Question:
What if I had a problem with anestesia in the past

About 2 years ago I had to have an emergency c-section. I was given an epideral which seemed to be a godsend at the time. That was until I realized that the medicine made me sick to the stomach and I actually vomitted during the procedure. This did not seem like a big deal until I got a fever on day 3 of my hospital stay. It seems that I had gotten pnemonia from vomitting while I was on my back and something ended up getting in my lungs. I ended up having to be there for 2 extra weeks. This only concerns me because not only will I not be wake during the procedure, but It will also take a much longer time to finish. Ok no my question is Is this a major concern? or should I definitely ask the doctor for a different anastetic? any advice?    — Teekay80 (posted on July 30, 2002)

July 30, 2002
Takeysha, It is unlikely that the same anastetic will be used for your general anastetic procedure as was used in your epidural. The epidural probably contained morphine. However, you should simply tell the anastesiologist what you experienced before. He can make the best decision about what to do and watch you carefully to make sure you don't vomit. Also, if you are alegeric to morphine, you must let your surgeon know because this is often given as a pain releiver after surgery. Just share the information, your doctors will know what to do with it. I'm sure you will be fine. Oh, one more thing, be sure to follow your doctor's instructions about not eating or drinking anything in the hours prior to your procedure. And don't drink a ton even in the last few hours when you are allowed to drink. My husband did this once. He followed the instruction not to eat or drink after midnight, but he drank a whole bunch of water at 11:50 PM. He also ended up vomiting duirng his procedure and catching pnemonia. The good news is he had another surgery several months later, didn't drink so much, and had no problem with vomiting.
   — Amber L.

July 30, 2002
Don't forget to mention this to the anesthesiologist. However, you will be given a totally different drug for general anesthesia. They also give a muscle relaxer of sorts (kinda paralyzes you during the procedure) so you won't move around and cause a big boo boo. Toward the end of the operation, they start giving meds. to combat this, and you wake up and remember nothing. Don't worry, you are monitored very closely during the procedure, you're on a ventilator so you won't stop breathing, and the bowel prep and fasting the night before will insure that you don't throw up. You'll do great!!
   — Tina B.

July 30, 2002
Oh yeah, they will also have a machine measuring brain waves that tell how deeply asleep you are. I kinda figured that you'd want to know this too. You're not gonna wake up during the procedure. This was my only fear out of all this, can you believe it?
   — Tina B.

July 30, 2002
An epidural is a lot different than general anesthesia. You should mention the problems you had to your anesthesiologist, however, in case they can prevent the nausea you experienced last time. In my case, they put an anti-nausea drug into my IV, so when I woke up, I wasn't sick at all.
   — Terissa R.

July 30, 2002
I also vomited in recovery after a sinus surgery. Miserable. I had them fax the op report to the WLS docs so as not to make me the same "cocktail" again. No nausea, no vomiting.
   — vitalady

July 30, 2002
This is something I really appreciate about Liv-Lite. They asked for medical records from the last 5 years and for ANY surgeries I'd had. That way they could see if surgeons had run into any problems previously. I trust that the anesthesia I'm given on Sept. 12 will be totally appropriate for me!
   — Kathy B.

August 2, 2002
Hi, I understand your concerns about anesthesia. And jjst to clarify, most epidurals do not contain morphine, they are usually fentanyl and sensorcaine. Since epidural meds go into you epidural space and not into your digestive system I think it was unlikley that the epidural made you sick. I probably had to do with the tension of the moment and the fact that they were working VERY close to your stomach. I am an RN and deal with this every single day. Make sure you tell your anesthesiogist about your experience and he/she can give you some Zofran or something in your IV that will help you. I too vomit from general enesthesia and they gave me the Zofran and I did great. I promise, they will help you. God bless!
   — Gina D.

August 2, 2002
I had a HORRID time after minor knee surgery. Quit breathing, threw up repeatedly, panic attack. Narcam as a anti moriphoine to help my breathing, made pain bad. I got ALL the drugs according to my surgeon/ It was SO scarry. <P> I told my WLS all this and they got my records. WHAT a difference, no nausea, no breathing troubles, no problems at all and no real pain. Relax, it doesnt have to be bad...
   — bob-haller