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?

Hi sammy

There isn't a medical procedure in the world that is free from risk. Even taking an aspirin can be harmful.

The risks from a colonoscopy are very low indeed and when compared with the risk of an undiagnosed bowel cancer they're negligable.

By the way, if you ask to be put completely to sleep then there's also a risk from the anaesthetic!

Bob

DaveK

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

Also this US article makes interesting reading commonhealth.wbur.org/.../sedation-free-colonoscopy

Cheers
Dave 

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.

Cheers

Hello everyone,

I thought I'd share with you this useful little colonoscopy animation we have on our site.

I hope this helps!

Lucie, Cancer Chat Moderator

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.

Mabel,

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.

Best wishes
Dave
 

Dave

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.

Mabel

Hi Dave 

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.

Karen 

Hi all,

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. 

Not as bad (apart from prep) as i was expecting

Lisa

I just had a colonoscopy today and it was the worst pain! I was advised the by the lady who was gonng to do the procedure to have gas and air because I was anxious and she said that the sedative wouldn’t work as well because anxiety blocks the pathways  the sedative uses. I wasn’t offered pain relief. 

It was unbearably painful at points I’m pretty tough but it made me cry. They asked if I wanted to stop and I said yes but then they carried on because they’d nearly finished. They hadn’t! 

I was told that I had a lot of twists and a very long bowel and maybe some IBS that was making it sensitive . I thought it would never end! 

Never again! 

It was all  healthy. My heart goes out to anyone who’s results are bad . To have to go through any of that again must be terrible !  

I just had a colonoscopy today and it was the worst pain! I was advised the by the lady who was gonng to do the procedure to have gas and air because I was anxious and she said that the sedative wouldn’t work as well because anxiety blocks the pathways  the sedative uses. I wasn’t offered pain relief. 

It was unbearably painful at points I’m pretty tough but it made me cry. They asked if I wanted to stop and I said yes but then they carried on because they’d nearly finished. They hadn’t! 

I was told that I had a lot of twists and a very long bowel and maybe some IBS that was making it sensitive . I thought it would never end! 

Never again! 

It was all  healthy. My heart goes out to anyone who’s results are bad . To have to go through any of that again must be terrible !  

This sounds like the first one I had. No sedative just gas and air which did nothing. I cried throughout and was petrified. The nurse didn't know what to do with me. 

The second time I had one I was given a sedative and I was reclined back so I couldn't feel it so much as they went round. I watched it on the screen. It was a very different experience although I was still terrified as they were checking for a tumour in the bowel.

If you ever have the misfortune of going through it again insist on the sedative and ask about the reclined position instead of on your side. I can't stress the difference it made.

Best wishes

Andrea