Endoscopy, what was sedation like for you?

[nodogz]

I had a failed endoscopy today, I had a rude and rough clinician who was pissed off I was complaining about the hard plastic digging in my throat when the tube went in. He put it in twice and then sent me to recovery. Apparently he got it in twice. I had sedation and some numbing spray.

Is this normal? I had one with the numbing spray years back and although it was unpleasant it wasn't painful. I didn't seem any different after the sedation as I was standing up about two minutes after I got into recovery as I was hopping mad. The recovery staff were lovely but concerned I was standing and I didn't want them to feel like I was stopping them from their normal workload as everyone was so busy and overstretched.

I asked for his name and the ward sister came to speak to me after. She said the numbing spray is better than sedation - is that right? She also said and they can only have two attempts per session which sounds fair as my throat is battered (but I can't remember having any pain last time).

I don't feel like I've had any drugs whatsoever. I feel absolutely clear-headed but obviously will follow advice to not drive/drink etc. Was it very light sedation? Or might it not have gone in? I've had some pretty unpleasant medical procedures done and they have never made me cry/physically hurt me. In fact my pain tolerance is usually remarked upon.

Oh. I’m worried now. My son is booked in for one tomorrow. I thought sedation meant you were basically unaware of what is going on? I mean I know it’s not a GA, but 8 thought you were a little ‘out of it’. Is that not correct?

I had 1 where I remember the first few seconds, and it feeling like I was choking, then the next thing I remember is "waking up"
The other time I don't remember any of it.
I had sedation, no idea if I had throat spray too

Sorry @W0tnow, everyone else there today in recovery seemed fine. I'm sure your son will be too.

I had sedation for a colonoscopy and it was grand. I was watching the tv screen fascinated by my own insides!

When I’ve been sedated I dozed off. I felt very relaxed and sleepy and mostly unaware of what was happening and as soon as I was back in recovery I felt fine.

I felt good when I got home but the 48 hours afterwards I was completely wiped out.

I've had both and would take sedation every time.

You're aware of what is going on but it doesn't really bother you, if you know what I mean? And afterwards you feel a bit weird, like you're slightly tipsy, but I was on my way home after half an hour.

I’ve had three with throat numbing and sedation. I’m totally out of it until afterwards and it’s totally painless. I’m afraid much depends on the practitioner. Mine were done privately by a consultant. I know that in our neck of the woods the NHS doesn’t offer sedation.

So sedation should make you feel physically different yeah? Because I didn't feel any different at all. I stood up minutes after coming out the room.

For the colonoscopy I'd say I felt two drinks in and came home and had a massive sleep.

Or is this cheapo NHS sedation?

He’s actually having both. So that makes me feel better. Sorry you had such a rubbish experience today. Does that mean a long wait before they can book you in again?

I had throat spray and sedation for my endoscopy. I remember them telling me that sedation was starting now and the next thing I know I'm being woken up in recovery by a nurse.

I had warned them that I was having difficulty swallowing so they told me they'd give me as much sedation as possible - also turned out that they had to take a lot of biopsies as they discovered a tumour, so I'm guessing they kept the sedation on high to do everything they needed to do.

After I came round I was a little groggy at first but okay and was fine and aside from having no recollection of the procedure, didn't really feel like I'd been sedated at all.

I had sedation for a colonoscopy. They gave me the maximum dose of midazlodam they could. Absolutely fuck all effect on me, it was agony. The consultant couldn’t understand it - it just didn’t work on me. He said I should have been completely out of it, I wasn’t, I was totally coherent (and in a lot of pain and discomfort).

I was very glad I’d refused the endoscopy he also wanted to do (celiac was diagnosed through blood work, I was happy not to have it confirmed with endoscopy).

Mine took ages to work. Basically started to work once the procedure was over...

Sedation for an endoscopy did zero for me. I was aware of everything and remembered the whole, horrid process. Thankfully it didn't last long but was more uncomfortable than I expected it to be with sedation.

I was completely knocked out. Wasn't conscious for a moment of it, was woken up after.

Yeah I’d say you need heavier sedation. When I was sedated for an endoscopy, I was really out of it. Afterwards I sent messages to my husband that I thought were perfectly coherent and when I read them back later, they were absolute gibberish! I have only the vaguest memories of the procedure.

It was great for me, I don’t remember a thing. Gas and air whilst in labour though did absolutely nothing. I felt robbed as there wasn’t time for the epidural I had requested and my sister (who has 5 babies) had promised me it was amazing!

I've had quite a few endoscopies. First few were emergency situations so aren't really comparable. The first non emergency one I had sedation and I felt fine during it but also didn't feel like it did anything. I felt completely normal after.

However, I then had one without sedation as I thought it didn't do anything previously and it was significantly worse. I was gagging continuously and couldn't wait for it to end the whole time. Next time, I had sedation again and I felt fine. No gagging and felt completely calm watching the screen. So although it doesn't make me sleepy, it makes the procedure feel fine. So I always recommend sedation.

I had an endoscopy under sedation.I canremeber being turned on my side and the nurse telling me the mouth guard was going in, then I had a swallowing sensation as the tube went down.
The next thing I knew I was in recovery, but still very very sleepy.I never felt a thing.I had to be kept in recovery for longer as my blood pressure had plummeted, but as soon as I was fully awake and could drink small amount of water without choking I was allowed home.
I had to wait inside until my son came to drive me home, as not allowed outside on my own.

I didn't have any sedation. I didn't have a rude person carrying out the procedure but one of the nurses had a massive panic attack when the door of the room was locked!

Sedation doesn't work on everyone e.g people with Ehler Danlos or hyper mobility can sometimes not be sedated easily. I'm hypermobile and sedation used in things like endoscopy does absolutely nothing for me. I also have issues with getting numb at the dentist.

I have had an endoscopy with just the throat spray. It's not pleasant but doable. It's over and done with pretty quickly. Honestly I would rather do that than have a filling.

I had sedation for a colonoscopy and I remember none of it at all - sounds like you had nowhere near the right dose. Hope you get it sorted.

@nodogz are you hypermobile at all? I have had 2 failed endoscopies now even with heavy sedation. The most recent one I warned the doctor before they started that the sedation didn't work the time before and that I needed the full 5mg of fentanyl and midazolam. They gave me close to the full amount but not quite. I was fully lucid, gagging and wrenching it from my throat. They tried a couple of times. I remember begging them to continue and to give me more sedation but they had to stop and told me I'd need to go under general anaesthetic next time.

I'm definitely hypermobile and it is fairly common that local anaesthetic or sedation has minimal effect.

interesting the comment about potential rubbish nhs sedation. the only one I was fine with was a private endoscopy and colonoscopy with an anaesthetist. apparently it was the same drugs but who knows.

I've had one with sedation and was only barely conscious that something was happening to me (it was like being in a dream). It was fine.

I don't like the sound of what you went through, OP.

Reminds me of the time I had a nasendoscopy without numbing spray! It was painful, I fainted, and the doctor was just horrible! Totally cold and unsympathetic. 😬

I have had a couple of endoscopies with sedation and have always been aware throughout. I think it does affect different people in different ways.

I don't find morphine helps with pain, either. Just get horrible side effects.

Sedation means different things to different people - ideally it doesn't render people completely oblivious to what's going on, but makes it more so that they just don't really care. Different units use different protocols for sedation and it can have variable effects between different patients, but also can have different effects on the same patient at different times. An OGD is a 'shared airway' procedure and sedation has to be quite careful and protocolised when it's a list without an anaesthetist (who would manage the airway/breathing while the endoscopist did the endoscopy). When the sedation 'doesn't work' it doesn't mean anything's gone wrong necessarily, it just means that perhaps a different approach is needed - there's really only one way to find out if it's going to work though and that's to try. Bailing out would be the right thing to do if it's not going to plan, otherwise there's a risk of causing real physical damage as well as psychological trauma. Hope they manage to come up with a plan that works.

It does very little for me and I have never had an endoscopy that wasn't horrendous because of continual retching. I am seriously thinking of asking them to give a me a GA in future.