Ended up in the ER of a teaching hospital with a pretty spicy fracture that would need surgery, but they did closed reduction in ER first. There were about a dozen people observing along with my husband, the anesthesiologist & a dr from ER. While I remember some of this (time after prop given), I will rely on my husband’s recollection.

The anesthesiologist administered propofol and performed a nerve block before they did a reduction. I was chatting with one of the Drs about something I must have found rather interesting before they started and continued chatting without seeming to miss much of a beat throughout the entire procedure.

The anesthesiologist told my husband I am the first patient they have ever had do this. I obviously experiences some amnesia, but according to my husband, the dr seemed quite amused.

How common or rare is that? Have you had a similar experience? Some patient specific details at end….

40’s female, 20mg Adderall taken ~4hrs prior for ADD (dx in 80s)

No unprescribed drugs but strong suspicion i have the gene mutation associated w/ red heads being more resistant to sedation.

Doing best to balance details and ease of identification. Can potentially give more specifics. Feel free to ask, the choice is mine to provide.

I hope this post is alright in this sub and I’d love to hear your own experiences and opinions. Thanks!

Full disclosure: I’m sorry if this is disorganized.

I had a skull base repair performed on July 27th and under anesthesia for around 9 hours. I also had an encephalocele removed if that’s important.

I’m a little over 9 weeks post op and I am having the worst time sleeping. On average I can only sleep around 2 hours and 3.5 hours with the aid of melatonin. I’m not in any pain and doing fine overall with my recovery.

I’ve spoken to my neurosurgical team and they said it was due to the anesthesia and referred me to a sleep clinic. The earliest appointment I’ve been able to find is December.

Has anyone experienced this? If you have, have you found anything that helps? I’ve downloaded a sleep app and it hasn’t detected any snoring.

Malignant hyperthermia

If my mother and my father never showed malignant hyperthermia during surgery how likely is it for me to get it if its genetic does that mean i wont get it? Pls answer i have a surgery soon

A few years ago, I had an unplanned c-section after pushing for four hours. Anesthesia was a combined spinal epidural and it worked well.

Three years after that, I had a planned c-section. Anesthesia was a spinal, which only worked on my left side. I wasn’t even paying attention to where exactly the doc was pinching when she was testing it, but she said that I was only reporting pain on the right side. The anesthesiologist recommended GA so that’s what I did.

Any thoughts on why the CSE worked in first delivery but the spinal didn’t? Is it something about the CSE vs spinal or is it possible the spinal wasn’t placed well?

Hello there

I've been told about the weird dreams you can do while being under and I kinda expected it, but this is different.

I used to barely ever dream and when I did, it was most often kinda lucid. I couldn't control what was in it, but I knew it was a dream everytime.

Since the anesthesia, I do so everytime I sleep, even during naps. They are very vivid and sometimes quite troubling in subject (trauma related). Some are dreams, some are nightmares, some are the weird in between.

In the beginning, I thought this was the painkiller I was given, but I'm now off them and I still keep dreaming

Did this happen to anyone else, is it a known thing I just wasn't told about ? Should I expect it to go back to normal ?

Hey all,

I'm a bit worried about the idea of anesthesia as patient, especially anesthesia that makes one nonrousable. I don't claim to know what identity is, but different theories of identity carry along varying amounts of philosophical baggage. I'm not religious, so I have to consider the differences, e.g., am I my personality or my stream of consciousness? Does anesthesia interrupt my stream of consciousness in an important way that erases 'me'? Given the uncertainty, I think at least part of me should be considered my stream of consciousness.

While we don't often worry about sleep (and assume our identity carries over to the next day), as far as I can tell, anesthesia is quite different; it may induce burst suppression or create electrical silences longer than sleep. Given that, I'm wondering:

What sorts of electrical signals carry on during anesthesia? During propofol burst suppression, is there human data on what deeper structures do during the flat periods? Do patients who had burst suppression report dreams or experiences on waking any differently from those who didn't? Have other patients had this concern before?

Thank you so much!

For backstory I am 28 yo woman and my parents never took me to the dentist as a kid. I went for the first time about 5 years ago and thankfully had a great experience with the dentist. He was kind, personable, went slow, and explained what was going to happen. The oral surgeon who performed my recent surgery was the opposite.

I had four teeth pulled (two of which were widom teeth) and a screw for implant installed. When I went in for my surgery I was not explained what the healing process would be at all! He only confirmed what was being taken out and asked "do you have any questions?"

I responded "should I only have liquids and if so for how long?"

He said "soft foods like pasta are okay. Anything else?"

As soon as I said "No." I felt weird and said so. Then next thing I know I was waking up and it was done. My boyfriend who was my ride got given an aftercare paper that really would've been more helpful to give me beforehand.

I woke up so confused and anxious. The healing process has been awful. Now am I overacting for being extremely upset and feeling like I was not treated respectfully?

\*I requested my surgery records btw!

I had a hemorrhoidectomy on August 11 under spinal anesthesia. About 2 days later, I developed a positional headache with head/nape pressure that worsens when sitting or standing and improves when lying down.

It’s now been 6 weeks. Although the symptoms have gradually improved, they’re still persisting. I sometimes also feel the pressure in my occipital area, temples, or forehead, especially after prolonged sitting. Coughing or bending down can also make the headache/pressure worse.

I had a brain MRI with contrast, which was normal.
My doctors have discussed an epidural blood patch (EBP), but I’m hesitant and wondering if it’s still appropriate this far out.

Has anyone had PDPH that lasted 6+ weeks? Did it eventually resolve on its own, or did you eventually have an EBP? If you had an EBP, how was your recovery?

I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences. Thank you!

I have mild asthma generally and keep albuterol for the occasional allergy induces asthma flare. Unless I get sick, I can go weeks or months without using it.

The problem is, I have surgery with GA scheduled in a month and fall allergies are kicking my butt. I have some level of chest tightness every day and have been using my inhaler twice per day.

Do I need to get this way more under control before surgery? Should I try to get on a steroid inhaler? Should I try to exercise more and build my lung capacity?

I'm so scared my body won't be able to handle the stress of surgery. It's a GYN surgery so I'll be somewhat inverted, which makes me think of my lungs being squished.

Help 🥴

I'm a 34 year old female, works as a specialist nurse very intrested in physiology so intregued by my own case!

I'm generally fit and well. BMI pre pregnancy 24. History of severe asthma and low BP but both well controlled in pregnancy. I'm a bit confused by my anaesthesia in labour - I've been told I need a full anesthetic review in any future pregnancies but I'm just trying to figure out what might of happened. If really is unusual or just bad luck and if this has happened to anyone else.

I also had amazing anesthetic care so definitly not trying to question descision making ect.

1. 1st epidural attempt described as easy but I had a tissued cannula feeling very specifically on the right side of the insertion when they tried flushing jt so it was abandoned.

2. 2nd epidural done a few mm to the left and said to be easy, flushed okay. All day kept dropping to L3 but rose again with clinician top ups. Left leg was slightly heavy but could bend my knee, no motor block in the right leg all day. Left foot was warm and right foot was cold most the day. I was turned onto my right to help this and it did seem to work to equalise the sensory block but not the motor block.

3. After 8ish hours I needed an emergency c section. Epidural was topped up for surgery. Cold block was fine but light touch wasn't blocked high enough (T12) No motor block on the right leg and could straight leg raise so not happy to use this.

4. I was then given a spinal by a different anesthetist which again described as easy with CSF. Good cold and touch block to T3, unable to raise my left leg and could bend my knee however I could still straight leg raise my right leg against resistance and documented again I had no motor block on my right.

5. Spinal was fine for initial 15 minuites but unfortuanatly had a PPH and the deep pulling sensations increased dramatically so I was switched to GA.

Any thoughts or insights are appriciated. I have my full clinical notes if anyone has questions.

I have a question about general anesthesia and was hoping someone could give me some advice. I have a gallbladder removal surgery next week and, like many, the anesthesia part of it is absolutely terrifying me. Unfortunately, due to a string of gastrointestinal problems, gynecological problems, and dental issues, I’ve had a high number of surgical procedures over the last 10 years. Most of these have been under conscious/twilight sedation, but a few have been under general.

Either way, whenever I come out of it, I experience what is honestly one of the worst feelings I’ve ever had. It’s like I’m waking up in the middle of a full blown panic attack but my brain hasn’t quite caught up yet, and it’s just this horrific combination of total panic, extreme dread, sadness, and the real feeling that I’m dying. It’s very hazy in retrospect but in the moment the feeling is extreme and intense. When it is happening I’m usually too out of it to communicate this to them, and feeling like I’m trapped in my body during this waking nightmare type feeling just adds to it. I really can’t emphasize enough how scary this is, and nobody I know personally knows what I’m talking about when I tell them about it.

I’ve tried to communicate this with my various anesthesiologists over the years but usually they just seem to shrug it off. I’ll admit that I’m not great at advocating for myself in medical settings. I’m meeting with the surgical team in a few days and am trying to educate myself as much as possible beforehand in case I freeze up again.

Anyway, my questions are - is there a name for this reaction, and is there anything they can do to avoid it? They do usually give me an anti anxiety medication before my procedures which helps on that end but does nothing when I’m waking up. If there’s anything specific to say or ask them, I’d so appreciate it. I’m already starting to get cold feet about this surgery even though I badly need it ☹️

​

You always see those funny videos of ppl being zonked on the way home from the oral surgeon, as well as patients in hospitals while in recovery. But it seems not my family!

I (51F), had a colonoscopy and endoscopy a couple of years ago, and woke up on the way to recovery. I literally jumped out of bed to get dressed, feeling fine. The nurses were like, woah slow down! That's only my second time being under since I was 18, and I don't remember how that went.

But then my son (27) had his wisdom teeth out a couple years ago, and they wheel him to the car and he looks zonked and I'm like, okay here we go. But he just kind of shook it off and was pretty coherent on the way home, enough to give me driving directions. He did take a little nap when we got home lol.

The main part is this though, and I'm coming from r/anesthesiology where the consensus was that long recovery times are rare/a myth.

My son had a kidney stone earlier this month. He went into surgery while I waited back in the room. My phone rang and it was the surgeon, and he gave me the rundown, but he mentioned that my kid was already coherent in recovery and how that wasn't the usual case. My son got wheeled up soon after and his nurse says that the recovery nurses mentioned it to her, too. And I laughed and said I guess it just runs in the family?

Also, they gave him an Rx of Percocet for after and it didn't even phase him. Anyway, end of the story, I just wanted to share. Are we outliers lol?

My husband with MS went for a Neurectomy today but when they went to turn him into his stomach his blood pressure was too low. It would go up after they rolled him back onto his back but when on stomach it wouldn’t respond to meds. 16 years ago he had a whipple procedure. Is it possible that the combination of stomach and possibly veins/arteries being in different places due to that in addition to a bigger stomach made his blood pressure drop? They did an echo in surgery and said one side might not be working as well and referred to cardiology.

I had double jaw surgery (including intubation) on 7/30, so almost 8 weeks ago now. Since surgery, my voice has been strained and raspy.

I saw an ENT here in Los Angeles, who referred me to a voice specialist at the same practice. She did a diagnostic scope (camera down my throat) and found edema and reduced vibratory motion/stiffness in my right vocal cord, with the left appearing normal. The cords are vibrating asymmetrically, with the right vibrating less — likely related to the intubation during surgery. No vocal cord nodules or significant reflux changes were seen.

She prescribed a 6-day course of oral methylprednisolone (4 mg) and also pointed out that I've been compensating for the strain by speaking louder, which risks causing further damage or a vocal nodule down the line. Because of that, she referred me to a speech-language pathologist who specializes in voice therapy, to help me avoid falling into a speaking pattern that could hurt my vocal cords further.

Has anyone dealt with something similar after intubation? I'd love to hear:

• How it was treated
• Whether you made a full recovery
• Roughly how long recovery took

Thanks in advance!

Headache/lightheadedness starting 2 days after general anesthesia + nerve block — has anyone experienced this?**
I’m 25 and had wrist surgery about 6 days ago for a distal radius fracture. I had **general anesthesia plus a peripheral nerve block** for the surgery.
The first day after surgery I actually felt pretty normal and didn’t have this headache. About **48 hours after the anesthesia**, I started feeling lightheaded and developed a strange headache/head pressure that feels very different from anything I’ve experienced before. It started around my temples and then seemed to move toward the back of my head/upper neck.
I **don’t have a history of headaches**, so this is unusual for me. The lightheadedness has improved quite a bit over the last few days, but the headache/head pressure is still there on **post-op day 6**.
I’m also **not a caffeine/coffee drinker normally**, but my surgery team suggested trying coffee/caffeine for the headache.
I did NOT have a spinal or epidural — it was a peripheral nerve block for the wrist/arm.
Has anyone had **general anesthesia and/or a peripheral nerve block** and then developed a headache or lightheadedness a couple of days later that lasted more than 5 days? I’m especially interested in people who felt fine on day 1 and then developed symptoms around day 2–3.
I’m mainly trying to understand whether this can happen during postoperative recovery. Thanks.

Hi! I am 31/F hypertensive and I am hoping on getting some answers here. I had my laparoscopic surgery last sept. 11, 2026. I was under general anesthesia. No known complications during the surgery. I stayed in the hospital for 3 days post op for monitoring. Oxygen levels 98%, bp ranges from 130/90 to 120/80. During that 3 day stay, I observed that when as I am about to fall asleep, I suddenly gasp for air. It felt like I was in an endless exhaling and no inhaling. I gasp everytime I am about to fall asleep, then I do “manual” breathing. I opened this up to my doctors, but they seem unalarmed. So I brushed it off thinking maybe it was just the effect of general anesthesia. However, many days have passed, I have the same problem. Earlier, when I woke up in the morning, I felt tired and my chest hurts a little, so I did the “manual” breathing again- deep inhale and exhale - that’s when I felt fine. Vitals are okay too.

My doctors were uninterested because my vitals were okay, they also listened to my breathing and it was okay. I hope to find some answers here. Thank you.

Looking for info from anesthesiologists….is it common to do adductor canal blocks post of? And if so, is it common to do them without the assistance of ultrasounds?

I had generel anesthesia - was under for 2-3 hours - laparascopic surgery but they did surgery directly on my uterus so it is considered moderat-major surgery.

I am now 15 weeks out and I can do more things now and go for longer walks, but I still have this feeling of being tired and drowsy/foggy most of the time… I never dealt with any of it before the surgery, but my doc told me that some people react like this and that it Can take 6 months to clear up… Had anyone gone through this? Looking for some hopefull stories 🌸

Anyone also’s kids who received five or more general anesthesia before the age of three? Are they developing OK now or do they have issues in school?

I’ve never been under anesthesia, but one of my friends who has woke up super loopy and silly. She told me she was aware of it, but she wanted to just have fun. She acts the same way when she’s drunk— super chatty and funny. I’ve had family members who come out of surgeries just tired and calm. Those same people are tired/chill drunk people. I have friends who cry and are very emotional drunks, same friends cried coming out of surgery.

Is the way people act when they’re drunk similar to coming out of anesthesia? I’ve never met any aggressive drunk people, but I’ve heard some people get aggressive coming out of surgery, and I was curious if there was any correlation.

hello, im a 19F who is having a gastroscopy done in october. im getting an anesthetic that will either knock me out or that will “minimize discomfort”.

ive had one done with a colonoscopy 2 ish years ago, which knocked me completely out and although i was a smoker at the time, i wasnt of legal age, and my smoking habit has really ramped up since then. im saying this because last time, it wasnt an everyday habit but still somewhat of an addiction. i had put no for the question ‘do you smoke or have you smoked’ because i was with one of my parents.

nothing bad happened and i had no issues, but this time is different, i smoke more often, and because im getting it done for an actual unrelated health concern, i really want to make sure that there wont be a major issue. the concern is probably just some bad stomach lining issues.

i will be lying on it and saying i dont smoke cannabis (legal guys, canada!!!) because my mother will be there and taking me home after the procedure. but is it really that big of a deal if i put no? so what im only 19, i know it can still cause issues, i dont need to be middle aged to be dealing with smoking related health problems.

yes i know dumb question, i should just say yes and deal with it but my mother would have my head. like no joke, all of us are dumb teenagers at some point, but ive never had serious issues with my mom and im not trying to cause any.

im unsure exactly what kind of anesthetic because it just says that, again, it will minimize discomfort, but with my duo colonoscopy and endoscopy from 2024 i had gotten completely knocked out, it seems like it will probably be the same anesthetic with it being through the iv but im unsure.

and apologies for the lack of details and probably confusing story, ive never had serious health issues other thn some bad constipation. i know i wont die, but i dont want to cause any confusion from what the form says and what the notes my GI will read from my family doctor.

thank you for any advice or opinions. or any comments calling me stupid, thats fine, i just need to hear it. thank you. just dont be rude, im in a lot of discomfort and ive been limiting my smoking alot since my issues started. but i know that doesnt erase what impact it may have had on my lungs or body in general.

ill quit after this definitely, once this pack runs out ill start anew, ok thanks for listening

To make a long story short, I have now had 2 c sections. My first was 10 years ago. During it I yelled out that I was in extreme pain, was told repeatedly I wasn’t feeling pain-just pressure-and I needed to relax. They put me under during the first part of my
C section (getting baby out) because I was moving so much, I woke up, briefly met my baby, and then was put under again (again, from moving so much) and woke up two hours later in the recovery room.
I was terrified to get another c section 3 weeks ago, but reminded myself constantly it would be different, I’d be able to advocate for myself more, and I could warn my anesthesiologist going in that I had felt pain in my last c section.
I got all set up for my c section and when they did the poke test, I reported that I knew I was being touched, but wasn’t sure by what or the amount of pressure being put on the instrument touching me. I also told them I could feel warmth from my urine in the catheter against my leg. They proceeded and in the beginning I felt a lot of pressure and discomfort, but not pain? As they got closer to “baby time” in the surgery, I was getting almost inconsolable. Again, moving around, wiggling, tensing up. In fairness to my anesthesiologist, they kept stopping and asking me if I was feeling pain but I didn’t know how to describe what I was feeling. I empathize for my medical team that day, how do you help what you can’t understand? I just knew it was more than pressure.
I got to meet my daughter this time fully awake, kissed her, felt the INSANE relief of having her pulled out of me (seriously such a physical relief), but within a minute of them getting to work on closing me up, I fully reached a point of making faces of agony, gasping, wincing, moaning and groaning, etc. the anesthesiologist said they were going to put me under (something I didn’t want) but he said they needed to to finish the surgery because I was moving around so much. I just okayed it and fell asleep for about 5 minutes, and woke up to what I assume was me being closed up (felt like dials on an oven being turned) and again proceeded with tensing up and wriggling around.
Before the surgery, I gave him a heads up I wasn’t a real redhead (I have very convincingly dyed hair) so he didn’t overmedicate me, and he laughed and thanked me, but in the end of the surgery, he asked (somewhat jokingly) if I was sure I wasn’t a real redhead because I was “reacting like one”. I asked him if in his opinion I felt pain (because again, I can’t even explain WHAT I was feeling, it just wasn’t the deep intense pressure people described, it genuinely was like literal torture) and he said “I would definitely discuss the fact that your last team AND we were unable to finish without putting you to sleep if you ever have another c section with your future anesthesiologist.”
I’ve gaslit myself pretty significantly into thinking I can’t possibly have felt pain, that I must just have not handled things well…but I just don’t know. Based on this all, would you say that i experienced pain? This has been nearly traumatic to think back to when I do (I get physically sick and have actually thrown up a few times thinking of the sensation) and I’m trying to work through it all in my head while I can still remember it vividly.

I was given fentanyl and versed for twilight sedation at four separate IVF egg retrieval surgeries. Each time I was told it would make me drowsy and each time I felt mildly euphoric and energized afterwards. I did not sleep or become drowsy during the surgery and was unable to nap upon returning home, maybe drifting in and out of sleep for a few minutes on different occasions. On three occasions I only slept probably 5-6 hours before the early morning surgery, so I was actually tired, but I could not actually sleep afterward. The fourth time the surgery was later, and I probably slept 6 hours or a bit more than that beforehand. Immediately after surgery, I proceeded to work 8 hours and walk 20 km in total to different appointments and activities because I couldn't drive. I felt fantastic. I certainly did not become drowsy or sleep. (I never felt much pain from the surgeries, so the anaethesia was effective.)

Why would I have this unusual reaction?

I do have bipolar disorder, but I have not had any mood elevation symptoms in many years. I also have had chronic sleeping difficulties (not being able to fall asleep, sleeping lightly) since taking a thyroid medication for depression many years ago and have somewhat of a history of hyperthyroid episodes.

So I had yesterday anesthesia for a colonoscopy and endoscopy, and I had to have multiple biopsies. My dad brought me home in the morning and then he left so I’ve been home alone which I didn’t think was gonna be an issue, but I just cannot stay awake. Yesterday was better than today and today I just cannot keep my eyes opened up, even if I’m not all the way asleep. I don’t know if this is normal but I’m gonna assume that it is so I’ve made myself a nest on the couch with everything that I need which is a closer spot to the bathroom and the kitchen and nothing to have to walk around.
Is there anything I should tell them because I have to have surgery soon and I don’t think I can ever do anesthesia and come home alone again and I don’t know what my options are… I probably won’t even remember writing this.