Bad side effect post surgery – need to understand why!

[Bettyboo]

Hi, I went into have eye surgery (general anesthesia) on March 23 and I have been so ill since then.. I wasn’t going to take any of my adhd medicaation because I didn’t think I would need it that day but I was advised to take it by the nurses – Concerta 72 mg and high blood pressure pills because they don’t want to alter you body chemicals. I came out of the general anesthesia feeling the best I had ever felt. I actually made supper for my family…not because they couldn’t I was just feeling that great. I didn’t sleep well that night and up feeling groggy. From that morning on I spiraled down hill. I was jittery, over tired, no appetite, dry mouth, hyperfocusing and unbelieveable mood swings. I just kept saying to my husband “I don’t know what’s going on…I just know I’ve been in better places” I really didn’t know how to get out of it. I even started to talk to myself hoping to stop the hyperfocusing and that I would somehow realize I wasn’t helping myself. I started to think I was going crazy, my friends were saying I wasdepressed…I’ve never really been depressed so I didn’t understand what was happening to me. I started to feel better by the weekend and thought I was over it and went to work. However…it started all over again the next day. I was jettery, lack of consuntration, no energy and I had already lost 6 pounds and it had only been 5 days. I was so down and literagic in the evenings but it would fool me…I’d feel better the next day…I’d have a great sleep and all was good. I even got another period and I had just had one 2 weeks before. I went to work on and off and my employees would say that I wasn’t myself. I didn’t think I needed to see a dr yet because I would feel better and then think I was on the road to recovery.

To make a long story short, my tongue was swollen, my mouth was so dry and I couldn’t put thoughts together…I couldn’t remember what I had just said. The mornings to mid afternoon are great then late afternoon to evenings I’m unable to do any focusing. To date I have lost 11 pounds. I weight myself on Mar 23 and I was 136 today I weight 124. I don’t mind the weight lose but would have appreciated losing it the healthy way.

Finally, I went to the doctor and she felt that the surgery may have triggered and shifted maybe my metabolim making the 72 mgs of Concerta too high of a dosage and I was litterally overdosing everyday. She prescribed 54 mgs and I feel better but still have am dry mouth…I’m really hoping to sleep tonight. I’m praying for at least 4 hours straight would be nice. I feel tired not depressed and my jaw, shoulders are tense. My tongues isn’t as swollen. I don’t get it!!!

Dr. J do you understand why? my eye surgern says he doesn’t think it was the general anesthesia as I felt great the day of surgery. The family dr felt that something may have triggered the change in metabolism cause an overdose of the 72 mls and the pharamist said the same. My Adhd psychiatist isn’t available until probably next week and so can’t ask him.

What do you think? Anyone have the same experience…and what did you do? All I know is that today is a little bitter than yesterday! I’m hoping for a better day tomorrow…This is so hard because I’m rarely sick.

Elizabeth

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[Saffron]

Please have your TSH level checked to ensure that your thyroid function is normal. If it has been disrupted, the test should show when it gets back on track (could take up to two months to do so). If the physical and other stresses associated with the surgery have unmasked a longer-term thyroid problem, this should also become evident and can be explored by your doctor.

I am not a doctor and am only speculating. I do have thyroid disease (Hashimoto) that became symptomatic during the year I started and went through titrations of Concerta, and everything you describe sounds eerily familiar. Take good care, and I hope you’re soon back to feeling like yourself every day.

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[Bettyboo]

Wow, interesting I never thought about my thyroid…it has always sat on the average to slightly below. I had a great sleep more than 4 hours and did wake up at 3 am and my husband did say I was sleep walking. I went back to bed and actually slept in. I’m a little jittery but I’m having something to eat and hopefully that will go away. I will be calling my family doctor again to have some blood work done. I’m waiting for my adhd doctor to be back and also see what he has to say. thanks so much…so far 10:35 am and I’m okay and I want to be optimistic that the rest of the day is going to be good.

Elizabeth

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[Bettyboo]

Hi Saffron, I’m glad that you mention the thyroid testing. I went in on Monday as I’m better but still tired and jittery. Sleep is much better and I actually feel a little better. Monday will tell the story as no one know why I reacted the way I did.

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[Saffron]

Oh good, I’m glad to hear you’re on the mend, Elizabeth. Your thyroid does control your metabolism, and monitoring changes in TSH level over time is the best method doctors have currently for picking up a problem with it. Although sudden weight change, depression, mental fogginess and memory issues can also happen for other reasons and tend to be disregarded by doctors, your having experienced those symptoms along with a swollen tongue and muscle spasms in your jaw and shoulders really send up a red flag for thyroid dysfunction. The Concerta could then cause jitteriness because you aren’t metabolizing it properly or because it’s the only fuel your weakened body is effectively running on.

Your system has been through quite a shake-up. But your body’s clearly fighting back and is working to re-regulate itself. Sleep is so crucial, so I’m glad that’s working better for you!

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[Bettyboo]

I have answers…not my thyroid…not depression…I had a reaction to the meds and the anesthetic. Nothing else…much better but not back to normal. I feel a little scattered and still a little jittery when I haven’t eaten well. Weight has stabilzed otherwise I’m okay.

I have to go in for the second part of eye surgery and I’ve already said to my doctor no anesthetic…going to be local…it will probably hurt but I’m willing to take a little bit of paid…after this ordeal.

Nothing else to report…thanks

Elizabeth

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[Patte Rosebank]

@Elizabeth, anesthetics can cause weird reactions, even if you’re not on any long-term medications.

As Novocaine wears off (especially if you need a lot of it to numb-up), you’ll experience a lack of co-ordination and a tendency to drool. It’s as if you’re slightly drunk. Useful to remember if you’re planning to drive or operate heavy machinery after your visit to the dentist.

General anesthesia can cause violent stomach distress (even if you have it on a completely empty stomach, as recommended) and some permanent memory loss if you’ve been anesthetized several times in your life. My mom’s had several surgeries during her lifetime and now, she has no memory whatsoever of taking me and my brother to Burger King on our school lunch hours—which is something she’d done many times, as a special treat. We remember it so clearly, but she doesn’t at all. I’ve only ever had general anesthesia once, so my memory’s still intact. Plus, I didn’t hurl or feel nauseated afterwards, unlike the other 3 girls in the shared hospital room, so maybe I’m a freak of nature.

And not everyone finds laughing gas (nitrous oxide) the pleasant experience it’s made out to be. The one time I was given it at the oral surgeon’s, I immediately panicked at the weird, floaty, out-of-control sensation, and tried to fling myself out of the chair and onto the floor to make it stop. My oral surgeon quickly realized that if laughing gas made me panic, then the “twilight” anesthetic he’d planned to give me intravenously would only make things worse. So for me, it’s strictly Novocaine and listening to comedy or music on my MP3 player.

Yup, I’m a freak of nature.

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[Saffron]

@Larynxa, interesting about the permanent memory loss!

@Elizabeth, must be great to have answers—and fortunately they’re not thyroid-related. Hope the second surgery isn’t too painful (don’t blame you for opting out of general anesthesia!)

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