effects of general anesthetic

[T_Pot]

I had some fairly routine surgery thursday to make the airways in my nose larger (snoring) and a general camera inspection under sleep induced conditions.

now apprently, the start when i was awake was fine, but where they sent me to sleep like state (not surgery sleep) it went a little wrong, i had a load of flem come up, my voicebox went into spasm and i choked and stopped breathing for a short while. all this was nothing life threatening and sounds far more glorious than it was im sure, they put me then into surgery state sleep and carried out the op on my septum


however, im still like a drip now....i have no energy, cant concentrate and generally feel like ive had the crap kicked out of me.. the nose isnt painful at all really, but my throat is sore and the roof of my mouth is numb (clamp?)

just wonder how long this crap takes to get out of your body? its horrible feeling and im also so bored of this poxy bedroom.

[stackmonkey]

I've had day surgery 3 times, and was 'out' for between 15 mins and 45 mins each time.
I wasn't allowed to drive, sign documents etc for 48 hours after and I didn't feel right until 3 days after from being out for 45 mins.

[ukwill]

I had a knee op (under general) at lunchtime and got a cab home later in the evening. I think it might depend on a number of variables.

[Hoofy]

I would also consider the painkillers you're taking since the op. One very strong brand (I forget which) did the job but made me feel dizzy and sick. I stopped using it once I found out and just used paracetamol. That is not a recommendation but just what I ended up doing! If you do come off the prescribed medication and your head falls off, it's your own fault.

[rog3k]

I had a 'small' procedure done last Friday afternoon & was 'out' for less than an hour overall but, for other reasons, was kept in overnight & went home next morning. I felt perfectly able to drive but was told not to for (only) 24 hours. I guess it may depend on how "far under" you're anaesthetised, what type, etc - I'm no doctor or anaesthetist so don't know any of the technicalities - just what happened & how I was.

[Six Fiend]

We're all different, some take longer than others as our bodies cope differently with different levels of GA.

I've had a couple recently, one took me 3 weeks (it all got very messy due to accidental arterial slicings!) and the other just over a week to get over.

Due another shortly so won't plan anything for a week afterwards.

[lazystudent]

I had an op on my shoulder about 12months ago that was supposed to take an hour under GA, keyhole, but ended up taking closer to 5hours and I've got a whopping great scar now. Felt terrible afterwards for about a day, but then I was absolutely fine, aside from the pain in my shoulder. To be fair, given the painkillers I had, it might have been hard to separate the difference between coming off the GA for a few days and being under the influence of the meds...

[SPR2]

I had an arthroscopy under general anesthetic and it left me with a very sore throat and roof of mouth for about a week.Had a lunchtime op and able to come home 4 hours later and to take 2 asprin daily for two weeks.

[T_Pot]

And to make it worse, coffee now tastes foul.........nothing else seems to taste different, just coffee....

[Dr John]

To be honest the effects of most modern anaesthetics wear off very quickly and are negligible after an hour or two. Pain killers, particularly the opiates (morphine etc), are another matter; they hang around for ages and make you feel like st.
More important however are the affects of the surgery which, even when done under local anaesthetic, can make you feel generally rough for quite a long time.
John
Consultant anaesthetist

[Superficial]

I had a minor op last year, was under GA for less than an hour and when they wheeled me back to the ward where you're meant to sleep it off for a couple of hours I was fine and didn't sleep at all. I pulled the sticky pads off my chest while I was waiting for a nurse to see I was awake! Ended up being discharged within an hour, mainly because they knew I was stressed about being in hospital. Didn't feel any more effects of the GA after that, only pain was from the operation site.

[ukwill]

Dr John said:

To be honest the effects of most modern anaesthetics wear off very quickly and are negligible after an hour or two. Pain killers, particularly the opiates (morphine etc), are another matter; they hang around for ages and make you feel like st.
More important however are the affects of the surgery which, even when done under local anaesthetic, can make you feel generally rough for quite a long time.
John
Consultant anaesthetist

Can you elaborate a bit further about why you can feel rough for a long time? What is it that causes this, from a physiological perspective? (if indeed it is simply physiological).

[Dr John]

ukwill said:

Can you elaborate a bit further about why you can feel rough for a long time? What is it that causes this, from a physiological perspective? (if indeed it is simply physiological).

It's the stress response that occurs following ANY kind of major injury, be that accident or surgery. It involves a whole host of hormonal surges including cortisol and other steroids, insulin, and locally released kinins and other inflammatory mediators. There is activation of the sympathetic nervous system (flight and fight) and sodium and water retension among many other complex changes. This response can be suppressed to some extent by some anaesthetic techniques but not completely. It is much more pronounced following some types of trauma (for example burns) than others.
Generally, the magnitude of the metabolic response is proportional to the severity of the surgical trauma. These changes have probably evolved to aid survival in a more primitive environment, by mobilizing substrates, limiting tissue damage, destroying infectious organisms and activating repair processes.


Summary here; http://ceaccp.oxfordjournals.org/content/4/5/144.f...

John

[ukwill]

Dr John said:

It's the stress response that occurs following ANY kind of major injury, be that accident or surgery. It involves a whole host of hormonal surges including cortisol and other steroids, insulin, and locally released kinins and other inflammatory mediators. There is activation of the sympathetic nervous system (flight and fight) and sodium and water retension among many other complex changes. This response can be suppressed to some extent by some anaesthetic techniques but not completely. It is much more pronounced following some types of trauma (for example burns) than others.
Generally, the magnitude of the metabolic response is proportional to the severity of the surgical trauma. These changes have probably evolved to aid survival in a more primitive environment, by mobilizing substrates, limiting tissue damage, destroying infectious organisms and activating repair processes.


Summary here; http://ceaccp.oxfordjournals.org/content/4/5/144.f...

John

Thanks.