The only part you need to worry about is if you are prone to barfing.
I barfed after surgery but it didn’t matter except for when I had abdominal surgery and that was quite the thrilling experience, both times: holding a pillow to the incision so you didn’t rip it open while you puked or coughed.
It didn’t happen. Just felt like it might.
The only thing about going under last time I had general anesthesia was feeling like I was sinking into table. I don’t remember waking up at all, but apparently I woke up screaming and started scaring the nurses and other patients in recovery.
When I was a kid I didn’t barf after surgery, but I do now. Or at least I did ten years ago, at 22, which was the last time I was put under.
That time the nice anesthesiologist showed up while I was waiting to go back and put something in my IV that, a few seconds later when it hit my brain, made the room go sideways. That’s all I remember until waking up in recovery, the whole thing being over. And shortly after that, I found out that anesthesia makes adult whiterabbit puke. Ewww. The second drug they gave me for that finally worked.
I don’t remember getting the insanely good drugs before my childhood surgeries, even my major back surgery at nine. But I also don’t remember being particularly bothered by the process.
Well, thank you for telling me not to worry, but that was the tertiary worry. The first being death from complications, the second being fear from going under, and the third from waking up because of resistence to the drugs.
I drank like a fish when I was young, and still drink like a thirsty dog. 
I have a large tolerance to most sedatives and these guys need to knock me the fuck out…
Thanks again to all of the posts…
I assure you I consumed many years worth of alcohol and other recreational substances and I don’t even recall being asked to do the countdown. Suddenly I woke up in recovery and it was all over.
Not sure if this will relax you or frighten you, but my leg muscles were incredibly sore in the days after. Apparently people sometimes clench or struggle as they’re coming out, and I was a big clencher and struggler. Again, I don’t remember any of this, but I did apologize repeatedly as I am fairly big and strong and afraid that my struggling might have hurt somebody. This is just what I recall being told in recovery, it could as well just be my imagination.
They had me count backwards from 100 and I was out completely by 96. No sensation of “oh I’m falling asleeeeeeeep” - I was awake and then I was out.
I did get violently ill afterward, in recovery, and vomited hard about every 10 minutes for some number of hours. It was not pleasant.
Other people have basically implied it but there is one huge difference between going to sleep and having general anesthesia. There is almost no sense of time loss. When you go to sleep, you generally know that it took some time to go to sleep, some number of hours have passed while you are asleep, and then it took some time to wake up. That isn’t the case with general anesthesia. They knock you out in seconds after some prep work then you wake up seemingly just a few seconds later with the surgery already completed. I have been under a few times and always refused to believe the whole thing was done because it seemed like no time had passed.
I’ve been under three times since last July. I was nervous lying on the operating table the first time, but don’t even recall them putting the mask on me. I was already out from the IV drugs. The last time they put me out with gas. I remember little more than asking, is this gas or oxygen and being told it was the anesthesia. No count down just out.
I was worried about this waking up thing during the operation and asked the doctor about it. He said it was very very rare and usually found only in people quite sick.
I had no problems waking up or pain from the anesthesia at all.
Good luck
I’ve had at least a half dozen general anesthesia experiences. I was never nauseated. What everybody else said about 100, 99, wake up in recovery. The first time, I remember struggling to wake up, wanting to wake up, and finding it difficult to do so. By the most recent time, I can only say that maybe anesthesia and the associated techniques have improved. One second I was awake, next second I was fully awake again and the surgery was over. No grogginess, nothing. Just a period of time that was snipped out.
I’ve been there three times. The first, I was pretty loopy from some sedative beforehand, so I don’t recall much. I woke up thirsty, and they would not give me a Diet Coke, only apple juice, which gave me heartburn.
The second, I had an appendectomy, and I was chatting with the anesthesiologist in the hallway about what combination of drugs he would be using and why was it so damn cold. Then he told me bad jokes as they wheeled me in and knocked me out. Woke up thirsty, and got my Diet Coke. (Never did get the punch line to that last joke.)
The last time, I was having a tubal ligation, and my OB/GYN was patting my arm as I told her, “I’m starting to feel funny… is that because he’s… zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz” Woke up thirsty, and got 3 Diet Cokes. (That last surgery, however, I had dreams while I was under, and I can still remember them. For example, I dreamt that my oldest son, 5, was in charge of the babies, and I was horrified. I wonder if it was a different anesthesia or combination of such, but it was a little odd, for me. Could have been that I was 6 weeks post-partum, too.)
Upon waking, each time, I had the feeling of, “Ok, I’m still alive. Now I’m going to sleep this off for an hour or two.” Slightly groggy, drowsy, but quite comfortable.
I was put under with gas once to have my wisdom teeth out (and this weird mutant tooth that was growing out of the roof of my mouth, thank you very much). I remember starting to drift off, and all of a sudden the nurse took me into another room. I was very groggy and a little puzzled about why they weren’t going ahead with the procedure. When she pulled a bloody wad of cotton out of my mouth, I realized they had.
When I had knee surgery I got an injection. I was strapped to a table just like the one they used for Sean Penn in “Dead Man Walking.” I remember an ice cold feeling that seemed to be traveling through my veins. It was creepy but only lasted a few seconds. I was definitely aware that I was going under that time and although I was still groggy when I woke up I think I was knew that I had been operated on.
Yeah, usually during sleep you form some memories, at least while you’re gradually coming out of sleep and waking up. When you go under general anesthesia and it works like it should (which it almost always does), it’s like you’ve stepped into a time machine and you skip right across from the time before the surgery to the waking up in the recovery room. I was pretty groggy and totally uninhibited after my wisdom teeth surgery–I kept getting up and stumbling around without meaning consciously meaning to. After my appendectomy, I was pretty tired but more or less normal otherwise.
Also, if you’re nervous, they’ll usually give you a Xanax or some other sedative a bit before the surgery. That usually makes the waiting a lot more tolerable.
I’ve had IV Midazolam for wisdom tooth extraction and that was unpleasant because I still had some memories, I was just distant from them with a weird blank in the middle.
General anaesthetic was nicer, totally clear memory right up until they asked me to start counting. I didn’t feel icy cold or buring in my veins, but had a really unpleasant garlicky/oniony taste in my mouth from the Propofol. Woke up groggy but fine, just a bit tired, got 10mls of morphine and went back to sleep for a couple of hours, then read a book until my husband picked me up. I was fine the next day.
Not scary and they talk you through everything as they do it, so there’s very little loss of control.
I’ve been put under three times, for an appendectomy, a knee surgery, and back surgery.
Did you ever get up too fast, or react badly to donating blood, and black out? Your last few thoughts start to get a little hazy and disconnected, and then you wake up and it’s later. For my knee surgery, I was looking up at the ceiling of the OR and I noticed that the dots on the ceiling tiles appeared to be moving, and I got as far as thinking “I wonder if that means the drugs --” and then I woke up later. For my back surgery they gave me the meds before wheeling me to the OR. I was looking at the ceiling while they wheeled me, thinking they should make it look nicer for all the patients who get wheeled down the corridor on their backs. I think I remember looking up at the elevator door machinery. Then I was in the recovery room.
One thing I’ve noticed is that when I woke up I was freezing. After the back surgery they put on this blanket that puffed up with hot air to warm me up – man I wish I could have one of those at home!
(I’m wondering what surgery I’m gonna end up having next … I usually say that I’ll complete the Old Person Trifecta by getting a hip replacement by the time I’m 35, but actually I’m betting it’ll be my wrist …)
You absolutely will have an endotracheal tube for this procedure because they are working in your throat and a tube is needed to protect your airway from blood and/or irrigation fluids during surgery. However, they won’t put the tube in until they have knocked you out with IV anesthesia and they will remove it before you are awake enough to remember it.
It is not unusual for patients to have some old blood in their stomach post-op because it tends to trickle down your throat during surgery. This may cause you to vomit some dark blood if your tummy is sensitive. Don’t worry (unless it is a massive amount of bright red blood). This is normal. Also, you may be surprised at the post-op pain. The throat is a sensitive place - make sure you get a prescription for a serious painkiller.
I wish you the best of luck and hope this will fix your sleep apnea. If it does the trick, you should feel a lot better as soon as you heal.
The only time I went under I found myself floating up, up above my body, and saw the legend ‘lekatt was right!’ written in the dust on top of the light fittings…
I’ve been knocked out for surgery four times in my life, and the only time this has happened to me was when I was given gas through a mask rather than whatever comes through the IV.
The last time, when I had my knee worked on, I was given an injection a little before being wheeled down to the OR. This already made me pretty calm and drowsy. As the doctors spoke to me I felt like I’d shown up drunk to an important meeting and had to fake sobriety. As the happy juice started coming down the IV, I began feeling very warm and heavy. I think I asked if it was ok to go to sleep now, and that was it.
Waking up, I just felt sleepy and vaguely uncomfortable (tubes in all five limbs will do that). I was alert enough to understand what my doctor and wife were telling me (although I can’t remember if they spoke in Japanese or English), and I was aware that I ought to be in a lot of discomfort, so I should savor as much unconsciousness as I can and go back to sleep.
My experiences have been a bit different than most people here. I’ve been put under twice, for wisdom teeth and for an appendectomy. Both times it seemed that I was aware that some time had passed, much like when waking in the morning. The only times I’ve ever felt like time passed in an instant were when I’ve gotten knocked out, which was a totally different experience from either sleep or general anesthesia.
I had my first general a couple months ago. I’m in my late 40s.
They started a saline IV in the prep room then wheeled me into the OR. As best I could tell it was pure saline, no pre-relaxer drugs. The anesthesiologist said they were going to start infusing the anaesthetic via the IV, I started to say “I feel a mild buzz” & never got the sentence complete in my head, much less out of my mouth.
An hour later I came to in the recovery room and was alert & aware & talkative from the moment I was awake.
I can’t tell you how much twilight there may have been at either end which I just don’t recall. From my perception it was like a light switch: instant off, then instant on.
I felt kinda lazy for the rest of the day & slept normally that night.
Modern technology is really amazing.
The last general I was under was for my wisdom teeth, when I was 15. I will say up front that my “going under” experience was pretty much exactly like what others here describe: a black curtain, or a near-instant THUD into dreamland. There’s no time to panic, and as it starts to set in, it relaxes you to such an extent that I can’t imagine feeling any panic.
I should say, however, that I did wake up during the surgery. That was weird. I remember opening my eyes and seeing people in white wearing surgical caps and masks over me. I remember thinking, “Wait, I’m not supposed to be awake,” and consciously closing my eyes again. And then I woke up in recovery. There was no panic or pain whatsoever. So, it was strange, but it didn’t really bother me.
Also, unlike others here, I didn’t have a bad reaction to the stuff. No vomiting at all. My brother, when he had his done, puked his toenails up for two days straight, though, so I suppose you never can tell how it’ll affect you.