I thought I would share my experience, to help ease anyone's mind. I understand everyone's experience is different however after reading multiple posts I was terrified. I am a 27yo female with severe anxiety who had been experiencing symptoms including passing blood, mucous and cramping pain for about 3 months. tests showed inflammation, h pylori in my stomach and blood in stool. I was referred, and received my appointment for a week and a half later! 

I started kleanprep at 1300 the day before (I found it's definitely better by putting some lime cordial in it) having read previous posts suggesting this was the worst one, I honestly did not find it tooo awful, just keep some sudocreme and wet wipes handy! I definitely found it easier drinking it when I was in the bath (as the bubble bath masked the smell!)

my appointment was at 0800 the next morning and being terrified of sedation I opted for gas and air only. The NHS were fantastic and even suggested my mother accompany me as I was so terrified! Overall, I found the procedure fine, it is a bit unusual feeling however the only pains were when going around the bends of the colon however the endoscopist would stop to allow me to take some gas and to release some air! (even then I have had worse period cramping) the whole process took around 30-40 minutes with 25+ biopsies taken (no polyps found). 
 

The main upside I found to the Gas was being able to go home straight away while everyone else on the ward was still recovering. I am waiting on biopsy results with suspected IBD. I would definitely opt for gas the next time too.

hope this helps x 

I thought I would share my experience, to help ease anyone's mind. I understand everyone's experience is different however after reading multiple posts I was terrified. I am a 27yo female with severe anxiety who had been experiencing symptoms including passing blood, mucous and cramping pain for about 3 months. tests showed inflammation, h pylori in my stomach and blood in stool. I was referred, and received my appointment for a week and a half later! 

I started kleanprep at 1300 the day before (I found it's definitely better by putting some lime cordial in it) having read previous posts suggesting this was the worst one, I honestly did not find it tooo awful, just keep some sudocreme and wet wipes handy! I definitely found it easier drinking it when I was in the bath (as the bubble bath masked the smell!)

my appointment was at 0800 the next morning and being terrified of sedation I opted for gas and air only. The NHS were fantastic and even suggested my mother accompany me as I was so terrified! Overall, I found the procedure fine, it is a bit unusual feeling however the only pains were when going around the bends of the colon however the endoscopist would stop to allow me to take some gas and to release some air! (even then I have had worse period cramping) the whole process took around 30-40 minutes with 25+ biopsies taken (no polyps found). 
 

The main upside I found to the Gas was being able to go home straight away while everyone else on the ward was still recovering. I am waiting on biopsy results with suspected IBD. I would definitely opt for gas the next time too.

hope this helps x 

I have joined to thank everybody and also share my experience. I had my colonoscopy yesterday (16.7.21). I wanted to have no sedation and found this forum last week and it immediately reassured me. I wanted to do the same for others. So here is my journey. 
 

I had my first Moviprep at 4pm. It was lemon flavour but I added some lemon cordial and used chilled water. I drank the first litre over the next hour and waited. It was tolerable but would not be my beverage choice of the future! At around 6pm I sensed I needed the toilet and it carried on until around 7pm. At this point I was passing water so sensed I had already cleared the majority. At 8pm my second litre and about 9pm my toilet adventures started again but it remained water based. I finally stopped needing the toilet about 11.30pm. As already mentioned on previous advice I had pre bought wet wipes and sudocrem. 
 

My procedure was planned for 8.30am but after the normal paperwork, getting changed and waiting around it was about 9.15 when I walked into the treatment room. The staff were amazing and made me feel at immediate ease. I lay on my left hand side, knees raised and held the gas and air ready to go. I was told to take 2 breaths and they began. In honesty it was fine and if anything I didn't really use the air unless they told me to. I found it easier to watch the screen as the explored my bowel as the sensation I felt  made sense. They went all the way to the opening of my small intestine and then slowly moved the camera backwards and explored and took biopsies as they progressed. It was fascinating! I asked questions and learned a lot about how my bowel works. I had lots of reassurance from staff that everything looked fine and no uncomfortable silences. I feared that! The procedure lasted around 30 minutes and as I had no sedation they said to have 15 minutes whilst they did my obs then brought me a very welcome cup of tea ginger biscuits. I messaged my wife and children to say I was all done and very much ready for breakfast. 
 

The results on the day showed no evidence of cancer and biopsies taken will be a few weeks but I'm very reassured from the feedback and also watching the screen helped as I could see it all myself. 
 

I know we are all different but I honestly felt no pain. I could feel a numb sensation at times but my brain made sense of it as I was watching it on the screen. I think that is a key to allowing your brain and senses to process. 
 

Within an hour after procedure end I was on route for breakfast and on the phone to work. I felt reassured and if you have any doubts don't hesitate and don't worry. My best wishes to all..

Thank you for posting.  I have an appointment in a week and these experiences are making me feel better x