I checked out AllExperts today, and was surprised to read Dr. Levy's response to a patient who had problems with Versed.
It doesn't sound like him at all ! Besides
saying that providers "should have no problem" with the patient refusing
Versed,
he admitted that it "was likely Versed
caused the problem," not Propofol, which he now toots as a "wonderful
drug,"
something he always said about
Versed.
Is it finally sinking in that patients really
ARE having problems, or is he just giving up the fight ?
The doctor referenced in the e-mail has been an ardent supporter of Versed and has, in the past, endorsed this drug while belittling people who had a problem with it. It does seem that he has turned the corner. I guess hundreds of questions from unhappy patients regarding the long term effects of Versed has made him reevaluate his support for Versed. One can hope.
I do not endorse Propofol either. Anything that disrupts the memory of the brain, but leaves the rest intact is not something I would chance. Also I have read that the "patient cooperation" is better with Propofol than Versed. I don't like the sound of that. For me, either I am completely knocked out or completely awake. Nothing in between and certainly not forced into obedience! The doctor says that Propofol is a necessary part of anesthesia, but I beg to differ. What did the anesthetists do before Propofol was invented? Case closed.
I had major surgery years ago, before Versed & Propofol were used. They are definitely not necessary. I had no intra-operative awareness, and the whole experience was positive. I was even allowed to see & remember the OR, and it did not scare me in the least. In fact, I actually felt somewhat comforted by the equipment around me, and everyone focusing on me. The anesthesiologist had me count backwards, and I went under peacefully. The screening colonoscopy I had a few years ago with conscious sedation (Versed & Fentanyl) was a completely different experience. I felt terror and dizziness when the drugs were injected in my IV, and I literally feared that maybe they were going to kill me. Then I "woke up" during the procedure (although I realize now I probably was indeed awake the whole time, but memory impaired) in extreme pain, with no one offering words of assurance or compassion. When I started thrashing on the table, they must have given me more drugs because a veil of blackness overcame me, and the next thing I knew, I found myself "awake" in mid-sentence, arguing with a couple of nurses, and I was dizzy, nauseous, and angry.
ReplyDeleteI know medical people are fond of saying how much safer conscious sedation is than general anesthesia, but from MY perspective, GA was a more pleasant experience than sedation. Sedation for me was NOT "sedating"...
and the after-effects (anxiety, rage, depression, obsession) were loooong lasting.
Your experience is more common than you may probably think. Nobody deserves this kind of treatment.
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