anaesthesia - bad experience

[Guest guest]

I won't be having surgery for awhile, but this is really

bothering me. When I had my wisdom teeth removed a few years ago, I

had an uncanny experience. I don't want to scare anyone with this

post, but honestly, I'm sure I'm overreacting. I can't seem to find

anything about it on the internet, and I won't be seeing my surgeon

for awhile (but I will certainly ask him when I see him!). It may

seem a bit silly, but I need to calm my nerves...

The doctor administered the anaesthesia, which I've had before for

another dental procedure. I closed my eyes briefly while waiting to

fall asleep. I could still hear the music playing in the dental

office and hear the doctor and nurse preparing their tools and

speaking to each other. I tried to open my eyes to see what they

were doing, but it was as if my eyes were out of my control. I

couldn't move my arms or sit up in my chair - it felt as if my body

was out of my mind's control. I'm sure the anaesthesia made me a

little more scared than I should have been, and it's hard to tell

how long this went on looking back. I can't imagine it went on for

more than 30 seconds. Suddenly I was able to sit up, and I did

extremely fast - as if my body was catching up to my mind's

requests. I was very flustered and a bit out of it - without

thinking I said " Am I asleep? " The doctor laughed and said " Yes,

and you're dreaming that you're in the dentist's office. " I must've

drifted off soon after that.

Who knows if this is true, but I've heard that there have been cases

where people remain conscious during procedures under anaesthesia.

I don't know if this means they've accidentally woken up during

procedures (which rarely happens), or they've had an experience

similar to the kind I had. After my brief ordeal of not being

able to move and still being aware of what was going on around me,

this has become my greatest fear of surgery. Has this happened to

anyone before? Like I said, my surgeon will be able to help, but

I'd like to see if anyone's heard of this experience with

anaesthesia.

[Guest guest]

,

Calm down. What you experienced had to do with a low level anaesthesia

doctors office type drug. The kind of things they use on us in the

operating room are very sophisticated and really, you will be under.

You will know nothing of what is going on. Although that can be scary

too.

But don't worry. I have had two operations on my jaw, the Condyle

(sp?) needed to be cut. But the anaesthesia they used is the same for

any jaw surgery. I go on March 4th to have my lower jaw moved left and

back. I know what the going under is like. It's quick, you don't even

notice it.

Dave Lara

>

> I won't be having surgery for awhile, but this is really

> bothering me.  When I had my wisdom teeth removed a few years ago, I

> had an uncanny experience.  I don't want to scare anyone with this

> post, but honestly, I'm sure I'm overreacting.  I can't seem to find

> anything about it on the internet, and I won't be seeing my surgeon

> for awhile (but I will certainly ask him when I see him!).  It may

> seem a bit silly, but I need to calm my nerves...

>

> The doctor administered the anaesthesia, which I've had before for

> another dental procedure.  I closed my eyes briefly while waiting to

> fall asleep.  I could still hear the music playing in the dental

> office and hear the doctor and nurse preparing their tools and

> speaking to each other.  I tried to open my eyes to see what they

> were doing, but it was as if my eyes were out of my control.  I

> couldn't move my arms or sit up in my chair - it felt as if my body

> was out of my mind's control.  I'm sure the anaesthesia made me a

> little more scared than I should have been, and it's hard to tell

> how long this went on looking back.  I can't imagine it went on for

> more than 30 seconds.  Suddenly I was able to sit up, and I did

> extremely fast - as if my body was catching up to my mind's

> requests.  I was very flustered and a bit out of it - without

> thinking I said " Am I asleep? "   The doctor laughed and said " Yes,

> and you're dreaming that you're in the dentist's office. "   I must've

> drifted off soon after that.

>

> Who knows if this is true, but I've heard that there have been cases

> where people remain conscious during procedures under anaesthesia. 

> I don't know if this means they've accidentally woken up during

> procedures (which rarely happens), or they've had an experience

> similar to the kind I had.  After my brief ordeal of not being

> able to move and still being aware of what was going on around me,

> this has become my greatest fear of surgery.  Has this happened to

> anyone before?  Like I said, my surgeon will be able to help, but

> I'd like to see if anyone's heard of this experience with

> anaesthesia.

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

What anesthetic did they use on you? I had the nitrous oxide one time

and was absolutely coherent with it the entire time of my procedure.

I felt its effects only physically. I have not had an experience like

the one you described however. But a coworkers sister had a cesarean

(I know! Not mouth related!) and the doctors gave her meds for pain

and an anesthetic or something to that effect. Well she wasn't

completely out and the pain meds didn't kick in and they did the c-

section ANYWAY because she was completely unable to move or indicate

ANYTHING to the doctors that she could feel everything! So, I don't

know if that is remotely related to your experience or not, but I

thought I would throw it out there. Maybe you could find more

information on your experience by broadening your search... maybe it

happens more with other kinds of procedures. I dont know..... good

luck! let us know what you find out! katja

[Guest guest]

Thanks for the reassurance, Dave. What you said makes sense - an

anaesthesiologist definitely wasn't present so they must have been

using a low level anaesthetic.

Katja - I've heard stories similar to yours. There's no way of

knowing what that woman's experience had to do with unless we spoke

with her doctor, but I'm betting the anaesthesia they use for a

cesarean is different than what they use for oral maxillofacial

surgery. I'll ask my surgeon about this.

>

> Hi ,

> What anesthetic did they use on you? I had the nitrous oxide one

time

> and was absolutely coherent with it the entire time of my

procedure.

> I felt its effects only physically. I have not had an experience

like

> the one you described however. But a coworkers sister had a

cesarean

> (I know! Not mouth related!) and the doctors gave her meds for

pain

> and an anesthetic or something to that effect. Well she wasn't

> completely out and the pain meds didn't kick in and they did the c-

> section ANYWAY because she was completely unable to move or

indicate

> ANYTHING to the doctors that she could feel everything! So, I

don't

> know if that is remotely related to your experience or not, but I

> thought I would throw it out there. Maybe you could find more

> information on your experience by broadening your search... maybe

it

> happens more with other kinds of procedures. I dont know..... good

> luck! let us know what you find out! katja

[Guest guest]

Do you really mean that you had general anesthesia with intubation

in your doctor's office? If so, that's surprising, unless he has a

special surgical suite.

There's quite a difference between having the drip anesthesia and

being intubated...

That said, I didn't have such an experience.

I would suggest, however, that you not only tell your surgeon and

ask about it, but also ask whether you might have an appointment

with the anesthesiologist (if they know which one it will be) and

discuss this with him.

I knew an anesthesiologist, and knew that I wanted him. I was told

that I could request him, and I spoke with him on the telephone

ahead of time... It was a big relief.

Best,

Cammie

>

> I won't be having surgery for awhile, but this is really

> bothering me. When I had my wisdom teeth removed a few years ago,

I

> had an uncanny experience. I don't want to scare anyone with this

> post, but honestly, I'm sure I'm overreacting. I can't seem to

find

> anything about it on the internet, and I won't be seeing my

surgeon

> for awhile (but I will certainly ask him when I see him!). It may

> seem a bit silly, but I need to calm my nerves...

>

> The doctor administered the anaesthesia, which I've had before for

> another dental procedure. I closed my eyes briefly while waiting

to

> fall asleep. I could still hear the music playing in the dental

> office and hear the doctor and nurse preparing their tools and

> speaking to each other. I tried to open my eyes to see what they

> were doing, but it was as if my eyes were out of my control. I

> couldn't move my arms or sit up in my chair - it felt as if my

body

> was out of my mind's control. I'm sure the anaesthesia made me a

> little more scared than I should have been, and it's hard to tell

> how long this went on looking back. I can't imagine it went on

for

> more than 30 seconds. Suddenly I was able to sit up, and I did

> extremely fast - as if my body was catching up to my mind's

> requests. I was very flustered and a bit out of it - without

> thinking I said " Am I asleep? " The doctor laughed and said " Yes,

> and you're dreaming that you're in the dentist's office. " I

must've

> drifted off soon after that.

>

> Who knows if this is true, but I've heard that there have been

cases

> where people remain conscious during procedures under

anaesthesia.

> I don't know if this means they've accidentally woken up during

> procedures (which rarely happens), or they've had an experience

> similar to the kind I had. After my brief ordeal of not being

> able to move and still being aware of what was going on around me,

> this has become my greatest fear of surgery. Has this happened to

> anyone before? Like I said, my surgeon will be able to help, but

> I'd like to see if anyone's heard of this experience with

> anaesthesia.

>

>