Underwent general anesthesia and surgery and now I'm in a TERRIBLE wave

Hello,

I had a terrifying experience over this past weekend. I went to have a "minimally invasive" TMJ arthroscopic surgery that was meant to reposition my TMJ joints that have been dislocated for three years. Prior to the surgery I let the surgeon know about issues that I have had in the past with psych drugs and I mentioned specifically what I had issues with. Well, I don't know what the hell happened but I left the hospital in a wave worse than ANY I've ever experienced. I had mania, akathisia, terrible nausea, no memory, brain fog, lack of concentration, TERRIBLE depression and suicidal ideation, and constant panic. It was so bad that I went back to the surgeon that did the procedure he sent me to the emergency room to see whether I needed to get admitted into a psych hospital. I said all of the right things though because I know that psych hospitals equal more meds, and that was the LAST thing that I needed at that time.

I wanted to check with anyone on the forum on whether this experience means that I will likely start back over from the acute stage of withdrawal with all of my progress reversed or if I can expect this this will just be a long and intense wave. I know it's hard to say definitively what I can expect but any first hand experience is appreciated. I C/T in August of 2017 and had been off for 28 months and was starting to have some pretty good windows. I would love some reassurance that this experience is a set back and hasn't reversed any progress that my brain has made over the last 2 years.

I had a couple rounds of (sedated) dental surgery after my withdrawal.  I was super adamant the first time about not receiving any benzos in my 'cocktail', and I didn't have much trouble after the surgery.  I didn't say anything the second round, and had a big time rebound reaction about 12 hours after the surgery.  I didn't sleep at all that night and felt generally lousy.  Fortunately, the lousy feeling waned the next day.

I can't prove it, but I think the dentist included some benzos in the anesthesia the second time.

You might have been given flumazenil which is used to reverse the benzos used in conscious sedation.  Flumazenil would have put you in immediate withdrawal.  I woke up from a minor surgical procedure freaking out about how bad my anxiety was and how uncomfortable I was versus normally you wake up thinking about pain.

Your body will hopefully just take a few days to get meds and half-lives organized again.

Flumazenil is like Narcan of the benzo world.  It can reverse an overdose.  Some places also use it to taper you off benzos.  It has a short half-life but if they can keep your dosage consistent in a hospital they can quickly taper you off benzos.  You'll still have to deal with PAWS symptoms afterwards. 

Edit: Oops.  I thought you were still tapering when I first replied.  I don't know how long it'll take you to recover.  Hopefully, it's just a bad wave.  I had all the symptoms you mentioned but I was still tapering so it got better after I took my benzo the next few days.

Hello,

 

I had a terrifying experience over this past weekend. I went to have a "minimally invasive" TMJ arthroscopic surgery that was meant to reposition my TMJ joints that have been dislocated for three years. Prior to the surgery I let the surgeon know about issues that I have had in the past with psych drugs and I mentioned specifically what I had issues with. Well, I don't know what the hell happened but I left the hospital in a wave worse than ANY I've ever experienced. I had mania, akathisia, terrible nausea, no memory, brain fog, lack of concentration, TERRIBLE depression and suicidal ideation, and constant panic. It was so bad that I went back to the surgeon that did the procedure he sent me to the emergency room to see whether I needed to get admitted into a psych hospital. I said all of the right things though because I know that psych hospitals equal more meds, and that was the LAST thing that I needed at that time.

 

I wanted to check with anyone on the forum on whether this experience means that I will likely start back over from the acute stage of withdrawal with all of my progress reversed or if I can expect this this will just be a long and intense wave. I know it's hard to say definitively what I can expect but any first hand experience is appreciated. I C/T in August of 2017 and had been off for 28 months and was starting to have some pretty good windows. I would love some reassurance that this experience is a set back and hasn't reversed any progress that my brain has made over the last 2 years.

Thanks for starting this thread. 

My guess is that perhaps the stress of having surgery n(even if minor) might have caused this, plus maybe whatever drugs you were given. I do not think you should over worry this one. Kind of just roll with it and move on from it. I had several minor surgeries post benzo wd (or during it). I was given a benzo and it did not affect me in any way that I am aware of.

east