Issues with anesthesia

Hello all, I'm posting on behalf of my girlfriend who has fibro. She recently developed a gall bladder issue and likely will have it removed. However, this will require her to be put under (anesthesia). In the past, she has had issues with not reacting "normally" to anesthesia, or any other medication in general. It seems she typically requires a higher dose to achieve "normal" effects. In the past she was on a few medications for depression/ADHD and maybe more (I'm trying to recall all this stuff from memory), and was literally taking double and triple the doses daily (2/3 doses per day as opposed to 1). It seems she metabolizes medication very quickly. As far as anesthesia goes, she reacts very adversely to Lidocaine (presumably the variant with epinephrine). When she had her wisdom teeth removed at the dentist, she was given Lidocaine, and reacted with getting intense shaking. From reading I have done online, Lidocaine should be used sparingly for those with fibro, and always WITHOUT epinephrine. She has also reported that anesthesia has not numbed in the manner it was supposed to. When she gave birth to one of her children, she could still completely feel one of her legs even after being given anesthesia (I don't know many details as this was before I was with her).

So has anyone here had similar experiences with anesthesia? If so, what was done to correct these issues? Were any notes posted on your medical files? My gf is Rh negative, and it's plastered everywhere on her file, but no mention of fibro. I'm convinced the fibro is the cause of her anesthesia issues and feel it should be more known she has it!

TIA :)

EDIT: FWIW, my gf is 22 and was born with fibro. Not sure if this makes a difference or not.

Post Edited (zorrex) : 9/17/2011 7:38:21 AM (GMT-6)

Hi,

I think it is awesome that you have remembered all of that, in order to post on here. My husband tries to remember what happens with me, but the medical records are getting thicker and thicker.

Ok. I dont think I will be a whole lot of help with details. My husband would know the details. He is offshore. about two years ago, before my fibro diagnosis, I was recieving facet joint injections. Basically, I was put under anesthesia and, using xrays, the doctor would inject my facet joints (part of the vertibrae in the spine) with either cortisone or epidural. I understood it to be cortisone, but after that treatment failed and we moved on, it was mentioned that it was epidural. Basically, it was an outpatient procedure, every three weeks, with a two day recovery. I had the procedure done four times. The first time went smoothly. The second time, I woke up on the table (you have to lie face down for the procedure) and put my body in a push up position. The needle was in my spine at the moment that occured. I am extremely lucky that the complications werent too severe. The third procedure, they used twice the amount of sedation and I still woke up. For the fourth procedure, I woke up again, even though I was on more than the third time.

So, basically, I dont know what medication was used or what the details were behind it. My husband was the un-sedated, responsible adult, so he knows all of the details. The only thing I really remember was the pain that occured when I decided to start exercising with a darn needle in my spine. I remember the Dr. telling my husband that the amount of medication that I was given for the second procedure (when I woke up-they put me back to sleep quickly) could probably sedate a horse. The third and fourth time included even more medication.

What I am saying is that it has happened to me. I dont know why or what or much of anything other than that it happened and it shouldnt have. I am lucky that that needle was being held by the Dr. tightly. The wrong move and I might not be walking today. I have never put thought into any of this until I read your post. I am going to go through my medical records and see if there were any other cases where I required more than the expected sedation.

I hope my rambling helped with something. I hope I didnt add to the confusion.

I just recently had by gallbladder removed myself!

They put you completely under, they don't use a local or waking anesthesia.

I hate anesthesia. More than anything medical. When I wake up I feel like I've been hit by a bus. I just want to sleep it off because it makes me hurt SO MUCH and causes so much nausea. I recommend having the doctor give her a motion sickness patch before she goes under, and get script for nausea meds.

I can say that after day 2 my anesthesia wore off and I felt so so so much better. But when I woke up I was crippled and could barely move. With GB removal being an outpatient surgery they kept pushing and pushing me to get up and go. She'll just want to sleep it off, but encourage her to get home to her real bed, she won't regret it. She'll want to stay in the hospital, but once you get home and get to sleep its so amazing.

Hello Zorrex. I have seen your gf problem with anesthesia and developping fibromyalgia.

In my case I also developped fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue after anesthesia. In my case the anesthesiologist was new and placed the aneshtesia wrongly. My neurologist told me that my sickness was caused by the anesthesia. It is not the first case I know, I know about other cases with antibiotics.

I got in touch with drugs information and they told me that my symptoms were from toxicity with local anesthesia, so they confirmed the same my neurologist told me.

I am struggling with constant pain, I can't hardly get up from bed because of extreme exhaustion. I have endocrine problems, sugar problems and developping several health problems since the operation all due to the toxicity.

I wish I had never done that operation.

All the best for your girlfriend.

F Hummingbird

I think meeting your anesthesia specialist before the surgery is important. I had surgery in March and I was concerned as my previous surgeries left me scared, I woke up during hysterectomy, I got violently sick after a couple and as this was spine surgery I did not want to be heaving or awake. The specialist said thank you to me for being honest and promised me he would make sure I would be as comfortable as possible. Whatever he did was awesome, I am here, I was not nausiuos, and most certainly did not wake up this time during surgery.