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Anxious despite having scheduled colonoscopy with Propofol

PS5Guy
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Hi

I've booked a private colonoscopy under Propofol (due to very long term procedural anxiety issues) - but as the date of this gets closer I am finding more and more things to convince myself to cancel. 

I've solved some things such as travelling after the second dose (so I've booked close by hotel) but I've found that neither my GP or the clinic will prescribe anything to calm my nerves (the day before or in the morning)

It seems that if you choose the conscious sedation (Midazolam/Fentanyl) then they can offer something to calm things down but choosing enhanced sedation with Propofol means they wont.

I have enquired with a US clinic and they agreed to Propofol AND pre-procedure anti-anxiety meds but here in the UK it doesn't seem that way.

I don't really want to spend a fortune and still have to torture myself to get there - anyone got any advice?

Thanks!

  • Hello and thanks for your post,

    I am sorry to hear that you are feeling so anxious about your procedure. Clinics have procedures and protocols for what they can and cannot prescribe.

    I am not sure why you are having the procedure but if you have concerning symptoms it is often a relief to find out what is causing them.

    Instead of some medicine to help calm you before the procedure I wonder whether some acupuncture or reflexology might help or even a massage.

    I do hope that you feel able to have the procedure and all goes well.

    I wish you all the best,

    Catherine

  • Offline in reply to CRUK Nurse Catherine

    Thank you for the support - I couldn't go through with it in the end, I made it to the appointment but just froze walking down into the waiting room - the Propranolol dose must have been too low so the panic response still kicked in - so I will look to book the US clinic. 

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