Anything to stop/help severe laparoscopy anxiety?

[jjinadu]

I am 23 and have suffered with incapacitating periods since I was 13. I also get pains when not menstruating and have problems with my bowels. The pain is soooooo bad whilst menstruating and has affected me since I was 13. I have my laparoscopy is on Thursday to see if I have Endo. Gynae believes it could be on my bowels also so advised that if he finds it I will need a second surgery with another surgeon.

I suffer with severe anxiety and I am SO SO SO SO scared of getting my laparoscopy. I know everybody is nervous for their first surgery but I am unbelievably scared and I have been getting very bad panic attacks etc due to my fear of the general anaesthetic (i’m not scared of the surgery itself, but I’m very scared of the anaesthetic).

Please help!! Is there anything I can do/take to calm my nerves?! I really want to find out if I have Endo but at this rate I feel like I cannot go through with it because my nerves are consuming my life 😢😢😢

[Sam110]

I was the same. Don’t worry. Ring the hospital and ask them and they will either arrange for you to be given a sedative on the day once the consultant oks it - or you can ask your gp to give you something and take it along with you - but if you’re nil by mouth don’t take it until they let you at the hospital. Best of lucknx

[helen87]

If I’m remembering correctly, I had a sedative before being administered the anaesthetic. I also suffer with anxiety and panic attacks. My GP prescribed Diazepam but as Sam says, be careful with the starving instructions and check with the hospital. I was the same, more worried about the anaesthetic than the actual surgery. I know it won’t help much now as you’re obviously very anxious about it, but honestly you’ll be ok. Everyone was so lovely with me. The anaesthetist will come round before you go down and go through everything with you. Let them know about your anxieties around the anaesthetic when they do. All the best x

[Penelopeel]

You poor thing! The mind is a real nightmare sometimes!!! I agree with the others . See your Gp and get some diazepam to take on the day. Also if anxiety is an ongoing problem for you , have you tried an SSRI medication like lexapro or citalopram. They work really well for anxiety. But they take about 2 weeks to start working and won’t work as a quick fix for your operation. The diazepam will relax you , just like s glass of wine! The SSRI tablets in the long t warm will help manage your day to day anxiety and any panic attacks you have in life. The operation and a aesthetic are really safe but I know saying that doesn’t help!!! I enjoy a general anesthetic as it’s a lovely rest!!! Good luck!

[Soph1992]

So sorry to hear about what you are going through! I haven’t had a lap yet sorry but thought I’d leave you a message, I am also such an anxious person I find sometimes reading positive stories/quotes and trying your best to not over think, any time it pops into your head occupy yourself with something else, hope everything is ok.. try and remember it is such a common procedure and it is to help benefit you in the future, goodluck xxx

[sanchia46]

It’s always nerve wracking taking general anathestic. But once they inject you’ll be straight to sleep. The next thing you know they will be waking you up after the lap. Try and relax if you can.

[Hidden]

Hello. I felt the same way before my first lap.

Before you're taken back to surgery you can ask for something to calm you down. They gave me Versed and that made me not care about anything. In the mean time, for me, I looked up a lot of information about the procedure I was having as there was no way I could stop thinking about it.

I was 21 when I had 3 surgeries since August last year, just turned 22, so I can understand how scary it is being so young having to have surgery. But honestly, being under general anesthesia isn't bad. I guess its easier for me to say that now I've had 3 abdominal surgeries.

I actually have a lot of posts on my page if you scroll down with questions I had before my first surgery and a day to day update after that may be helpful since I had many nice and helpful responses from others here. Feel free to message me if you have any specific questions. You aren't alone in this.

[Abi_97]

Talk to them before hand they were really good I was absolutely scared of being sick after so they gave me lots of anti sickness tabs 😮 Also try travel sickness bands if you are nauseous they may even work to calm nerves 😮

[jjinadu]

Thank you all!!! I really appreciated your words pre-op and I’m now recovering post-op after being diagnosed with endometriosis, adenomyosis and PCOS! Xx