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Type 1 General anaesthetic with Type 1

What kind of advice do you need?
I have Type 1 and had GA a few times with no issues.
My top tip would be to talk to the anaesthetist about your concerns and how they will manage your diabetes whilst you are unconscious. They have always been great with me, including ensuring I do not need to go on the sliding scale insulin drip.
But I am happy to answer specific questions.
 
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In Response said:
What kind of advice do you need?
I have Type 1 and had GA a few times with no issues.
My top tip would be to talk to the anaesthetist about your concerns and how they will manage your diabetes whilst you are unconscious. They have always been great with me, including ensuring I do not need to go on the sliding scale insulin drip.
But I am happy to answer specific questions.
Click to expand...
That's interesting. While I was anaesthetised for a pancreas/kidney transplant, I was put on a sliding scale insulin drip which worked very well. I wondered why they were trying to avoid it?
 
Grant_Vicat said:
That's interesting. While I was anaesthetised for a pancreas/kidney transplant, I was put on a sliding scale insulin drip which worked very well. I wondered why they were trying to avoid it?
Click to expand...
Because I have a pump and had no need to give up control.
I will do my best to avoid anyone else taking control of my diabetes when I can do it myself.
I am sure HCL will do a better job that any sliding scale.
 
In Response said:
Because I have a pump and had no need to give up control.
I will do my best to avoid anyone else taking control of my diabetes when I can do it myself.
I am sure HCL will do a better job that any sliding scale.
Click to expand...
Ah, that makes sense. I was never on a pump!
 
In Response said:
What kind of advice do you need?
I have Type 1 and had GA a few times with no issues.
My top tip would be to talk to the anaesthetist about your concerns and how they will manage your diabetes whilst you are unconscious. They have always been great with me, including ensuring I do not need to go on the sliding scale insulin drip.
But I am happy to answer specific questions.
Click to expand...

Hi
Thanks for your reply. Nothing specific, I really wanted to see if there was anything I needed to know. I too have had many procedures under GA but none since being on Abbott Libre 2. I am due for my pre-assessment tomorrow and will discuss with the anaesthetist then.
 
Never had any bother with GA.
Last one I had was interesting. Anaesthetist, who quickly worked out that I had a bit of knowledge and a warped sense of humour, was telling me how risky the entire, rather long, procedure would be. But, then, because I am reasonably fit and slim, risk reduced drastically!
I really disliked not being in charge of diabetes immediately afterwards but after haranguing a very tired junior doctor one morning they left it all up to me! As we all know I needed more insulin as I was unwell.
 
Sallyw said:
Hi
Thanks for your reply. Nothing specific, I really wanted to see if there was anything I needed to know. I too have had many procedures under GA but none since being on Abbott Libre 2. I am due for my pre-assessment tomorrow and will discuss with the anaesthetist then.
Click to expand...
I do not think the Libre will make much difference.
My expectatio is that the anaethetist will not bother with it (unless it is close to the surgery) and rely on finger pricks if they need to monitor your BG. As my surgery was only an hour, I don’t think they bothered.
As soon as I was alert enough to do so, I checked my own BG and sorted out my own insulin. They wanted me to eat something soon after coming around so I was not long without knowing what was happening with my BG.
The only annoying thing was staying in overnight. Typically, my surgery was done as a day patient but they wanted to keep a closer eye on my due to my diabetes, This meant being woken every hour for a finger prick. My body got used to it and at 3am I was wide awake expecting the prick. However, without telling me, they had decided I was doing so well it wasn’t needed any more. I was awake for the rest of the night waiting.
Then I was told I could leave at 6am. But couldn’t drive and had to wait u til my partner was awake. And he is definitely not an early riser.
 
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