Post-Op Drugs & Anesthesia - Fatigue was Gone!?

[RyeRyeBread]

I had gender-confirming top surgery back in March, and was very prepared to feel like absolute shit afterwards, as far as my suspected ME goes.

Luckily, I didn't seem to crash during recover, or if I did, it was either rolling and I didn't notice beyond my daily typical symptoms - or because I was on pain meds and the took away said perception

I did, however, take note of how I felt immediately after surgery, waking up in the recover unit.
I was groggy, understandably, and the first thing I did was ask for pain meds as they coached me prior to surgery that if I felt ANY pain, that it'd probably be best to ask for pain meds even if I thought I could make without them, since my house was over an hour away from the hospital and it was a very bumpy ride. I do not know what the meds were, just that they were narcotics of some type. i also do not know if it was because of these meds, or because of the anesthesia, or anything else they gave me, but -

Waking up after surgery was the first and only time - in the entire year I've been sick - that I've felt "rested" and without general fatigue. I was tired af, mind you, and could've definitely fell back asleep at any moment - but the crippling daily fatigue was ABSENT, at least for a little while. Definitely was back asap when heading home, but those moments of feeling "normal" again were wonderful and honestly kind of surprising and shocking, even as a very high and very tired post-op person LoL.

Does anyone know why this might be? Or was I just really f*ckin high?

*Editing to add:
The first thing I said when I woke up was "Damn.. that was the best sleep I've had in a whole year.." I finally felt like I had a good sleep, and you bet your ass I went back in for more after those paon meds kicked in

 

[Pyrrhus]

I had gender-confirming top surgery back in March

Congratulations!

those moments of feeling "normal" again were wonderful and honestly kind of surprising and shocking

Many of us have had unexplained short periods of suddenly feeling "normal" again. But if I can't explain it, I've learned to just enjoy it.

 

[RyeRyeBread]

Congratulations!



Many of us have had unexplained short periods of suddenly feeling "normal" again. But if I can't explain it, I've learned to just enjoy it.

Thank you!!

Good words of wisdom

 

[Judee]

So I felt better for a tiny while after my colonoscopy... like you said the sleep was good. It was some kind of twilight sleep anesthesia and they told me it was related to Valium which I think is in the benzo family IIRC based on things I've read here on PR.

Some people with ME seem to get temporary relief from those.

Though the long term problems they can cause mean I am not recommending them by any means. I'm just mentioning them here to say I wonder if that's why we felt better after anesthesia. ???

 

[RyeRyeBread]

Interesting! also understandable haha, I'm not looking to take any drugs or anything like that But I find it fascinating!! And I do wonder if there's some linked science reason that could eventually be useful

 

[Sushi]

like you said the sleep was good. It was some kind of twilight sleep anesthesia and they told me it was related to Valium which I think is in the benzo family IIRC based on things I've read here on PR.

Most often they give Fentanyl and Versed (a benzo) for twilight sedation, and yes benzos temporarily relieve symptoms for many of us. Too bad that they have a downside!

 

[Zebra]

I had gender-confirming top surgery back in March, and was very prepared to feel like absolute shit afterwards, as far as my suspected ME goes.

First of all, congratulations! I hope the surgery went well, without complication, and you are healing well.

Second, I thought I'd share my experience with a very minor surgery last year. Although it was a minor procedure, they claimed it required full anesthesia, breathing tube, etc.

It is always difficult for me to wake up after surgery, but the surgery center is on a schedule so they roused me, gave me pain & nausea meds, and soon sent me on my way.

After getting home, I planned on washing up and going directly to bed to sleep however long my body wanted to. Guess what happened? I had a complete paradoxical reaction and instead was awake (and totally wired) for a hellish 36 hours post surgery.

So, I'm not sure I experienced the same sense of relief from fatigue that you did, but something seemed to affect my nervous system and put it into overdrive.

I've been meaning to request my medical record to see what, exactly, they administered to me before and during surgery, just out of curiosity!

 

[Sushi]

I've been meaning to request my medical record to see what, exactly, they administered to me before and during surgery, just out of curiosity!

Great idea! They often given medications that you wouldn’t expect, though for good reasons. I have a surgical procedure coming up that will require intubation and I will request to speak with the anesthesiologist beforehand as there are some anesthesia guidelines for ME/CFS patients and I would hope to share @RyeRyeBread ’s positive experience!

 

[lenora]

I always have the same reaction as @Zebra and it takes me a few days to weeks to feel like I can sleep again.
I've tried many things, but do know that I'd now prefer to limit anesthetic to local only in order to avoid the complications that I'll experience later. We're all so difference. Yours, Lenora

 

[Pyrrhus]

I've tried many things, but do know that I'd now prefer to limit anesthetic to local only in order to avoid the complications that I'll experience later.

Very smart. At my age, I also insist on local anesthesia only. You may be interested in this article:

General Anesthetics and Neurotoxicity: How much do we know?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5477636/​

 

[RyeRyeBread]

First of all, congratulations! I hope the surgery went well, without complication, and you are healing well.

Thank you!! I have been healing wonderfully and have had no complications

So, I'm not sure I experienced the same sense of relief from fatigue that you did, but something seemed to affect my nervous system and put it into overdrive.

Thank you for sharing! It's so weird and interesting how our bodies seem to react to things

 

[RyeRyeBread]

Great idea! They often given medications that you wouldn’t expect, though for good reasons. I have a surgical procedure coming up that will require intubation and I will request to speak with the anesthesiologist beforehand as there are some anesthesia guidelines for ME/CFS patients and I would hope to share @RyeRyeBread ’s positive experience!

I planned on mentioning my suspected ME and the guidelines to my anesthesia team but I ended up chickening out/feeling like it would take too long to explain (they were just about ready to take me to the OR) - so I only got to give them a basic rundown of "when I use too much energy I have XYZ symptoms" as a sort of warning only for post-op (like if I developed a fever, it was most likely normal for me). Luckily and thankfully, everything turned out okay for me, but highly recommend being more open and bringing up concerns and showing specific guidelines like you plan to do!!

 

[lenora]

Yes, there are certainly procedures done where local anesthetics alone are fine and we should make use of them, when possible.

Sometimes, however, we need a full general anesthetic. In which case most people come out of them much faster today, than in the past. Still, it takes a major chemical understanding to know what's in them, what's involved in the procedure, and how our bodies will react to them....but most anesthesiologists will take the time to explain such things to you, if you ask.

We have to be very careful with my husband's exposures as he had two self-inflected cardiac arrests due to poison he was using in the garden. Unfortunately, the only ones who seem to understand the importance of these happen to be the anesthesiologists.

We don't even like going past the chemical smells that emanate from the gardening section of Home Depot, or any gardening center, for that matter. (Rather, he doesn't, I'm very seldom well enough to go) We're use organic products only, mainly certain insects released at a certain time of the year. We grow flowers, veggies and have a lush green lawn. Why did we ever use chemicals to begin with? If you don't have worms in your soil, something is seriously amiss.

Thanks @ Pyrrhus, I read the link you gave but can only understand so much in the way of chemistry. Again, it gets back to exposure and why expose our children to more than necessary, especially when so many procedures can be done by local anesthesia. It's certainly worth considering. Yours, Lenora.