I had a procedure recently and the description in the preparation instructions said "you won't be asleep, but you might not remember everything"

I talked to the nurse about this as I was prepping for the procedure, and he said that a recent patient talked throughout the procedure, but when he got back to his room afterwards, he asked "so when will the procedure start?"

So, I think the drugs you get might let experience everything. But the "nothing in between" might actually be memory loss, not loss of consciousness.

all this stuff is spooky and philosophically tricky.

Anesthetics are very weird though. There's still a lot we don't know about how they work. They seem to act like you experienced, complete shutdown, for most people, which seems different from the states that people go into when unconscious or are near death usually.

And some people have a very different experience while under them - they are fully aware.

> Nothing in between, nothing like that thing you feel when before you fall asleep at night or wake up in the morning.

Same. I was put under twice and both times it was like someone flipping a switch from conscious to unconscious. When I woke up it was like nothing happened save for a slight groggy feeling. It was not like sleep where you feel rested, as if you lost time.

edit: to add when going under the first time I was laying down on the operating table as the anesthesiologist made small talk with a nurse I suddenly felt super high while the room started to spin - POOF out.

My first time I remember the anesthesiologist asking me to count backwards from 100. I assumed the process would take 30 to 60 seconds. I don't think I even hit 97..

I've only been put under once and it was when I was very, very young (3 for hernia surgery, I'm in my mid-40s now) and I had a similar experience, except I came to ~half way through and picked up my head, wondering what the fuck was happening to me, before promptly being put under again. It's my earliest memory but it's also one of the only strong memories I have before 6-7 years old.

I got put under as a teen for an appendectomy. Shocking. I was absolutely 100% certain I'd stay awake while counting until I hit at least 2-3. I think I made it to 8, then yeah - just like a scene change in a show. I was simply suddenly somewhere else - the recovery room. Apparently I tried to fight the nurses because I wanted to lay on my side (that had JUST been cut open)? I literally have no memory and apologized profusely. I don't even know how that happened - I'm not a violent man. I've been in one (very minor) fight (middle school), and I'm super easy-going in general. It takes a LOT to get under my skin.

Had the same experience, what scared the crap out of me is that feeling of not even knowing you're out is how some people spend their last moment.

Not just in surgery for example but in extreme other situations (nukes, titan sub, piano to the head, etc)... You're just there then you aren't and you don't even know. Shook me (lightly) for a while

> I thought I would gently fall asleep , but it was actually extremely fast.

Sometimes people fall asleep that way too, especially when very tired. The expression ‘out like a light’ seems apt.

Pretty much the same experience when I had surgery. Just a complete jump over the time I was out. I remember the mask going on, counting backwards, and then I was waking up. No sense whatsoever that any time had passed.

Yes, I experienced the same, it was like what they call in cinema a "jump cut". I remember the doors to the OR opening, then bang i was in a bed in the recovery room. Like the universe glitched.

They usually ask me to "count backwards from 10". I don't think I get down to 0. It's _very_ fast.