How long did it take for you/loved one to wake up from sedation in icu ?

[0608]

It’s been 30 days since my husband who is 32 years old has been off from sedation but he’s still not fully conscious. He opens his eyes looks around (staring at the ceiling most of the time) but doesn’t make any eye contact. He has no brain damage as mri scans show all clear. But neurologists are insisting that there is something wrong otherwise he would of woken up fully by now. Anyone in similar situation? If he hasn’t got any brain damage why is he not waking up?

[CH1520]

My mum woke up 2 weeks ago and had terrible delirium. She didn’t fully engage for another week. It really depends I believe, it’s still very early days so keep on reminding yourself he will come around!

When I asked the doctor why my mum wasn’t engaging she responded with “this is what this place does to you”, ICU is a hub for psychological trauma, with your love and support he’ll recover.

[0608 in reply to CH1520]

Did she have any brain damage? I think my husband hears me sometimes but sometimes it feels like he doesn’t hear me at all.. I told him to close his eyes if he could hear me and he did this. Not sure if it was just a coincidence..

I’m just praying for him to wake up fully as I have hope that he will one day

[varmenta83 in reply to 0608]

Hi,

I’m sorry you are going through this it is a terrible pain as I’ve experienced w my father a lot of lows but now many highs as we got to FaceTime on his Birthday Your husband will wake up fully a lot of patience my dad it took about two weeks he is still fuzzy slowly remembering stuff. Keep engaging with him he can hear you but is slowly coming off the medicine. My dad says it’s like a dream and a lot of nightmares and a lot of not knowing. God is good and keep praying.

All my love ,

Vanessa

[0608 in reply to varmenta83]

Thank you so much for the reply.

I’m glad to hear your dad is recovering.

I can’t wait for him to have a conversation with me again. Missing him so much because everything happened was so unexpected

[CH1520]

No brain damage. He might be severely delirious I suggest asking the doctors about this. It’s extremely common

[varmenta83 in reply to CH1520]

I agree it is common a lot of medicine and everyone is different but so far the same path.

[FamilyHistorian]

Hi 0608

The simple answer is I was sedated / ventilated for 6-8 weeks. I just wasn’t ready to come round. Everyone is different but he probably is suffering inside with night mares and hallucinations which he may remember and these can be very frightening. I had a tracky, lost a tremendous amount of weight, and had to learn to talk, swallow and walk. I was also very weak and just lifting my hand was very difficult.

It takes time

[Ferham]

Take lots of comfort from the MRI that is clear, it took my husband about 3.5 weeks to come around, it was terrifying for us at home to witness . We would face time him and he was just vacant.

Eventually the meds wore off after severe delirium and I could see my husband returning slowly back to us . It's early days , he will be back with you soon, he has youth on his side.

I'm so sorry you are going through this. x

[0608 in reply to Ferham]

Hello. Thank you for your comment.

I’m glad your husband is feeling better. I have no option but to wait and pray... I believe that he will wake up fully one day and we can return back to our normal lives very soon x

[Sepsur]

Welcome @0608 - there are many contributing factors as to why a person takes longer than another. The simplest answer is please don’t compare - when it comes to ‘normal’ it doesn’t really exist. Each person responds differently, it can be because of the severity of his illness, the length of time he was unconscious, the tolerance of your husband to sedative, the sedative used, how deeply sedated your husband was placed, whether he has any renal issue or dialysis etc etc etc. Proned patients need to be heavily sedated to synch them with ventilators.

[RockRunner]

So sorry to hear you are in this situation. It took my husband weeks and weeks to be fully conscious responsive and even now (home a month) he doesn’t remember that time. The drugs they give them to go on the ventilator are so so strong and have sedative, paralysis and hallucinogenic effects. Couple this with kidneys that are not functioning well to remove from their system, the delirium and potentially opiate painkillers and it’s no wonder. It was only really when they stopped my husband’s morphine he started coming around. I remember clearly FaceTiming him and him just staring and not at home, it was so distressing. For weeks then he just blinked in response, he has no recollection of this time. He was on a ventilator 61 days and in ICU 80. It’s a horrid time and progress is incredibly slow, but they do get there xx

[0608 in reply to RockRunner]

Hello. Thank you for commenting.

It’s been 4 weeks and today and he’s still not responding to us... the only good thing today is that he was trying to move both of his legs.. His also got a lung infection and is been given strong antibiotics.

It’s a the most stressful time of my life and can’t wait for all of this to be over so that he’s back home healthy xx

[RockRunner in reply to 0608]

The other thing that has to happen is the neurons have to reconnect and that can take a while so effectively they have to learn how to move etc again. I’m sure he is in there and the fact he is trying to move his legs is a good sign xx

[brenharrington1]

Stay strong, I was in your husbands state after my coma and everything pieced together slowly. Thankfully I had no brain damage just severe weight loss, and had to learn to walk, talk, write and basic simple tasks. Time is an healer and your husband is in the best hands, these clinical staff in ICU are amazing and saved my life and I am sure your husband will pull through. My wife used a very good mechanism of coping with my scenario, she did not focus on the future or days ahead, she focused on the 2 phone calls she received from ICU on my progress, some calls were heartbreaking and others were "hes stable", she did not beat herself up daily, Nancy used to take every call as it came along, updated my son and my family and that was her coping method which she still installs now. Hope the coping method is of some use to you? 11 weeks on I am walking 3 mile, riding a bike and jogging in a fashion. Please keep the faith for your own sanity and believe your husband will be back in your arms very soon.

[0608 in reply to brenharrington1]

Hello. Health is the most important thing and I hope no one ever goes through what you’ve been through. It’s so hard for us to watch our loved one and leave them in icu..

I’m just praying and waiting as I believe good days are ahead.

Thank you for your kind comments

[Mattrock]

Actually, no. The neurologist’s can’t say there is something wrong. It’s perfectly normal that prolonged ICU sedation leads to neurological impairments, but in most patients it is temporary. My dad was in ICU for 18 days due to COVID, when they turned the sedatives off he took about a week do really “wake up”, I mean by “wake up” that he started saying the first words, although he was very confusing. In about 10-14 days after ICU discharge he recovered perfectly fine, so be calm, it’s distubing to see our loved ones on that state, but is part of the ICU stay. Take care!

[0608 in reply to Mattrock]

I’m glad your dad is feeling better.

It’s been 4 weeks and my husband is still not responding.. but today he was trying to move both his legs and there was movement.. good things do take time and I’m trying to be positive and patient but it’s the most stressful time of my life..

[Sepsur in reply to 0608]

Have a look at the ‘intensive care guide’ pdf on this link

icustepschester.org/informa...

It gives you an idea of what to expect. It took me 11 days to come around.

[Bo75]

It took me 3 weeks to wake up to my surroundings, I had moments during the 3 weeks I would come out of my dream state briefly when people were talking to me, talk to him, it will influence what is going on inside his dream state. When he wakes, be prepared as he may have a different reality and it may take a lot of time for him to regroup his thoughts. It took me a year to regain most of my cognitive abilities I had previous. Still feel some affects with math and other things that came naturally before. Good luck

[0608 in reply to Bo75]

Hello. Thank you for leaving a comment.

When you say be prepared do you mean he won’t know who we are? I mean I know everyone is different but did you character change?

I just hope that he’s back home fit and healthy again. Waiting for your loved one in icu is very hard.. Thank you

[0608]

Thank you for sharing your experience.

I’m so happy that you’re feeling much better now. What you went through sounds like it was a very hard time for you. I just have to leave it to time and hope and stay positive. I know he will wake up fully one day and can’t wait to go home and back to our normal lives soon

[lynnmarr]

My husband just started waking up after a month. It can take up to 8 weeks. Don't lose heart.