sleep apnea and general anesthesia

[babbins1]

I am diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea. I am scheduled for an endoscopy with profonol general anesthesia. I am scared I will stop breathing and die like joan rivers. I had this twice before no problems but back then I was skinnier and had only mild sleep apnea with only hypopneas no apneas. my sleep test showed my oxygen level getting down to 77 but because I recovered quickly, no need for oxygen. I don't have a cpap because I tried them and I am too claustrophobic. has anyone gone under general anesthesia and been ok or was there problems? the procedure is suppose to last 20 minutes. I am afraid of twilight sleep because they say it can cause problems with sleep apnea later on that night. thank you

[justMongo]

I have severe sleep apnea and had Propofol for a colonoscopy.
I can only relate my experience. When the anesthesiologist pushed the plunger, I was out in seconds.
When I woke, the procedure was over and within 15 minutes I was on my way home.
I felt great the rest of the day; and I slept on my cpap just fine that night.

[babbins1]

I have severe sleep apnea and had Propofol for a colonoscopy.
I can only relate my experience. When the anesthesiologist pushed the plunger, I was out in seconds.
When I woke, the procedure was over and within 15 minutes I was on my way home.
I felt great the rest of the day; and I slept on my cpap just fine that night.

thank you for responding so quickly. did you have a cpap on during your colonoscopy?

[justMongo]

I have severe sleep apnea and had Propofol for a colonoscopy.
I can only relate my experience. When the anesthesiologist pushed the plunger, I was out in seconds.
When I woke, the procedure was over and within 15 minutes I was on my way home.
I felt great the rest of the day; and I slept on my cpap just fine that night.

thank you for responding so quickly. did you have a cpap on during your colonoscopy?

No, I had an oxygen nasal canula on.
I think the risks that we hear about like Michael Jackson and Joan Rivers are when the anesthesia is used in a setting without proper facilities for all emergency contingencies. I was in a full up hospital setting.

[DeepBreathing]

I am diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea. I am scheduled for an endoscopy with profonol general anesthesia. I am scared I will stop breathing and die like joan rivers. I had this twice before no problems but back then I was skinnier and had only mild sleep apnea with only hypopneas no apneas. my sleep test showed my oxygen level getting down to 77 but because I recovered quickly, no need for oxygen. I don't have a cpap because I tried them and I am too claustrophobic. has anyone gone under general anesthesia and been ok or was there problems? the procedure is suppose to last 20 minutes. I am afraid of twilight sleep because they say it can cause problems with sleep apnea later on that night. thank you

G'day babbins1, welcome to Apnea Board.

I've had a couple of general anaesthetics with no problems at all. Two of them were to remove polyps from my vocal chords, so there was a lot of stuff going down my throat, but I slept like a baby afterwards.

[me50]

In 2010 I had a colonoscopy and when the anesthesiologist came in to talk with me, she told me she uses propophol and I was adamant about using was having a colonoscopy and endoscopy.

I had some issues when they put the scope down my throat so they stopped.

Then they did the other end and had absolutely no issues at all. That tells me that there are issues with something in the way my body structure is up top that causes issues because if it was due to the anesthesia, I would have had issues no matter what part they were checking out.

I also had the colonoscopy/endoscopy done in a hospital and I recommend that for all with OSA and really, even though there are problems in some hospitals, I would recommend any procedure involving any kind of anesthesia be done in a hospital. Just my opinion

I don't intend to ever have another procedure done anyway so I am not concerned at this point. There are noninvasive ways to do the same thing. You see, it all depends on what the doctor sees and they can miss something either way it is done so I have opted for the noninvasive procedures. Yea, the barium tastes crappy but it is worth it for me to not be worried about anesthesia.

[eviltim]

Did you tell your anesthesiologist? You'll be fine. I was told they might intubate my airway if I had trouble breathing. Wasn't necessary and I was fine.

[eviltim]

Also, I had really bad anxiety before I got my apnea treated. You say you can't use a CPAP because you are claustrophobic; maybe you're claustrophobic because you don't use a CPAP. Just something to think about.

[OpalRose]

Hi Babbibs1,
I had a similar procedure done about 5 years ago. It was done in an outpatient surgery center, not a hospital. I will never forget that experience. The procedure didn't take that long, but they could not wake me up afterwards. I believe I was given too much anesthia. I was told later by family that my oxygen levels dipped to under 70.
Looking back, I now know that I had sleep apnea, but had no idea at time of surgery. I obviously came out of that ok, but my advise would be this:
If you have this procedure done, have it done in a hospital where they are equipped for emergencies, unlike an outpatient surgery center. Also be sure the surgeon, anesthiolgist, nurse, etc. know you have sleep apnea. Your procedure should go fine if you take precautions and not leave it up to Doctors. Good Luck to you.

[OpalRose]

Babbibs1
Also, just want to let your know that I am also claustrophobic. I suffered a lot of anxiety after I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. It took me awhile to get used to CPAP Therapy...it has been four months already, but now it is going well for me.
You see, I choose to live! The alternative wasnt an option for me.