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Anxiety About General Anaesthetic

I have to go for a general anaesthetic to have dental work done soon. But I’m worried that I might wake up while the doctors are still working on me. I’m worried about this because I’ve been sedated before and it had no effect on me at all, meaning I felt all the pain and pressure that I wasn’t supposed to feel. There are other medications that also have no effect on me and I’ve been told I’m hypersensitive, meaning that I feel pain ten times stronger than most people. Should I tell the doctors about this worry? I’ve heard that in some cases, people wake up early and can’t even cry out for help, even though they feel all the pain. I’m afraid of that happening to me, but I don’t want the doctors to think I’m being difficult if I do decide to talk about it.

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Answer #1

Definitely tell the doctor about it - they need to know so they are prepared to deal with it.

They monitor things like heart rate, blood pressure and temperature, as well as watching for movements from the patient to indicate they may be waking up. It’s also more likely that a patient will “feel” it if they are having a specific surgery which requires less anesthetic.

If the anesthetist knows you’ve had this problem before, they will watch you more closely.

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