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I'm extremely scared of general anesthesia ever since, as a kid, I woke up after a general anesthesia and couldn't breathe because I had a full blown asthma att

by sersi 10y ago

I'm extremely scared of general anesthesia ever since, as a kid, I woke up after a general anesthesia and couldn't breathe because I had a full blown asthma attack. So, I've had my wisdom teeth removed under local anesthetic and I've had an endoscopy under local anesthetic. The wisdom teeth is not so bad, it's nowhere as bad as an endoscopy.

TFortunato 10y ago
Sorry you had to go through that (the waking up unable to breath). FWIW, my son has had to go under general anesthesia almost a dozen times now, and the protocols that the anesthesiologists use at our hospital use now require a respiratory therapist to be in the room when anesthesia is removed, and it is done in stages, so that it is made absolutely sure he is breathing on his own before the breathing tube is removed and he is fully awakened. I'm sure part of it was driven by the fact that what you went through is both awful, and should have been prevented. I'm saying only to let you know that I really empathize with the anxiety it can cause, and that if you ever are in need of surgical care again, perhaps you should discuss it with your surgeon or care team before-hand..hopefully they have protocols in place where you won't have to go through that again. On another note...holy crap on the endoscopy! I can't imagine how much local anesthesia that must have taken, or how odd that must have felt!
- sersi 10y ago
  Thanks! Yes, if I ever really need general anesthesia, I would really discuss it with the care team and I would still be very anxious. I do think it was the clinic that didn't a good job then since they knew I had asthma and should have planned for it. For endoscopy, yes it's the stuff of nightmares, being with a tube coming out of your mouth and completely helpless is a very weird feeling. They only spray the throat with a local anesthetic to numb it, it's not really painful but it's the helplessness that is disturbing...

by sersi 10y ago

TFortunato 10y ago

Sorry you had to go through that (the waking up unable to breath). FWIW, my son has had to go under general anesthesia almost a dozen times now, and the protocols that the anesthesiologists use at our hospital use now require a respiratory therapist to be in the room when anesthesia is removed, and it is done in stages, so that it is made absolutely sure he is breathing on his own before the breathing tube is removed and he is fully awakened. I'm sure part of it was driven by the fact that what you went through is both awful, and should have been prevented. I'm saying only to let you know that I really empathize with the anxiety it can cause, and that if you ever are in need of surgical care again, perhaps you should discuss it with your surgeon or care team before-hand..hopefully they have protocols in place where you won't have to go through that again. On another note...holy crap on the endoscopy! I can't imagine how much local anesthesia that must have taken, or how odd that must have felt!

sersi 10y ago
Thanks! Yes, if I ever really need general anesthesia, I would really discuss it with the care team and I would still be very anxious. I do think it was the clinic that didn't a good job then since they knew I had asthma and should have planned for it. For endoscopy, yes it's the stuff of nightmares, being with a tube coming out of your mouth and completely helpless is a very weird feeling. They only spray the throat with a local anesthetic to numb it, it's not really painful but it's the helplessness that is disturbing...