Have you ever been under general anesthesia? What was it like? Did anything strange happen?
As a compliment to the thread about near death experiences I'd really like hearing people's experiences of losing consciousness under general anesthesia and what's it like coming back.
Also interested of things anesthetists may have noticed about this during their career.
Yes, a few times. Each time I went from feeling awake and alert to suddenly being somewhere else and feeling groggy and hungry. Nothing strange otherwise.
Yeah exactly that. Anesthesiaologost said countdown from 10, got to seven both times them woke up hours later back in the ward.
I remember being a cheeky kid at the time and asking "what if I hit zero?", the anesthesiologist told me "okay, count from 100"... Yeah I didn't make it past 97....
I didn’t even began to count! I was asking what kind of drug they were using, I remember the nurse saying it was not opioid and then black! The strangest thing for me is that you fall asleep suddenly and abruptly so is different from a normal sleep
When I woke up I was like “oh I’m sorry, I must have fallen asleep.” The nurse just laughed then it hit me, I was supposed to fall asleep. Lol
To me it felt like THE BEST dreamless nap.
Did you feel rested afterwards?
I did!
The profound nothingness is almost hard to believe. I’m not talking an empty sleep—I mean it feels like someone cut a segment out of the film strip of your life.
The first time I was fully knocked out like that was for tooth surgery, and I thought the doctor was messing with me when he said they were done already—from my perspective I had barely closed my eyes for a moment. Sure enough, there was gauze in my mouth and the sun was setting outside. It had been over 90 minutes, and I didn’t even feel like I’d slept.
Wisdoms? Same experience for me. My partner was in the room with a nurse asking me about my pain level. At first I was confused, what pain? Then as consciousness properly barrelled in I managed to sob an '8' through the gauze. I preferred oblivion at that point - they had to take a big chunk of bone and boy did I know it at that moment
I'm kind of sad that I never got to experience that, to be honest. I only had two wisdom teeth- 1 on the top left and 1 on the bottom right. The right was set to be impacted, but apparently it hadn't grown any roots, yet (I was 17 or 18) so they decided it just get it out with a local. It was... unpleasant. The top left one has never come through, either, so I may well not have bothered 😓
Same for me. I remember starting to count down from 10 and feeling intensely sleepy, and then waking up on the bed asking when they were going to start the surgery and the nurse was like, lol, that happened a while ago mate. So weird.
Twice, for my wisdom teeth and my colonoscopy. The first time I didn't feel anything and I was out as soon as he put the drug in the IV. I blinked and woke up in the waiting room afterwards. I was groggy and my cheeks were packed with gauze, but I was fine after that
For the colonoscopy I felt the slight chill in my veins, and it felt like I was giving into a very deep sleep that I really wanted. However I was exhausted from shitting my brains out the night before so I definitely did want to sleep lmao.
When I woke up I felt a little high and super well rested, it was great, like I had just smoked a small bowl. One thing they don't tell you about colonoscopies until the day of is that they put air up there as the camera goes up so they can see inside more clearly, and you "expel" all that air when you wake up.
The nurse told me the procedure was finished as I came to and as I lay there high and half asleep, I RIP HUGE ASS. I'm holding in laughter like a little kid because fart jokes are still funny especially when I'm high lmao.
I get into the car and my gf has a sandwich waiting for me. I hadn't eaten solid food in about 24 hours and I was still kind of high. Best fucking sandwich of my life.
"I was groggy and my cheeks were picked with gauze" could apply to either procedure, one with horrifying implications.
Here they offer you CO2 instead of air. Gets mostly absorbed and much less farting.
It isn't like anything. One moment you are counting down, the very next moment you are waking up. Time does not pass for you. It's one instant (counting down) to the next (waking up.) It's very strange. Like you skipped through time. Like you magically moved forward in time instantaneously. You will never have memories from when you are under.
Honestly, I've wished that experience was possible for other times. I know it's dangerous and that's why it's not. But general anesthesia is just such a better experience than local. Eg, I had a dental filling the other day. That uses local anesthesia and it's quite stressful (especially as my first time undergoing that). I found myself wishing it was as convenient as how general anesthesia is just blink and it's done.
I also wish it were so easy to fall asleep. It sucks tossing and turning at night (especially when there's something big going on the next day, which only makes it harder to fall asleep), knowing how anesthesia can knock you out in seconds. My understanding is that anesthesia isn't sleep and won't give you the benefits of sleep, but the experience of drifting off so fast is still what I want from sleep.
I'll give you a piece of advice that's been very valuable to me, especially in the case of getting injections, which is always difficult for me. In the lead up to a local anaesthetic, and during, take a short-to-normal inhale through your nose (depending on your lung tolerance) and do a loooong, extended exhale, as long as you can extend it without needing to take too big a gulp afterwards. When you exhale, this pushes your diaphragm up into your heart, slowing your heart rate down and significantly decreasing the physical effects of anxiety.
It works very, very quickly, and if you do it for up to 5 minutes, the heartrate lowering effect can last several hours. Doing it regularly (5-10 minutes a day) has long term positive effects for your overall cardiovascular health, too.
I've never been one for meditation, but practices like that have probably been helpful to so many people because it naturally takes advantage of the relationship between breathing patterns and heart rate variability.
There are even more 'tricks' like this, such as the double inhale. Taking two very quick breaths in succession before that long exhale is even better at reducing your heart rate and generally calming you down. You've even done it before, but you wouldn't know it.
Children in particular will do this, and it can happen naturally when you're sobbing. Sometimes you'll take two short inhales like "huh, huh!" before going in for another cry rather than one big gasp- and this is why!
I hope this really helps you out, because it's very quick and straightforward, but boy does it work fast. Sometimes I've only remembered to-do it halfway through an unpleasant experience and it still banishes burgeoning pre-syncope and nausea. Good luck!
They told me they were starting to put me to sleep (can’t remember the exact words), and I must have gone under before they finished the sentence. Next thing I remember is waking up in the recovery ward, feeling completely at peace. The most peaceful I have ever felt in my life. I fell asleep again and woke up later in the same ward.
That Propofol and/or Fentanyl sleep is something else. For about a week after surgery I slept the most wonderful sleep.
I don't recall any lasting sleep benefits, but you're absolutely right that there ain't NOTHIN like a Propofol nap. Amazing. And when I woke up, completely, instantly awake, no grogginess or hangover effect.
No wonder MJ was addicted.
I don’t know what they gave me. I don’t recall them ever telling me. I do know that my sleep for the next three weeks sucked due to pain, and an abscess that got a little bit out of control.
Instantaneous time warp. One moment, I'm relaxing on the table before the procedure. Next moment, I'm being told the procedure's done.
It's like a human SIGSTOP, for all you programmers out there.
Yeah they put the tube in and I woke up 6 hours later. I was literally turned off and on.
I was a kid when I last had it. Really uneventful. "Count backwards from 10" and you're out by 6.
My wife had it a few months ago to fix a deviated septum. Her native language is Turkish. When she came to she was only speaking English. The doctors couldn't understand her "but she seems fine." I told her she was speaking Chinese just to fuck with her a bit. "Oh no! We need to get a dictionary!" It was really strange.. She understood Turkish perfectly fine but was completely unable to speak it.
Other than some funny after effects, it was mostly a non-issue for her as well. She was fine after a couple hours.
I remember the „count backwards“ trick well. What a flex.
Oh wait, my wife told me I was also leaning towards English a lot too when I woke up. I'm not a English native. However, I was switching to it after pauses or sentences.
Wonder how common this is.
Nothing. You breathe twice, then blackout. You wake up in a bedroom, feels like an unpleasant and quite huge hangover. Then, as the anesthesia fades away, you might feel the pain coming progressively (depending on what you have).
Yes, just last month. It was my first time. It wasn't a long procedure, took like 40 minutes ish. Anyway, I didn't feel anything. I just remember them telling me that they're gonna try to put me to sleep and that I should try to relax. Next I knew, I was waking up in recovery. I didn't even have any idea that I was in recovery already until I noticed that the surgical room was different.
It felt just like sleep, I didn't even have any dizziness afterwards. When done properly, that's how it should be.
Arm feels cold as it goes in, the feeling spreads, taste of copper in the mouth... wake up in recovery. Pretty straightforward.
When I got my wisdom teeth pulled I was put in general anesthesia. Funnily enough, like everyone probably, I tried staying awake. Doc told me to count down from 10, I was very determined to get it done, just closed my eyes for a bit but I managed to pull it off. Only thing is, that I was out between 6 and 5, and counted half the numbers in the wake up room. It's literally like a time warp. Super interesting imo.
what’s it like coming back.
Waking up and asking the same questions over and over. "It's over?" "We're done?" "It already happened?"
8 weeks ago, June 26. I remember getting ready, they put an IV in. I don’t remember anything after that until I woke up. When I woke up I was shivering, but I wasn’t actually cold. They immediately gave me some cookies and water and 2 Oxycodone pills and I got dressed and my mother-in-law took me to her place where I was staying the night.
Best sleep I've ever had in my life.
I remember thinking it's taking surprisingly long for the gas over my mouth and nose to do anything. A pretty surgical assistant was staring at my eyes and talking to me calmly, saying I was doing great. And I was doing great. Then the next moment I was suddenly startled awake again as completely different people were shouting and holding my arms, trying to bring me back to consciousness as I was flailing around in confusion. Apparently the surgery went well.
Went in for emergency surgery as a kid. I vividly remember the last few seconds, someone turned on the radio with heavy metal and the surgeon said "let's do this."
That's a hilarious thing to say out of context.
You pass out, and then you wake up with no memory of anything that happened in the meantime.
That is, unless they messed up the dosage and allowed you to regain consciousness. It happened to me once as a kid, I had to have a tooth removed but I was so scared that they had to put me under, but I woke up briefly during the operation and I remember the surgeon giving me nitrous oxide (I think that's what it was, because it had this sweet smell and taste) with a mask and telling my mom (who was in the operating room), "let's turn this down a little bit so we don't pass out too". Then I passed out again and woke up in the recovery unit.
I've been under general once, and it was like losing time. The surgeon started counting backwards from 100, my eyes crossed, then a nurse was offering me a sandwich in the recovery ward.
I was once in an operating room repairing a printer while there was a surgery going on. A nurse hustled me out when the patient started moving and groaning like he was in pain. An anaesthetist told me later that despite the movement and noise, he never woke up.
I've had several surgeries. Two types of anaesthetic.
First was when I was 4 years old, in the 1980s. Was a gaseous anaesthetic, through a gas mask.
It was a kind of quasi-consciousness, not that I remember having trains of thought or self-actualization, but I remember there being a feeling of the passage of time. I remember seeing colors. No pain during the procedure.
Second type of anaesthetic was for my second and third surgeries (aged 13 and 17), a normal liquid, IV-administered anaesthetic. This one was just a complete knock out blank for me. No cognizance of anything. I was just out in one moment during the backward from 10 countdown, and aware again in the recovery room, in what felt like 3 to 5 seconds later (it was, of course, a couple of hours later).
This second type of anaesthetic had the interesting post-surgery side effect of continuing to knock me out (with no time passage perceived) for hours after the surgery. I would, in my perception, blink, and my visitors would suddenly warp across the room because my eyes hadn't been shut for .1 second like it felt to me, but actually a couple of hours per occurrence, of dreamless, non-time-passing "sleep". Not an experience I'd had before, or since. The last surgery (17) was a bit less disconcerting in regards to this, because I knew in advance about the effect from the previous surgery (13) .
Counting down from 99 ... 98 ... 97 ... Wake up after surgery.
I had to count to 10, don't think I even made it to 3
I had general anesthesia, some kind of pretty strong opioid. "10... 9... 8...", then the room felt like it was spinning very briefly before everything went black. Only thing I remember about coming out of it was a sore throat due to intubation.
Loss of time. Scary, because apparently I was lucid for the ride home, talked with my friend who picked me up, but I remember NONE of it. Also, constipation.
Yes, when my wisdom teeth were pulled. They said, "count backwards from 10." I said, "10, 9, 8, 7," and then they were transferring me from a wheelchair to my mom's car. It was like no time passed between those two moments.
I remember them probing my arm for veins, then the surgery was over. Nothing in between, not even blackness.
I actually have a story. I was very young and was under for 10 hours. It was terrible, I felt every moment, I was trapped in a video game, Link's Adventure. Just repeating over and over. This isn't a joke, the experience was so traumatizing I won't go through surgery again. This was over three decades ago. I don't know what went wrong, why I experienced the passage of time. I thought I had literally gone to Hell, it was torture.
God that sounds terrifying
Would be pretty interesting to get the opinion of an anesthesiologist on this, I'm sure they could make a different cocktail to make sure any future surgery goes well :)
I remember them wheeling my bed from the staging room to go to the operating room, then waking up in recovery. No memory of ever being in the O.R. at all.
Same here. I was in Boston and needed an emergency ram-a-stick-down-your-throatoscopy to dislodge a lump of meat after I had an allergic reaction (fuck you Applebees). Full anesthetic but I managed to count down to 0 so the anaesthetist lost the bet and I didn't give him a OnePlus One invite code.
I was under anesthesia a couple of years ago for a minor procedure. The medicine they gave me to put me under made my insides feel really warm before I passed out. When I woke up I couldn't stop coughing and thought that I had contacted COVID while under. I did not, but it took a while before I was fully coherent.
Coughing was probably from the tube that was down your throat.
Once. Quite recently. Uh, nothing weird happened really.
While I was being administered, I could feel my eyesight drift upwards and I got clear memory of everything, including asking the doctor if they weren't going to ask me to do a countdown or to talk about a certain topic like my favorite show as I drift. I can recreate the entire conversation up to the moment I knew I was about to lose conscience and just let my head lean a bit for comfort.
However, once I woke up again, I had a full conversation with my wife and I remember exactly 50% of it. I did not slur words nor say anything weird. I moved myself from the stretcher to the bed on my own apparently, but no memory. I was basically fully in control of my own agency... except for the fact I was extremely prone to falling asleep on the spot, and my brain was basically refusing to retain most of it. I even had to pee to a container and apparently managed to do it without causing a mess despite falling asleep on it, and then waking up to hand over the container. Anything you asked, I could easily reply, and I was clearly listening to requests, but if you ask me to tell what was spoken and in what order, I'll fail you even tho I can recognize the event.
One thing I do not remember is the two nurses in the post-op room calling my name to check if I was good or any of the stretcher movement stuff. They did ask me what to call out beforehand, and said there was a procedure for checking on you before sending you to back to the overnight patient room, but that was the last I've seen them. Probably.
So, basically, that's it. Large blackout, then groggy with memory loss. Then normal.
You know when you nod off/nap jerk? Imagine that except you're groggier. You've probably also said some silly shit while you were under. My wife was a short stay nurse and people are essentially sloppy drunk before regaining consciousness
Worst case scenario story: my dad was put under for a detached retina. He "woke" up halfway through the procedure but couldn't move or speak. The anesthesiologist realized something was up when his heart rate spiked. Needless to say my dad was pretty shook because they literally had needles in his eye at that moment
Whatever they did to string me out for a tumour removal didn't work. I remember screaming a lot, hearing, "oh shit, put her under," then waking up to my well-meaning but idiot bf who had brought me a coffee.
Not the best day I've ever had.
I don't think they knocked me out enough last time. I woke up from a 4.5hr surgery well rested and even dreamed. I scared the nurse right next to my recovery bed because they had just wheeled me in and didn't expect me to be awake yet. I asked for my glasses and noticed everyone in the big level 1 recovery room was still sleeping. So I cracked some jokes. I then asked her how long the surgery has been because it felt like a while (was supposed to be 3hrs). She got a little freaked out and called the doctor who explained the surgery went a little longer due to some precision needed. I remember every moment from when I woke up to when they put me in the level 2 recovery room and was being walked to the car like 5mins later. I was a little bummed because I asked my husband to record me saying anything silly and he had nothing to work with except me thanking every single nurse I saw.
I went under for an appendectomy in 2004. I can remember the feeling of the anaesthetic moving up my arm (they put it in through a wrist cannula). It was weird. It felt like nothing. My hand just disappeared from my senses. I felt it moving up my arm and into my shoulder and into my neck and
It's like you close your eyes, and then 5 seconds later you open them and hours have passed. Nothing too weird happened, although I was a kid and so excited I remember them having to tell me to calm down and go to "sleep".
It's like you close your eyes, and then 5 seconds later you open them and hours have passed.
That's what it was like for me. However when I "woke up", my wife was in the room next to me and I was already sitting upright on the bed, dressed and shoes on. Apparently I had been awake for about a half hour and we both had a conversation with the doctor about how things went. I remembered none of it.
My biggest fear is that you are aware of everything and can feel the pain when under, but forget it all - men in black style - to leave a relatively ok experience if not a little sick feeling.
That's basically how it works. They generally give you painkillers too but anesthesia just removes the memories from you
Twice, and they were completely different experiences.
First was gas at the dentists for taking 3 teeth out as my mouth was overcrowded. I was kind of asleep, I could hear people's voices in a really trippy flanged way, and I could vaguely feel some tugging at my jaw (but no pain). The gas tasted awful.
The second was for an operation at hospital after an accident (requiring 6.5 hours of microsurgery). It was like jumping forwards 7 hours in time, literally counting the seconds after the anaesthetic went in at night, then immediately waking up in broad daylight. It is completely unlike deep sleep (where you still are aware that time has passed).
The first wouldn't be considered general anesthesia. Just heavy sedation.
I had a larger surgical procedure done when I was 7. They gave me the calming pre meds maybe half an hour before the operation to make sure that I wouldn't freak out with the IV. I remember clearly how strange it felt when the pre meds started to kick in, the whole world slowed down and everything felt "good".
Then they wheeled me into the OR and took my robe off. The operating table was cold and I commented on it, the anesthesia doctor just laughed and said "don't worry, in a minute it won't be". Then she put the IV in and asked me to count down from twenty. "Nine" was the last word I managed to stutter before I went under.
Then I woke up in the recovery room, about 9 hours later. It felt like I had slept a really long, dreamless sleep. The operation had gone as planned, but the recovery period in the hospital was still pretty painful.
Was under for a facture correction. Specifically asked to not be given drugs that would cause amnesia.
I was out for 2 to 3 hours. I dreamed. Woke up ready and willing to jump out of my bed; took me a fraction of a second to understand I was still at the hospital.
The weirdest thing I can mention is being extremely aware of all my senses, except for pain, which was what woke me. I was aware how many people were in the room by the sound of shuffling feet, the smell of disinfectant and sweat from the nurses nearly made me gag, the air in the room was too cold and the temperature under the sheets and blankets to warm. That part of me that had been cut felt hot and aching but the feeling of pain was distant; I was aware it hurt but it was not important. I just felt this need to run when I first opened my eyes.
Not a very good feeling.
Just went under for the first time a few days ago. Pretty sure the Xanax they gave me prior knocked me out before the anesthesia did. Only memory was getting up on the operating table then a few hours after I got home. No memory of anesthesia, waking up after the surgery or getting home. Woke up feeling groggy and didn't realize ~10 hours passed. Couldn't stand up and walk on my own until the next morning.
I broke my top jaw and needed surgery to put my front teeth back into place. I woke up in the middle of that one. I could see them operating in the little round mirror on the doctor’s forehead he used to direct light.
I was definitely still mostly drugged because it didn’t concern me at all and I felt nothing. The nurse and doctor, however, seemed concerned. Their eyes got HUGE. They said something to each other and I was out again. I remember that very vividly.
My girlfriend did that... Woke up in the middle of her shoulder surgery, as the doc was grinding bone away. She asked them to turn the monitor so she could watch. Doc did a double take, moved the monitor, and let her watch for a little bit... While motioning to the anesthesiologist. They must've bumped up the meds and knocked her out again, because she went back under.
Better too little, than too much.
It wasn’t general, but I lost the memory. Sort of. Signed up for a study involving donating my wisdom teeth. Got them pulled for free in return. They described how they were gonna give me an “amnesiac drug” which would help me forget the whole disturbing experience, or maybe even forget the pain I don’t know.
I sat down in a dentist’s chair. A lady in scrubs came in and said “Do you like drugs?”
“Yes”
“Then you’re gonna love this. Start counting backward from 100 for me.”
So I started counting down and then I came to walking down the hallway pushing an IV thing. I was walking toward the waiting room after the procedure.
What’s strange is the memory of them taking my teeth out isn’t gone, it’s just squished down to like 5 seconds. The entire thing, like a move in ultra fast forward. My head whipping back and forth as pliers grip and there are crunching sounds. But it’s all ultra fast.
Nothingness for general anaesthesia. Sedation for dental work was awesome: IV midazolam. Off to sleep just like GA but woke up at some point, super happy and relaxed. Waking up was like a long sleep. I loved it so much I asked if I could come in again for that without the operation. Turns out, no, that's not a thing. Shame.
I don't remember.
There's always a risk when getting anesthesia, but I've had it a few times for minor procedures and it's been "fall asleep, things happen, wake up groggy, back to normal after a while" for me.
Quite often! Like everyone else has mentioned, one moment you're in the OR, and then the next moment they're waking you up and making sure you're alright.
A lot of times they don't even seem to ask me to count backwards anymore, I remember one time I asked if they wanted me to and they said "Nope, we've already started the meds so you should be asleep in a few seconds", I remember getting very sleepy and saying something along the lines of "Oh, well that explains a lot" and then I was waking back up. There was a time where they did have me count backwards, and when I got to 80 they were quite confused - apparently my IV had an issue so I wasn't actually getting the meds (they generally use propofol and a local anesthetic over here, the local one first since propofol can have a burning sensation). They fixed it quickly, had me restart the count, and I don't even think I made it to 95 before being out.
I have never had any negative side effects from it thankfully, but I have noticed that the longer the procedure is, the more tired you feel after you come out of it. It's common for me to fall back asleep after a 7 hour procedure, but for one that is an hour or less once they wake me up I'm generally awake for the rest of the day.
I didn't understand you were counting down from 100, and the story reads very differently, lol
Oh whoops, I certainly could've phrased that better - that's what I get for commenting right after waking up!
(Not from anesthesia, but regular sleep 😅)
It was almost scarily smooth for me. I laid down on the operating table, they started prepping me up and I was out before I realized it. When I woke up minutes after the end of my short surgery I had clear memories of the moments before. There was no period of time where I felt confused or realized I was passing out or waking up. I went from being conscious, to unconscious, to wide awake pretty darn fast. The only numbness I had came from the painkillers. Or at least it's how it felt to me. Modern anesthetics are amazing.
Yep - it's both a science and an art.
Can you imagine doing it for a job?
I actually just had strabismus surgery this past Thursday. I was definitely nervous before going into the operating room, but I've been under before for a tonsillectomy. As I was wheeled on my gurney into the OR, they gave me a "half dose" of something to calm me down, but I didn't really feel much.
Getting in, it was all about the prepping going on around me. Doctors, nurses, residents, etc. all doing their thing. I had these compression-type wraps put on my legs that would squeeze every so often to prevent blood clotting. IV was on the top of my left arm (so much tape and adhesive I now have a few bald spots from arm hair being ripped - I'm a guy if that helps). I had white circles placed on the front of my chest and top of my shoulders which I believe tracked my pulse and such (also took hair when removed).
Everyone was nice, but there was definitely an efficiency and routine to the whole setup. My type of surgery is done regularly in that part of the hospital, so it's nothing new for them.
When it came time to go under, I was given the "other half" of the sedating drug (not sure on the name) and an air mask was held over my face. I was told to keep breathing in deeply. I did it for like 2-3 minutes before a doctor told the guy holding my mask to "increase it, you're a bit low". Maybe that was nitrous? As they were doing that, my arms were being strapped down and I joked if I needed a safe word since this is my first time using straps. They said sure, pick one. Before I could say "pineapples" I was waking up in the post-op area.
Everything was very bright and I was definitely groggy, so I just closed my eyes and let myself come back to reality. The right eye was covered in bandages and a head wrap with sutures just dangling from the inside corner of my eye - that was super weird and caught on the bandage frequently. Eventually I could use my left eye without squinting too much. I was given ice chips and tissues to clear my mouth out from the gunk buildup. Movement was pretty limited with the IV still there and not being able to move my eyes much.
It took about 2 hours before my mom was let in (she was the +1), then another 30 minutes or so for the surgeon to come in to wash my right eye of blood and adjust the sutures. That was a 3x process which wasn't painful, but really uncomfortable. I'd look at a light, they'd measure the eye movement between left and right, then lay me back and tighten the suture. Rinse and repeat until the doc was confident. Another 1.5 hours or so and I was able to leave.
Not sure if it's normal but I'd say I was coherent and ready to wear normal clothes by the 1.5 hour mark after surgery. By the end, I could move, change clothes, talk, everything, but hospital policy was to wheel me out. If you want to know about recovery after, I'd be happy to share - I'm on day 4 now.
I have, a few years ago, and it was for eye surgery. It went perfectly fine. I've second I was counting backwards from 10 and the next I was waking up in recovery.
However my dad, many years ago, went under for summer kind of arm surgery and woke up on the operating table.
As I understand it, the difference is that in the past, the administration of anesthesia by an anesthesiologist was tricky and imprecise. It took a look at your vitals, your weight, gender, whatever and use that to determine how much to give you. Sometimes your body however would be the kind that that wasn't enough for.
Now they monitor your vitals more precisely, and can tell by what your brain is doing whether or not you're properly under or not, and can adjust the anesthesia far more precisely.
It gives me the shudders to think of waking up on the table, but I suppose it beats the years prior to that, again, where it was "Jeremy, get the 40 proof... You, bite down on this and don't scream too loud, you'll pop a vessel."
It varies depending on the drugs used, I've been under multiple times now, the big one being for an open heart bypass.
That one I saw nothing, felt nothing, but coming out of it I remember them pulling out the breathing tube and putting me on a bi-pap machine. I had to beg to be taken off of it because it was stopping me from exhaling. I could breathe in fine, but the back pressure wouldn't let me breathe out.
Then the drugs, it was a combination of a bunch of things, propofol (the stuff that killed Michael Jackson), fentanyl (the stuff that killed Prince). Oxy, the works.
I was having weird hallucinations. If I closed my eyes, I could see a perfectly painted brick wall about a foot in front of my face. I could see the detail on the bricks and the mortar, the texture of the paint. Bonus - every time they put me in a different room, the wall would change color.
If you’ve ever done any time traveling before the fixed the hangover issues it feels like that.
Nothing weird. I’ve had both general anesthesia and the “twilight” stuff (versed no propofol).
I was put under general once in my 20s. I don’t really remember anything odd happening before or after, but I was sick as a dog after.
The last time under general I remember getting wheeled into the operating room. Then, chatting with the nurses/anesthesiologist, and then just a rush of the most amazing feeling ever. I got an “oooohhh fuuiuuccckkkkkkkk” out before passing out. I woke up freezing and shaking uncontrollably (I’ve been told this is normal). I remember parts of the drive home, and getting in the car, but not all of it.
Twilight was effectively the same. Got put in the oral surgeons chair, nurse said something like “here we go” and a rush of pretty good feeling, then out cold. This time I woke up at home with absolutely no recollection of getting there. Husband said I was talking a million miles a minute (not like me). He also said I totally thought I was just going to walk out to the car. My body apparently had other ideas. I woke up the couch in different clothes, so I’m sure that was entertaining trying to wrangle me into.
I didn't dream or perceive passage of time while I was under. I just instantly went from being put under for the procedure and waking up after it was done.
Had a kidney taken out. Once in the OR they gave me the stuff and I was out like a light. Woke up in post-OP feeling like I got hit by a bus, just groggy and sore from having a Mr. Handy digging around in my belly for a bean. But I healed up and am doing well.
I’ve been under a few times but the most memorable (in one sense) was when I had some minor surgery as a kid. From my point of view, it was like teleportation: I was in the operating room, I blinked, and I was suddenly on a bed in a completely different room. No sense of the passage of time.
Depends on the kind.
The good shit: I was just chatting joking with the nurse and doctor then I was really stupid and in pain several hours later
The dentist kind: I was awkward and fell asleep fairly quickly, woke up unable to feel pain but able to feel the vibrations of the drill in my teeth. Everything was fuzzy. Then I barely opened my eyes and promptly got another dose. I then slowly woke up over and over just to vomit in the recovery room. This took several hours. I eventually was able to be walked to the car and remained nauseous and vomiting for the rest of the day
I don't remember a damn thing. One moment there was a mask over my face and I was being asked to count backwards from ten (I think I got to about 8?), the next I woke up very bleary with a sore throat.
For a long time I thought I woke in a large room with three rows of cots. It wasn't until some years afterwards that I realised I never saw the room I awoke in.
I didn't feel high at any point, but then I have ADHD and even being shot full of morphine by a paramedic (the previous week) didn't get me high. I wuz robbed.
That has nothing to do with ADHD.
Once for a colonoscopy. Was totally lucid talking to the doctor & nurse then next thing I know I’m in the recovery room. I get dressed & am taken out in a wheelchair. I remember part of the ride home but clearly blacked out in the car for a bit. Had one or two similar blackouts that day, then nothing more.
Got propofol for a colonoscopy and it was like taking an amazing nap. One moment I'm talking to the doctor, the next I'm waking up in recovery a little groggy but feeling refreshed.
Like a snap of the fingers. Out and back. I remember waking up groggy and apparently I had thrown up on myself right before I woke up which is weird because I find throwing up traumatizing but I don't recall doing it...
Yes, several times. Surprisingly: my shortest surgery (10 min to remove a device) resulted in about 10 days of serious depression. A shrink says this happens about 10 percent of the time. I wish I'd known this in advance, I'd have opted out. I will be more cautious in the future.
As my steezy took pains to point out, general anesthesia is not sedation. General means you cannot breathe on your own. Sedation (like with propofol) means you can still breathe, but you have no working memory of what happens.
I’ve had sedation administered a few times in the past few years, two colonoscopies and a bone spur shave on my big toe.
Colonoscopies are fairly quick, maybe 30-45 minutes for the full procedure. There was a burn in my vein in as the injection was administered via IV, followed shortly by a dizziness that wasn’t altogether unpleasant. Next thing I know, I’m waking up in recovery. The dizziness lasted for about 7-10 minutes. Felt about 90% good for the rest of the day, 100% the next.
For the bone spur, I was out for about 2 hours. Experience was similar, except it took quite a bit longer for the propofol dizziness to wear off, maybe 4-5 hours. Not that I was going to drive anywhere with a recently operated toe, but there’s no way I would have tried. After a good night’s sleep, I felt 100% next day.
I fear anesthesia too much because I have those “redheads need a higher dose of anesthesia” genes even though I myself am not a “true” redhead.
With general anesthesia nothing really, I remember them pushing the meds and a strange sensation as they did so, then the next thing I know I'm being wheeled back to recovery. All times I was still a kid, so may not be the experience an adult has.
Under twilight sedation I never go completely under and usually remember the whole thing, the last time it happened they said I had an unusually high tolerance to the medication. It was enough to keep me calm, but I was very much alert and so I just asked the surgeon to narrate what he was doing because it was honestly fascinating. All those experiences were for eye surgeries as an adult.
alert
eye surgeries
Nope.
I was under general anesthesia three times in my childhood due to arriving into this world only partially assembled.
The first time I was sedated with ether (which I believe is not in use anymore) and only remember a nurse forcing the mask over my face before waking up to the sound of my father snoring next to me. I was violently ill for the next several days, but from what I hear I got off light compared to others.
For the next two I was given some kind of euphoric stimulant (via suppository, go figure) to calm me, but from what I've been told it instead made me hallucinate that I was driving a race car and did so all the way to the operating theatre much to everyone's amusement. I'm happy that I remember none of this and that it was before smart phones or I'd probably be on YouTube forever. 😅
A couple of times. This last time, I swore that I was conscious during the procedure and tried explaining it to the doctor when I woke up. I told him that I was sort of dreaming, and my brain was converting pain/pressure into stuff happening in the dream.
They didn't seem to believe me, and honestly I don't think I do either. I was really out of it when I woke up.
There are forms of anesthesia which give you a sense of passing time and allow for dreaming. It is given for small operations or when you were nauseous from the other missing-time one.
I had the light one when I had a teeth operation. I dreamt about nokia phones, how strong they are and that you can feel its toughness in your jaw when putting it towards your ears. Your theory is correct. How did the dream end? I ended up selling the nokia because it was too strong for me :D
Mine was also dental, so that checks out. My dream ended with a volcano for some reason.
Broke my arm snowboarding. It was totally crooked, they had to put me under to set it. I fell asleep couldn't move, but was awake the whole time. I just laid there and listened to the doctor and nurses conversations. The second time I had to get all 4 wisdom teeth pulled but they had to do a biopsy on a growth in my jaw. That one was just a count down then I woke up shivering in a medical bed next to other people that got put under. No dreams, just woke up and asked for a blanket.
I honestly just felt like a sleept 3days in a row, Reality was like 5~8 hours
Roll me into operating room. Think it was an IV drip, I was pretty scared. They are nice and talking to me about random stuff. They let me.knownthey are going to give me something to put me out. I feel a nice little high for a second. They ask me one more question and..... Boom I'm in recovery talking gibberish to a nice lady telling her I miss my wife. No pain yet, but I felt physically uncomfortable. I could tell someone had been digging around in my guts. Was so happy to see my wife when she came in. They said I took a while to regain consciousness. I guess they wanted me fully coherent before letting her see me. Anyway, the whole going under was easy. Felt like... Nothing.
The pain meds, that sucked. I thought I could just stop talking them once I felt like the pain was gone. Whoa, it felt scary. Like a hallucination without seeing anything. I cut them in half and slowly backed off.
Yes and no nothing happened. I always opt for general anesthesia. I'd hate to be awake for any surgery. It's great. Had 3 surgeries and they all were a breeze because of it.
The first time, I was barely sedated and had traumatizing hallucinations for what felt like ten minutes but what was probably less than a minute.
The second time, I was heavily sedated to the point of double vision and cannot remember anything after I put the mask on.
I found waking up unpleasant in both cases because of the paralytic agent.
You count down in the OR with someone pushing the meds through your IV and then you wake up. Some comments here say that they didn’t dream, but I did. I hardly remember but over a 5-6 hour surgery I remember having a dream that felt like months. The time under anesthesia felt much longer than the actual time that passed for everyone else. I’ve had it happen twice with more coming up and it’s always been the same.
One moment you're on the OR table, you blink your eyes and you are in the recovery room asking yourself "has it started yet?" Then you're very confused when they tell you "all done".
So what is it like? It is like nothingness.
It's pretty uneventful. I had surgery earlier this year and was put under. I recall them hooking up the IV, waiting 5-10 minutes, then coming back to wheel me into the OR. They had me transfer into the operating table, and I remember looking up at the bright lights and the surprising amount of people in the room for my basic surgery, and then the next thing I know, I'm waking up in my bed a couple hours later. I didn't feel groggy, it just felt like waking up from a deep sleep where you don't dream at all. Time passes in an instant.
I remember laying down in a very cold operating room where I had very thin clothing. I asked one of the doctors that I don’t feel anything, she said “we haven’t put you under anesthesia yet” next thing I remember is waking up after the surgery.
I think anesthesia also messes with your memory, because I’m pretty sure that I was still awake after asking the doctor but have no recollection of what happened.
The surgery was for a ruptured ACL in my knee.
Before you are administered gas you will be on an IV drip of propofol and midazolam and they will inhibit conscious memory processes
The first time, was for removing my wisdom teeth. Apparently I just sobbed when they woke me up. Then, when it was time to leave, I was feeling great and jumped right up. Turns out, I was not great and my legs absolutely collapsed under me.
Last time I went under, I was chatting to the doctor in the exam room. Next thing, I'm in the recovery room. There were people speaking Spanish in another part of the room, and for a moment I feared they had somehow taken me to Mexico. As my head cleared I realized how silly that was to think.
Both cases, I just vegged out on the couch for the rest of the day, recovering.
I was a squirmy kid who hated the dentist so they had to put me under for a few cavity fillings. I remember the smell of grape (it was a scented nose piece for kids) and then I was out before I knew what was happening. While under I had weird acid trip like dreams taking inspiration from my surroundings, and vaguely remember the next few events, but at the time had no idea it was based in reality.
At some point while I was under, I decided to push the little piece of rubber they use to keep your mouth open with my tongue while the doctor was working on me and bit down super hard. I remember a floating image of him swirling around spouting curse words I had rarely, or not really heard much at that age.
Eventually I woke up and was extremely disoriented, and not feeling well. On the ride home, my mom had to pull over so I could throw up on the side of the road. Later she told me how while I was under, and she was in the waiting room, at one point she heard my dentist yelp from down the hall.
I continued going to this dentist's office through my childhood, but never had that guy ever again, despite his name being everywhere inside and outside of the office.
When I was little I had to get stitches in my ear so they had to put me under while they stitched the top of my ear back in place, all I remember is sitting down on the medical bed then all of a sudden it was done and we were leaving.
When I was in the recovery room and still under the effect of the anesthesia I was, lets say "fresh" with one of the nurses.
A few times during my childhood. The thing I hated the most was the lingering smell of the gaseous anesthetic. In subsequent surgical procedures, I requested an ivy approach to the delivery of the anesthetic.
I was kind of disappointed they didn't make me count backwards like you see on TV. Just one minute I was laying on a table with a squishy pad under me, the next I was groggily waking up with an oxygen canula up my nose.
My experience fainting was much more interesting. Woke up in the early morning with my leg hurting. I had a roommate who heard me moving around and said that I probably had a charly horse. Her recommendation was to stand up and slowly press down on my leg until it released. I did. Then I slowly became aware that the light in the room had changed. Then that I was very cold. And then that I was laying down. Apparently I straight up passed out for ten minutes from the pain. Fortunately I didn't hit my head on the way down but my roommate was very concerned and immediately gave me a glass of water because according to her, she'd only ever seen someone faint from heat exhaustion and they needed water.
U thrown up, a lot.
I recently had that one medical procedure that no one likes to talk about. They had to put the IV in the webbing between my right ring finger and pinkie, because I was so dehydrated that they couldn't hit a vein anywhere else. That was by far the worst part.
Once they were set up, they wheeled me into the OR, I chatted with a nurse for a minute or two, thought about commenting on the music, and then I woke up in my original hospital room with my girlfriend. It only took me a couple minutes and a cup of water to feel normal again. My girlfriend was very disappointed.
Then, we just got discharged, and I walked out, no problem. I actually went to get labs done that I needed for a different doctor. About an hour after I woke up, I felt a bit shaky, but that was it. It's was the least intrusive thing ever. It felt like I just skipped part of the day and then continued as normal
It was like nothing for me. They shot the anesthetic into my IV line, took me down to the operating room, and the last thing I remember is the doctor leaning over me and asking "You doin' ok?" and then the universe stopped. I don't even remember closing my eyes. Next thought was "Why is it dark? Oh...eyes closed..." and opening my eyes on the recovery room and fumbling with the oxygen line they had me on.
i cant remember i was like 2
Life just stops. It's like there was a portion deleted from your living record. No thoughts. No dreams. No fuzzy memories at the edge of thought that you can't quite recall. None of that stuff you get even when blackout drunk. One moment you're alive, counting or talking to the nurse, then suddenly you're back and someone's removed a piece of your body and apparently a piece of your timeline.
This is the correct answer. It's a complete lack of experiencing anything. Not black, not darkness, but simply nothing. Before the general anesthesia you'll feel high, and when you're coming out of the general anesthesia you'll be groggier than you've ever been in your life, but the time during general anesthesia simply won't exist for you.
Oh god the grogginess. One of the worst feelings
Great description. It's exactly like being dead. Absolutely nothing at all. It actually helped me get over my fear of death.
Except it’s fucking terrifying
Exactly. I wanted to sing a song and finish it when waking up. I wasted my time for asking if that's the gas putting me down. Brain fuzzing and boom. Darkness and singing the song. Can barely remember. A nurse one day later asked me what song I sang.
It's really like a piece is missing, you are aware but the feeling is like nothing happened.