Why can't i eat after having anesthesia?

You'll vomit: General anesthesia has a lasting effect. It takes a couple of hours to wear off. Even though you'll probably be hungry you should wait until you feel more like yourself. Take it slow and start with small sips of water and wait. Then start to move a little. If that goes ok then try a little more water. After a couple of hours your nurse will offer more liquids and then crackers.

Swallowing & Nausea : Initially after anesthesia, your swallowing functions may take many minutes to recover, and you risk choking on something you try to eat. Also nausea is a common side-effect after general anesthesia and putting food in you stomach right away might make this worse. If the surgery allows, you can usually eat in a few hours.

Nausea and Vomiting: Some of the anesthetic agents are prone to cause nausea after an anesthetic. This is why we want to make sure you are wide awake before we slowly introduce you back to food and drink. I have seen individuals doing quite well, until they took that first swallow of food. For your comfort we like to take this stage very slowly. Hope this answers your question.