Question:
Could someone tell me about the effects anesthesia has on ad/pd ? I had surgery 12-18-98 and little by little I am flipping out more each day. Should I tell my doctor about this. Does it make anxiety worst than normal? Please let me know Mechelle
Panic disorder brought on by anesthesia would be fairly consistent with one of the major contributing factors of the disorder which is drug experimentation. It is quite common for persons experimenting with drugs to experience fear brought on by a sense of loss of control caused by the drugs. In my own case, I can trace inordinate feelings of anxiety back to my tonsillectomy. I was scared to death in the first place. The injection they gave me to put me to sleep had absolutely no effect and I was fully conscious and fighting for my life as they wheeled me into the OR. Doctors and nurses held me down as the anesthesiologist put me under, me thinking they were killing me for sure. I didn’t wake up with panics, but it retrospect I can see that as the beginning of a very anxious period of my life. Full blown panic disorder was kicked off my a bad "acid" experience (child of the sixties here). I had done hallucinogenic drugs for many years in spite of being afraid of them. Finally I had a very bad, out of control experience in which I was sure I was losing my mind and would never get it back. Panic attacks began soon after that. Interestingly, one of my symptoms was a fear of drugs. I refused to take anything, even antibiotics, and aspirin and the like. I eventually gave up alcohol, smoking, and then began to be concerned about food additives, then processed foods (sugar, white flour, etc.). Bacon http://www.ipanic.com
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I thought I posted this question earlier, but I haven’t seen it up on the ng nor have I seen any replies, so I am trying again. Please forgive if this comes up twice. In early August I went in for an operation requiring "twilight" anesthesia (they put you almost all the way out, but not quite). The Dr.s daid they were using a cocktail of drugs to put me out, including pentathol, valium, a muscle relaxer and a few other goodies. Naturally I was aprehensive about having to let go of my tight cling to reality, but my PD hadn’t really bothered me in a long, long time, and I went forit. Needless to say, my experience was horrifying – especially coming down from the stuff. I was trembling, very sick, no appetite for days … and what’s worse, developed a state of panic that lasted nearly two weeks. Now my PD is in relapse (some other stressful factors are also involved). And … I have to go for another procedure requiring the same anesthesia in a few weeks. Needless to say, I am now petrified – like this next experience will bring on PA’s forever. I need this procedure. Now I dread it more than anything else on earth! The Doctors, of course, think I’m nuts. How do I cope with this? Anybody have any experience with PD and anesthesia? Anybody have any suggestions? Ideas? Larry W.
Hi Larry, Anesthesia drives me *bonkers*. I hate it. My worse panic attacks involved anesthesia/after receiving it. Anyway, I now tell all my anesthesiologist to never give me *Ringers Lactate*. I think it is what caused my panic attacks. There were probably other meds involved, too, but this one was probably the biggest instigator of my attack (IMO). Mel
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However, I think we need to be wary about getting carried away by what is
mostly anecdotal evidence. Operations can be in themselves be a potent trigger of anxiety disorders. The most common explanation for these disorders is that, in some, neurotransmitter receptors fail to correctly adapt to the flood of hormones (cortisols, epinephrine, nonremunerative etc) produced by stress. Impending surgery is a very potent stressor, probably only surpassed by bereavement, and probably divorce. And the things that can happen to you after surgery may also produce a lot of stress. Hi Ian, Thank you for passing this on. It does make sense that post-op stress is just as important. Reason being, ( in my case), I had no pre-op stress as I never knew I was going to have surgery (C-section) until after 26 hours of labor and still no futher ahead than when I arrived. It was an emergency thing – Wham, Bam, WAHHHHHH. And again, it is very much a YMMV thing not to frighten anyone! Kathi
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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -l Newsgroups: alt.support.anxiety-panic Organization: Deja News – The Leader in Internet Discussion Lines: 23 NNTP-Posting-Host: 199.174.205.203 X-Http-User-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 4.01; Windows 95) X-Http-Proxy: 1.1 x10.dejanews.com:80 (Squid/1.1.22) for client 199.174.205.203 Gee tahnks guys…I’m going in for surgery on Friday, now i don’t think I want
to..I’ll just put up with the abcess and pain for the rest of my life… Hi Tai, Not to worry yourself! My bad anesthesia experience was after major abdominal surgery a long time ago. I had all 4 wisdom teeth pulled a year ago under a local anesthesia and was absolutely fine. I was totally out of it while being driven home and when my husband drove straight to the pharmacy to have a script filled, he left me sitting in the car with my face leaning on the window and I was drooling. Must have been quite a sight for anyone who witnessed it <G. Kathi
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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Could someone tell me about the effects anesthesia has on ad/pd ? I had surgery 12-18-98 and little by little I am flipping out more each day. Should I tell my doctor about this. Does it make anxiety worst than normal? Please let me know Mechelle Gee tahnks guys…I’m going in for surgery on Friday, now i don’t think I want to..I’ll just put up with the abcess and pain for the rest of my life… Sheesh..:-( Taisto
Please remember almost all advice and experience given here is a YMMV thing. Although I experienced panic after 2 surgeries the third one, which I had a few years ago gave me no panic at all. Cathy Panic/anxiety Support Group, New Jersey http://geoworld.com/Hotsprings/Villa/9093/ http://community.nj.com/cc/phobia http://members.tripod.com/~PhobiaGroup/index.html http://members.bellatlantic.net/~cathyr/
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snipped Does anyone remember who brought up the anesthesia and A/D trigger connection? I seem to recall it was a frequent poster to the ng. Maybe Dr. S. who joins in every now and then has some stats on this. Kathi
No Kathi, I don’t. But, I think I have remarked before about the high incidence of emotional disorders amongst nurses, and especially operating theatre staff. I first heard of this from my doc’s wife who runs the anaesthesia recovery room at the local hospital. She has PAD and so, apparently, do many of her peers. As you may be aware, I’m about 99.9% certain that my PD was triggered by chronic exposure to industrial solvents. Of the two chemicals most likely to have been primarily responsible one, Trichloroethane, is chemically similar to one of the main anaesthetic gasses. So, BTW, is perchloroethane, dry cleaning fluid. However, I think we need to be wary about getting carried away by what is mostly anecdotal evidence. Operations can be in themselves be a potent trigger of anxiety disorders. The most common explanation for these disorders is that, in some, neurotransmitter receptors fail to correctly adapt to the flood of hormones (cortisols, epinephrine, nonremunerative etc) produced by stress. Impending surgery is a very potent stressor, probably only surpassed by bereavement, and probably divorce. And the things that can happen to you after surgery may also produce a lot of stress. Combined the effects of both the pre and post operation stress could be enough to trigger an anxiety disorder. Kids often have the added burden of separation anxiety. Ian Phobias: Tomophobia- Fear of surgical operations. PS: My apologies if this a duplication. For some reason many of my posts are failing to appear on either the local server, or Dejanews.
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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Could someone tell me about the effects anesthesia has on ad/pd ? I had surgery 12-18-98 and little by little I am flipping out more each day. Should I tell my doctor about this. Does it make anxiety worst than normal? Please let me know Mechelle Gee tahnks guys…I’m going in for surgery on Friday, now i don’t think I want to..I’ll just put up with the abcess and pain for the rest of my life… Sheesh..:-( Taisto
Hi Taisto – just make sure that the medical staff know that you are prone to PA’s. I didn’t do that once and ended up grappling with a nurse who was trying to force an oxygen mask onto my face as I came round. Next time, I made sure they knew, and it wasn’t a problem. — Jon Guite When replying by email, please remove the trailing x from my return address
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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -l Newsgroups: alt.support.anxiety-panic Organization: Deja News – The Leader in Internet Discussion Lines: 23 NNTP-Posting-Host: 199.174.205.203 X-Http-User-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 4.01; Windows 95) X-Http-Proxy: 1.1 x10.dejanews.com:80 (Squid/1.1.22) for client 199.174.205.203 Gee tahnks guys…I’m going in for surgery on Friday, now i don’t think I want to..I’ll just put up with the abcess and pain for the rest of my life… Hi Tai, Not to worry yourself! My bad anesthesia experience was after major abdominal surgery a long time ago. I had all 4 wisdom teeth pulled a year ago under a local anesthesia and was absolutely fine. I was totally out of it while being driven home and when my husband drove straight to the pharmacy to have a script filled, he left me sitting in the car with my face leaning on the window and I was drooling. Must have been quite a sight for anyone who witnessed it <G. Kathi
Kathy – been there, done that – did you try explaining on the phone that you wouldn’t be in for work that day, with both sides of your jaw anaesthetised 
— Jon Guite When replying by email, please remove the trailing x from my return address
Response:
ould someone tell me about the effects anesthesia has on ad/pd ? I had surgery 2-18-98 and little by little I am flipping out more each day. Should I " Gee tahnks guys…I’m going in for surgery on Friday, now i don’t think " I want to..I’ll just put up with the abcess and pain for the rest of my " life… Oh no! (((Tai))) Why didn’t you say so? I had to go through anesthesia, about 3 years ago. Tho it was a very emotional time, the anesthesia itself did not give me any trouble (other than the fear of needles being pinched into my arm When I woke up again, the only thing that bothered me was the needle still sticking into my arm.. Well, the only thing related to anesthesia.. I’ll be thinking of you. 
Please, don’t let all the stories scare you. Everyone responds differently. Bye!
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JacandGil schreef: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi to both of you, I found out about it in this wonderful NG. It was maybe a month ago that someone casually mentioned it (Cathy maybe?) and all of sudden I realized what happened to me. Maybe it was coincidence but I went in the hospital just fine (a bit overweight maybe – at 9 months pregnant <G) but came out a looney. I was never the same since then! Does anyone remember who brought up the anesthesia and A/D trigger connection? I seem to recall it was a frequent poster to the ng. Maybe Dr. S. who joins in every now and then has some stats on this. Kathi Hi Kathi, I do remember , but forgot who the person was. This is interesting. I had a miscarriage, and had to have emergency surgery to stop the hemorraging. When I woke up from the surgery, I was so sick, I had quadruple vision and the heaves like I never had in my life. I went back to my job as a nurse ten days after surgery. I started having PA`s at work, I had them before, but this time they were severe, long lasting and I just felt overwhelmed. I tried so hard not to let it affect my job. Giving out medication to over 50 elderly people require you to be able to concentrate, and I was losing that ability. I was also deeply depressed about my loss,I was just starting to look like I was pregnant, it was the second time in little over a year I had a miscarriage. I was also alone alot, my husband was working full time, going to school and was rarely home. Within six weeks of this surgery/loss, I walked off my job due to a panic attack and within one week of doing that, I was at one point completely housebound. I had always thought this time in my life was caused by my loss and other things going on in my life. I never made this anesthesia connection until today. Maybe it had nothing to do with what happened, or maybe it triggered something. There is really nothing I can do about it, just accept whats happened regardless of the cause and move foward. Take care Jackie "The beauty of the world has two edges, one of laughter, one of anguish,cutting the heart asunder."
Surgery, or, rather, anaesthesia, is a well-known PD-trigger. I find it strange that your doctors never mentioned that. Philip
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Jackie wrote (about the anesthesia P/D connection): KDoes anyone remember who brought up the anesthesia and A/D trigger connection? I do remember , but forgot who the person was. This is interesting. When I
woke up from the surgery, I was so sick, I had quadruple vision and the heaves like I never had in my life. Me too Jackie! When I came out of recovery I was so violently ill that I vomited day and night for 5 full days. Most of us know how quickly they through new mom’s out of the hospital and I was actually there for 6 days after the C-section. I shook 24 hours a day, had the most disturbing thoughts, could not eat or drink anything and had no idea how to explain this to anyone. It took me almost 6 more years to want to have another child because I thought this was what giving birth was like for everyone. Like you said , maybe it’s coincidence but I believe to the best of my knowledge, anesthesia was my trigger. IMO, It changed my entire life and body chemistry. YMMV Kathi
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– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Only recently did I discover that anesthesia can be a trigger for A/D,P/D Peg & Eddie both asked: This is so interesting. I’ve suffered from A/D for as long as I can remember and I had an appendectomy when I was 6 years old. Where did you find out about this? Hi to both of you, I found out about it in this wonderful NG. It was maybe a month ago that someone casually mentioned it (Cathy maybe?) and all of sudden I realized what happened to me. Maybe it was coincidence but I went in the hospital just fine (a bit overweight maybe – at 9 months pregnant <G) but came out a looney. I was never the same since then! Does anyone remember who brought up the anesthesia and A/D trigger connection? I seem to recall it was a frequent poster to the ng. Maybe Dr. S. who joins in every now and then has some stats on this. Kathi
Hi Kathi, I do remember this subject, but can’t remember who brought it up. Over the years I have talked to peope who say their first panic attack occured after going under anesthesia. (I also read this in a book) I remember when I had my first real Panic attack was after I had ny tonsils out when I was 17, I also had a panic attack when I had my an exploratory laparoscopy when I was 22. Since I had anxiety all my life maybe this is what started my panic mode. This seems like a good subject to explore. Cathy Panic/anxiety Support Group, New Jersey http://geoworld.com/Hotsprings/Villa/9093/ http://community.nj.com/cc/phobia http://members.tripod.com/~PhobiaGroup/index.html http://members.bellatlantic.net/~cathyr/
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Gee tahnks guys…I’m going in for surgery on Friday, now i don’t think I want to..I’ll just put up with the abcess and pain for the rest of my life… Sheesh..:-( Taisto
I had surgery two months ago. I asked to be totaly put under. When I woke up I was feeling great too good in fact And the demerol they gave me afterwords very cool. The only problem was non anxiety related it made me feel so good I was going about like I hadnt had the surgery which caused a couple extra days of pain… My experience with anesthesia is a positive one. Dont let this talk get you all freaked out…
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I must talk to my pdoc about this. I really think this anasthesia issue is really something that we should explore.
This is so weird! Before I had the surgery, I was a normal, fiesty, outgoing little girl. Afterwards, I withdrew, hated school and social situations and became extremely social phobic. But what really gets me is that my PD usually has it’s onset in Sept/Oct. which is when I had the surgery. The surgery was traumatic for me, I won’t go into details. But it seems pretty likely to me now that that was when my problems began. Not only that, but the surgery itself caused me to have adhesions, which has caused lifelong problems and can even become fatal. 
Peg
Response:
Could someone tell me about the effects anesthesia has on ad/pd ? I had surgery 12-18-98 and little by little I am flipping out more each day. Should I tell my doctor about this. Does it make anxiety worst than normal? Please let me
know Mechelle
Gee tahnks guys…I’m going in for surgery on Friday, now i don’t think I want to..I’ll just put up with the abcess and pain for the rest of my life… Sheesh..:-( Taisto
Response:
Dear Taisto Sorry I wasn’t trying to make you worry more, Someone posted a couple of days ago about it. And I have been having a couple of bad weeks, So I was wondering if there is anything to it. Because this time after I had my surgery I took alond time to come out of it. Everyone is different so try not to worry. I am really SORRY!!!!!!Good luck on your surgery and stay calm, You will be in my thoughts. Mechelle
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Philip Peters schreef: Surgery, or, rather, anaesthesia, is a well-known PD-trigger. I find it strange that your doctors never mentioned that. Philip
Hi Philip, I never heard about this surgery/anesthesia connection until now. I don`t think I ever brought up my surgeries( I have had three) to any of my pdocs. My last surgery, I was under anesthesia for 7 hours, and in the hospital for three weeks. I did okay in regards to my anxiety, I actually came out of the hospital less anxious and panicky then when I went in. Go figure<VBG. Jackie "Love looks not with eyes, but with the mind."
Response:
Could someone tell me about the effects anesthesia has on ad/pd ? I had surgery 12-18-98 and little by little I am flipping out more each day. Should I tell my doctor about this. Does it make anxiety worst than normal? Please let me know Mechelle
Response:
I thought I posted this question earlier, but I haven’t seen it up on the ng nor have I seen any replies, so I am trying again. Please forgive if this comes up twice. In early August I went in for an operation requiring "twilight" anesthesia (they put you almost all the way out, but not quite). The Dr.s daid they were using a cocktail of drugs to put me out, including pentathol, valium, a muscle relaxer and a few other goodies. Naturally I was aprehensive about having to let go of my tight cling to reality, but my PD hadn’t really bothered me in a long, long time, and I went forit. Needless to say, my experience was horrifying – especially coming down from the stuff. I was trembling, very sick, no appetite for days … and what’s worse, developed a state of panic that lasted nearly two weeks. Now my PD is in relapse (some other stressful factors are also involved). And … I have to go for another procedure requiring the same anesthesia in a few weeks. Needless to say, I am now petrified – like this next experience will bring on PA’s forever. I need this procedure. Now I dread it more than anything else on earth! The Doctors, of course, think I’m nuts. How do I cope with this? Anybody have any experience with PD and anesthesia? Anybody have any suggestions? Ideas? Larry W.
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My shrink told me something interesting about the anxiety connection. She says that people who have undergone repeated anesthesia or have a history of anesthesia problems are often prone to AD and also hard to treat with medications because their threshold is different. Their dosages are hard to manage. In my case she was referring to the fact that some drugs do nothing for me, others require minute doses, and it is next to impossible to "knock me out" or sedate me. I have a long history of medical problems and multiple surgeries starting at age 5 (now 43) and remember occasionally waking during surgery, told I was "combative" both while going under and regaining consciousness – in other words, extremely sensitive to changes in my mental awareness. I would love to hear some professional opinions or research on this. I told this to a doctor who did an endoscopy on me last year and she gave me the maximum of a combo of Demerol and Versed (an IV drug in the benzo family I believe) and it did NOT so much as relax me and I remained wide awake and tense throughout the procedure. Must be something to this!!
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<snip I have a long history of medical problems and multiple surgeries starting at age 5 (now 43) and remember occasionally waking during surgery, told I was "combative" both while going under and regaining consciousness – in other words, extremely sensitive to changes in my mental awareness. I would love to hear some professional opinions or research on this. I told this to a doctor who did an endoscopy on me last year and she gave me the maximum of a combo of Demerol and Versed (an IV drug in the benzo family I believe) and it did NOT so much as relax me and I remained wide awake and tense throughout the procedure. Must be something to this!!
Oh gosh…. I can’t believe what I’m reading in this thread! I’ve had PA’s since I can remember, and what got my attention on Debbie’s post is when she talks about being told she was "combative" in surgery….. I had my tonsils removed when I was 3 years old, and as long as I can remember my mother told me how much trouble I gave the nurses and doctors before, during, and after the surgery…. I was moving and trying to escape constantly, and when I came back to my room after the surgery my mom was really surprised to see me completely OUT of my hospital gown….. the nurse told her that I gave them hell, trying to get out of the gurney and everything….. I must talk to my pdoc about this. I really think this anasthesia issue is really something that we should explore. Thank you Debbie. ~Ann
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Dear Kathi, This is so interesting. I’ve suffered from A/D for as long as I can remember and I had an appendectomy when I was 6 years old. Where did you find out about this? Thanks. Peg ~~Only recently did I discover that anesthesia can be a trigger for A/D,P/D ~~
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Heh, i missed this. I had an op at 7 and remeber it all. wot have we found out.? – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Dear Kathi, This is so interesting. I’ve suffered from A/D for as long as I can remember and I had an appendectomy when I was 6 years old. Where did you find out about this? Thanks. Peg ~~Only recently did I discover that anesthesia can be a trigger for A/D,P/D ~~
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Only recently did I discover that anesthesia can be a trigger for A/D,P/D
Peg & Eddie both asked: This is so interesting. I’ve suffered from A/D for as long as I can remember
and I had an appendectomy when I was 6 years old. Where did you find out about this? Hi to both of you, I found out about it in this wonderful NG. It was maybe a month ago that someone casually mentioned it (Cathy maybe?) and all of sudden I realized what happened to me. Maybe it was coincidence but I went in the hospital just fine (a bit overweight maybe – at 9 months pregnant <G) but came out a looney. I was never the same since then! Does anyone remember who brought up the anesthesia and A/D trigger connection? I seem to recall it was a frequent poster to the ng. Maybe Dr. S. who joins in every now and then has some stats on this. Kathi
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Hi to both of you, I found out about it in this wonderful NG. It was maybe a month ago that someone casually mentioned it (Cathy maybe?) and all of sudden I realized what happened to me. Maybe it was coincidence but I went in the hospital just fine (a bit overweight maybe – at 9 months pregnant <G) but came out a looney. I was never the same since then! Does anyone remember who brought up the anesthesia and A/D trigger connection? I seem to recall it was a frequent poster to the ng. Maybe Dr. S. who joins in every now and then has some stats on this. Kathi
Hi Kathi, I do remember , but forgot who the person was. This is interesting. I had a miscarriage, and had to have emergency surgery to stop the hemorraging. When I woke up from the surgery, I was so sick, I had quadruple vision and the heaves like I never had in my life. I went back to my job as a nurse ten days after surgery. I started having PA`s at work, I had them before, but this time they were severe, long lasting and I just felt overwhelmed. I tried so hard not to let it affect my job. Giving out medication to over 50 elderly people require you to be able to concentrate, and I was losing that ability. I was also deeply depressed about my loss,I was just starting to look like I was pregnant, it was the second time in little over a year I had a miscarriage. I was also alone alot, my husband was working full time, going to school and was rarely home. Within six weeks of this surgery/loss, I walked off my job due to a panic attack and within one week of doing that, I was at one point completely housebound. I had always thought this time in my life was caused by my loss and other things going on in my life. I never made this anesthesia connection until today. Maybe it had nothing to do with what happened, or maybe it triggered something. There is really nothing I can do about it, just accept whats happened regardless of the cause and move foward. Take care Jackie "The beauty of the world has two edges, one of laughter, one of anguish,cutting the heart asunder."
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