Spinal vs general anesthesia

Hi - i posted this message on the pre-op site but though i may get more responses fromthis site. Has anyone who has had a spinal give us some insight to what it was like? I was curious to know if they still made you sleepy so you were not awake during the surgery. Also how long till the spinal wore off. I am considering this for my surgery sheduled for Jan 22 since i have had general anethesia before and it really made me sick. Also after reading all the posts on this site i almost wonder if its the anethesia that makes the recovery so much harder. Any input would be appreciated.

click on the search globe in the upper right hand corner and search for posts on spinals and epidurals. There are a number of threads in the past few months. I had an epidural with sedation and highly recommend it. It was much better than a general. The sedation was great. I do NOT remember a thing other than the nurse telling me to lay my head on her shoulder because the shot would make me dizzy. I also remember them saying the epidural was in and that the operating room was cold. The next thing I remember I was in the recovery room. When I had a general I had a lot more brain fog and difficulty for days. The epidural and sedation did not leave me feeling brain impaired at all. The pain meds that went through the epidural afterwards do make you dizzy and tired, but once the epidural was removed and I switched to oral pain meds, the dizziness was gone. I did have some nausea from some of the pain meds (they gave me antinausea meds that helped quickly) and itching (which was counteracted with benedryl). Do the search and talk to your doctor and the anesthesiologist.

Best of luck.

Hi Linda,
I had a epidural and thought it was wonderful. I went to lala land and never felt a thing during surgery when they woke me afterward I was fine. I was alert and relatively pain free, (uncomfortable, Yes) They kept the epidural in for two days after the surgery so I could control the meds myself whenever I felt it was necessary. (They would have kept the epidural in longer and had to remove it because I needed a MRI not related to the TAH.) When my family came to see me in recovery they were amazed at how good I sounded and felt. I had general anesthia so long ago I don't remember much about it to compare the two. Good Luck on whatever you choose.

Angelica, TAH/BSO With rectal resection for
colorectal cancer. 10/12/00