10 replies to this topic

[loki]

I'm just curious if any of you have been under general anesthesia and what was your experience when you woke up from it? I had a surgery last year where I was paralized and very weak for several hours after waking up from it. I felt as though I was completely awake, but I just couldn't move. It was very much like sleep paralisis we experience with narcolepsy. I wasn't expecting it at all, no one warned me about that being a side effect of general anesthesia. I was breathing on my own during it. I'm just wondering if this is a narcolepsy thing or if it's something anyone might experience after general anesthesia?

[sleepless sleeper]

I've not had problems, but I haven't been put to sleep under gen. anth. in yeaaarrrrrssss.

But THAT IS ONE OF MY BIGGEST FEARS. I think it's because I'm terrified of not being in control of my body and so I'm going to die. I'm NOT KIDDING. It scares me. I'd rather play with snakes and spiders. Actually, I like snakes and spiders. There's not much I won't stand up to, but the last time that I went under gen anth I made the anth. and the surgeon PROMISE me that if I died they could bring me back. It was the last thing I remember them saying, I went under making them promise. That was when I had my jaw broken. How else were they suppose to put the plate in? Believe me, I came up with a ton of ideas for my doctor, but alas, he just poo poo'ed them away... Heartless.

[mdTO]

I had that exact same experience. The nurses just looked at me like I was crazy when I tried to explain it was due to narcolepsy.

I'm just curious if any of you have been under general anesthesia and what was your experience when you woke up from it? I had a surgery last year where I was paralized and very weak for several hours after waking up from it. I felt as though I was completely awake, but I just couldn't move. It was very much like sleep paralisis we experience with narcolepsy. I wasn't expecting it at all, no one warned me about that being a side effect of general anesthesia. I was breathing on my own during it. I'm just wondering if this is a narcolepsy thing or if it's something anyone might experience after general anesthesia?

[AckDreams]

I always have been very slow to wake from anesthesia and I usually have sleep paralysis for minutes when I do become conscious and I have many minutes of amnesia. Every time I've been put under my family has said that when I finally was awake enough and moving I was completely confused, had no idea where I was and had to be held down because I was trying to get up or something. I only have vague recollections of any of the incidences. I'm told my reactions are not all that rare though. Anytime I'm in a hospital I usually tell the nurses I'm hard to wake up and that it's easiest for me if they just shake my shoulders and talk to me to wake me.

[Holly3216]

I am slow to wake up from anesthesia, but I thought it was like that for everyone. For "twilight anesthesia", I've asked them to go lighter on it, and that has helped. The first time that I had twilight anesthesia, I was having my wisdom teeth out. When I "woke up", they were telling me to get out of the chair, and it took all of my will and energy just to put one leg over the side of the chair and then the other, and at first, I couldn't really see much of anything. They ended up having two nurses pretty much drag me to the recovery area, one under each shoulder (while I was just barely getting one foot in front of the other, and not really managing to be upright). And then I had to lay down for at least 30-45 minutes before trying to move.

A couple of years ago, I got IBS, so I had to get a colonoscopy. I asked the anesthesiologist to "go light" on the anesthesia, because I had trouble waking up in the past. He was really careful to keep me *just* under, and it went a lot better. I woke up almost immediately after, could walk and was fine.

For the heavier, general anesthesia, it is harder for me to notice whether or not I have control or not, because I am so out of it. Last time I was under general, I had at least 30 minutes where I couldn't move but I could hear and comprehend everything that was going on around me... enough to hear some nurse commenting, "Why is *she* still here?" and hear the other one say that the ward I was supposed to go to had gotten some emergency patients who had filled the last few rooms, so they were trying to find a different room in a different ward. But yeah... they had no idea that I was conscious... I couldn't move, and couldn't even open my eyes until some point when they finally figured out where they were going to put me and got me rolling to the room... and even after I was in the room, it was quite a long while before I really started moving limbs and trying to communicate...

I've heard that everyone metabolizes anesthesia differently (I have friend who is super-fast, and they have trouble keeping her under), so I just figured that it was due to that... but I was relieved with the colonoscopy that the anesthesiologist was able to adjust the dose, and that made it easier. The anesthesiologist said that if you don't drink, smoke or put a lot of other strain on your body, that you can be much more sensitive to anesthesia... don't know if that's true or not... but talking to the anesthesiologist before the twilight anesthesia and letting him know that I had a hard time waking up really helped... he really tried to keep the meds light to make it easier on me (since he knew that there was less danger that I would metabolize the meds too fast and just pop awake)... I think that they tend to give a "normal" dose of anesthesia if they don't know how it will work on your body... but for some people, it is not enough and for some of us, it is a little bit too much...

[bluestarr78]

Wow. This is crazy. I believe there is a connection. I just had a major abdominal surgery last week. They gave me general anesthesia. When I woke up I was sitting there and I have to tell you it felt EXACTLY like a sleep paralysis episode. They were telling me, "Come on, you have to wake up!" I have no clue how long this went on. But I kept fading in and out of it for quite a long time. I could barely keep my eyes open at all. For some of the time, I was awake but just couldn't move, exactly like SP. I could hear everyone talking but couldn't muster the energy to speak or tell them I was Actually awake, listening to them. They were getting quite frustrated with me. Then, several times I went into complete hypnogogic hallucination mode. I hallucinated someone jolting me around and then getting up and walking (as you know, this seems 100% real and legimate lol) and was proud of myself repeatedly just to suddenly find myself back in the wheelchair unable to move a limb still. They told me after that I had taken an enormously long time to wake up and that it was quite unusual to them. I think they were glad to get rid of me lol!



I tried to tell them beforehand that I believed I may have trouble dealing with anesthesia because when I had my C-section several years ago I felt like I was asleep for nearly 2 days, on and off. The nurse refused to put that I had problems waking from anesthesia and wrote it off saying since it was a spinal anesthetic, that that was the reason why, when I woke up, I could hear stuff going on, but could not muster the energy to move a limb. Just hear and barely open my eyes enough to see roughly what was going on.

[bluestarr78]

Crazy: Look at what I just found:



http://www.scientifi...dont-understand

[drago]

I understand everyone's concerns with waking up after general anesthesia, but to be totally honest, my concern is with being "under" anesthesia.

I had an ER trip that was suspected appendicitis. Obviously, in that case, it would be emergency surgery, but it was the first time I really thought about needing surgery.

I've had trouble with sleep paralysis from a child. During middle and high school, my parents were constantly annoyed by my "selective memory," which was actually automatic behavior -- they'd wake me up and have long conversations with me, and I'd respond (usually agreeing to get ready for school OR to do a number of chores). Unfortunately, I wasn't awake at all. This same trend continues with my ability to solve puzzles (to turn off alarms) among other things without waking up.

So just as much as I've had issues with waking up, what bothers me more is the sleep paralysis (which is very painful for me, even without hypnogogia). Sleeping isn't a passive activity for me, so who's to say that general anesthesia will be? Maybe I'll appear unconscious, but I'll actually be conscious.

Anyone have any idea if narcoleptic patients are more or less likely to be conscious (or semi-conscious) on the table?

drago

[Hank]

These comments made me think about a few hard-to-explain experiences. The first time I had surgery was to improve my breathing and fix a deviated septum. I was under general anesthesia. I was aware during part of the surgery although I could not move, see or feel pain. I could hear and feel the pressing while a bone spur in my nose was chiseled. I told this to my ENT surgeon afterward and he said that was not possible under general anesthesia. I told him I know he was hammering and pointed to where I had felt a weight on my chest. He was surprised that where I pointed on my chest was where he had leaned his elbows while hammering. The next time I had surgery was for a hernia. It was supposed to be twilight anesthesia but I did not go under easily, so I was eventually given general anesthesia. When I have had novacaine for dental work, it often wears off early. The last time, I required 3 injections instead of 1 before I felt numb. I don't know if this is some paradoxical effect or if this is common in PWN. I had not drawn a possible connection before. Thanks for making me consider this before having my wisdom teeth extracted- I don't want to remember that.

[MINItron]

I have experienced the extreme delay in recovering from IV general anesthesia when having teeth pulled, but not from general anesthesia when I had surgery in the hospital. I have only had surgery in the hospital twice. Once for a varicocele ligation, and again to have spinal cord stimulator implanted. With the dental surgery it took my wife nearly an hour to wake me up. With the surgeries I woke just as they wheeled me into the recovery room. Of course, there is a difference in who was administering the anesthesia.

Since the stimulator implant surgery I have had problems with back pain, and I have had several injections and radio frequency nerve ablations. The sedatives they gave me the last time I had an ablation nearly took me out. The doctor had to keep reminding me to breath until it started to wear off.

[exanimo]

I haven't had any general anesthesia. I think I might have had it once, when I was like 5 years old, because I had to have a tiny piece of glass removed from my eye. But I don't remember that. My parents did tell me that the entire time it was agonizing for them because they had to hold me down and I was screaming even though I was "under". I had an IV anesthesia when I had my wisdom teeth pulled. I do remember some of what the oral surgeon was talking about to the nurse. I would have to ask my mom though if it took them a long time to wake up or not.

But what I have a lot of experience with is dental work. I've been given the injections of Novocaine numerous times, and what I notice is that it takes HOURS for the numbness to wear off. I thought this was entirely normal, but apparently it shouldn't be more than an hour (depending on the level and whether it's Novocaine or another anesthetic). But after research I came to the conclusion that it was normal because everyone metabolizes the anesthetics differently. But this post makes me wonder if it may indeed, be related to the Narcolepsy. Even though with the local anesthetics I'm not waking up. I'm not sure. Just thought I'd put my two cents in!