd been moving about all day after the operation so I guess thats why.
My advice is take it easy and don't worry about it. The staff there are trained very well to deal with any potential complications. They wouldn't operate on you if they felt there was any risk
.The second time I don't even remember counting any numbers. In fact I don't even remember them injectnig me, was pretty nervous so guess they just got me by surprise. This time I woke up after the operation and was fully alert (well I realised I was awake anyway).
However the second time, after the operation, later on in the night; I needed the bathroom, so I went and after I finished my "business" I started to feel really faint. Blackness shrouded my vision and I was almost completely deaf. I managed to stumble outside the bathroom and luckily one of the nurses saw me and wheeled me back to my bed. As soon as I lay down the feeling passed. I actually thought something had gone wrong and I was going to die! (Isn't the imagination great eh?
)Apparently if there is still remains of anaesthetic in your bloodstream, it can have an affect on your body if you are 'overdoing' it. I'd been moving about all day after the operation so I guess thats why. My advice is take it easy and don't worry about it. The staff there are trained very well to deal with any potential complications. They wouldn't operate on you if they felt there was any risk
I had a general for surgical investigation into constant testicular pain (which is a real pain in the...) a couple of years ago.
I didn't even feel the anaesthetist putting the shunt in, he was that good. He told me he was going to start the anaesthetic. The traditional count to ten. One, two...I'm somewhere else and a nurse is asking me if I'm OK.
Total blank in between. One instant I'm in the corridor outside the operating theatre, next instant I'm in a recovery ward some time later, feeling very fine indeed (morphine). I think I dozed off for a bit. Not long afterwards, I was trundled back to the ward where I had the best food I have ever eaten. It wasn't really, but I hadn't eaten anything for maybe 16 hours and that's enough to make tolerable food wonderful.
If I recall correctly, it takes 9 years training to qualify as an anaesthetist.
Hmm...it appears to be 12 years. 5 to qualify as a doctor and a further 7 to qualify as an anaesthetist.
http://www.rcoa.ac.uk/index.asp?PageID=736
They really know what they're doing.
I didn't even feel the anaesthetist putting the shunt in, he was that good. He told me he was going to start the anaesthetic. The traditional count to ten. One, two...I'm somewhere else and a nurse is asking me if I'm OK.
Total blank in between. One instant I'm in the corridor outside the operating theatre, next instant I'm in a recovery ward some time later, feeling very fine indeed (morphine). I think I dozed off for a bit. Not long afterwards, I was trundled back to the ward where I had the best food I have ever eaten. It wasn't really, but I hadn't eaten anything for maybe 16 hours and that's enough to make tolerable food wonderful.
If I recall correctly, it takes 9 years training to qualify as an anaesthetist.
Hmm...it appears to be 12 years. 5 to qualify as a doctor and a further 7 to qualify as an anaesthetist.
http://www.rcoa.ac.uk/index.asp?PageID=736
They really know what they're doing.
Last year for the first time and was bricking it, having a nurse for a wife doesn't help either
Had to have a Arthroscopy done on my shoulder (private of course, don't you know!) and got the the hospital at 12, was then told op was at 4pm
so no drink or anything.
I remember going upstairs to the theatres and they sat me on a gurney, then the anaesthetists assistant came along (I remember she was fit) and they wheeled me into the room before the theatre, stuck the canular in my hand which hurt like hell, and they put a large needle with an electrode in my neck, trying to find the nerve bundle that fed my shoulder, when they did i was out and remember waking up to hear the male recovery nurse chatting up another nurse Mouth was dry and painful and I couldn't feel my shoulder (which was a good thing) I guess when I got to the room I was asleep for most of it. I do remember waking up at 4am when the nerve block wore off and had to have some nice drugs
It is weird, it isn't like sleeping, where you know you have slept, it is just instant, one minute you are chatting to the anaesthetist, the next you are awake in recovery.
Had to have a Arthroscopy done on my shoulder (private of course, don't you know!) and got the the hospital at 12, was then told op was at 4pm
so no drink or anything. I remember going upstairs to the theatres and they sat me on a gurney, then the anaesthetists assistant came along (I remember she was fit) and they wheeled me into the room before the theatre, stuck the canular in my hand which hurt like hell, and they put a large needle with an electrode in my neck, trying to find the nerve bundle that fed my shoulder, when they did i was out and remember waking up to hear the male recovery nurse chatting up another nurse
Mouth was dry and painful and I couldn't feel my shoulder (which was a good thing) I guess when I got to the room I was asleep for most of it. I do remember waking up at 4am when the nerve block wore off and had to have some nice drugs It is weird, it isn't like sleeping, where you know you have slept, it is just instant, one minute you are chatting to the anaesthetist, the next you are awake in recovery.
I remember watching a program on Discovery about people who had woken up on the table, but couldn't move due to the paralysis side of the anaesthetic
I was crying because I was really scared. The nurse asked me if I wanted a cup of tea and how many sugars I wanted when I came round.....next thing I remember is waking up in recovery. They tricked me due to my being upset and I never got the countdown thing, but im glad they did it that way.
Yeah the anaesthetic part isnt too bad really. Had it done a long time ago. Count either backwards from 10 or forwards, whatever takes ** pick really. After that, you wake up hours later, wondering if the op has been done etc.
Nerves are natural though, but once its over you will think its no biggy
Nerves are natural though, but once its over you will think its no biggy
Not the best choice of words considering the OP's op, Mr vonhelmet
General anaesthetic - bloody marvellous stuff. The only time I've had a blackout and not worried about what embarrassing things I might have done
I had a GA before surgergy to plate a broken wrist. Remember joking to the anaesthetist it was like a normal Friday night and then nothing else. Nothing to worry about IMHO.
Had an epidural when I broke my femur. I woke up towards the end of the operation - I could hear the metal nail / rod being hammered into my leg but (thankfully!) couldn't feel anything. Very, very weird though!
Had an epidural when I broke my femur. I woke up towards the end of the operation - I could hear the metal nail / rod being hammered into my leg but (thankfully!) couldn't feel anything. Very, very weird though!
I remember watching a program on Discovery about people who had woken up on the table, but couldn't move due to the paralysis side of the anaesthetic
If I remember rightly that was caused by the anaesthetist forgetting to turn on one of the gasses. The anaesthetist apologised right afterwards then denied it completely for the court case.
[Edit] According to Google it happens to less than 0.1% of people going under in the US, no idea about the rest of the world.
[Edit2] That still works out as over 20,000 people a year!
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I've had a few general anesthetics and have been fine. the last one I was worried about because I was having a gastric band done but It was fine, however I always wake up absolutely freezing and the nurses always have to pile on the blankets, so be aware of that. Good luck.
Hi, I had a general anaesthetic for exactly the same operation your going in for, this was about 2 months ago. I was like you, I'd only ever been in hospital once when I was a kid and have no memory of what it was like. I was really nervous about it. I can tell you my experience:
For some reason I was really worried about the needle that goes into your hand, needles don't usually bother me (got plenty of tatoo's) but for some reason this needle really freaks me out. If your worried about this then tell the nurse when you go in for the op, they will put some cream on your hands that numb the area, it works wonders and you really don't feel anything when they put the needle in.
As for the procedure itself, I was basically that nervous that they ended up giving me some sedatives and I had to stay on a bed for a few hours before the op, they take your blood pressure a few times before the op so if your getting nervous they can usually tell anyway. Once you go down for the op they basically wheel you down a maze of corridors into a room, then they put the needle into your hand, they put a paracetamol drip in one part of the thing sticking out of your hand and leave that in for about 5 minutes while a nurse runs through some questions. Then I was injected with an anti-nausia drug, then a strong pain killer, then finally the anaesthetic. Within seconds I was out.
When I woke up I was in recovery and a nurse was pulling a tube out of my throat, this isn't as bad as it sounds, your so out of it that you don't gag or anything. They asked if I was in any pain, I wasn't but for some strange reason said I was
and they gave me a tablet, after that I was drifting in and out of sleep for a few hours and then they let me home once I could pass water.Whatever drugs they give you as part of the operation are really good, I felt better than good for about 16 hours after the op. It is just a feeling of immense well being. Difficult to explain really, but just a word of warning, get ready for when it wears of after the op, because that's when the pain kicked in for me. Not trying to scare you, but for me it was fairly painful for a while. It was about 1 week before I could even walk properly again
Good luck though.
Soldato
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I had it done when i was 23, it wasnt the most fun ive ever had in the world, i always enjoy an anasthetic though, its like free illegal drugs, especially if you get a pre med, which you should ask for for your nerves
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It's a surreal experience.. almost instantaneous.
One second you're in the theatre with the docs, the next your back in the bed on the ward
I had a complication whilst having surgery on my ear (when I was 10), and was kept in for 18 hours, instead of the quoted 4. That was the only thing I hated.. the sickly feeling the day after the op.
One second you're in the theatre with the docs, the next your back in the bed on the ward
I had a complication whilst having surgery on my ear (when I was 10), and was kept in for 18 hours, instead of the quoted 4. That was the only thing I hated.. the sickly feeling the day after the op.