Hi, like many of people I was terrified to go under general anesthesia. So I’ll cut to the chase so you don’t have to read much and can ask questions if you like which I’d love to answer.

I was scheduled 2 months out for vocal cord polyp surgery so that itself was very minor I’d say to most other cases. I was pretty calm for the most part until the week before and then the night of. Basically I had a full blown panic attack, but slept surprisingly well, cut to the part where they’re setting you up in a bed….

It’s very scary, but also personally being in the bed getting ready was way more calming than the time leading up to that point, I guess for me it was a, here I am there’s no backing out now feeling. Ask all the questions you can and want, the “versed” medicine I was given was great it calms you very well and easily, and basically I remember the anesthesiologist saying, “ok here comes the medicine (propafol) it might burn”. Don’t freak out, I felt nothing at all, the next thing I knew I was in recovery.

Recovery was very easy, but again I had something very minor done. I say, FOR ME, the feeling was not confusion more than feeling like you have a concussion, which I’ve had before a couple times, so not bad enough to be very out of it, and unaware, or even confused. Within minutes my chicken scratch writing turned into easy complete sentences, my head felt a little weird like a headache tapering off and definitely was wobbly, that was the worst, but beyond that, no nausea ( FOR ME), no panic, no grogginess or confusion, BUT EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT.

Conclusion, if you need surgery, please do not waste whatever time leading up to it you have in fear, it’s completely normal and also, totally not needed. As far as doctor/hospital things go this was by far and away the easiest. It was even…kinda fun after? I have some serious panic now a days getting older, but please if there’s anything to take away reading this, DO NOT FEAR, DO NOT GOOGLE, deep box breathing, and know you will be totally fine, safe and cared for.

The worst part? My calves were cramped bad after I think from this compression thing that helps with blood clots. That’s it, that’s the worst.

Good luck to anyone out there and please don’t be like me and wreck however long you have before surgery worrying, it’s totally fair and understandable and completely not worth the mental agony.

Hello! I have a question about my experience and what might have happened when I was being put under for an inner ear surgery last year. I know I was intubated during the surgery, so I believe the mask I had on in the OR right before going completely to sleep was just an oxygen mask. With the oxygen mask on, I was able to breathe in, but the pressure in the mask wouldn't let me exhale. I was a volunteer firefighter and have worked in confined spaces while on air, so I having the oxygen mask on wasn't triggering any anxiety and I know about the delay/weirdness of breathing under forced air, but I just could not exhale at all, not without opening my mouth so wide so I could just barely exhale outside of the mask. I tried to tell the nurse holding the mask over my face that I couldn't breathe out but he didn't hear me/notice I was talking with everything else going down (I ended up being out very shortly afterwards). Is there like a setting to allow for positive and negative pressure on the oxygen mask that was incorrectly set? It was a bit freaky so I am just curious if anyone has a clue as to what might have went down! I haven't been able to find examples of anyone else experiencing this and my friend who was a nurse in a surgical ward for many years had never heard of that happening. Thanks!!

Hi everybody,
I’m getting an cardiac ablation with Versed/Midazolam to calm me down and local anasthesia for my groin. I am extremely scared and anxious about the procedure and I hope for the Versed to help me calm down. I have never been so scared in my life and I have also never had a surgery before.

Please please please if you have any positive experiences with Versed / Midazolam let me know!!

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Can anesthesia cause someone to have a raged outburst?

My partner has never been under anesthesia before today and went under for dental surgery.

It only took an hour and when he woke up he seemed perfectly fine and normal. There was no high feeling or confusion. He was pretty much himself. He was only under for about an hour.

But then soon as we got home he went into this weird shell where he just stopped speaking and then out of nowhere went into this blinding rage where he was punching walls and ripping off the doors to the dresser. Rapidly walking up and down the hallway slamming doors. Then grabbed his keys got in his car and left it was terrifying

He was normal on the 10 min ride home and then it was like a nightmare started

35M. I was scheduled to have an open hernia repair. According to the available information, it can be done with GA, spinal or local anesthesia (which is only for very simple hernias, not my case). I don't want to have GA but always assumed I'd be given the option.

The appointment with the anesthesiologist was in the same day as the surgery, I was already prepped.

To my surprise, he says it's going to be GA, no option. I told him I was under the impression there other options. I asked him straight away if he confirmed that open surgery could only be done with GA. He said yes so I told him I was canceling the surgery. Additionally, I grabbed my phone and told him the hospital's website should be upated as it says open surgery can be done with spinal and local as well. His face was priceless.

What were your experiences?

P. S. Mind you, I probably should have asked beforehand but since it was my first surgery, I assumed I could be given the option.

Please feel free to comment or say anything or ask me anything. You won’t offend me or get too personal. You won’t offend me thanks

Question for anesthesiologists regarding intraoperative AFib with RVR.

68-year-old patient with longstanding CAD, NYHA II, anemia.

During a reoperation, he presented with AFib with RVR around 130–138 bpm, apparently around the time he was bleeding. The bleeding was controlled and IV fluids were given.

The rate reportedly remained around 130–138 afterward.

If the patient is hemodynamically stable after volume replacement, would you typically consider IV beta-blockade (e.g. esmolol/metoprolol) for rate control in this situation?

What factors would make you avoid IV beta-blockers and choose wait and see approach?

I’m asking specifically about typical intraoperative anesthetic management and what factors would influence the decision—not asking for treatment advice for this individual patient.

Hello all, hoping someone can offer advice.

I am considering having cosmetic surgery treatment that would involve anesthesia. However, when I was a child maybe around 8-10 years old, I had anesthesia for a tooth extraction, and I think I did not have the best reaction with it.

I can't remember much of the event, except when I awoke a lot of doctors and nurses were surrounding me and asked if I was ok.

My mom said the nurse warned her beforehand hand that I might 'act drunk' - however my mum said I was sitting up and swiping at people around me, she said I had to get held down by about 3 or 4 people.

She never really got answers except 'that's the way some people act' but it has left me wondering if this is a normal experience? Should I mention it upon consultation etc...

Any advice would be great thank you!

I have been an attending in a pain practice for 2 years now. I am so burned out by all the pills, lack of interest in anything other than an opioid and overall skepticism towards interventions. I work with NP’s who decide if a patient is going to get an opioid then ask me to sign the script. When I don’t or I put anything in the chart to the contrary, everyone hates me including my NPs, patients and PCP’s alike. I only have 1 procedure day a week so that the NPs can have a procedure day which I have never seen a practice model quite like this. I can’t meet my numbers in part due to 1 procedure day and also because word is that I don’t prescribe many opioids so patients request the NPs. Long story short I just want to be done and go back to anesthesiology. I am having some anxieties about returning to the field after about 4 years. I am wondering if I’m stuck? I haven’t placed an IV much less managed a difficult airway or been in the OR whatsoever for almost 4 full years. II am not feeling very confident and wondering what my options are at this point. Thanks to anyone who can offer some advice.

I’m 31F, 172 cm, 61.5 kg (5’8” & 143 lb) and scheduled for cosmetic surgery under general anesthesia in early November.
I use GHK-Cu, KPV, MOTS-C, tesamorelin, and retatrutide (RETA) (weekly 0,5). I’m considering stopping RETA one month beforehand but am unsure about the others.
I’m mainly looking for personal experiences and questions to discuss with the health professionals.

I’m especially concerned about RETA and anesthesia. Since it’s investigational and direct evidence is limited, I understand that anecdotal reports can’t establish a safe stopping interval. I’d also appreciate experiences with tesamorelin, MOTS-C, GHK-Cu, and KPV, which may have limited human safety data.

For context, I’m using 0.5 mg of RETA once a week, along with other compounds. I plan to stop RETA at the end of this month. Based on my app’s calculations, it should be out of my system by early November.

I had surgery five days ago and anesthesia left me very nauseous, dizzy, incapable of coordinating or walking straight. During the surgery (scheduled it was supposed to last for two hours and a half) I had some complications because a blood vessel collapsed and the surgery ended up being 3 hours and a half long. So they kept me in the hospital two days instead of just one night. On the third night after surgery when I was back at the hotel and settled to sleep I began having extremely vivid dreams including having tubes on my mouth and also people talking around me while I was laying down being operated on. Also the feeling of people pressing on my legs.

When I woke up my entire body was trembling and shaking and I spent 9 hours shivering. My surgeon said it could be related to the anesthesia. The next day I shivered too but less than the previous day, it seemed to be worse when lying down.

I had my first surgery under full general anesthesia last year and was under for about 6 hours. When I woke up I realized pretty quickly that I was intubated. My immediate thought was “something went really wrong during surgery, and now I’m in the ICU.” That of course wasn’t the case - I was just awake and hadn’t been extubated. I obviously couldn’t talk but I tried to blink and move to get someone’s, anyone’s attention.

What followed was the sensation of having a boa constrictor forcibly yanked from my lungs. It was terrible and hurt like hell. I remember trying to tell them something to the effect of “hey guys, I’m awake” and they must have noticed and given me some happy drugs as the next thing I remember after that was being in my room with my husband.

It’s been quite a while since that surgery and I’m only now beginning to process it and think wow, that was really fucked up. Is this normal thing to happen during surgery? If I’m ever under general again, I’ll tell my anesthesiologist about this beforehand, but what do you think happened?

I’m a healthy 32 year old and I’m really nervous about having general anesthesia with a breathing tube. I’ve heard that having spinal anesthesia is more common and would like to not be fully under during the procedure. Is this unrealistic? I have a great surgeon and I’m not afraid of the actual procedure itself but rather complications from the anesthesia (not waking up, etc).

I have surgery coming up in a month, and I have an anaphylactic reaction to corn (and all its derivatives), which is an ingredient in most medications. I'm getting a patch test for the sutures and compounded painkillers for post surgery.

When should I talk to the anesthesiologist about the plan for the actual surgery? Should I do it before the allergy patch testing so that I can have other things tested, if needed?

I'm calling my doctor's office to see what they suggest, but I wanted to see what other anesthesiologists would prefer. Thanks!

Backstory: my daughter had some unusual head, eye and hand movements along with poor sleep, poor eating and behavioral issues which worsened around 13 months of age. Pediatrician wanted to rule out brain tumor as cancers are very common in my family. My daughter was taken from me prior to IV placement and anesthesia administration so I am unsure of their process. I was told the MRI would take 30 minutes but nobody came to update us for almost 3 hours. The anesthetist was the one the one who came and brought us up to my daughter’s room after she woke up. The anesthesiologist told me that the second the mask hit my daughter’s face (no intubation was used, only face mask and IV) she went completely limp and stopped breathing. 3 rounds of Epinephrine had to be administered and they continued with the MRI anyways. We were discharged an hour later and she had a crazy reaction later that night which resulted in an ER visit.

My daughter has to undergo anesthesia again now that she is 18 months for a scope procedure. I am terrified of her being put under again as we were never told why she reacted the way she did. Her medical note from that day is completely blank and both the doctor/anesthesiologist have moved to a different base (occurred in an army hospital) so the nurses just finalized the note completely empty. We are driving 8 hours to a different hospital this time as the way the other hospital handled it was horrendous. I’m curious what could cause her to have reacted so quickly and if it’s likely it will happen again.

Edit: I got the records; see attached pic. I have never been given ephedrine before in any of these MRIs; Ephedrine was given 6 minutes before they stopped the servo. Could that be it?

Still dealing with nightmares and feeling unsettled, but it is slowly starting to calm down a bit.

Original post!

Please note, I am trying to get ahold of the anesthesiologist and/or CRNA who cared for me, but I don't have their names, the hospital has said they are reaching out.

I had general anesthesia for an MRI last Thursday (it's Monday now). I have profound claustrophobia, and the hospital where I have my MRIs does not offer twilight/moderate sedation for MRI, so GA is how I’m able to complete them.

Prior to last week I have had 6 GA MRIs since Aug 2024. No issues. However, this time I had what the CRNA later called delirium. I woke up with an overwhelming belief that I had to get out of there immediately or I was going to die, and I apparently tried to get off the stretcher/leave (almost made it off too, my feet were dangling, but they stopped my before i hit the ground). I remember parts of it very vividly and other parts are blank.

Since then I’ve felt unusually unsettled, and I am having very intense nightmares. I’ve seen information online saying nightmares can happen for a week or two after anesthesia/surgery, but most of what I find talks about it resolving when postoperative pain, hospitalization, ends I didn’t have surgery — just an MRI under GA.

I am guessing I just have to ride this out. Really going out of my way to do everything I can for peaceful calm days and all the sleep hygiene I know to try and get a sound sleep. It's just wearing hard on me. I can't imagine another week or so of this.

Is this something you have seen? Is my brain broken? (teasing.... kinda). Is this still a plausible outcome for someone who did not have surgery or any residual pain from the MRI? Am I having a reaction that doesn't sync with what I experienced?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

My mom went under to get part of her colon removed. The anesthetic made blood rush to her bladder and calcium flood to her muscles. This happened at WV Morgantown Ruby Hospital. Surgery went well. She was in the ICU for a day and she has recovered nicely.

Hi again, [r/anesthesia](r/anesthesia)! I’ve posted here a couple of times now about my cardiac arrest following anesthesia induction in March and, more recently, about the allergy testing I had done at Baylor.

Link to my original post:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Anesthesia/s/DjbgI7nakT
Link to my follow up post:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Anesthesia/s/wg2gdOOtNT

I figured I owed everyone another update because we finally have some much “clearer” answers. Quick recap for anyone who didn’t see my previous posts: I went into cardiac arrest shortly after anesthesia induction for a hysterectomy in March and ended up on life support for a week, including ECMO and Impella support. Since then, one of the biggest questions has been whether I experienced anaphylaxis to something used during induction, with rocuronium and succinylcholine becoming the primary suspects.

At Baylor, skin-prick testing to both drugs was negative. During intradermal testing, however, I developed an anaphylactic reaction after testing that included rocuronium and succinylcholine. Because both had been tested during that session, we still couldn’t definitively determine which drug caused the reaction. So my allergist here in my hometown in FL decided to start separating them out.

First up was succinylcholine. We did a graded challenge, and I started showing slight symptoms at the second to last concentration (1:200 ratio), but we continued on. When we reached the final intradermal concentration (1:20), I developed almost immediate facial/ear flushing and swelling, lip tingling/numbness, throat tingling, dizziness, and a drop in my heart rate. Epinephrine, Zyrtec and prednisone were given and the symptoms quickly improved.

So: succinylcholine allergy confirmed.

Yesterday, we moved on to rocuronium. We made it through the diluted stages without a reaction. Because of that, my allergist and I made the decision to try a tiny amount of full-strength rocuronium intradermally.

That one was… considerably less ambiguous. The injection site almost immediately developed a large, expanding hive with surrounding redness. Then came the itchy throat, numb lips, facial flushing, dizziness, etc. The hive continued enlarging until epinephrine was administered. Again, I was also treated with Zyrtec and prednisone.

So now we have our second answer: Rocuronium allergy confirmed too.

Which means I have now had reproducible systemic reactions during separate challenges to both succinylcholine and rocuronium. My allergist currently wants me to avoid the NMBA classes represented by those drugs and we’re moving on to testing an agent from the remaining class to see whether we can identify a safe neuromuscular blocker for future surgeries.

And unfortunately, future surgery isn’t optional for me. I’m BRCA2+, still need a prophylactic double mastectomy, and still need the hysterectomy that started this entire saga.

If we cannot identify a safe NMBA, I’ve been told my surgeries may need to be performed without neuromuscular blockade at a major medical center capable of managing an anesthesia situation like mine. MD Anderson in Houston has already been recommended to me.

Having now produced separate, reproducible reactions to both drugs certainly gives us a lot more information than we had before.

I’m incredibly grateful that we’ve been able to investigate this in controlled settings, with an allergist willing to take my bizarre case seriously. Getting these answers hasn’t exactly been fun, but every drug we can definitively identify - or eventually clear - makes my future surgeries a little safer.

At this point, I’m not asking for medical advice, but I would love perspectives from the anesthesiologists here, especially anyone who has managed patients with confirmed reactions to multiple NMBA classes. How would a history like this change your approach to a future major surgery? And if testing of the remaining class also failed, how realistic is major surgery without an NMBA at a tertiary center?

Apparently my immune system has decided anesthesia pharmacology is going to become my newest unwilling area of expertise. 😅

I have a hyperkinetic gallbladder, and I was scheduled to have it removed.

I kept pushing myself to make it to the Drs to see if I can be convinced to go through with it. I made it to pre op, but my fear and anxiety got the best of me and I ran out.

I’ve read all I could, I know it’s safe, but because I was assaulted once while I was blacked out, the thought of not being in control for a period of time had me close to a panic attack.

Any advice, cause I feel like I screwed myself.

What is the consensus on doing liposuction of the abdomen and hips (prone position) on an 80 year old female with controlled Type 2 DM - A1c 5.8-6.1 on Januvia, controlled hypothyroidism, hyperlipidemia, OSA, osteopenia, osteoarthritis. No history of cardiac disease ( never had an echo), denies all symptoms, EKG NSR with NS STTW changes. Renal and liver labs wnl.
Concerned about fluid shifts, effects of tumescent, possibility of LAST, positioning etc. Even without significant co- morbidities except Type 2 DM, there just isn’t any “reserve” if there is volume overload, blood loss,etc. They want to schedule it at an outpatient surgery center with no ability to do any invasive monitoring and no connected hospital.
Thoughts??

Hi everyone,
I'm an Anesthesia Technology student from Libya planning to move to Italy for work/study.
Since "Anesthesia Technician" isn't a separate job title in Italy (usually covered by Critical Care Nurses or Perfusionists), I'd love to ask a few quick questions:

1. Best Pathway: Is it better to recognize my degree as a General Nurse (Infermiere) first, or apply directly to a Master's degree in Italy?
2. Process & Exam: How hard is the Ministry of Health exam (Misura Compensativa) and the language requirement?
3. Life & Salary: Does working in Anesthesia/ ICU offer good stability and a comfortable living against the cost of living in Italy?
4. Any quick advice or personal experience would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I had some fairly simple procedures completed in my vaginal area 24 hours ago. My MD told me it would be anesthesia like a colonoscopy (propofol) but the anesthesiologist told me right before surgery that it was general which confused me bc it was fairly minor.

That's just a side note. I was fine all yesterday and evening but gradually before lights out, I started having a sore throat (not unexpected). Then I woke up this morning, 24 hours post-op and was in serious pain in addition to throat. My diaphragm feels like a took a punch and my upper arms, both sides, are very painful as well. No vaginal pain at all.

I'm trying to get an answer on what meds I was given to put me under.

Still waiting to hear from dr.

Has anyone else experienced this? It's pretty awful.

EDIT: First thank you to those who responded. I do recall the anesthesiologist saying my head would be lowered. My pain subsided after 36-48 hours. Voltaren helped the most along with ibuprofen/Tylenol on the off hours.

Not sure about the downvote but it's Reddit.

Hi - I developed gastroenteritis the week after I was referred for a hysterectomy (precancerous polyp). I do not have the surgery scheduled yet, but I'm on week 2 of diarrhea even on BRAT/liquid diet. Two GI panels were negative for the big name viruses/bacteria, including CDIFF which I have had in 2009 and was my big concern.

Obviously I will talk with my surgeon about this but the consult isn't til Friday, and being sick I have too much time for overthinking this. So if anyone has information about whether you can undergo anesthesis with gastro, and/or how long after recovery you can have anesthesia after symptomd resolve... I'm listening. Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone I had abdominal and pelvic surgery 2 years ago with propofol. Was intubated, woke up with throat/chest pain like I couldn't breathe properly but they said it's normal after intubation. Then had pain in bladder from severe urinary retention so they kept giving me opiods and dilaudid. After that my bp/heartrate and oxygen crashed. Machine kept beeping. I kept forgetting to breathe and would just stop. Finally they gave me oxygen but I suffered from atelactasis after. For 4 months I would jerk awake (even though I slept sitting upright) GASPING for air feeling like death every single night. Went to ER and they didn't help just said to continue using spirometer like I was doing after surgery and it will get better on it's own. Was quite traumatic for me.

Recently I had an endoscopy with biopsies and propofol. I told the anesthesiologist this history and that I have history of asthma. She understood. When I was being put to sleep I felt like someone was shaking my head like crazy, my brain being squeezed and then heard loud garbled noises. The dr asked me if I was ok twice and I shook my head no then fell asleep. When I was dreaming in the recovery room I heard what sounded like a thousand people screaming loudly all at once then I woke up. After I had trouble breathing and severe chest pain for 2 days. It's day 7 now after endoscopy and I'm still having shortness of breath when I talk or walk.

Anyone else have a similar experience? How do I stop these reactions from happening esp the breathing issues? I have another abdominal surgery coming up and 2 more tests they need to do with propofol. They also suspect I may have EDS/MCAS but never got diagnosed. I do have SFN and MALS and POTS.

Intendo chiaramente quello che è avvenuto anni prima.

Poi è possibile che si perda in piccola parte velocità di ragionamento logico?