35 Awkward And Funny Ways Patients Lost Their Dignity Under Sedation

Anyone who has been under anaesthesia knows that it can disinhibit the brain and affect speech and memory. Some motor skills may also be impaired, while random thoughts and memories spill out of the patient’s mouth. Under sedation, people have been known to say exactly what’s on their mind—confessing crushes, voicing secret fears, and sharing ridiculous opinions with medical staff.

#1

Image source: somethingweirder, freepik (not the actual photo)

As a patient, I was told by my sweetie that I asked the oral surgeon if he liked wearing women’s panties.

#2

Image source: anon, Wesley Tingey / unsplash (not the actual photo)

Heard the heart monitor beeping, started smiling and humming and blurted out “TURN IT UP! I LOVE THIS SONG!!!” The doctor and nurses thought it was hilarious.

#3

Image source: Past0r_Of_Mupp3ts, Elvis Presley / Youtube

For several hours after one of his surgeries, my dad thought he was Elvis and warned me that the nurse was trying to steal the keys to his pink Cadillac.

#4

Image source: ilestledisko, Timur Weber / pexels (not the actual photo)

Not a doctor, but when my buddy woke up from anesthesia, he went to the bathroom and got dressed. His girlfriend heard him sobbing after being in the bathroom for 10+ minutes, and asked what was wrong. He said, through tears, that he couldn’t find his other sock. She laughed and told him she would find him more socks later. When they got home, he immediately crashed on the bed, and she took off his shoes so he could be comfortable…he had two socks on one foot.

#5

My favorite was a huuuge bearded vet, Hx of PTSD, very concerned about waking up. He had apparently gotten a bit aggressive after previous procedures (obviously not his fault). As we’re rolling him out of the OR, he kept asking me softly “Am I waking up okay?” and I’d tell him “Yeah buddy, you’re doing great.” And he’d go “Oh, okay.” Didn’t try to get up, no flailing, nothing. He was just cozied up under the warm blankets asking me that question over and over again.

By the time we got to PACU, he was on to repeating “Awww, I just love you guys!” every couple of minutes. Adorable.

Image source: chount_cockula

#6

Image source: Lizholden1981, RDNE Stock project / pexels (not the actual photo)

As I got sedated before a procedure, I said goodbye to my husband and told him I loved him. Then I told my nurse “I love you too, but in a different way.”

#7

Image source: Shawtyologist, Tima Miroshnichenko / pexels (not the actual photo)

My husband told me when I woke up from having my wisdom teeth removed, I was furious at the oral surgeon. I was attempting to yell at him him for taking MY teeth to put under HIS pillow and the Tooth Fairy was going to give HIM the money MY teeth had earned. He patted his lab coat pocket and said, “Perks of the job, sweetheart.” Must have been a good response, because my husband said I dropped it immediately.

#8

I was having surgery on my right leg, woke up in the middle of the operation an yelled to the doctor “what are you doing to my right leg it was the left leg” and felt back asleep.

After I came out from the surgery, the doctors told me that there was about 5 seconds of pure panic in the operating room and the doctor went pale as a sheet of paper.

Image source: Cyclotrom

#9

Image source: Noname_left, George Dagerotip / unsplash (not the actual photo)

Commanded the unicorn army against the legions of teddy bears. She was directing troops left and right calling out all sorts of attacks. It was hilarious and her friend that was with her couldn’t keep it together.

#10

Patient – damnnnnn they gave me the hot nurse. That nurse before I went under was mean and kinda ugly.

Hey guy, that was also me!

Patient – no [way]? Those are some strong beer goggles. Hey! Get my wife in here I wanna see if she’s hot too.

Also they cry. Like a lot.

ETA: for those of you that cried it’s called “emergence delirium” and is really common, especially in kids and young people (hence why it’s often for wisdom tooth extraction) Also it’s more common with laughing gas. There’s also emergence agitation, which is a little more traumatic and can be dangerous since it usually involves kick boxing and alligator rolls.

Image source: potato-keeper

#11

Not the nurse, but she sure got a laugh out of this one. I was getting ketamine treatments for chronic pain and depression as part of a research study at a prominent academic hospital. I was on the come up during one session and I said to the nurse “man I feel like a hexagon.”

Image source: Cool_Relationship847

#12

Last time I went under, I woke up unable to speak French. French is my native language. I was stuck in English only mode for almost four hours. The poor monolingual nurse’s face was hilarious ngl. He still tried to help, bless him.

Image source: shiftinganathema

#13

Not a Dr. but when I woke up from anesthesia from an appendectomy I loudly screamed that I was hot, stood on my bed and ripped my gown off while my entire family was there. I also demanded that I see Luke Skywalker because he knew what was wrong with me. This could be due to my surgeon’s name being Mark Hamill.

Image source: gibeaut

#14

I quoted ~~Fahrenheit 451~~ according to my doctor. I was awake, but not really there, so he asked me who’s the president, I answered Bush. Asked what state I was born in, I said “the state of innocence.”

Image source: PhotographerMan

#15

A couple years ago, my Mom had surgery after a bad fall, and my Dad was waiting in her room for her to come back from the OR. He heard a commotion and lots of giggling in the hallway and peeked out to see what was happening, and saw my Mom singing at the top of her lungs, joined by 2 techs and 3 nurses pushing her bed down the hallway. They were having a little parade on their way back to her room. The staff said she was easily the unit favorite and such a fun person.

My Mom is a VERY shy, quiet, gentle person, does not like attention, but post-anesthesia, her inhibitions are GONE. She’s never drank a drop of alcohol in her life, so this is as close to drunk Mom as we’ll ever get.

I didn’t get to witness said event, but came close when in October this year, she had surgery to remove a tumor (thymoma – cancer of the thymus). We waited in her room and they brought her in from the PACU. She was in pain and they gave her a bolus of Dilaudid and about 5 minutes later, the entertainment started. Singing loudly, quoting Hop On Pop from memory, conducting an invisible orchestra, making noises with her mouth, and was BOLDLY sassy. My Dad and I were laughing hysterically. I kept thinking the meds would take effect and knock her out and she could rest, but she went on for THREE HOURS. We have video we will cherish forever. None of the nurses believed us when we told them what a shy and quiet person she normally is.

Image source: GuppyDoodle

#16

Coming out of it from surgery I started petting my nurses head. She was putting a leg sleeve on that vibrates to prevent blood clots. In my groggy waking up state I thought my cat had curled up against my leg in my bed.

Image source: CoolHandRK1

#17

Image source: Madwoman-of-Chaillot, Andrea Piacquadio / pexels (not the actual photo)

One of my GFs had surgery, and while she was in the recovery room, she was really angry that no one would give her a pina colada. She does not drink.

#18

I kid you not I had this 6 year old kid coming out and he just screams
“Mom I ate dads sweatpants I’m sorry!”.

Image source: TKmackbot

#19

When my friend was having her baby, she was heavily medicated and kept yelling at everyone in the room “Get the chicken feed! The chickens are hungry! Feed them!”

Disclaimer: She does not now, nor has she ever lived in a farm.

Image source: margaprlibre

#20

I’m not a doctor, but a couple of years ago when I woke up after having my wisdom teeth taken out, I was freaking out because I was certain there was a sink that was somehow moving around by itself (I was under anesthesia), and the nurse finally calmed me down and told me not to worry by telling me that the sink always does that.

Image source: mike95242

#21

I ‘woke up’ after being sedated to get my wisdom teeth out and apparently would not shut about my husband. “My husband got me Zoodles and ice cream for later, I *love* my husband, he’s gonna set up the Fast & Furious movies for me to watch, I *love* my husband, we snuggle every night, I *love* my husband!”

Not surprising when they brought me into the recovery waiting area where he was waiting for me, I apparently excitedly shouted “my husband!! That’s my husband!!”

Image source: pineconeminecone

#22

My husband had to have his pinky toes removed. When they brought him into recovery afterwards they gave him the choice of vanilla or chocolate pudding. He cried because he had to choose which one he wanted. They brought in both so he was satisfied. He ate the vanilla and then stacked the cups to eat the chocolate. After his was finished, he got this crazy look on his face, and yelled at me, “you stole my pudding! How could you do that to me!?” I assured him I did not eat his pudding. The nurse came back to check on him and he informed her that I was thief and needed to be removed.

It was a very long ride home…

Image source: BenchIndependent6051

#23

Image source: anon, Getty Images / unsplash (not the actual photo)

My doctor said that I was singing show tunes. I guess one of the nurses tried to sing along and I stopped and told her she was singing flat.

#24

After I came out of anesthesia following a colonoscopy, I apparently grabbed the nurse’s hand and said very earnestly, “I don’t ever want to drink that stuff again, okay? It sounded like I was making cappuccino in the bathroom.” Then made the noise at her. My husband said he was astounded that I said that because it’s so unlike me, but when I topped it off by making the noise he was laughing so hard he could barely breathe.

Image source: dorkahontas

#25

A patient woke up singing and (sort of) dancing to ‘love shack’ by the B-52’s. We all subsequently joined in dance.

Image source: white_nihilist

#26

Image source: Express_Camp_4280, Karola G / pexels (not the actual photo)

I told my surgeon my family and I had been laughing about not having anything to worry about because we could tell he was smart just looking at his ENORMOUS BALD HEAD.

#27

Image source: LolaBleu, Tima Miroshnichenko / pexels (not the actual photo)

Had a patient request that we send him home with his amputated toes because he wanted to put them in the fridge so he could “be a cannibal”.

#28

Image source: anon, Tima Miroshnichenko / pexels (not the actual photo)

When I went to get my wisdom teeth pulled, my mother was in the room with me when I was being put under. Groggily I told the doctors to keep my teeth and give them to me after the surgery. My mother asked, “What are you going to do with them?”
I said, “I WILL MAKE A NECKLACE OF HUMAN TEETH”, and cackled. She found this less amusing than I did.

When I woke up the doctors had put my blood-encrusted molars in a little plastic ziplock.

#29

Not a doctor, but when I underwent anaesthesia for surgery on a hernia, my surgeon told me that I said “You can’t stop me; I’m made of lasers” as I fell asleep. Not only that, I said “We need more Monroe Doctrine people” when I started to wake up.

I’m very weird. Just ask any of my exes.

Image source: anon

#30

Patient – woke up to a huge spider hanging over me – could not figure out [what] was going on.

It was Halloween time and they had decorated.

Image source: SantessaClaus

#31

Image source: Laevenrauren, freepik (not the actual photo)

I’m not a nurse but my roommate was during pandemic. She helped me schedule my upper gi endoscopy at the practice where she worked, and performed my upper GI endoscopy. I was waking up from the propofol, and APPARENTLY I was all over the cute anesthesiologist, squeezing his bicep, and saying “Ohhh Dr RodrIGUEZZZZ, you’re sooooo nice and strongggg.”

Mortifying.

#32

One time I went into the ER because I got hit in the head with a giant metal pipe. They had to give me a spinal tap to make sure my brain parts weren’t bleeding. They gave me some kind of amazing [stuff] through my i.v and I felt really really good. The thing they clamp onto your finger for your pulse had a red light on it. I kept saying ellliottt ellliottt to the nurse (like ET) and the nurse had to leave the room because she was laughing so hard.

Image source: amtan4

#33

The surgeon who took out my wisdom teeth is a close friend of mine and my husband’s. As I was waking up, evidently, I looked at my friend and menacingly shook my finger and said “I don’t like him.” He and my husband got a very good laugh out of it. We’re still friends.

Image source: Striking-Cricket-724

#34

Image source: LunarAnxiety, creativeart / freepik (not the actual photo)

Patient. I’ve had multiple incredibly long surgeries because of endometriosis. During my first few, I was working on a project with a Romanian. I knew enough of the language to be polite, but it was super [bad] Romanian.

Woke up only able to speak in [bad] Romanian for a good hour. After that I had a thick accent for another few hours. Freaked some of the nurses out.

#35

Weirdest things I have ever done after waking up from anesthesia is a) ask what happened to my teeth and started crying when they said they took them out (wisdom teeth) and b) cried due to how thankful I was that the nurses were helping me clean up and take care of me. The kicker was that I was crying so hard I started coughing, popped several internal sutures, and had to have an emergency second surgery.

Image source: ghosttgay