The crazy side effects of anesthesia
There is one part of having children that I don’t much care for. It is always quite a production when they have their wisdom teeth removed.
When I had my impacted wisdom teeth removed (all four of them), it went rather smoothly. There were no strange side effects from the anesthesia. The only thing I remember really is leaving the recovery room and stepping on the nurse’s foot. I felt terrible and was apologizing profusely through my cotton stuffed mouth. As we left the office, the dentist told my mom that she could take me to McDonald’s. SWEET! I had a burger and fries.
My son didn’t seem to have any issues with anesthesia when he had his removed. My daughter, on the other hand, was just like those videos online that parents take on the way home from after their teens have had anesthesia (see video below of a brother and sister who had their wisdom teeth removed, and how they reacted to anesthesia). If you haven’t already watched this – it’s pretty amusing. You can see how anesthesia affects people differently. The sister is really mellow, and the brother is very animated. Make sure you check out the thumb war at about 2:30 in the video – classic.
When they took me into the recovery room, she was on a bed with a really nice blanket on top of her. I sat down next to her, and she looked like she was going to cry and said, “I don’t know what’s going on”. She was scared. I reassured her that she just had her teeth done, it’s all over, and she is just resting before we go home.
Then she was pointing to her tongue. It was hard to tell exactly what she was saying, through the gauze, but I finally figured out that she thought her tongue wasn’t there. She was really upset and looked like she was going to cry. I stroked her hair and told her everything was fine, her tongue was in tact, and we would go home soon. The doctor came in and said that being “weepy” is normal when coming out of anesthesia. Alright then – glad he told me.
My daughter then said something, and I thought she said “spanking”. She was talking about the blanket and how she wanted to take it home. I said, “Oh, I thought you said spanking!”. She said (very muffled), “I’ll spank them for the blanket”, and she started laughing hysterically. Tears were streaming down her face and I had to laugh with her. Just as quickly, something upset her and her sad face appeared again. She went from weepy to laughing, weepy to laughing. Â She saw the vent on the ceiling and said how ugly it was, and that sent her into hysterics again.
On our drive home, she was confused about where we were going. She didn’t recognize where we were. I had to explain it a bit and she seemed okay with my answers. Then all of a sudden her face turned really sad and she said, “You’re going to drop me off on the hillside”, and almost cried. It was honestly heartbreaking! I couldn’t wait to get home, but wondered how long she would be like this. There was no way I could leave her alone. Luckily she snapped out of it pretty quickly once we were at home.
I am so glad I don’t have to go through this again with my kids!
Have you or your kids had any strange reactions to anesthesia? Â What side effects of anesthesia have you experienced?
6 Responses
I still remember when I was a pre-teen and had an oral surgery, insisting to my mom that the doctor and nurses were discussing how Carrot Top and Michael Jackson looked very similar. I almost cried when my mom laughed and said she didn’t think it happened and then I asked when I was going in for my surgery.
That is too funny!
My daughter has been under anesthesia numerous times (the life of having many special needs). The way she comes out, depends on how upset she is when she gets put under. If she goes under angry and she wakes up right where she left off. Versed doesn’t work for her, she remembers everything. Now that she is older, she’s getting much better about understanding why she gets the “mask” and “blow” and handles it much better and when she wakes up, she’s ready to go. She yells at the nurse to bring apple juice, teddy grahams and the wheelchair. and announces that she is “done with this stinky place!” and wants PB&J in the cafeteria.
I wish she was much more comical. Ha.
Now myself… I wake up during the procedures (mentally, and I am completely paralyzed and it’s terrifying. I can hear everything and can feel everything- the pushing/pulling/etc. *shudders* but can’t say anything or move to alert that I am conscious) so I talk to the anesthesiologist prior and I demand brain monitoring and they oblige!
Hope she is recovering relatively painlessly!
Oh my gosh, I can’t imagine waking up DURING a procedure. You poor thing! That is always a fear of mine though.
Your daughter sounds pretty funny. Maybe I will mention “this stinky place” next time I have surgery. Although, I am sure it won’t be as cute as when she does it, and they probably wouldn’t appreciate it 🙂
I actually happened to see this video on facebook and was glad my son didn’t react that way especially sense they never explained he could have these kind of reactions. I would of been worried if he had. He couldn’t walk a straight line and he did act a little what I would describe as on the drunk side but nothing like this. I had mine taking out with Novocaine shots so I was wide awake and normal. However the last one I had pulled this past June and I’m just now getting back to normal. I think I was a guinea pig. I have never had that type of experience in a dentist office ever. I went to a dental clinic where several different dentist do extractions all day long for a cheaper fee. BEWARE never go to a clinic. Go to an established private practice. I thought my face was half ripped off and it took him forever to pull it to the point where I thought I was going to have to go to the hospital to have it removed. Keep in mind I had the maximum amount they could give you for Novocain and it wasn’t numb!!! Now we know why they don’t let you drive after having anesthesia right ,,,you might just want to play thumb wars lol.
I am so sorry to hear about your horrible experience at a dental clinic! I would never go to one myself – I want the REAL good dentists to do this kind of work on my family and I!