I completely agree, and I'm a nurse myself! I went for throat spray only and it was the most traumatic experience I've ever had - worse than childbirth, worse than a colonoscopy.. I was having flashbacks throughout the day and was in tears immediately after! I couldn't tolerate it and I have been booked for another attempt next week but this time with sedation.. I am still extremely nervous about it 

Completely agree with you - as soon as I saw the size of the tube while it was resting on the table I panicked.. it is a lot bigger than expected. I had to stop the  doctor on the third attempt and was actually pulling the tube out myself. Found it extremely traumatic for some reason, I have been rebooked to have it with sedation next week but still very nervous 

I did cry after mine last week. I couldn't manage it I found it so traumatic. Im rebooked to have it with sedation next week but still very worried x

 I wanted to give people a little boost to say if the team doing the endoscopy are really good and you know the acutal procedure only lasts about 3-6 minutes, it might not be nearly as bad as you imagine or as many of you have experienced (and I am very sorry that many of you had such bad times.) 

I am someone with a chronic, severe, anxiety disorder with agoragpobia, and I had an endoscopy last week without throat spray and without sedation and I managed.  I have also had an anxiety problem with swallowing since I was ten - got the great old-fashioned name of 'globus hystericus' - so swallowing and gagging is one of my phobias.  How could someone like me do this ?

The team were amazing and talked me through it, reminded me how small a time it was.  I definitely think not seeing the tube helped and I had it inserted through the nose.  I definitely think having down the nose helped hugely rather than through my mouth. 

I didn't want the throat numbing spray because I hate the feeling of not being in control and not feeling myself breathing.  Yes, it is bloody uncomfortable going past the 'swallow' point and I said at that point I wanted it out, but they said very kindlly that now it was passed the worst part. One nurse held my hand literally through the whole thing, and talked me through breathing (I think i mustve made her hand white with how hard I was squeezing it!) You CAN breathe and even swallow and yes it doesn't feel good, but the gagging feeling only lasts over the transfer in and out. It was fast and I could eat and drink six miniutes after as I had had no throat spray and no sedation.  

I have had the midazolam sedation for a colonoscopy and I found that procedure more painful and it took quite a bit longer.

I would strongly suggest people ask the team to talk them through it before hand, and understand how quick it is and that the gagging doesn't last long, focus on slow breathing - ask one of the team to do that with you before hand, and good luck.

I am due to have another endoscopy tomorrow and am dreading it. I had one in 2017 and was completely naive about the procedure. I didn't have the sedative and completely regretted it.  The nurse was like "good man!" I noticed that the majority of people in there were electing to be sedated and I wondered why. When the procedure took place they literally had to hold me down and it was so traumatic.  I was gagging and crying. I was diagnosed with a 3cm hiatus hernia which has been really bad the last few months hence why I am having another endoscopy.  Absolutely no doubt that I will be having the sedative this time. I really hope it goes ok. 

I had this done yesterday. I opted for the throat spray as I have no one to care for my children afterwards if I have a sedation. I have to say it was the worse experience of my life and I failed to let them complete it, I would never attempt this unsedated and strongly believe they really should never attempt it without sedation .

I wanted to put my experience on this forum, as many of the posts scared the living daylights out of me!

I had a gastroscopy and colonscopy yesterday. I've seen my wife give birth and for me the experiences are incomparable. I would equate my experience yesterday to similar level of pain and discomfort than having a filling done at the dentist.

I found the 24 hour laxitive and fast preparation a little uncomfortable. I also got dehydrated and had a headache most of the day so would like to  stress that drinking lots is really important.

I was very nervous about the gastroscopy in partiular. The thought of someone putting a tube down my throat filled me with fear. I'd never experienced it before.

It helped to tell the doctors and nervous about my anxiety. I chose sedation and would definitely insist on it for the gastroscopy .

Once I was sedated I barely felt the gastroscopy. I was aware of what was going on but very drowsy, I didnt need to breathe slowly or calm myself and I was too drowsy to think clearly (a good thing!).
The colonscopy was pretty straight forward. I had slight pain, but had gas and air on demand which was really helpful.

I recovered quickly aftwards and was fine to drink straight after and eat soon after.

The doctor found a polyp that needs to be removed in a future procedure. I'm really grateful that I could have this procedure as without it, my health would deteriorate.

Hi,

I'd like to give my experience of it, for what it's worth.

In short, it's nowhere near as bad as I expected.

I chose to have it done without sedation, but had a few tokes of laughing gas before it started.

The procedure happens as follows:

1) They spray the back of your throat with a local anaesthetic. Tastes horrible. If an option, you take 8 deep breathes of nitrous oxide. Lovely stuff, but a very fleeting high.

2) They insert a mouth guard (I bit down on this quite hard while it was happening, would've destroyed the tube and my teeth if it wasn't there).

3) They lube up the tube... And put it down your throat. The tube is thicker than I was expecting. You have to swallow to help it down. You inevitably gag a lot when this is happening.

4) Not really sure about the rest as I had my eyes closed, concentrating on my breathing, trying to dissosiate myself from the reality if what was happening. They look at your oesophagus, stomach, and duodenum.

5) They inflate your stomach with air to have a better look.

6) Once they've looked around, they pull the tube out. It is all over within 5 minutes.

In terms if my experience... It is not pleasant at all, but it is certainly doable without sedation. From what I'd read on here, I was expecting much worse.

You gag a lot, you feel like you're going to throw up. You do throw up (but there is nothing in your stomach to come out).

It's not nice, but it isn't painful, and it's over quickly. If I need to have it done again, I will again chose no sedation. Walking out after 10 mins while everyone else is out if it is a nice feeling, and if you can concentrate on your breathing and go to your happy place, you can get through it easily enough without sedation, and get on with your day.

I thought I'd add my two pen' orth

Gastroscopy today no sedation just anaesthetic spray 

I was asked to lie down on the examination couch and had my throat sprayed liberally with local anaesthetic. It doesn't taste nice, banana notes at the end. Asked to swallow it. In ten seconds my throat was numb. 
Then turned to my left side. Nurse put a plastic guard in my mouth and she explained that I could easily and should breath through it.  The scope was introduced. I was asked to swallow  it. It's difficult to tell whether you are actually swallowing to be truthful. The procedure felt like I was swallowing a whole boiled sweet but only for an instant. It's unpleasant but not painful. I didn't feel like I was choking and just took deep breaths throughout. 
The scope going into my duodenum certainly felt a little uncomfortable and I could feel something wandering around in my stomach, but again not painful  

Two biopsies taken from my stomach which simply felt like a tug, and the tube was withdrawn 

All in all about three minutes and I watched it all on the screen  

No real side effects later, perhaps a slightly sore throat  

I just wanted to tag this onto the thread. There are so many tales of woe earlier, enough to frighten anybody, so I thought I'd try to redress the balance.  I did my research  I knew what to expect so I wasn't frightened of the procedure