Anesthesia Questions.

[_bribri1001 62]

Im starting my initial visit this month with surgeon. I am really excited and anxious about this surgery. The only thing I am a little scared about is going "under" I have never had any type of surgeries before and I am just wondering how the process goes as far as them pitting you to sleep and what were some of the side effects some of you may have had? Good or bad experience?

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[Sophie74656 1,572]

There are no side effects from general anesthesia.

They wheel you into the operating room, you slide over onto the table then they give you the good stuff. For me it was a gas they put a mask on me and after a couple of breaths the next thing i knew i was waking up in recovery

[2goldengirl 2,076]

I had a little sore throat from the tube down my throat, it was fine by the next morning.

My sleeve was my ninth experience with anesthesia. No problems at all.

[KristenLe 5,980]

There are several side effects of anesthesia but nothing to worry about. They will initially give you something by IV that will calm you. You won't remember much once you're "under" but waking up you will be groggy, your throat will be sore, and you may be cold (shivering) but the Recovery Room RNs will do everything to make you comfortable. They will ask you alot of questions pre-op so don't hesitate to ask the Anesthesiologist any questions. I have had a few surgeries and one I wasn't able to have general anesthesia so had a spinal and I much prefer to be "under"! Try not to worry - but be sure to ask any question you have of the surgeon or operative team.

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[Bufflehead 6,358]

I didn't have any gas mask, my anesthesia was via IV. I was wheeled into the operating room, transferred to the operating table, was chatting with the doctors and nurses, and then BAM I woke up in recovery. I never had any sensation of "falling asleep." Just one minute I was conscious and completely awake and aware and then I was in recovery.

I had some pain from the surgical gas used for inflation during surgery, but no problems from the anesthesia itself. I was afraid I was going to be nauseated and throwing up after surgery (since that happened to me with general anesthesia before) but I wasn't. They gave me an anti-nausea patch behind my ear before surgery and I think that helped a lot.

[Miss Mac 6,262]

My sleeve was my12th surgery and the easiest recovery of them all. They will probably put a little "relaxer" in your IV, so that you don't really care about having surgery. When they get you transferred to the operating table, they may ask you to count backwards from 100. I got to 98, and the next thing I know, they were waking me up in recovery.

My throat was a little sore, too, but not as bad a screaming all the way through a basketball game - and only for a couple of days.

i had heard about this "shoulder gas" so I asked my surgeon how he handles pain management. He said he extracts as much of the CO2 as possible, before closing up. Consequently, I did not have any shoulder gas to deal with.

In case you are not informed on this, during almost any abdominal surgery, CO2 is used to expand the abdominal cavity so that the surgeon can see better and manipulate his tools more easily.

Just think of it as a nice nap, and when you wake up, you will be ready to re-invent yourself. I wish you a safe surgery and uncomplicated recovery.

[FrankyG 1,450]

A small percentage of people (like me) experience bad nausea when coming out of general anesthesia. I make sure to tell them that before surgery (and reminder when placing IV/speaking to nurse and anesthesiologist) and they put something in before the full anesthetic to prevent the nausea. So if you do end up feeling sick to your stomach - tell the nurses as soon as you can say anything and they can help you then. But keep it in mind to speak up prior to surgery for the next time.

I never remember anything from even before them administering anesthetic; I get amnesia from about thirty minutes prior to them starting it to being at the tail end of my recovery room time (if I remember the recovery room at all). Which doesn't bother me at all. But the funny part is apparently I'm able to hold intelligent conversations with the doctors/nurses and have no memory of them whatsoever!

But mostly it is no big deal, and should be like falling asleep when you're already really tired to begin with. And you'll wake up feeling like you just dozed off more than likely.

[kaitlynm 335]

@@Miss Mac, I was wondering if anyone was ever asked to count back from 100 like they do on TV. I have had 4 surgeries under a general and never once did they ask me to do that.

Mine have all been about the same. They put a little "margarita" in the IV on the way to the operating room, ask you to scoot onto the table, and pretty soon you wake up in recovery. It was the only sleep I got while in the hospital for the sleeve.

[AvaFern 3,516]

I had massive nausea after sleeve surgery although I'm not sure if it was the anesthesia or the narcotics. You will be knocked out via your IV...the mask you might see is oxygen. When they knock you out the use that mask with a bag and jack up your O2 saturation level. You should be at 99 already, but with pure 02, you get there quickly. When they intubate you, you are paralyzed during the time they are doing the intubation, so you aren't breathing. This is all a very quick process and your 02 sat very rarely drops much unless you are an overly difficult tube, in which case they just use the mask again and the bag and get your saturation back up. The process of being knocked out works different depending upon whether they sedate you beforehand. They may give you a little versed in your IV, or have you take a valium. If that happens you're not going to remember much about the OR. If not, then all you do is slide over onto the OR table, and first they push the drug that knocks out, and then they push the paralytic. Both of them are awesome, but the second one is best, lol. You will literally remember about 3 seconds of it and then wake up feeling like crap.

In my plastics procedures I had a valium for the first one so that my pectoral muscles would relax and I had memory loss for days. The next two I waited until I was in the OR, which is when I distinctly remember the process more so than the other times.

The idea of being knocked out is scary, however all of your vitals are managed by the anesthesiologist. She or he writes everything down every 5 minutes and everyone is very aware of how you are doing. You will wake up and feel like it's been five minutes.

[lifeofblair 308]

Personally, the side effect I get from anesthesia is nausea and I know this will happen and expect it. I was scared when it happened after my surgery because it was all blood and I was scared in my delirious mind that I ripped my stomach open. I was completely fine once it was out of my system though. I honestly don't even consider this a problem since I know it will happen to me, but I have had anesthesia several times over the years.

[sgc 538]

I had gallbladder surgery where I needed general anesthesia. Haven't gotten my sleeve yet. Can't tell you how they administered it. Last thing I remember was being wheeled into the operating room. Don't remember getting on the table. Woke up in the recovery room. Was a little confused at first. Didn't know what was going on. No nausea. I did have pain in my left shoulder the first night.

I was thinner and younger then so I worry sometimes about going under now but probably not worth worrying about.

[KELLIEDN 11]

This was my third time on General Anesthesia. The other two times I remember getting on the operating table and them putting the mask on me. Each time I was given a little something to relax me before going in.

This time, I remember being wheeled into the operating room....and that is it. Next I knew I was waking in recovery. A bit of nausea. That is pretty much it.

Everyone is different, except for that weird hazy confused and a little lost feeling you get when you wake up in recovery....

[Chrissy1068 4]

I get nauseated and throw up. They try and prevent it but sometimes they do not give me the right combinations of drugs.

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I get nauseated and throw up. They try and prevent it but sometimes they do not give me the right combinations of drugs.

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[jmg79 10]

Im starting my initial visit this month with surgeon. I am really excited and anxious about this surgery. The only thing I am a little scared about is going "under" I have never had any type of surgeries before and I am just wondering how the process goes as far as them pitting you to sleep and what were some of the side effects some of you may have had? Good or bad experience?

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I was worried about the anesthesia, too, since I'd never gone under. The nice thing is they give you something to relax you before you get to the operating room and by the time you get on the table they do some magic and you're out. You don't feel or remember a thing and wake up in the recovery room. I think the only side effect I noticed was that it messed with my emotions. Make sure to keep an eye on your mood and let your Dr. know if you need help.

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