handmadebyemy Posted February 18, 2011 Report Share Posted February 18, 2011 I would say right now that my POTS is well controlled. I am thinking of having a sinus surgery to fix my deviated septum but after reading some of the posts about POTS getting worse after having general anesthesia, I'm a bit worried. What have your experiences been? Thanks!Emy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sue1234 Posted February 18, 2011 Report Share Posted February 18, 2011 I had my thyroid removed in the middle of my 5 year POTS journey, and, actually I felt really good for the week after surgery! I honestly don't know if it was the fluids or just something with not having my thyroid anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovebug Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 I had surgery in 2009 (prior to my diagnosis but when I was feeling horribly) and I had no problems whatsoever from the anesthesia. As a matter of fact, I loved it.....LOL! BUT I was only under a minimal amount of time as my surgery did not last very long (not sure if that makes a difference with dysautonomia). Now...the pain meds I took after...well, not so good. I only took 1 pill (half at a time) and did NOT like the effects it had on me. Now I know why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sallysblooms Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 I have had major general aneth. three times in the last two years. Twice this year. No problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddm1960 Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 Feeling awfull with anesthesia ( I see I'm the first vote ) could point you to a mitochondrial cause of your dysautonomia. Much like statins anesthesia knocks you out and you feel like death. I had PACU nurses pissy with me because I could get up / move / get dressed. I don't think I knew my name for 24 hours after surgery, I was a mess two weeks. Now looking back on how I reacted to anesthesia and statins these are both red flags to mitochondrial problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sugartwin Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 During general anesthesia my blood pressure crashes, even lying flat on my back. I had a grandmother whose heart would stop whenever she got general anesthesia. It was this fact, going into major surgery for the second time that clued me into the fact that my dysautonomia had a genetic cause. I have to receive pressors (like epinephrine) on a continuous basis during anesthesia to keep my blood pressure up, because the influence of the drugs will crash it every time. It was general anesthesia that caused my first POTS crash years before I knew what I was dealing with.It really depends on the nature of what's causing your POTS. I was going into anesthesia thinking I'd be fine when I remembered what happened to my grandmother and connected her symptoms to mine. Then I blurted out over and over again, "My blood pressure's going to crash, my blood pressure's going to crash." I'd never been more certain of anything in my whole life.POTS has so many different causes though, I wouldn't be surprised if someone was actually cured after anesthesia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dianne.fraser Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 I had surgery 6 or 7 years ago - it didn't seem to aggravate my illness, but I had a lot of trouble waking up afterwards. Hours after coming out of surgery, the nurses were still giving me a gentle shake and telling me that I needed to try to wake up....Dianne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corina Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 ga is really making me much worse. over the years it has always made me very sick (difficulty waking up, very low bp, very high heartrate, very nauseous throwing up for hours etc), so my doc and i decided that there has to be a life threatening situation going on for me to have ga. i'm fine with epidural so there is an alternative (not for everything, i know).corina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rach73 Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 Hithe last time I had GA was around 2002. I when I came around I found out they had problems with keeping me oxygenated during the operation. On Oxygen my sats were still only 95%, normally even though I smoke my oxygen sats are 99-100% on air, so you can see that I was struggling a little.After GA's I get very emotional/ depressed for about 4 weeks. Its very odd, I burst into tears at the drop of a hat.The oxygen problem was never investigated so I never really paid it much attention until now.I believe I have always had POTS to some degree now its just a lot worse.I have more problems with local's than GA's. Locals either don't work, I need the same amount as a male bull elephant or they just run out really quick. Dentistry is a nightmare, I had an abscess and it took over 10 injections to numb me and it still flippin hurt.I got up from the dentists (torture) chair and promptly fainted! Didn't know I had POTS / Eds problems then.2007 had part of my big toenail removed due to ingrowing nail. About 5 mins in I realised I could feel EVERYTHING! The doc is shouting at me as I keep moving my foot - yeah? your sticking a scalpel in it. Told me there was no way I could feel anything as I'd had two vials of local injected. Ended up doing the rest of the op with freeze spray applied every few mins. Dr acted like either a) it was all in my head or I was mad!2009 - even worse had a lumbar puncture done and the local didn't work.I had numerous injections of the stuff, which hurt. So I just let them carry on and didn't bother to tell them as it took them 4 attempts to get the needle in. I am lucky I have a high pain threshold. Although my language did clear the ward!I know the problem with local's is an EDS trait, so it only concerns me if I have to have dental treatment.Rach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tearose Posted February 19, 2011 Report Share Posted February 19, 2011 Interesting question especially since I was just recently considering the pros and cons of that exact same surgery!!! I too have a deviated septum and with this horrible winter and the lack of ability to breath and nosebleeds I was wondering about surgery.I just don't want to go through any relapse problems of anesthesia anymore. With pelvic reconstruction I had major problems. I needed to wait an hour on the table before they could operate, due to too low bp they had to give me IV for an hour!Then, I bled so much I needed two transfusions. Then, I was so ill and weak I lost some cognitive ability and needed occupational therapy. It took me around 3 months to get back to some normal functioning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovebug Posted February 20, 2011 Report Share Posted February 20, 2011 Feeling awfull with anesthesia ( I see I'm the first vote ) could point you to a mitochondrial cause of your dysautonomia. Much like statins anesthesia knocks you out and you feel like death. I had PACU nurses pissy with me because I could get up / move / get dressed. I don't think I knew my name for 24 hours after surgery, I was a mess two weeks. Now looking back on how I reacted to anesthesia and statins these are both red flags to mitochondrial problems.That is interesting b/c when I took a statin for a week, I could barely get out of the bed (or walk) but a year or 2 later I did OK with my anesthesia. I will say this though: when I woke up from the surgery, I felt like it was difficult to breathe. I told the nurse and she said "your sats are good" so I asked her when I was extubated and she said a few moments earlier. I just attributed the loss of "will to breathe" to that. Maybe it was dys...? Otherwise I recovered fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coloredblood Posted February 20, 2011 Report Share Posted February 20, 2011 I've had 5 surgeries. With open heart there were complications with my heart rate being all over the place both way too high and was too low. It was harder to breath after being under so long. but I came through ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rapid_reader Posted February 20, 2011 Report Share Posted February 20, 2011 I can't count how many times I've been put under. The doctors can't keep me under with local Anesthesia as I tend to wake up even when they use it to it's maximum. They use the General Anesthesia for my endoscopy's even. First off I get really really nauseous afterward so I have a set up where they give me anti nausea medicine as they are waking me up. I have been told that every hour you are kept under is a week in which the natural sleep schedule will be messed up. It does worsen my POTS but it settles down as the average persons sleep schedule sorts itself out. I know General Anesthesia can cause problems even for the healthiest individuals. As for specifics withe POTS I noticed there was nothing in particular, all of my symptoms were just more intense. Yes it is a pain to deal with, I don't have a choice though. Oh the Local Anesthesia messed me up more...I had my worst episode of restless legs after for about 6 hours. I think it depends on the person though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handmadebyemy Posted February 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 Thanks for the feedback so far, anyone else have any experiences? I'm still unsure of what to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaos Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 Not sure that there will ever be a totally clear answer for you since we're all so different. Unfortunately, we all seem to be a sample group of 1 and most of us seem to have to do the "try it for myself and see how it goes."Personally, while I suspect I've had a predisposition toward POTS most of my life, my two big crashes occurred after surgery. I never heard that they had any problems with my vitals during surgery; then again, unless you almost died in the process a lot of docs wouldn't mention it to you. Kind of the "it's all ok now" philosophy of life. Good luck coming to a decision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayjay Posted February 23, 2011 Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 It is great to know that you have POTS before you have anything done. My worst problem was with the birth of my second child... didn't know that I had pots and i just bottomed out. Thought I was dying. Don't know if it was the epidural or not.A good doc can work with you. I had surgery after my diagnosis and made out really well. They will be careful with you because you are "special" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandymbme Posted February 24, 2011 Report Share Posted February 24, 2011 The two times I have been under GA since POTS, I have done okay. Not great, recovery is rough! But no major problems either. I just take it for granted that anything I do is going to be a bit harder with POTS.Sandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handmadebyemy Posted March 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 anything I do is going to be a bit harder with POTS.SandyI like that quote, its so true!I'm still not sure what I'm going to do but right now I'm leaning towards not having the surgery. Its not completely necessary and I don't want to risk a relapse with POTS, especially since I'm finally improving after 4 1/2 years! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.