Side Effects of Anesthesia?? - Spinal Cord Disorders Message Board

Moontayl · 11-20-2006, 08:03 AM

Hi, I'm doing some research for my mother. A week ago today, she had a level 2 fusion between c5-6 and c6-7. The surgery went well; however, a week later, she can't taste anything, smell anything and she has severe weakness when up for more than ten minutes. Her head spins and she gets really dizzy while trying to lay down and turning her head from left to right while lying down. Her appetitle is poor as well. She is wondering if this may be side effects of the anesthesia.

feelbad · 11-20-2006, 08:29 AM

this could actually be stemming from many many other things totally unrelated to the anesthesia.has she had this all evaluated by her surgeon or at least her primary doc?the not being able to smell or taste things could be from actual nerve injury.i have the same exact problem only on just my L side,so i can smell a bit and taste a bit but only from the R side nostril.my problem is caused by one of the cranial nerves being injured during a spinal cord surgery but the same thing can happen during a fusion as well.it all depends on what was possibly 'touched on" or actually damaged during the procedure itself.her other symptoms could possibly be from a sympathetic nerve injury.my SNS was also injured during my surgery.the SNS chain actually runs along the outside,down along both sides of the vertebrae so it could easily have been somewhat hit or damaged as well.

Have you ever checked her BP while she is up and around and feeling that dizzyness? i ended up with whats called orthostatic hypotension from the SNS damage.this would bottom out my BPs everytime i would try and stand up.this luckily only lasted for a few weeks until my body acclimated itself to the new lower BPs i now have.your mom really does need to have this all evaluated by her surgeon and her primary.surgeons unfortunetly don't like to admit that they may have caused anything to occur,this is why it would be good to have her evaled by both docs.one of them you know is on her side,the other ,well that may be questionable at best.but this does need to be looked into.

i wish her luck and hope these symptoms will go away for her soon,but some may be permanent.this is just a possibility,and thats all.nothing definite.like i said before,these types of symptoms could be from many other possible causes.i just see alot of correlation between what you have stated and my symptoms too.please keep me posted,K? Marcia

ember919 · 11-21-2006, 06:37 PM

Moontayl,
You don't mention whether your mother is taking any post-surgery medications - common ones are pain meds, muscle relaxers, sometimes anti-anxiety medication. If she is taking any of these, it's possible that they are causing or at least contributing to the feelings of dizziness and weakness. Everyone reacts differently to these types of medications, and some are very, very sensitive to them. (my husband is a BIG guy, but he is knocked stupid by pain meds and/or muscle relaxers) Poor appetite can also be a side effect of pain meds.

I don't know what to tell you about lack of taste or smell. The absence of those senses would, of course, affect her appetite.

Those are ALL definitely things to ask the doctor about ASAP.

I also wanted to mention that most ACDF patients find it extremely uncomfortable, if not outright impossible, to lay down flat for the first few weeks. It's just too painful and feels too "wrong". I would think that "turning her head from left to right" would be very uncomfortable this early, too. Try to see that she can rest somewhere where she is reclining, not laying down flat, and perhaps provide her with several pillows for support, as that's often very helpful.

The first few weeks after surgery are very uncomfortable and can be downright frightening if the patient has not been told what to expect.

Good luck, and I hope she improves soon.