Colonoscopy Pain

I'm so glad I found your post. I had a colonoscopy with sedation this morning and it was excruitiatingly painful. I was wide awake throughout and in so much pain that I had to be given two doses of Pethadine, not that it made much difference. When it was over at last, I felt shocked and traumatised by the ordeal. The consultant seemed to think I'd made a fuss about nothing, though the nurses who looked after me were much more sympathetic and understanding. Ironically, ten minutes after the colonoscopy finished, the sedation seemed to kick in and I fell into a dazed stupor for the best part of an hour. Never again! If I ever have to have one of these barbaric procedures again I will insist on a general anaesthetic and pay for it if I have to. As far as I'm concerned, all the websites I read which said that colonoscopies are not painful are simply telling lies. Be warned anyone else facing one!

I had a colonoscopy last weekend...went privately at the cost of £1800 because was told the sedation on NHS is not significant enough to stop any discomfort. So I was lulled into a rather smug state of mind thinking I was going to sail through the procedure. Oh no! Completely traumatised, the sedation didnot work and the pain was excruciating. I was in tears and was made to feel like I was over reacting. God forbid if I have to have another one. 

Please check beforehand what pain relief you are given and how much because it can prevent a lot of heart ache.

I had my first colonoscopy 3 weeks ago, I was sedated and sailed through it - happy days! I was told I needed another one to continue the colonoscopy as I had 5 poylps obstructing the rest of the way so they would be removed and the colonoscopy finished.  I went into the 2nd procedure yesterday relaxed (if completely drained and wobbly from the laxatives!), but it couldn't have been a different experience!  I screamed and screamed throughout the whole thing, they had to double the sedation, (which still didn't help with the pain) and I have been left woozy and wobbly and very traumatised!  Afterwards they needed the bed, because they were doing so many others that day, so they forced me awake and my husband had to take me back to the car in a wheelchair!  The two experiences were like chalk and cheese.  I have to have another one, I imagine this is to check that the poylps have healed (although I haven't been told anything), and then another procedure on large, bleeding haemerhoids, so 2020 is an awful year for me (on top of the Covid situation).

I'm so glad to have found other people who have had a similar experience to me. Don't get me wrong, I'm very sorry for all your bad experiences but feel like I'm not alone in this and 'making a fuss over nothing'.

I've had 7 colonoscopies. I've had ulcerative colitis for 35 years which is very well controlled and I don't 'suffer' with it. Joy of joys though, I also developed what my GP thinks is IBS around 15 years ago. Again not much of a problem except for 2-3 times per year when I get extreme pain. This has got worse with every episode and has now become totally unmanageable. I used to get by with Buscopan, paracetamol and colpermin but not any more. I ended up in A&E on morphine and my GP has now allowed me to have a small bottle of Oramorph at home (I've used it only twice and it took the edge off).

I have had no answers from my GP or hospital consultant and I would say they take so little interest that I wonder if they believe me when I describe how severe the pain is. I'm a very petite person and gave birth to 2 bouncing baby boys, one of them posterior, with a quick suck on the old Entonox. Easy peasy. I don't consider myself to be making a fuss over a small thing.

I had a colonoscopy 3 years ago and the sedation was utterly useless. It has to be a much lighter sedation than in my previous colonoscopies because I had no memory of those and went home happy but absent minded. All back to normal in short order. I discussed my experience with my consultant and he said he would do it himself next time. That was today.

Again sedation was completely ineffective and the pain was excruciating despite me telling everyone involved about my last experience. They had to abandon after getting very little done and now I feel traumatised and tearful because I went through all that again and have no useful results.

WHY the heck has sedation changed???

I'm heartened to read on this thread that general anaesthetic might be offered in exceptional circumstances and will bring this up in my review. Has anyone successfully had this?

Plenty of Googling leads me to believe I have visceral hyperalgesia/hypersensitivity. This seems to be well known amongst bowel disease/IBS sufferers but a foreign idea to my GP and consultant.

I'm not wasting 2 days doing bowel prep and going in for this again when it leads to ridiculously excessive pain and no useful results. Not happy at all ️

Hi I  have just had the same procedure and I like you also felt that not enough time was given for the medication to  work  hence a aborted colonoscopy 

Hi just a quick reply I had a colonoscopy on friday 16th october I had a sedative and unfortunately it was very painful they had to stop not long after they had begun I wondered if I had not enough time to let the sedation take effect before they began as it took them a while to bring me round . You would of thought I would not have felt anything thankyou michele

Hi I had a colonoscopy last Tuesday (13th) and having read quite a lot opted for Entonox. I’ve had  3 children without any pain relief and based on what I had read thought I could cope. How wrong was I! Gas and air had no effect at all and the pain was excruciating, 10 times worse than giving birth. The consultant barely spoke to me either before or after and whatever he said during I couldn’t hear and the nurses had to relay it. I’m sure he was a sadist with a fetish for drain clearance because I felt just like a piece of meat, no human touch at all.  Almost a week later I am still in pain and have no idea if that is how I should feel. The report handed to me, without any communication had the cheek to say “patient discomfort- moderate”. He should have been laid where I was. I think we deserve better treatment and a little more respect after all we didn’t ask to be there. 

Hi I had a colonoscopy on Thursday 29th October and it was worse than giving birth, had to stop the procedure due to the excruciating pain and if I have to have it done again I will be asking to have it done under a general, no way on this earth will I ever put myself through that again, how they can say it does not hurt is beyond me, I have a high pain threshold but by god that was the worse pain I have ever had to go through 

I had my first colonoscopy on Friday 30th October, I went private after being referred as urgent but it was still a long wait. I had read everywhere the prep ( moviprep I had ) was the worst part.I started drinking it and it was ok, it produced the desired effect. The actual procedure well... it was horrific  - I decided to go sedation and pain relief. I had midazolam and fentanyl, I've put up with persistent pain now for months but this was something else. I went onto gas and air also half way through. I had to reposition a lot... on my front, back, left, right. Consultant was brilliant and the nursing staff, they took there time and we got to the start of small intestine eventually. One polyp removed and four biopsies. I'm still in some abdominal discomfort and a little swollen now. Is this normal?

Hi all! 
same boat here, had endoscopy this morning, was unpleasant but alright, the colonoscopy was horrific! Only managed the first third with Fentanyl, Midazolam, and paracetamol iv. I asked for entanox but they stopped instead.. Doc said my colon was narrow and twisted but only put that I couldn't tolerate it in my notes :cry: 

I will now need the CT - what does this involve? They said there will be some prep again :neutral:

anyone had one who can share what to expect? 

I have had both private treatment and NHS and both were equally as painful.