Current Events > Anyone experience anesthesia before?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm getting surgery for the first time in my life and they're putting me under. I'm not terrified of the surgery, I'm terrified of not waking up. I've never been forcefully put unconscious before, so the idea of being put to sleep against my will is kinda scary.

What's it like fam?

Don't think of it as "against your will", think of it as "It's a better option than staying awake for a really painful ass surgery".

You'll be fine.

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honestly when i got it i just fell asleep very quickly
its not really scary at all
in fact, i want to be an anesthesiologist

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Anesthesia will burn at the IV site, and it's extremely alarming how fast you fall unconscious, you only have enough time to realize that there's no way to fight falling unconscious. You will have dreams, then you'll just wake up a few hours later and be disoriented.

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just cross your fingers and hope that you don't get anesthesia awareness

Kaiganeer posted...

just cross your fingers and hope that you don't get anesthesia awareness

this. it's a bad thing to experience.
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Kaiganeer posted...

just cross your fingers and hope that you don't get anesthesia awareness

Oh god I wish you never told me about this

they wheel you into the OR on the gurney and they put the mask over your face. you're out before you can count to three...

the absolute worst part of anesthesia is waking up. some people have less issues with it then others. but me personally, i spent a solid 3 hours dry heaving and then the next 2 days with a splitting headache (though to be fair, the headache might have been from the eye surgery).

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It was weird but cool. Youll be fine

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Its frightening to be fully awake then next thing you know youre in recovery with a piece of you missing.

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For me I was just completely out and next thing I knew I was waking up in a different room. Some people don't have the same reactions to it though, possible they won't go completely out.

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Anesthesia is great, I cant help but think that is what death feels like tho

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Its extremely nauseous for me when they wake me up so be aware of that. My surgery last year was six hours and I puked all in the oxygen mask as well as several times on the drive home

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i fell asleep in the dentists chair and woke up in my bed. no pain or anything. apparently, i was repeating myself to my friend (who was my driver) over and over.

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nevershine posted...

i fell asleep in the dentists chair and woke up in my bed. no pain or anything. apparently, i was repeating myself to my friend (who was my driver) over and over.

is this real life?

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Romulox28 posted...

Anesthesia is great, I cant help but think that is what death feels like tho

As in rapidly losing consciousness? Yeah probably.

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I only ever got it once when I was 6 and all I remember was falling asleep and then waking up what felt like seconds later and it was already over. It was like holding the B button down to skip a long cutscene.

It's a weird experience, but you'll be waking up in what feels like a flash

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I've had it a few times for endoscopies. You just fall asleep real fast and wake up in bed after the operation is over. Never felt nauseous or anything, but you will feel lethargic for a while (which is why you need someone to drive you home).
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Grateful for the replies. I'm less nervous now. Gonna be a very new experience for me.

it's pretty much like somebody is pressing an off button on your consciousness.

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waking up for me has been different each time, when I had surgery as a kid I would wake up groggy and disoriented. I would need to be helped around for a couple hours until I got it together. Surgery as an adult had me wake up like a bomb had just went off, instantly on full alert scanning the room wildly for a few seconds

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haloiscoolisbak posted...

As in rapidly losing consciousness?

i had that happen once. seizure incident a few years ago. all i could remember is sitting at my computer while in a chair. ended up waking up in the back of an ambulance

was told i had a seizure and i fucked up my back for a month.
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I been completely out twice. Once for wisdom teeth extraction and the other for a surgery on my back.

The first time they did it, I barely felt it and he said thats it! I'm like, thats it? He says you may start feeling a little dizzy, I remember saying yeah I feel a bit dizzy and then I was out. I woke up later and the nurses tried to walk me to the recovery room they had and I shook them all off and walked myself lmao. I was awake for 30 seconds and was determined to make it without any help. Idk what I was thinking

The second time they put it in, the guy told me to countdown from 10. I made it to 7 and thats all I remember. Woke up an hour later.

But yeah, you dont even remember closing your eyes and it feels like you were out for about 1 second.

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Damn you got knocked out for wisdom teeth??

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Hexenherz posted...

Damn you got knocked out for wisdom teeth??

I needed all four out, all 4 were impacted and I elected to be put out. Didnt want to be awake for it. I was expecting to be in a ton of pain because I heard wisdom teeth suck but it was practically painless.

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Huh. I wish I had that option lol they just gave me local anesthetic. It was uncomfortable but bearable. Really could have done without the doctor's narration of events though (I didn't *really* need to know that that pressure and popping / cracking sound was setting a bone back in place...).

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I got knocked out to remove Adnoids I think, when I was 12 or 13. You go under really fast. The doctor counted down from 10 and I think I only ever heard to like 8 or 7. I had no dreams. And it seemed like I just closed my eyes for a second and then I opened them again and it was a few hours later and was in a different room

Hexenherz posted...

Huh. I wish I had that option lol they just gave me local anesthetic. It was uncomfortable but bearable. Really could have done without the doctor's narration of events though (I didn't *really* need to know that that pressure and popping / cracking sound was setting a bone back in place...).

Thats always nice lol. I did wake up as they were finishing up but I could not feel a thing. I didnt really want any memory of the experience so thats why I told them I needed to be put out.


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It'll be fine. You won't even know you've been put under until after you wake up.

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I went under for my wisdom teeth extraction as well (all 4).

I also went under for kidney surgery (had a huge stone was too big to break up with lithotripsy). I get told I wont remember anything about the time leading up to it but I do.

Basically they tell you that youll be unconscious soon and then it hits you pretty suddenly. I had like a second where my vision lost focus and then I was out.
Waking up for me isnt really any different than waking up from sleeping, but youll feel woozy and possibly nauseous (I threw up both times after my surgeries about an hour or two later)

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It feels like you're bags of sand for a few hours.

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You won't even notice going to sleep. It's been awhile since I've had an actual surgery but when I was like 21 I had my wisdom teeth removed and they put me under. I was literally just talking and having a conversation with the dentist guy and then BAM next thing you know I'm in some waiting room and they tell me my friend is there.

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I honestly don't remember anything. I was lying on the table, the doctors were saying something. Next thing I know I'm waking up with a weird sensation in my throat and I asked the nurse if the surgery was done.

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Many times. Most of it was done from 3-6. Of those, I remember the last one and the skin graft they took from my hips which was the most painful part. I also had my tonsils out at 6 after all me ear surgeries. Had another 3 ear surgeries later in life. One in sixth grade, one in tenth grade, and one back in 2014. Also had my wisdom teeth pulled out in HS, dunno what they used for that because I was pretty much asleep and couldn't feel pain but I still felt my head being pulled forward so I wasn't completely asleep?

The best part is when you're in bed with a regular IV waiting to be carted in to the operating room and then right when they cart you off they put whatever they put in so that same IV starts pushing pain meds in and you lose all control of your muscles and all you can do is sit there and smile the widest smile you've ever smiled.
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I've had brain surgery. I'm 100% sure I'd rather be unconscious for that than awake. You'll be fine.

No one's forcing you to be asleep for it but trust me when I say you're better off and more likely to survive if you're asleep. If you're awake, you can die from shock-induced pain.

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SF_Okami posted...

I needed all four out, all 4 were impacted and I elected to be put out. Didnt want to be awake for it. I was expecting to be in a ton of pain because I heard wisdom teeth suck but it was practically painless.

I had this same problem in high school. Had to get anaesthesia for 4 impacted wisdom teeth AND two teeth in front of them lol.

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TC ignore the doom stories. Most people get out out and it's fine.

I had an endoscopy last year I needed anaesthesia for. Basically you get the IV, and in maybe 5 seconds you just close your eyes, and open them back up and the surgery is all done. You feel kinda groggy for a few hours after but it's basically just like getting a bad nights sleep.

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Kaiganeer posted...

just cross your fingers and hope that you don't get anesthesia awareness

Oof, I wouldn't have mentioned that in a thread from someone concerned about going under.

Like everyone else is saying, it no biggie, I had it on Wednesday, and get to do it agin tomorrow.

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Went under for the 1st time last year to get my appendix removed. They put a mask on my face and asked me to take deep breaths and count to 10. Made it to 4 and blacked out. Felt like a strong migraine hit me like the fluids and veins in my head and brain tensed up.

Woke up later in agonizing pain after the surgery I knew instantly what just happened

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At least thrice.

Ever taken NyQuil? Its basically super NyQuil that knocks you out in like 5 seconds and you are extra groggy when waking up.

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you essentially shut your eyes for what feels like 1 second and next thing you know youre in the recovery room

it's the weirdest thing ever, i remember being conscious listening to them count down from ten, thinking to myself there's no way i'm just going to lose consciousness, and literally the next memory i have is them shaking me and telling me the operation was done

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Last time, it took longer than I remembered from the first 2 times, and I was about to say something, then I woke up in recovery

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I have had a few surgeries in my day and every time I puked a ton for the next few days afterwards. Other than that, it's not really all that bad.

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They put the mask one me and told me to count back. I remember making it to 8, the next thing I know, I'm slowly opening my eyes in recovery. Felt like maybe 5 seconds had passed when it was hours.

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They had a hard time waking me up after surgery both times, was knocked out for around 2 hours each time. I cant explain why it was hard to get me up, nor did I ask or moreso to groggy to ask or care.

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