I was supposedly given versed but felt nothing at all different and remember every detail of the surgery. As far as I was concerned it might as well have been saline they gave me and for all I know that's what it was and the doc kept the versed for himself...I know I know I am a cynic.
Joann

Yeah, that's pretty cynical. Being as I am an anesthetist, I do know that drug diversion is a problem in the profession but versed is the least of any of the drugs we use that is diverted. Mainly because it makes you forget. If you drink alcohol regularily, take a lot of pain meds or antianxiety meds or antidepressants you will need a higher dose to cause the desired effect of amnesia and relaxation.

Chisue, there are certain opthamologists who take out cataracts using only eye drops. This is called topical anesthesia. If we have a patient that is higher risk or on coumadin or several other issues, we will do the case with only topical anesthesia and no sedation. Unless the patient wants versed just to be a little relaxed. But it all depends on what the surgeon is most comfortable with. 95% of our cataracts are done with a local anesthesia block which is injected under the eye while the patient is lightly sedated with propofol. Then by the time the patient is prepped and surgery is about to begin they are fully awake and able to converse during surgery. We want them to be aware of where they are and not move, but be comfortable. Hope this helps.

Sleeper, am I correct in suggesting you are a CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist)? My neighbor is a CRNA and her daughter is in school to become a CRNA - Denise makes $100 per HOUR!!!!

Yes, I am a CRNA for over 20 years now. Best profession ever.

I had nothing either time! I have terrible reactions to any kind of anesthesia...so opt to not have it. I had my hip replacement without any...only spinal block. No problems!

Sleeperblues..I do not drink and I am not taking any kind of psychoactive meds at all..no pain pills no antidepressants or anything for that matter so that would not play into my lack of sedation. I was not the slightest bit sedated. After my first eye was done I did complain to the eye doctor and he just brushed me off and the second eye was exactly the same except during the second eye surgery the anesthetic drops also wore off and I felt pain towards the end of the surgery. It was not a good experience I can tell you.
Joann

Sorry for your experience. But those things I stated above affect how certain people respond to sedatives. I'm not sure what happened in your case, but it's not usual. I guess if you were ever to have surgery again I would let your anesthesia professional know. I never can't get a person to sleep, or sedate them adequately. It just takes the right combination. And there are definitely people out there who little to no effect with certain types of local anesthesia. Thank goodness you only have two eyes!

I had my left eye done in August and the right eye done last week. Both times I was given some kind of mild sedative to put me in LaLa land. I didn't know or feel a thing except something that felt like cold water being put in my eye. I did hear my doctor say "Don't" but nothing beyond that. I asked him later what he told me "don't" for and he said I was trying to squint. LOL

Not yet - and hope I never do. I do not sedate I will burn off a local that should last quite some time in less than 5 minutes - who will be awake as a procedure is finishing in an operating room and remember the names of all of the nurses. If I take so much as a cough drop with any form of decongestant/anti-histamine my heart starts pounding (of course I have major ragweed). I once tried the Cdn. equivalent of Ambien - I was awake for about a week. It is really unpleasant having a cold and not sleeping - and of course I am a diagnosed insomniac. I witnessed the topical drops administered to my husband's eyes before his cataract surgeries and hoped to heaven that I never need to undergo this procedure because the effect of the drops would wear off before the doctor even left my bedside. In the hospital they tried to give me 2 "happy" shots since they were sure I couldn't possibly have had the first one. I should have been surgeon - when I wake up I am instantly alert - and I do not go back to sleep - and I do know all of the do not do these things - as in looking at the clock, keeping the room dark etc. So far I have never screamed or even whimpered - I just prepare myself. I do have a prolapse valve which requires that I take a major dose of penicillin prior to and post surgery. I have always been able to take penicillin but I understand that sometimes when you are post 60 it can become a problem. I am about to undergo I am pretty sure a procedure that will require me to be knocked out. That is what scares me - not the procedures. My husband can fall asleep anywhere at any time - I wish!

Thanks all. I'd hoped you would post, Sleeperblues!

I'm still unsure about having an IV with anesthesia for my left eye -- supposed to happen in two weeks. I don't believe I received any injection at the eye this time -- just a lot of numbing drops. It's not that I had a problem with the IV sedative, just that I wonder if it is really necessary. (If I was paying for this independently -- without Medicare and supplementary -- I'd be pretty upset that this is "routine".)

On to another related question... I had the cataract surgery Thursday, so I'm now on Day Two with my new Toric lens. I do not have as good distance vision in my right, operated eye, as I have with my glasses correcting my left eye, and I have fuzzy middle distance vision. Maybe this will improve? Or, have I received the wrong prescription? I need to feel more confident before I have the left eye operated on. At the MD's office, my right eye tested well enough "to pass the driver's license requirements".

BTW, my opthalmologist said he has often done surgery without the IV anesthesia, but only for people who can't tolerate or just don't want "drugs in their system".

Eccentric -- I can really feel your pain at not being sedated. My first sinus surgery began before I was adequately sedated. This was in a teaching hospital with interns working under both surgeon and anesthetist. They were breaking my cheekbones to permit more drainage. (I don't think this is done anymore.) I gasped. The MD saw what was happening and yelled at the anesthetist. Great. Then I was given so much sedation that I could not move or speak. I was terrified I would choke to death on my own saliva. No one noticed this. In recovery, I gradually regained movement and just sobbed and sobbed. (Guess I could have used that darn Versed then, huh?)

When I had mine done 2 years ago, they put numbing gel in my eyes before we went to the OR. An IV was also started. I was given a small amount of sedation through my IV. I listened to a conversation between the doctor and nurse and commented. Two weeks later when I had my other eye done, I was given more sedation. I didn't feel any pain, just cold drops.

Chisue, you can always email me. I don't mind:)

I was slated to have a cataract surgery so being digitally inclined I read all I could online about the procedure. All entries on the web spoke of either oral or IV sedation. I asked about it at the clinic before I was to be operated on but was told rather rudely they don't do that. The staff was trying to force my eye open and scolding at me to be still. This scene wasn't conducive to anyone. Try as I may I couldn't control the involuntary spasms. There was no way I could trust an intricate micro-surgery to come out favorably for me. I wasn't in pain but suffering involuntary spasms. I broke away from the tape down they had me in and walked out of their repurposed hallway to OR. I saw what looked like welfare recipients or homeless shelter clients out in the waiting room waiting for their assembly line type surgeries. I am in a Medicaid expansion state. Medicaid reimbursements are notoriously low. I am on MediCARE which is just as low and just as stigmatized in this state. Clearly this abbreviated surgery had to do with government reimbursement for surgery to the powerless. The legalese on the consent to treat is only favorable to the provider. I see reimbursements suffered another cut and it was obvious cost cutting measures were in place. I've been around for too long to be influenced by industry propaganda.

The surgeon who did my cataracts put me under lightly. He needed my eyes to stay perfectly still while he did some delicate cuts. I awoke before the procedure was finished and he yelled at me to hold my eyes still as he was finishing the stitches.

I detest being put "slightly" under for eye or dental procedures. I am not a nervous patient. When I had lasik done I had only topical anesthesia. I was given Valium to take beforehand but I skipped it. I was fine. Found the whole procedure interesting. I am guessing when it comes to the day I need cataract surgery I will feel the same. I am the same at the dentist. I agreed to have IV anesthesia for implant surgery once. Never again. Getting a couple teeth done soon. I found an implant surgeon who won't be giving me anything but local anesthesia.

People are all different. Some want topical anesthesia only some would prefer to be as near knocked out as possible. Choices are good.

I did not have any sort of anesthesia but they did put in a line for just in case. I was given a tiny dose of I think Xanax or something like that and the surgery was done with numbing drops. There was pressure and a tiny amount of discomfort from the eyelid retractors but I was offered more what ever if I wanted it. No one yelled. The Ophthalmologist does a lot of these surgeries-typically around twelve in a day when he does them. He is impressively fast. the surgery itself takes maybe ten or fifteen minutes all together. No stitches. He takes all the other Ophthalmologists high risk patients as he is so good at it. I was high risk but he is my regular eye doctor. Interestingly enough he takes the money he makes and goes to South American and does cataract surgery for free for poor people there. He is very religious. I could have been knocked out or what ever but you are encouraged to not I would say. It went so quickly and smoothly.

You can call me a coward all day long, but when I had mine done (both eyes) they gave me valium and I was in la-la land and that's the way I wanted it. That was in 2008 so maybe that's not done anymore but I was perfectly happy with it. Just the thoughts of my eye being cut open while being completely un-drugged just sent me into fits of horror.

@ wm sloss -- I see you have had first-hand experience of the rape of Medicare/Medicaid. There is one man in my area who does Medicaid cataracts by the dozens three days a week in a hospital where no one complains about the volume of money coming in. I encountered some of his 'patients' in his waiting room. They had no idea where they were or what was planned for them. It's unlikely that so many individuals all *needed* cataract surgery, but they had insurance for it. This MD insisted *I* needed cataract surgery years before it was appropriate. IMO he thought that every (insured) patient needed it!

I have no automatic praise for doctors who go on junkets outside the US. Doctors have long performed new procedures and techniques on people with no recourse when things go wrong.