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84 Wild And Funny Post-Anesthesia Acts That Doctors And Nurses Were Definitely Not Ready For
If you've ever witnessed someone on a heavy dose of painkillers, you know people can do or say all sorts of stuff. Similar things happen after people wake up from anesthesia. A 2015 study showed that 31% of patients show signs of delirium at least 30 minutes after waking up.
There are heaps of real-life stories about people coming out of anesthesia and speaking a different language or accent. Like this Dutch boy who could only speak English. Other folks also have entered a different emotional state, as they've said they couldn't stop crying, laughing, or panicking.
Bored Panda came across a couple of threads online where doctors, nurses, and patients were sharing weird anesthesia stories, and there was no shortage of unhinged, embarrassing, and funny stories. Read on to find such gems as the time one patient started petting their nurse's head and a few others where patients professed their love to anyone who would listen.
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#1
Not a doctor, but when my buddy woke up from anesthesia, he went to the bathroom and got dressed. His girlfriend heard him sobbing after being in the bathroom for 10+ minutes, and asked what was wrong. He said, through tears, that he couldn't find his other sock. She laughed and told him she would find him more socks later. When they got home, he immediately crashed on the bed, and she took off his shoes so he could be comfortable...he had two socks on one foot.
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#2
My husband told me when I woke up from having my wisdom teeth removed, I was furious at the oral surgeon. I was attempting to yell at him him for taking MY teeth to put under HIS pillow and the Tooth Fairy was going to give HIM the money MY teeth had earned. He patted his lab coat pocket and said, "Perks of the job, sweetheart." Must have been a good response, because my husband said I dropped it immediately.
#3
Heard the heart monitor beeping, started smiling and humming and blurted out "TURN IT UP! I LOVE THIS SONG!!!" The doctor and nurses thought it was hilarious.
#4
As I got sedated before a procedure, I said goodbye to my husband and told him I loved him. Then I told my nurse "I love you too, but in a different way."
#5
As a patient, I was told by my sweetie that I asked the oral surgeon if he liked wearing women’s panties.
#6
For several hours after one of his surgeries, my dad thought he was Elvis and warned me that the nurse was trying to steal the keys to his pink Cadillac.
#7
Commanded the unicorn army against the legions of teddy bears. She was directing troops left and right calling out all sorts of attacks. It was hilarious and her friend that was with her couldn’t keep it together.
#8
My favorite was a huuuge bearded vet, Hx of PTSD, very concerned about waking up. He had apparently gotten a bit aggressive after previous procedures (obviously not his fault). As we're rolling him out of the OR, he kept asking me softly "Am I waking up okay?" and I'd tell him "Yeah buddy, you're doing great." And he'd go "Oh, okay." Didn't try to get up, no flailing, nothing. He was just cozied up under the warm blankets asking me that question over and over again.
By the time we got to PACU, he was on to repeating "Awww, I just love you guys!" every couple of minutes. Adorable.
#9
I’m not a nurse but my roommate was during pandemic. She helped me schedule my upper gi endoscopy at the practice where she worked, and performed my upper GI endoscopy. I was waking up from the propofol, and APPARENTLY I was all over the cute anesthesiologist, squeezing his bicep, and saying “Ohhh Dr RodrIGUEZZZZ, you’re sooooo nice and strongggg.”
Mortifying.
#10
Patient - damnnnnn they gave me the hot nurse. That nurse before I went under was mean and kinda ugly.
Hey guy, that was also me!
Patient - no [way]? Those are some strong beer goggles. Hey! Get my wife in here I wanna see if she’s hot too.
Also they cry. Like a lot.
ETA: for those of you that cried it’s called “emergence delirium” and is really common, especially in kids and young people (hence why it’s often for wisdom tooth extraction) Also it’s more common with laughing gas. There’s also emergence agitation, which is a little more traumatic and can be dangerous since it usually involves kick boxing and alligator rolls.
Upstaged75 6 hours ago
I have more procedures and surgeries than I can count and I've never done anything weird or funny. 🤷♀️ Why am I so boring?
#11
I told my surgeon my family and I had been laughing about not having anything to worry about because we could tell he was smart just looking at his ENORMOUS BALD HEAD.
#12
One of my GFs had surgery, and while she was in the recovery room, she was really angry that no one would give her a pina colada. She does not drink.
#13
Had a patient request that we send him home with his amputated toes because he wanted to put them in the fridge so he could "be a cannibal".
#14
I kid you not I had this 6 year old kid coming out and he just screams
"Mom I ate dads sweatpants I'm sorry!".
#15
My doctor said that I was singing show tunes. I guess one of the nurses tried to sing along and I stopped and told her she was singing flat.
#16
When I went to get my wisdom teeth pulled, my mother was in the room with me when I was being put under. Groggily I told the doctors to keep my teeth and give them to me after the surgery. My mother asked, "What are you going to do with them?"
I said, "I WILL MAKE A NECKLACE OF HUMAN TEETH", and cackled. She found this less amusing than I did.
When I woke up the doctors had put my blood-encrusted molars in a little plastic ziplock.
#17
Coming out of it from surgery I started petting my nurses head. She was putting a leg sleeve on that vibrates to prevent blood clots. In my groggy waking up state I thought my cat had curled up against my leg in my bed.
#18
You know that call button on the bed that lights up? They were scared their nightlight was going out so they kept pressing it to keep turning it back on.
#19
Last time I went under, I woke up unable to speak French. French is my native language. I was stuck in English only mode for almost four hours. The poor monolingual nurse's face was hilarious ngl. He still tried to help, bless him.
#20
My husband had to have his pinky toes removed. When they brought him into recovery afterwards they gave him the choice of vanilla or chocolate pudding. He cried because he had to choose which one he wanted. They brought in both so he was satisfied. He ate the vanilla and then stacked the cups to eat the chocolate. After his was finished, he got this crazy look on his face, and yelled at me, "you stole my pudding! How could you do that to me!?" I assured him I did not eat his pudding. The nurse came back to check on him and he informed her that I was thief and needed to be removed.
It was a very long ride home...
#21
Not the nurse, but she sure got a laugh out of this one. I was getting ketamine treatments for chronic pain and depression as part of a research study at a prominent academic hospital. I was on the come up during one session and I said to the nurse "man I feel like a hexagon."
#22
My mom woke up and did the obligatory crushing on her male surgeon, and telling him so. Then… FOR FIVE HOURS…. her memory would reset every 5 minutes or so, and she’d freak out, ask if she had the surgery, ask if it went ok, laugh, cry, try to rip out the IV and climb off the bed, ask if she had the surgery and so on…. FOR FIVE HOURS. Turns out they gave her way too much morphine for a day surgery. A nurse had to help me carry her to the car. We each took an arm.
#23
Had two different procedures for kidney stones about 6 months apart. Both times I came out of anesthesia, I had the same nurse. Apparently when I was waking up from the second time, I saw my nurse and said “We gotta stop meeting like this, my guy.” 🤣🤦🏻♀️.
#24
Not a doctor, but when I underwent anaesthesia for surgery on a hernia, my surgeon told me that I said "You can't stop me; I'm made of lasers" as I fell asleep. Not only that, I said "We need more Monroe Doctrine people" when I started to wake up.
I'm very weird. Just ask any of my exes.
#25
I was having surgery on my right leg, woke up in the middle of the operation an yelled to the doctor "what are you doing to my right leg it was the left leg" and felt back asleep.
After I came out from the surgery, the doctors told me that there was about 5 seconds of pure panic in the operating room and the doctor went pale as a sheet of paper.
#26
Patient - woke up to a huge spider hanging over me - could not figure out [what] was going on.
It was Halloween time and they had decorated.
#27
Patient. I've had multiple incredibly long surgeries because of endometriosis. During my first few, I was working on a project with a Romanian. I knew enough of the language to be polite, but it was super [bad] Romanian.
Woke up only able to speak in [bad] Romanian for a good hour. After that I had a thick accent for another few hours. Freaked some of the nurses out.
#28
The surgeon who took out my wisdom teeth is a close friend of mine and my husband’s. As I was waking up, evidently, I looked at my friend and menacingly shook my finger and said “I don’t like him.” He and my husband got a very good laugh out of it. We’re still friends.
#29
One time I went into the ER because I got hit in the head with a giant metal pipe. They had to give me a spinal tap to make sure my brain parts weren't bleeding. They gave me some kind of amazing [stuff] through my i.v and I felt really really good. The thing they clamp onto your finger for your pulse had a red light on it. I kept saying ellliottt ellliottt to the nurse (like ET) and the nurse had to leave the room because she was laughing so hard.
#30
I quoted ~~Fahrenheit 451~~ according to my doctor. I was awake, but not really there, so he asked me who's the president, I answered Bush. Asked what state I was born in, I said "the state of innocence."
#31
Not a Dr. but when I woke up from anesthesia from an appendectomy I loudly screamed that I was hot, stood on my bed and ripped my gown off while my entire family was there. I also demanded that I see Luke Skywalker because he knew what was wrong with me. This could be due to my surgeon's name being Mark Hamill.
#32
Weirdest things I have ever done after waking up from anesthesia is a) ask what happened to my teeth and started crying when they said they took them out (wisdom teeth) and b) cried due to how thankful I was that the nurses were helping me clean up and take care of me. The kicker was that I was crying so hard I started coughing, popped several internal sutures, and had to have an emergency second surgery.
#33
I'm not a doctor, but a couple of years ago when I woke up after having my wisdom teeth taken out, I was freaking out because I was certain there was a sink that was somehow moving around by itself (I was under anesthesia), and the nurse finally calmed me down and told me not to worry by telling me that the sink always does that.
#34
When my friend was having her baby, she was heavily medicated and kept yelling at everyone in the room "Get the chicken feed! The chickens are hungry! Feed them!"
Disclaimer: She does not now, nor has she ever lived in a farm.
#36
One of my best friends woke up from his wisdom tooth removal *begging* the doctor to let him be David Bowie. The doctor actually asked how that was supposed to happen, and the answer was that "it would be fantastic."
Sadly I myself woke up alone, so nobody heard whatever I might've said.
#37
I went full Oprah and gleefully promised the entire operating team, along with everyone we passed in the hall between pre-op and the OR, cars. "YOU get a car, and YOU get a car!" I also woke up in post-op and demanded a muffin. I couldn't see anything because I had no glasses on or contacts in, but I woke up HANGRY, and heard some nurses discussing getting a muffin for someone else. (Later I got a muffin.)
#38
During a colonoscopy my brother-in-law shouted, "I don't want all these people looking at my cinnamon ring!".
#39
I woke up from surgery next to a man talking about serving in World War 2 training dogs. On and on about his favorite dog named Rufus. They took him to the next room and I told the nurse he'd had an interesting life. The nurse laughed and said the guy was only about 40 years old (this was in 2019) definitely wasn't in WW2.
#40
As a patient, I was convinced I was gollum being [hurt] in Mordor. When I fully came to, I found out they had to restrain me for my own protection and that of the nurses. Thankfully I was a small 14 year old at the time.
#41
Been a patient twice, first time i kept waking up, desperately thanking the nurses and saying “oh my god im alive!” passing back out, and i repeated that whole thing maybe 10 times. i only remember it once when i stayed awake, and they laughed and told me id kept saying that and passing out again.
Second time i panicked wildly at first because i woke up in extreme pain, then i made a joke about being “even more surprised i woke up” after being told i was in bed 13. The nurse looked personally affronted. oops.
#42
I ‘woke up’ after being sedated to get my wisdom teeth out and apparently would not shut about my husband. “My husband got me Zoodles and ice cream for later, I *love* my husband, he’s gonna set up the Fast & Furious movies for me to watch, I *love* my husband, we snuggle every night, I *love* my husband!”
Not surprising when they brought me into the recovery waiting area where he was waiting for me, I apparently excitedly shouted “my husband!! That’s my husband!!”
#43
Got my wisdom teeth taken out and proceeded to cry at the nurse because i had “taken a very long time to grow those and she wouldn’t give them back to me”
i then came home and proceeded to be TERRIFIED of my dog we’ve had for eight years bc i was convinced he was a small bear. Poor dude was just trying to snuggle me bc he’s my ESA and i was so confused.
#45
After my throat widening and something else to do with my stomach. i woke up to my mom and nurse talking about our dog, and me saying “oh i love blue, she’s the best girl” i was later told that i was saying that line after every time they said something for the last 5 minutes. oh and they stopped talking about blue about 10 minutes ago.
#46
One surgery I kept asking if I should be concerned my o2 was so low (no, I didn’t need to be concerned) and I also kept asking “when can I go back to my friend? Which is not weird, but it was probably annoying I asked literally every 5 minutes. They were soooo sweet though, and kept bringing me warm blankets. I was the only one awake in Recovery lol.
Another I was shaking like crazy and crying for my mommy. I was 40. (My mommy was in the waiting room lol).
Another I kept telling them I did NOT, in fact, need to wake up to breathe. I needed to sleep forever and ever. They were not fans of that plan.
#47
Patient here: I insisted that I had to go to the library to return my books or they'd be overdue. I started crying because I was convinced that I'd be banned from ever using the library again 😅
Woke up later and tried to read a magazine and kept drifting in and out. Later upon rereading it I'd skipped like 7 page chunks here and there.
#48
They were trying to get an IV in my dad when he was loopy from low blood sugar. The male nurse told him to look at pretty nurse so my dad would stop fighting. He said to to male nurse- yeah, you're ugly. I apologized to him and he said it happens all the time.
#49
Woke up mid surgery apologizing to the Dr. for getting blood on her- and remembered that later.
Last endoscopy was in a city two hours away from my home. My beloved but directionally challenged sister drove me home- didn’t know how to work the gps in my car. She would nudge me, I’d pop up like a prairie dog, look around and say left, right, no the other lane etc. as needed, passing back out until nudged again. Amazing that we aren’t still roaming around somewhere.
#50
I was the patient. After my first major abdominal surgery, I was convinced my then bf was a secret undercover liaison been the US Government and the League of North American Elves. It was a super important, very secret job. Very few humans were chosen to learn that Tolkien elves disguise themselves as humans and live among us, although they usually choose to live underground among themselves.
I was sad when it wore off. The confused look on his face was priceless though.
tresgatos72 2 hours ago
Sounds like someone had been reading Tolkien and the Artemis Fowl books and got confused.
#51
I am on an support team and spent 12 weeks in various PACUs this year, and the two that stand out the most were:
- a lady who woke up, screamed, and then said "I forgot I was here!!!!!"
- a guy who couldn't see his surgeon walking towards him, within earshot, and when the pt was told the dr was coming to talk to him he said "oooooooh goooooood, I never liked that guy".
#52
Not a nurse but my mother (completely straight woman) once asked a nurse “Why are you so pretty?” while falling under anesthesia.
#53
When I woke up from my first surgery I remember asking for my cat over and over again (only I didn't tell the nurse it was a cat I was just asking for my mogs) second surgery I brought a stuffed puffin which apparently was a good choice bc post surgery me just wanted to snuggle something.
#54
Apparently when I was waking up after my mastectomy, the doctor was trying to ask me a question and I interrupted her to say I'M THINKING ABOUT SOUP IN A BREAD BOWL.
#55
A patient woke up singing and (sort of) dancing to 'love shack' by the B-52's. We all subsequently joined in dance.
#56
A friend was walking me out of the hospital after a simple surgery. Supposedly I stopped in the crowded waiting room and asked loudly "What if this is as good as it gets?".
#57
After I came out of anesthesia following a colonoscopy, I apparently grabbed the nurse's hand and said very earnestly, "I don't ever want to drink that stuff again, okay? It sounded like I was making cappuccino in the bathroom." Then made the noise at her. My husband said he was astounded that I said that because it's so unlike me, but when I topped it off by making the noise he was laughing so hard he could barely breathe.
#58
After I got my wisdom teeth removed, I awoke to tell the dental surgeon how Batman and Catwoman should have "BatCat babies", and then I convinced my brother to take me shopping. I bought a Batman movie and men's dress socks.
#59
I had my sinuses and such fixed. I came out of surgery screaming at the doctor and nurses "You're not finished! You're not finished! I'm awake!" because apparently I watch too much tv and was horrified that I had woken up in the middle of surgery.
The catch? I was screaming this all in German.
#60
After having my wisdom teeth removed, my mouth was full of gauze and blood. Talking was painful and very difficult. Still, I apparently managed to choke out how beautiful my nurses eyes were.
I'm pretty smooth.
#61
Sitting in the recovery room after getting my wisdom teeth pulled, I slowly awoke and looked around the room. My girlfriend and father were sitting and then the nurse came in. I looked around and said, "That's my girlfriend..... For now!".
#62
After having my wisdom teeth extracted and being helped up, I had no real control over the volume of my voice. I yelled, "Whoa, floor's moving! I feel like I'm drunk!" I heard the people in the waiting room laugh, along with the nurses helping me, and I shouted, "No, it really does!"
I don't remember being wheeled out to my brother's truck, but I do remember trying to convince him I was "half-lesbian" because girls are pretty. He just let me keep talking, got me a strawberry milkshake, and put me in the comfy recliner at my parents' house to sleep off the last of the meds.
#63
When I woke up from having my wisdom teeth removed, apparently I told all of the nurses that I was a "flying dude from a machine". I also texted it to every contact in my phone. I wish I knew.
#64
Not a doctor.
But when I got impacted wisdom teeth and four molars taken out, I was given a dose of nitrous oxide prior to the main knock out stuff. So while under the influence of the nitrous, when nurse was prepping my arm to put in an IV, she said to me, "You have nice veins." To which I responded, "All the nurses tell me that." And then asked her if she wanted to go out to dinner at Steak and Shake. I then passed out.
Weird, considering I'm a gay dude.
Then there was some real fun. I awoke a few hours later, the oral surgeons had left me in the room alone to come to. The room had one of those motion sensor lights, so when I woke up, I was in a quiet, pitch black room, at first I thought I was dead, then came to the conclusion that the world had ended. I got scared and called out for help, then my friend, who was sitting outside came in and calmed me down. That was the most comforting hug I've ever gotten.
#67
When my best friend was coming out of anesthesia after having her wisdom teeth removed, she was convinced that she was a superhero named Chapstick Woman. Her job was to smear chapstick all over everyone to save world. She ended up covering her sister's face with cherry chapstick.
#68
I ask because I woke up singing (the nurse told me to keep it down because other people were waking up too).
#69
Wasn’t super crazy but teenage boys typically wake up being super combative. Was doing a simple tube surgery which takes like five minutes and the kid woke up SWINGING. It took all of us to restrain him from knocking the ancient surgeon out.
#70
Not a nurse, but when my mom woke up from anesthesia after her first colonoscopy, she looked the nurse in the eyes and bellowed "Does anybody know where I can get a good haaaam sandwich?"
Don't worry, I took her to Chili's afterward.
#71
Not a nurse, but I was under general anesthesia for my vasectomy.
I ploppedy $15 copay down at the front desk and was more worked up over getting the IV than the actual procedure itself...
Anesthesiologist put "something" in the IV and said, no worries, it's just water to flush it out. But the room started to go dim. Last thing I remember wase saying, "That wasn't water, was it?" And the anesthesiologist smirking.
When I came to, I apparently waddled around the urologist's office with my pants around my ankles, hugging the staff and maybe some of the patients as well... Thanking doctors and nurses for a job well done.
In hindsight, this was probably awkward, as someone probably had to hold my junk outta the way so the doctor could do the work.
Regardless, laughter is NOT the best medicine... Propofol is.
#72
My mom was there when I was coming out of heavy sedation once and I was like “I want.. I want Duck Sauce!”. My mom asked “Do you want Chinese food?”.
#73
A couple years ago, my Mom had surgery after a bad fall, and my Dad was waiting in her room for her to come back from the OR. He heard a commotion and lots of giggling in the hallway and peeked out to see what was happening, and saw my Mom singing at the top of her lungs, joined by 2 techs and 3 nurses pushing her bed down the hallway. They were having a little parade on their way back to her room. The staff said she was easily the unit favorite and such a fun person.
My Mom is a VERY shy, quiet, gentle person, does not like attention, but post-anesthesia, her inhibitions are GONE. She’s never drank a drop of alcohol in her life, so this is as close to drunk Mom as we’ll ever get.
I didn’t get to witness said event, but came close when in October this year, she had surgery to remove a tumor (thymoma - cancer of the thymus). We waited in her room and they brought her in from the PACU. She was in pain and they gave her a bolus of Dilaudid and about 5 minutes later, the entertainment started. Singing loudly, quoting Hop On Pop from memory, conducting an invisible orchestra, making noises with her mouth, and was BOLDLY sassy. My Dad and I were laughing hysterically. I kept thinking the meds would take effect and knock her out and she could rest, but she went on for THREE HOURS. We have video we will cherish forever. None of the nurses believed us when we told them what a shy and quiet person she normally is.
#74
I had dental surgery with twilight sedation and they had to bring me to mid procedure so I would calm down and breathe. I was SO confused why I was crying so hard. Once I calmed down a little bit they put me back out of it and when I came to after that I was again crying SO hard. I felt embarrassed and that made me cry even harder. There was no reason in my mind for the crying, I just Could. Not. Stop. Crying.
#75
Waking up after an emergency c-section: "Water..." A split-second later: "Baby?!?" (Baby's fine.) "Oh god, I'm a terrible mother!" (for thinking of water first.).
#76
Not a doctor, but my cousin needed surgery after a baseball accident (He was 12 or 13 at this point) and he came out of the anesthesia and said "Mom...Imma, I'm a...para...para....parallelogram.".
#77
When I woke up from my wisdom teeth surgery with gauze in my mouth, I demanded a glass of water because I had "cotton mouth."
#79
Post-surgery, I was hitting the button and doing Homer Simpson's "Bed goes up, bed goes down, bed goes up, bed goes down" over and over and over.
#80
Before they put me under for my knee operation, I thought furiously to myself "Say 'Did you get the license plate of the truck that hit me?" when you wake up"
In Postop, I groggily woke up for a moment. My tongue was very swollen. The only thing I could think of was "must say something to nurse" She came over and stood over me. I said "dif fu geth tha lithens plath of truth thath hith ma?" over and over until I fell asleep. Woke up again in my hospital room.
#81
This was told to me by my dad.
My grandfather was a doctor and he had to go in for major lung surgery. Apparently when he was coming out of anesthesia, my dad saw him tying sutures in the air and he loudly yelled, "Stop tying knots in those elephants' necks!".
#82
After femur fracture surgery, I woke up and said: "I'm hungrier than an armless Ethiopian rolling down a hill after a donut."
What do you think ?
whodunnitfan2013 5 hours ago
I'm scared to get my wisdom teeth out because I'm afraid which of my deep, dark secrets I'll reveal. I've had two abdominal surgeries, but I was generally quiet on the anesthesia.
DaisyGirl 5 hours ago
I dont know if I said anything weird. But for me it takes a loooooong time for me to come out from being put under ' at.least 2 hours longer than expected. I also vomit upon coming too from the anaesthesia. Fun times....
whodunnitfan2013 5 hours ago
I never understood why people (including me) feel nauseous upon waking from anesthesia. There's nothing to throw up, because you're not allowed to eat the night before.
Load More Replies... whodunnitfan2013 5 hours ago
I'm scared to get my wisdom teeth out because I'm afraid which of my deep, dark secrets I'll reveal. I've had two abdominal surgeries, but I was generally quiet on the anesthesia.
DaisyGirl 5 hours ago
I dont know if I said anything weird. But for me it takes a loooooong time for me to come out from being put under ' at.least 2 hours longer than expected. I also vomit upon coming too from the anaesthesia. Fun times....
whodunnitfan2013 5 hours ago
I never understood why people (including me) feel nauseous upon waking from anesthesia. There's nothing to throw up, because you're not allowed to eat the night before.
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