I am going to a G.I Specialist sometime this week (haven't made an official date quiet yet) and am probably going to have to be put under so they can put scopes inside my body to see what is wrong with my digestive system. I have never been put under before, and I don't know anybody else that has been put under before to help me know how it feels. I have been given laughing gas before but I know that both of them are different. For one laughing gas doesn't put you under completely so I know the experience will be different but am not knowing what to expect.

So has anybody been put under before and can explain to me how it feels?

"Count down from ten"

"Ten..."

(something something something)

"whaaa...?"

It doesn't feel like anything, they don't give you psychoactive drugs, you don't even dream, you just go out, and then you wake up in the wards.

haha freaking amazing. Probably will be the best sleep I have gotten in awhile.

It's been a while, but I don't really remember feeling refreshed when I got out, more like waking up with a slight hangover, and really wanting some food.

It's like sleeping. They administer the anesthesia, and before you realize it the procedure is already over.

Yeah, they tell you to count from 10 and you get 10 out then everything fades away. It's not bad, its like falling asleep, suddenly you were in the bed then suddenly youre waking up.

Two things:

1. The gas tastes nasty. I've inhaled all manner of solvents and acids on accident in chem lab, but the gas they use for anesthesia just tastes downright obscene.

2. You'll be asleep after a few lungfuls. Good luck trying to fight to stay awake. I was able to make it to 8 counting back from 10 before I fell asleep when I went in. Next thing you'll remember (or should remember) is waking up in the recovery room after the surgery is all over.

I went under for wisdom teeth removal. I woke up halfway home and mid-sentence before I realized I was out.

When I got my wisdom teeth taken out:

Assistant Lady: Has it kicked in yet?

Me: Not yet.

Lady: Be back in a sec.

*lady comes back*

Me: Still not working.

Lady: You're done with your operation, actually.

Me: !!!

I got put under once, I felt like I was in a coma actually. I thought I was conscience. I actually feel like I remember it. But then I woke up and I was being driven home and I realized then that I was still high from the drug I had taken so I probably wasn't there at all.

I've been under a few times for my legs as a kid

I remember waking up sore, but that was a couple decades ago.

I had an endoscopy done within the last year (I'm assuming that's what you're talking about). It's similar to the sedative they typically give you if you're going to have multiple teeth pulled (like wisdom teeth).

They gave me an IV while I was waiting. When I went into the procedure room the doctor plugged a syringe into the port in my IV, squirted in the sleep juice, and a few seconds later I felt a little drunk. That's the last thing I remember. It's pretty easy. It does cause a little bit of retrograde amnesia, though, so although I was still awake at the very beginning of the procedure I didn't remember any of it when I woke up in the recovery room.

Ok good. What just creeps me out is the thought that you are being put under for so long. I thought you might be dreaming and it felt like an unusually long sleep rather then just a normal one. My mind has been put at ease a bit.

That doesn't sound like general anesthetic, you shouldn't be high at all from it. It's really the anolgesics they give you afterwards that make you feel high

I've been put under twice in my life. It's pretty much what everyone else here is saying, they tell you to count down from 10, and chances are you'll be out before you even reach five. The next thing you know, you'll wake up, no dreaming or anything.

For me, there was a good hour or so of grogginess, and the gas did really mess with my stomach the first time, but I was in the third grade at the time so I have no idea how common that effect is with advlts.

All in all though, it's not that bad.

Echoing what's already been said, it's quick to the point of being confusing. You're laying there waiting, and then suddenly you're done and elsewhere. Even waking up seems rather sudden, I don't even recall significant grogginess. Just disorientation over where the last hour or so went.

When you get put under, the very first moment everything seems like time has frozen, and then 2 seconds later, you wake up, and the procedure is finished.

Reminds me of when I got my wisdom teeth out. They used novacane to numb, and nitrous oxide to sedate me. 15 minutes later, they used an IV to knock me out since the gas had no discernible effect.

IV in your arm, anesthesiologist adminsters anesthesia via needle into the iv tubing, you feel drowsy, fall asleep quickly.
Hardly anyone uses the face mask to adminster sedatives anymore.

I've been put under multiple times, yeah, it can be a little nerve wracking leading up to it, especially if your procedure is late in the afternoon and you cannot eat.
Make sure to do your breathing exerscises afterwards, so your lungs don't get congested.

*nods*

I absolutely refused the gas and had a local anesthetic brought in to put me under. Got freaked out a little bit when they put the mask on me but it was just Oxygen to help me breath. The doctor asked me to count backwards from one hundred and I got to like 99 or probably be proud of myself saying 96 then *BAM* i'm out. The only thing I even remotely remember is the doctor saying "you'll hear a crunching sound" then that was it. Only woke up when I got home after the car ride and laid down on the couch.

Won't lie to you OP it is pretty scary about going under however I recommend talking to your doctor if you are truly concerned about it. Had my wisdom teeth out when I was like 16/17 and medical technology has made way more advancements than that in the several years that have followed * i'm 28 now*. GL to ya

Yup, the same with me. I've had two procedures in the past two years and it's almost like flicking a switch when they start the drip.

It really depends on what kind of anesthesia they use and how much. My mom is a medical assistant in the G.I. department of a hospital, and they happen to use propofol. Propofol is preferred by a lot of physicians because they can wake you up more quickly and it has fewer side effects. For example, less than 1% of people get nausea from it. I was unfortunately in that 1% when I got my wisdom teeth taken out, but they usually use much smaller doses for procedures like you're getting (endoscopy, etc.). So most likely you won't have any issues. My dad actually had that done recently and they didn't even give him enough to make him completely go under, he was kind of 'in and out', but he didn't feel any pain or anything.

So long story short, it'll likely be pretty quick and feel just like you fell asleep for a short time (if you completely go under). You might be a bit drowsy for a couple hours afterward (which is why you shouldn't drive til the next day to be safe), but otherwise it's not bad.

If you want any more details about the procedure, I can ask my mom about it, so feel free to PM me!

I remember lasting quite some time before the gas knocked me out. I got the "Your still awake?" after about thirty seconds I then promptly remember nothing. It seems most people at that dose and type of gas usually go lights out in under ten seconds.

Edit
I do remember one thing, them turning the gas up a tad.

I took a valium before going in and I really don't remember what I took afterwards.


http://www.dentalfearcentral.org/help/sedation-dentistry/iv-sedation/ is basically what happened to me. So I guess in all reality I wasn't completely "put under," I was just heavily sedated. From what I'm understanding from that site I actually was somewhat coherent and suffered an amnesia effect thus making me feel as if I were sleeping.

So, is it a bad thing that I lasted 5 minutes before succumbing to the IV?