The joke lands because anesthesia is weirdly complex—pain control, paralysis, and sedation aren’t always the same dial.
this post was submitted on 18 Dec 2025
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As far as I know, that's not how epidurals work. Nothing goes to your brain. It just numbs the nerves in your spine and stops the pain signals from reaching your brain.
They still often (but not always) give you fentanyl or sufentanil. those feel pretty great especially when injected. Like people do crime for those
What you are describing is how epidurals are supposed to work. If the epidural needle is a mm too deep, you can inject directly into the spinal fluid which does go to the brain and is probably pretty amazing.
You sound like you kinda know what you're talking about so... What's the down side? There's gotta be a reason not everyone's chasing this high.
I had a hernia at risk of strangulation. I was in the ER and, basically, the plan was to chill it and have a doctor try and just jam it back in.
Buddy was like "I'm going to wail on you pretty hard, you want fentanyl?". I was like "You're the doctor".
Anyhow, when that shit hit my veins I very loudly blurted "AAHHH, NNOOWW I GET IT".
The staff was like "what?" And I kinda fumbled out a "Never understood why people fuck with something so deadly, until now"
Anyhow, totally opened my eyes to why street drugs are such a problem for the homeless. They have tons of problems... but you get those drugs and within moments... all your problems just evaporate. Completely understand how wildly alluring that proposition would be.
Same here but with diazepam. I went in to have my gallblader removed a while back and while I was waiting in preop, my anxiety was acting up. I told the nurse about it so they shot some diazepam into my IV. It was at that moment that I knew that I can never be safely prescribed a benzo. Holy shit, the amount of sheer calm that washed over me was mindblowing. I was as zen as the fucking Buddha. Everything was completely ok. My mellow could not be harshed. I have never in my life felt that at ease.
So I know damn well that I could not be trusted with a pill bottle full of that feeling. If I was given a bottle of benzos I would wreck myself faster than a self driving tesla in a construction zone.
Shit man, I hope you said as much (and had a cool doctor). I just recently had to have a similar talk with my doc based on past history, and I'm so glad my doc is super chill.
Oh, my psych asked about putting me on benzos before and I told him the same thing. I ain't about to risk fucking with one of the very few drugs where the withdrawls are actually lethal.
Funny thing, that. I was prescribed a fairly high dose of Oxy daily for half a year, then Morphine and eventually some other stuff depending on the doctor in question. At one point in the hospital a doctor had to "feel me up" pre surgery and she told me it was going to hurt like hell and I was going to get IV Fentanyl beforehand so I could get through it. I was like "ooh, this'll be interesting" but it honestly did fuck all for me. She was wondering how the hell I could be hurting or even feel anything after the amount they gave me.
I was unlucky enough to have several surgeries just before 2020. It wasn't all that fun having to go cold turkey afterwards when not a single doctor suddenly had time to keep up with all my shit.
Weirdly enough I get high as hell from Tramadol of all things, which many dislike strongly. I guess I just metabolize that shit really well. I was on that for 3 years straight before I decided to wean myself off. I still have to eat some here and there since one of the surgeries was wildly unsuccessful but anyway, to each their own I guess.
I can see why people got hooked on Oxy though, holy shit. It's nice when you're truly hurting though.
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accidentally paralyzed
There's the ruining your life bit.
You're considering chasing it now and you're not even addicted yet. What happens when you decide it's good?
God. Now I'm imagining some epidural addict rigging up a large series of hoists and pulleys to allow them to self-administer an epidural. Ain't no ingenuity like addict ingenuity.
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apparently smoking weed regularly can make anesthetics less effective too. when I had to get put under recently (nothing serious), I was aware about that and told them ahead of time. they gave me a dose that apparently was supposed to put me completely out, and I just sat there for at least a full minute, fully conscious but incredibly relaxed, before they realized they would have to give me more. and then I definitely started to wake up in the middle and had just the briefest, vaguest awareness that they were moving around me before I was out again, so I assume they gave me more at that point. and then when I woke up after they were like "wow, already?"
This is basically the premise of Cabin in the Woods, isn’t it? Though it’s not clear exactly what the guy was smoking.
Uhh… yeah this is exactly why you do a t-break for 72 hours before a surgery. Your life is the one at risk though, but your gonna traumatize a lot of workers if things go worst case for you. Best case, you’re a hassle and everyone hates you.
Or just tell the anesthesiologist what drugs you take on a regular basis like you're supposed to.
It's kinda besides the point. The reason we pay anaesthesiologists so much is because dosing incorrectly is lethal.
Telling them you smoke weed doesnt just shift the amount required to knock you out, it lowers the threshold of what is safe.
An anaesthesiologist is riding the razors edge of consciousness, and is trying to keep the dosage as low as possible.
Waking up in the middle of surgery is more common than most people expect, and most people who wake up are not actually aware they woke up at all because of the amnesia inducing drugs they use (usually benzos).
Fun fact for those still reading:
It's not really like "I forgot what happened", it's more like "I never remembered in the first place"; consider a PlayStation without a memory card.
Aka anterograde amnesia, not filing things into long-term memory.
So no saving to disk, got it.
Experiences vary, though.
For example, I woke up, disoriented. Attempted to sit up. Felt my chest hit something, and multiple people grab me. Thought “Oh, that’s the fluoroscope. I’m having surgery. I should stop struggling.” Then, some time later, I woke up again, thumped my chest on the fluoroscope again, felt people grab me again, thought “Oh, no, I’ve woken up again.”
Must really be awful for the poor bastards that are aware but can’t move. I’m comforted by the knowledge I’m getting the gas in a moment.
Should've strapped you the first time.
I'd argue you had a bad anaesthesiologist
It’s not the only time that’s happened. I require abnormal amount of anesthetics.
Unless in the US, in which case if you wake up you may be in jail. Decisions, decisions...
Please don’t spread misinformation, I’ve taken someone to the ER high in the Deep South (probably highest risk place to be caught high or with drugs in the US) and disclosed what they’d taken, all he got was proper treatment. Taking drugs should never stop you from seeking medical help if you need it, the doctors and nurses don’t want to snitch on you for it.
there's still doctor patient confidentiality, even if trump is slowly eroding that for example for abortion.
yes, I know, and I did. what I had read was not to smoke for at least three days, I decided to do four. I asked the doctor like two weeks in advance if there was anything else I should do, he said no, it should be fine. everyone was aware of everything and all the doc's instructions were followed. obviously I didn't go in stoned
Assumption seems like projection?
I’ve never had any issues with anesthesia as a chronic user (I always disclose and modify usage as requested as well), but I live in a recreationally legal state so the anesthesiologists here might just have more experience working around it. Or I might be lucky/you might be unlucky, who knows why the hell anything happens to the human body
I've always refused epidurals.
If they fuck up i'm the one that ends up in a wheel chair or worse and they always make you sign a waiver first (which i sign with a dummy signature but anyway not gonna risk it).
No needles near my spine, thank you.
A dummy signature is still a signature. It's the act of signing, not what you sign. An X counts, etc.
What if you sign "under duress"
Negates the intent to sign, cf any laws predicated on consent and being compos mentis.
unless the dummy is meant to be someone else's signature, then it's a crime
Even if John Doe signs as Donnie Darko?
Pretty sure they can also fuck up general anesthesia and give you brain damage or kill you 🤷
A bit harder though considering they keep dosage as low as possible.
The danger varies based on patient history and type of operation. General is sometimes more dangerous, especially in older individuals. Both are pretty safe in the right circumstances, but spinal anesthesia has a way bigger "yuck" factor
Anesthesiologists are the most serious doctors. Purely anecdotal, but I've never met one that can smile.
That's because they practice on their faces during internship.
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