DEAR DR. GOTT: Would you please write about how strangely people behave in the hospital after being under general anesthesia?

My 90-year-old father became very disturbed one night — the nurses called it "sundowners." They finally medicated him and accidentally overmedicated him.

Daddy's personality while in the hospital was mean and grumpy — not his usual self. My friend was the caretaker for her 50-year-old daughter after major plastic surgery. The daughter also behaved in a fashion totally different from her everyday personality (and she does not remember how she behaved).

We caretakers need to know more about these unusual behaviours so we can cope.

DEAR READER> Elderly patients — especially if they are ill — frequently experience severe mental side effects from anesthetics, tranquilisers and pain medication. And, as I am sure you discovered, a combination of these drugs can cause even more serious consequences. Added to this is the unfamiliar hospital environment that, by itself, often leads to confusion and altered personality. Unfortunately, the elderly are more predisposed to such reactions. The answer to this avoidable and unpleasant situation is to monitor such patients regularly in the hospital, alter and reduce medication dosages, and use only medicine that is necessary, such as analgesics.

Just to cover the bases, I suggest that you discuss this problem with your father's surgeon, who needs to be reminded that elderly patients should be monitored so that other patients won't duplicate your father's (and your friend's daughter's) experiences.

DEAR DR. GOTB> Last summer during our vacation in Rhode Island, my eight-year-old son was stung repeatedly by jellyfish. This caused extreme pain. The emergency-room doctor prescribed cold compresses. This treatment was relatively ineffective. Is there anything new that we could use to combat the jellyfish toxins?

DEAR READ As reported in the July issue of the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine, immersion in hot water (up to 113 F) is much more effective in treating the pain of jellyfish stings than are ice-pack applications. Immediate hot water immersion for up to 20 minutes led to significant pain reduction in the subjects who were studied. After 10 minutes, 53 percent of the hot-water group experienced improvement compared with only 32 percent of the cold-pack group.

DEAR DR. G: In reference to your column concerning Coumadin:

I had a stroke/heart attack several years back. When I went home from the hospital, my doctor prescribed Coumadin. I was allergic to Coumadin, which turned me black, swelling me up like a bullfrog. I was rushed back to the hospital, where the Coumadin was flushed out of my body, and I was put back on thinner drip (in the bag). I now take a full-size aspirin a day. As far as I know and what the doctors have told me, I am one of only a few that is allergic to Coumadin.

DEAR RER: In my 40 years of solo medical practice, I have never seen a patient with an allergy to Coumadin. Does it happen? Yes, but rarely. Your doctors are to be congratulated for diagnosing an unusual condition.

To give you related information, I am sending you a copy of my Health Report "Coronary Artery Disease." Other readers who would like a copy should send a long, self-addressed, stamped envelope and $2 to Newsletter, PO Box 167, Wickliffe, OH 44092. Be sure to mention the title.