I just wanted to share my experience of having a colonoscopy with sedation in the hope it will help someone go and get it done if they are worried.

I am 40. My history of symptoms was weightloss accompanied with abdominal pain, nausea with rectal bleeding and loose bowel movements within a 2 month period. 

I had previously experienced painless rectal bleeding and variable bowel habits 8 monthes prior, I self diagnosed this at time as haemorrhoids. 

I should have dealt with my initial concern last year, but was very silly to not at least go to a GP. Once I had recurrence alongside other worrying symptoms early this year I really panicked. 

I was reffered for a colonsocopy following the 2 week refferal process, and was very anxious about it. 

I started the moviprep preperation the day before, in all honesty I expected the worst from what I'd read online, but it was ok. The results of the laxative seemed quite controlled.

I arrived at the hospital at 11am for my procedure. The staff were all amazing, very personable and clear. As I was quite anxious I opted for sedation so had a cannula inserted and was ready for procedure by 11:30am.

Sedation was very effective for me, I had no discomfort whatsoever - I was awake and remember bits of the procedure but really hazy. Once complete I was taken off to recovery to allow the sedation to clear. From check in to check out was about 2 hours.

My result had no serious causes, but I wanted to share as they could have been and I wanted to offer my account as reassurance that the process can be absolutely fine with no discomfort and no embarassment - I'm aware everyones experience can vary. But I wanted to share my experience in the hope if someone is putting off getting their symptoms investigated beause of worry about the procedure, my account will provide reassurance. 

Its a simple test that could well save your life. In my anxiety (possibly what made my stomach ache and weightloss worse)  I spent a lot of time reading about so many cases of bowel in people under 40. So if you have any symptoms you are concerned about, get them checked, as others have said it can be cured if caught early. Being worried about the procedure is not a reason to not get it checked out.