Can you be allergic to anesthesia without ever having had anesthesia before?

Unlikely: Allergy to local anesthetics is very rare.

Very rarely: With the newer inhaled anesthetics, allergic reactions are extremely rare. If reactions do occur, it is likely secondary to other medications given intravenously during the procedure.

No reason to worry: There really is no such thing as being allergic to anesthesia. When you have general anesthesia for surgery, you are given different medicines for different reasons--to make you go to sleep, to keep you asleep, to relax muscles, to relieve pain, etc. You can have a reaction to any drug, but we have medications to treat any reaction and we always watch you continuously for any sign of allergy.

No: If you have never been exposed to the drug you can't be allergic to it.

Adverse reaction: Even if you are not allergic to a drug, you can still have an adverse reaction. Allergy is only one way of having an adverse reaction to a drug. You can also have a reaction due to the mechanism of action of the drug, such as benedryl causing drowsiness or Codeine causing vomiting.

Yes: You could be allergic to specific medications used for anesthetize without having been exposed to them this is one of the elements that you anesthesiologist is trained to treat. Please talk to your doctor before undergoing surgery.