My wife had a colonoscopy last month. The worst part was the laxative she had to drink the day before. She went so frequently to the toilet that she had a very sore behind. She mentioned this to the doctor doing the procedure and he used local anaesthetic gel on her behind, which apparently worked very well.
Her report to me afterwards was that there was nothing to the procedure itself and if she needed to have it done again, she wouldn't worry about it. Fortunately, the results came back clear.
Re the laxative prep', I would definately recommend you use a cream such as zinc & castor oil or even vaseline as soon as you start going to the loo. Don't wait until it hurts use it right from the start as you will be going for hours, you will be fine.
I have one booked in 10 days time. After reading this link (Ive only just stopped laughing) Im barely worried about it at - but will be glad when its done.
i was worried sick about getting one done I made myself ill what I done was cut out all the food on the list the week before plus I cut down what I was eating
The movie prep was not nice the first litre was ok I managed that ok I started with going 40 mins after plus I had a pile at the time but wasn't sore at all the 2nd lot of movi prep I struggled with big time I was sick with it but only once I went to hospital thinking please have taken enough didn't want this to take again PHEW it was enough I had taken thank goodness
The colonoscopy itself was ok I took the sedative I felt it going round corner at one bit was lik a cramp but I was nothing like I thought it was going to be
The diarrhoea before hand honestly didn't bother me - took around 45 mins to start kicking in, and I just watched Netflix all day long (pausing Better Call Saul for visits to loo as necessary).
No pain or discomfort caused by the meds and the hardest part was not eating for what ended up nearly 36 hours. (One guy had the nurse tearing his hair out as he'd fasted for almost 2 days and then had 2 rolls and sausage that morning. He thought it was ok to eat on the day...)
The procedure was itself was fine. I really wasn't looking forward to it, but needn't have worried. I was offered gas, sedation or nothing. I took the gas, but tbh I think it just made me feel slightly dizzy. There was a bit of discomfort when the cam went round the corners, but even that was no worse than trapped wind or a bit of constipation. The staff were great.
However, the end result was that they couldn't get the cam right to the end of the bowel as it wasn't entirely clear. It turned out that an admin mix up meant that I had been given Movi-prep to take, which the nurse said wasn't very good, and should have been given Kleen-prep. They were a bit embarassed, and I was disappointed, not least because I'd taken two days off work, built up for it and now have to go through it again. Still, I'm not concerned about it now. I learned I have diverticulus which has probably been the cause of the symptoms I had. I'll go back for another go and expect to sail through it.
I'd just like to stress that there's nothing to worry about - no pain, just weird sensations, and I wished I'd just driven there. Lesson learned.
My colonoscopy report said something similar about not being able to see the furthest part due to inadequate prep. They weren't concerned about it and decided I didn't need to be called back. As with you, they found diverticulitis which explained my symptoms.
