There are 100% people with a gene that makes them metabolize anesthesia super rapidly, myself included. It’s linked to the gene for red hair, but red hair isn’t a requirement (I have it and I’m not a redhead, although my mom is).
I’ve 100% woken up during surgeries I should not have been conscious for, because the anesthesiologist didn’t believe me. Those include a pediatric colonoscopy, surgery to set a broken arm, my TEE (I was conscious, but in twilight sleep. Took 3 vials of versed and I still remember it), and my septoplasty.
And it’s not just general anesthesia either. It takes a fuck load of local anesthesia for me to feel it. My last filling they had to give me so much it paralyzed half my face for a while. Also, I wish my urologist had believed me when I said I wasn’t numb for my vasectomy.
What’s up cousin! I have this gene. Also have EDS and we have a ton of red hair in our family.
I also woke up during a pediatric surgery! Mine was a facial surgery. I was out for a bit and near the close end I woke up and was aware of everything except the pain.
Thanks for letting me know about the vasectomy pain because those are supposed to be easy! Yikes sorry man.
I wish we could add this to our medical files. Like it should be easy to do but for some reason it always comes down to the patient and whether the doctor feels like believing them that day.
Bonus: We also process opioids rapidly. So, those don’t work on us either. But the trade off is we have higher pain thresholds than normal people.
I straight up told mine I require significantly more anesthesia because of my genetics. He made the incision, asked if I felt it, I said yes, then he started.
I did find out that I have an enormous pain tolerance, though. Fortunately the recovery was a breeze, so I guess I speed ran the pain.
I blame office staff- when I had my wisdom teeth removed, it was going to be a shit show, so they sold me on “putting me under”- insurance would only cover local, but “you don’t want to be awake for all the digging and prying” which did not sound like fun so I agreed, at a cost of $400. Of course I woke up in the middle of it, and got to experience the digging and prying… Didn’t hurt at all, but it was still disconcerting. I found out later this wasn’t anything unusual. Had I known I would have been awake, I wouldn’t have spent the extra money.
like, you can just switch me off with a drug, and after a while I come back? weird, bizzar, and yet also practical. and (as far as I understand) it’s universal. Works on every living thing. They’ve anesthetized plants
General anesthesia in a C-section means there’s some kind of emergency on the mother’s end, and once the drugs are administered the surgery needs to be done FAST because they can effect the baby.
Yeah… its a scary af time. Especially since the general can take a long time to wear off and the mother stabilize.
But, ^that after a few rounds of telephone game becomes some horror story about waking up in the middle of a big open abdominal surgery, feeling all the cuts but not being able to speak or move. Can that shit actually happen? Probably, idk…
It can happen. When giving general anaesthetic there are three components. An anaesthetic to puts you out and makes you forget whats going on, pain relief and a muscle relaxants so that you go limp and don’t try to fight the ventilator when they take over your breathing. If you are resistant to the anaesthetic or not enough was given then you can wake up while still under the effects of the muscle relaxants unable to do anything to let anyone know. Scary stuff if you ask me.
I agree they’re warning signs that you are awake and a good anaesthetist should pick up on it but, I am also saying that it’s possible, rare, but possible given the nature of GA to not have enough anaesthetic onboard while having a decent does of muscle relaxant. So you can look like you’re out of it from the end of the bed but still be aware. A good anaesthetist should honestly be paying attention to the patients physiology and noticing the blood pressure and heart rate spiking before this happens though. Maybe evening using something like a BIS to help confirm anaesthesia.
I think I have to clarify something. The whole thing was not as bad as it sounds. I had a local anesthesia in my arm (which was operated) and was sedated with propofol (i think).
My focus wasn’t as much on waking up, which i guess from the comments can just happen.
It was more on my inability to speak up if something is wrong.
Maybe they even noticed, and thought its alright. There was no pain, just an unsettling feeling.
I never said I was paralyzed. I didn’t speak because the situation was too awkward for me to say something. Nobody from the medical staff made a mistake.
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There are 100% people with a gene that makes them metabolize anesthesia super rapidly, myself included. It’s linked to the gene for red hair, but red hair isn’t a requirement (I have it and I’m not a redhead, although my mom is).
I’ve 100% woken up during surgeries I should not have been conscious for, because the anesthesiologist didn’t believe me. Those include a pediatric colonoscopy, surgery to set a broken arm, my TEE (I was conscious, but in twilight sleep. Took 3 vials of versed and I still remember it), and my septoplasty.
And it’s not just general anesthesia either. It takes a fuck load of local anesthesia for me to feel it. My last filling they had to give me so much it paralyzed half my face for a while. Also, I wish my urologist had believed me when I said I wasn’t numb for my vasectomy.
What’s up cousin! I have this gene. Also have EDS and we have a ton of red hair in our family.
I also woke up during a pediatric surgery! Mine was a facial surgery. I was out for a bit and near the close end I woke up and was aware of everything except the pain.
Thanks for letting me know about the vasectomy pain because those are supposed to be easy! Yikes sorry man.
I wish we could add this to our medical files. Like it should be easy to do but for some reason it always comes down to the patient and whether the doctor feels like believing them that day.
Bonus: We also process opioids rapidly. So, those don’t work on us either. But the trade off is we have higher pain thresholds than normal people.
I was undersedated for that one too. Hurt like a mother, but I never realised I may be under sedated so I just challenged through.
No issues in the end though. Just a firm reminder to ask for a double dose next time.
I straight up told mine I require significantly more anesthesia because of my genetics. He made the incision, asked if I felt it, I said yes, then he started.
I did find out that I have an enormous pain tolerance, though. Fortunately the recovery was a breeze, so I guess I speed ran the pain.
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I blame office staff- when I had my wisdom teeth removed, it was going to be a shit show, so they sold me on “putting me under”- insurance would only cover local, but “you don’t want to be awake for all the digging and prying” which did not sound like fun so I agreed, at a cost of $400. Of course I woke up in the middle of it, and got to experience the digging and prying… Didn’t hurt at all, but it was still disconcerting. I found out later this wasn’t anything unusual. Had I known I would have been awake, I wouldn’t have spent the extra money.
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How interesting! Does this apply to alcohol/other “recreational” drugs too, then, or only sedative ones?
I’m pretty resistant to stimulants, but I have ADHD so that skews this.
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general anesthetics are so neat
like, you can just switch me off with a drug, and after a while I come back? weird, bizzar, and yet also practical. and (as far as I understand) it’s universal. Works on every living thing. They’ve anesthetized plants
Caesarians don’t get general or sedation, do they? Just local and epidural fent?
My wife described it as rummaging through a purse, from the perspective of the purse.
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Yeah… its a scary af time. Especially since the general can take a long time to wear off and the mother stabilize.
It can happen. When giving general anaesthetic there are three components. An anaesthetic to puts you out and makes you forget whats going on, pain relief and a muscle relaxants so that you go limp and don’t try to fight the ventilator when they take over your breathing. If you are resistant to the anaesthetic or not enough was given then you can wake up while still under the effects of the muscle relaxants unable to do anything to let anyone know. Scary stuff if you ask me.
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I agree they’re warning signs that you are awake and a good anaesthetist should pick up on it but, I am also saying that it’s possible, rare, but possible given the nature of GA to not have enough anaesthetic onboard while having a decent does of muscle relaxant. So you can look like you’re out of it from the end of the bed but still be aware. A good anaesthetist should honestly be paying attention to the patients physiology and noticing the blood pressure and heart rate spiking before this happens though. Maybe evening using something like a BIS to help confirm anaesthesia.
I think I have to clarify something. The whole thing was not as bad as it sounds. I had a local anesthesia in my arm (which was operated) and was sedated with propofol (i think). My focus wasn’t as much on waking up, which i guess from the comments can just happen. It was more on my inability to speak up if something is wrong. Maybe they even noticed, and thought its alright. There was no pain, just an unsettling feeling.
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I never said I was paralyzed. I didn’t speak because the situation was too awkward for me to say something. Nobody from the medical staff made a mistake.
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No problem, I wasn’t very clear in what I was saying. I probably would have thought that too.