Surgery And Anesthesia

[wibbleway]

I was supposed to have surgery to put a screw in my fractured bone in my foot, when the doctor called and said because of the dysautonomia problems they couldn't do the surgery in the outpatient clinic but in the hospital. Well, I am glad they did because during the surgery my blood pressure dropped dramatically. They were able to get it back up but I was wondering if anyone else has had problems with anesthesia? Also does it take you longer like me to get over surgery?

[MomtoGiuliana]

I had an emergency c-section under general anesthesia and had no problems with it. It took me a long long time to recover from the surgery. I think many of us who have had surgery have found we have longer than average recovery periods.

[pastordari]

I have not had problems during surgery as far as I know.

It DOES take me quite a while to recover from the anesthesia.

I had an outpatient procedure which the doc said would be no big deal and I could go back to work the next day. Not the case. I was drugged to the point that I stayed in bed for a couple of days. It was crazy!

Dari

[Sunfish]

hi cathy -

glad that things turned out well in the end. people have varied experiences such that some have no trouble at all & some have severe issues, but all in all autonomic dysfunction should be a consideration with any type of general anesthesia, sedation, etc. by no means should people feel that it's a danger that must be avoided but it's something that can require some different/ addition precautions or protocols, even if just more time to recover, additional monitoring, extra fluids, etc. i've had general anesthesia 4 times & sedation of various types more times than i can now count and have never had anything particularly scary happen but, as others have referenced, generally take longer to come around. knowing this in advance has helped it to be an expectation rather than something that induces panic. i also know that my dysautonomia has been taken into consideration by anesthesiologist in deciding which types of anesthesia are best for my situaion, and the first time i had general the docs had extensive discussion with my autonomic doc in advance.

there have been a handful of prior discussions on the forum re: surgery/ anesthesia so you can do a search if you're interested. there are also some articles listed on the main DINET site re: anesthesia in POTS/ OI/ dysautonomia. they are listed toward the top of the following page: http://www.dinet.org/links.htm#anaesthesia

hope this helps & that your foot is on its way to feeling much much better (and that you're not hurting too much in the meantime!)

melissa

[flop]

Hi,

I had problems following a general anaesthetic earlier this year. Luckily I am now fully recovered and an contemplating having another general anaesthetic for a separate procedure later in the year. I think that a lot of my problems were contributed to by being dehydrated - I had been "nil by mouth" for 10 hours before the surgery and was incredibly tachy and dizzy before going to theatre (heart rate was 145 sitting up, normal for me would be 65-75 sitting!). The big problem was not getting IV fluids before the anaesthetic and then only getting a litre a day IV for the next 3 days.

I think the docs thought I was crazy asking for IV fluids all the time but swallowing was so painful and I was hardly passing any urine (500mls a day compared with my normal 3 litres plus a day).

I think the root cause of my problems was my anaesthetist not taking the POTS seriously and me not being allowed a pre-op appointment with the anaesthetist before the day of the surgery. So long as everything is planned properly (getting admitted the night before and having enough IV fluids pre and post-op) I am not worried about having another anaesthetic.

Flop

[ellen]

Yes, I went into shock on the operating table, I heard the anesthesiologist say, " I can't get a pulse!" , then heard alot of noise as he jumped on me with a shot - Afterwards, my doctor, who was very upset, told me not to have surgery unless it was absolutely necessary and to always tell my doctors that I faint easily.

That was 25 years ago, before I was diagnosed with POTS. I ALWAYS tell my dentist, doctors, etc. and have had no trouble. I had a hysterectomy 3 years ago and was told to take a double dose of Florinef beforehand, which I did, and I STILL started to lose blood pressure in the pre-op when they gave me an IV. But they were watching me closely, so they quickly lowered my head and elevated my feet, and I was fine.

If you have a concern always tell your doctor, and every nurse who handles your case, and then relax. They can handle it.