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.
Hi I had a colonoscopy . And asked to be sedated. They gave me 2 mg midazolam and 50mcg fentanyl. Didn't feel any different . Nurse said its like a couple of glasses of wine , I laughed and said couldn't you give me the equivalent of a cpl of bottles. Anyways I had it done and I have a high pain threshold . But it was very painful. They said it was twisted and I had a long colon with a long floppy sigmoid . They were very nice and the nurse was reassuring me and holding my hand. But I cried nurse asked me if I was ok and I said no. Maybe was more painful because of what they had said. But I wasn't offed anymore sedation and to be honest I don't think it would of helped. They had me on my side then back then side then back then back on my side..They removed a Polyp, had results back. All ok. On the letter it says routine check up every 5 years.well I won't be having another unless I can be put to sleep. Was more than just uncomfortable for me..
I'm glad the end result was OK and sorry the procedure was so painful. I found drinking the 2 litres of Moviprep the absolutaly most awful part of the whole process. What did you have to drink and was it OK.
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.
