Thanks all I am definitely going to ask for sedation. One thing that is worrying me is that I have read Colonoscopys are dangerous. This is really concerning me and is making me worried about having it. Am I allowed to be put completely asleep for it?
I have had 2 colonoscopies and 2 hysteroscopies, all done under general anaesthetic. I am an absolute coward and would not have had any procedure like that unless I was completely out of it. Each time I have had no after effects, pain, etc. The doctors have always said it was my absolute right to have a general anaesthetic if that was what I wanted.
I hope none of this debate has put anyone off having either an endoscopy or a colonoscopy.
I've had both several times over the past 20 years during which time the thckness of the endoscopes has reduced considerably. Not the most pleasant of experiences but luckily I've never experienced the sort of pain some people have described here. -
So far I've not had sedation, usually because I drove myself to the hospital..
I'm so pleased to have seen your post as I too want to drive to the hospital and home again after the procedure. The Doctor I saw for the initial consultation insisted that I would have to have sedation and unless I was accompanied the procedure would not go ahead. I argued the toss & explained that I did not wish any friend or family member to know about it as we are all very concerned about a close one who has pancreatic cancer. He eventually relented and agreed that it could be done without sedation. I hope I made the right decision.
Can anybody spell out the dangers of having sedation & being alone afterwards. I asked if I could have the procedure earlier in the day as I should be fully recovered by the time I go to bed after midnight. He said the danger was me being alone & not being able to seek help if I had a problem. Apart from my bowel problem, I am pretty healthy. I do not have any heart or breathing problems and I have quite a good bearing of pain so I hope I'm not taking a stupid risk.
PS. If I'm not sedated, will I hear interesting comments and will I be told the result at the end of the procedure.
You're not taking a stupid risk - it is only in recent years that people in the UK have been offered sedation for a colonoscopy.
There is a very low risk of perforation during the procedure (I was told about 1 in 1,000) and there may be minor bleeding if they take a biopsy. There's a useful article on Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/.../Colonoscopy
DaveK, you have made my mind up and I am no longer worried about the procedure. However, I'm not looking forward to drinking the purging liquid and the subsequent clearout but I'm sure I wll get iver it.
I had my colonoscopy, without sedation, ten days ago. I barely noticed the scope until the two bends in the colon. Then I experienced about 3 - 5 seconds of pain as the consultant manouvred the scope around each of the two bends. It was similar to a bad period pain but as it did't last long it was soon forgotten. I would happily repeat the excersise, if required. As I was awake during the procedure, I was able to follow the journey on the screen and found it very interesting. Luckily, nothing of concern was found.
What I would not repeat is the drinking of 2 litres of Moviprep. I prepared the first litre at 5pm and at first it was acceptable but by the time I got halfway down the last glass I really did not want to finish it. I did eventually finish after downing a couple of glasses of water. A couple of hours passed and I made up the second litre of Moviprep. I swallowed the first glass but was retching and when I started to drink the second glass I threw up and had to take a break before I finally finished the remainder. All sips followed by lots of water.
After the event I found out I could have asked for a preparation called Picolax and would only have had to drink 2 glasses of the mixture instead of 2 litres. This would have made a big difference to my experience. I wish I knew of the option beforehand and that is why I am naming the preparations so others are aware of the choice. Other preparations may be available.
Thanks for the update and the info about the purgatives. Picolax sounds familiar, I'm pretty sure that's the one I was given. I certainly didn't need to drink several litres, just a couple of glasses.
Thank you for sharing your experience of a colonoscopy without sedation. That reassured me before I had the unsedated procedure. I was not a bit nervous and that may have made the procedure easier and virtually pain free.
I dont know if you will get this reply but thatnk you so mush for your information it has helped me make a decision not to have sedation and to ask some questions prior to the proceedure when i get there. One of them being how many times has the doctor done the proceedure and how many times has the doctor done the proceedure without sedation, whicch after reading what you had to say and then clicking the link and reading the article of which was very intersting I feel a lot calmer about the whole thing.
It seems that the purging is the worst of which i will be starting this coming Sunday 18/08/2019 at 17:00hrs BST.
I dont know if you will get this reply but thatnk you so mush for your information it has helped me make a decision not to have sedation and to ask some questions prior to the proceedure when i get there. One of them being how many times has the doctor done the proceedure and how many times has the doctor done the proceedure without sedation, whicch after reading what you had to say and then clicking the link and reading the article of which was very intersting I feel a lot calmer about the whole thing.
It seems that the purging is the worst of which i will be starting this coming Sunday 18/08/2019 at 17:00hrs BST.
So, after reading every single persons experience on colonscopy i thought i would add my experience.
Firstly a bit about me! I have extreme anxiety. I get anxious at the dentist...seriously and thats even the hygeneist. Im actually not bad with pain though and i fear more drugs than pain. I had upper endoscopy without sedation, theres no pain in that but my heart was 124bpm the entire procedure, i had egg retrieval in ivf with only one dose of sedation but my heart sped up the second it hit so i endured the rest of the procedure with no more (im that kind of nervous with drugs and i just am terrified of that woozy feeling, i dont even like getting too tipsy)!!
So first the prep. Literally for me the worst ever. Might be that drug thing again but i swore it made me drowsy and muscle weakness which funny was on the insert. I left 50ml of both morning and night doses. I had Plenvu. So sweet, so disgusting. The 450ml on both done the job in clearing me out.
The colonscopy. Went in, told them my sedation phobia so agreed to put needle in incase i changed my mind. But my heart (as usual) was racing and he wasnt happy to proceed with it in Tachy. So we agreed on half the dose...well if he thought it was fast before!!! So it started. Going in i barely felt. Going round the first corner was painful (crampy) but over as wuick as he got around it. Then he hit a double loop, or 2 corners close together. Well the pain was terrible (crampy again) but its doable. But because im so anxious and was already still dealing with the woozy feeling anxiety i was getting worked up. So he had 3 painful attempts to get round it. Eventually he said “i need to get round this to see the right side can i give you the last dose and go round when it hits”. So thats how we proceeded.
All in all id say labor pains were worse. I think colonscopy would be better managed with gas and air like labor pains. Its crampy type pain. For me, when i get bowel cramp at home id walk it off, so for me it was being pinned in the one place not being able to help myself was the bigger issue with the pain.
Pain is only experienced on bends, and sedation for me did help with this.
