General anesthesia looks more like a coma—a reversible coma.” You lose awareness and the ability to feel pain, form memories and move. Once you've become unconscious, the anesthesiologist uses monitors and medications to keep you that way. In rare cases, though, something can go wrong.
You'll start feeling lightheaded, before becoming unconscious within a minute or so. The anaesthetist will stay with you throughout the procedure. They'll make sure you continue to receive the anaesthetic and that you stay in a controlled state of unconsciousness.
Patients that are under general anesthesia feel nothing, and are unaware that any time has passed during the procedure. For the patient under general anesthesia, it seems as though they blink and the procedure is over.
You'll need time to recover after anesthesia. If you had local or regional anesthesia, the numb area will slowly start to feel again. You then may feel some discomfort in the area. Depending on what procedure was done and if you were sedated, you might be able to go home within a few hours.
Anesthesia Awareness (Waking Up) During Surgery
If you're having a major surgery, you most likely will receive general anesthesia and be unconscious during the procedure. This means you will have no awareness of the procedure once the anesthesia takes effect, and you won't remember it afterward.
Patients frequently report having dreams during general anesthesia. The incidence of dreams during general anesthesia that have been reported by patients upon awakening has been reported to range from 10 to 36% [1] and to be higher in younger patients, female patients [2], and patients who received ketamine [3].
Anesthesia won't make you confess your deepest secrets
It's normal to feel relaxed while receiving anesthesia, but most people don't say anything unusual. Rest assured, even if you do say something you wouldn't normally say while you are under sedation, Dr. Meisinger says, “it's always kept within the operating room.
Although doctors often say that you'll be asleep during surgery, research has shown that going under anesthesia is nothing like sleep. “Even in the deepest stages of sleep, with prodding and poking we can wake you up,” says Brown.
Why Do People Cry After anesthesia? There is a medicine known as Sevoflurane. This medicine is a gas that is being commonly used in order to keep patients in sleep. This medicine is noted to be the reason why people cry after anesthesia.
The anesthesiologist may also use medications to help speed up the process of emergence. These medications, such as benzodiazepines, help to reduce the effects of anesthesia and help the patient to wake up more quickly.
Typically, the period of time when you're under general anesthesia is a blank. Many patients report that it is a surreal experience—and practically no one remembers anything between when the medication is administered and waking up in the recovery room.
Some people feel sleepy but otherwise fine as the anesthesia wears off; others have side effects such as nausea or chills, and sometimes vomiting. Your throat may be sore from a tube that helped you breathe during surgery.
You may be asked to breathe in (inhale) a special gas through a mask. Once you are asleep, the doctor may insert a tube into your windpipe (trachea) to help you breathe and protect your lungs. You will be watched very closely while you are asleep.
There is continuous monitoring of the electrical activity in your heart, the amount of oxygen in your blood, your pulse rate, and blood pressure. Sometimes a device is used to monitor your brain waves while 'asleep', giving the doctor more detailed information about your level of unconsciousness.
Moderate – You will feel drowsy and may even fall asleep during the procedure. You may or may not remember some of the procedure. Deep – You won't actually be unconscious, but you'll sleep through the procedure and probably will have little or no memory of it.
Two common fears that patients cite about anesthesia are: 1) not waking up or 2) not being put “fully to sleep” and being awake but paralyzed during their procedure. First and foremost, both cases are extremely, extremely rare.
Waking up from anesthesia can take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours, depending on the type of anesthesia used and the individual's response to it. Generally, most people wake up within 30 minutes of the anesthesia being administered.
Snore. If your snoring is caused by sleep apnea – in which breathing is interrupted during sleep – anesthesia is riskier because it slows breathing and increases sensitivity to side effects. Sleep apnea also can make it more difficult for you to regain consciousness after surgery.
While under general anesthesia, you are in a drug-induced unconsciousness, which is different than sleep. Therefore, you will not dream. However, if you are under a nerve block, epidural, spinal or local anesthetic, patients have reported having pleasant, dream-like experiences.
The effects of a general anaesthetic can last for 24 hours, or longer if you have had a major operation. After having a general anaesthetic, you may feel very tired. It's really important that you rest until the effects of the anaesthetic have passed.
Your anaesthetist will want to see if you have an increased risk for damage to teeth before the anaesthetic starts. This is more likely in people with teeth in poor condition or in people with dental work such as crowns or bridges.
If you're wondering what's going on, it's called disinhibition: a temporary loss of inhibitions caused by an outside stimuli. “They get disinhibition,” said anesthesiologist Dr. Josh Ferguson. “Like if you were to drink alcohol or some other medication, but this makes them forget that they're saying that.”
When anoxia occurs, there are several complications that have the potential to arise. Some of these complications include mental confusion, amnesia, hallucinations, memory loss, personality changes, and more. The patient may also be in a vegetative state or may suffer from cardiac arrest.
Small pieces of sticking tape are commonly used to keep the eyelids fully closed during the anaesthetic. This has been shown to reduce the chance of a corneal abrasion occurring.