Anthesia Amnesia

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rnh1

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How long does the effects of Anthesia affect a person? I'm sitting with mom, she had surgery Sunday and she is still confused . Some better after they pulled the pain meds.
 
I've been put under for surgery 3 or 4 times, and the effects always wore off pretty fast. They certainly didn't last for several days. I'm not a doctor, but I suspect the pain medication may have been a bigger factor than the anesthesia.

What does her doctor say about it?
 
RNH1, Ive been told (don't know how true) that every time a person is put under it has a lasting effect. My dad made a comment a few weeks ago that if they put him to sleep 2 more time he would be useless. I have noticed that he is not as sharp after each procedure.
 
rnh1":19bskvr2 said:
How long does the effects of Anthesia affect a person? I'm sitting with mom, she had surgery Sunday and she is still confused . Some better after they pulled the pain meds.
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When my parents are put under (in their 70's) they take a while to bounce back.

When my wife is put under (in her 40's) she bounces back quickly.
 
M-5":1k051ajr said:
RNH1, Ive been told (don't know how true) that every time a person is put under it has a lasting effect. My dad made a comment a few weeks ago that if they put him to sleep 2 more time he would be useless. I have noticed that he is not as sharp after each procedure.
Click to expand...

That could explain my declining mental abilities. What a relief. I was afraid it was the beer.
 
A lot depends on thee individual. When my wife gets put under she's goofy (more then usual) for a day or 2. I'm back to abnormal the same day
 
I'm 37 and had a 7 hour and a 3 hour surgery last summer/fall. I swear the anesthesia has had a permanent memory effect on me.
 
Does that mean the times I passed out from too much whisky, amnesia is why I didn't remember certain promises I allegedly made?
 
rnh1":2iipk3u9 said:
How long does the effects of Anthesia affect a person? I'm sitting with mom, she had surgery Sunday and she is still confused . Some better after they pulled the pain meds.
Click to expand...

(I think we have a few RNs on here and hopefully they'll weigh in).
In my experience, it's pretty typical with older folks. Something about being in a hospital, after-effects of anesthesia, some pain meds...all add up to some confusion/haziness. My understanding is that the elderly (not sure how old your mom is) have less efficient kidneys and the meds don't clear as fast. Can also be a sign of infection. Or could be something neurological is going on, or happened. if it were my mom, this far out from surgery I'd be asking for a neuro consult. If she's in the hospital still, one of the problems is that staff (even the specialist drs) don't know the patient's mental "baseline"; if they're dotty after surgery, they may just assume they were like that coming in!

Hopefully the haze will lift as the pain meds clear her system. Good luck!
 
Boondocks is on the right track.

How old is your mom? If she is an older person, then it is likely that she can't clear the effects of the drugs from her system. As we age, things just dont work as quickly as they used to.....!
Additionally the narcotic that she is undoubtedly taking for pain is prolonging the problem. However, it would be cruel to expect her to have surgery without any form of pain control.
Lastly, (again, assuming she is elderly, although could apply to any age) the change of environment on older people to that of a hospital is very stressful. There is NO SLEEP in the hospital. Nurses come in and take vital signs, hang IV medications, draw blood, all night long. The alarms and noises from monitors and other patient's IV pumps and alarms is never ending. Sleep deprivation takes a toll. This is also known to cause a sort of delerium with elderly people when they are hospitalized.

This would be the most likely scenario. HOWEVER that being said, all surgery comes with risks. And that could include major events like a stroke. So barring that the caregivers are not suspecting any sort of adverse event (ie she is moving everything and no facial droop or obvious signs of stroke), MOST of the time, the cure is.....just give it a little time and she should get back to normal once she is off of pain meds and back into a more natural routine.
 

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