Painful endoscopy

[Ladybird69]

Anyone medical around? I had an endoscopy earlier and everyone said that it would be fine. But it was so painful. It felt as if the consultant was pushing the tube out through my stomach walll. I just wanted to know if my friends were all lying or was it supposed to not hurt. I had sedation, didn’t feel at all sedated either.

You probably weren't properly sedated. If you have it done privately, they use a fully qualified anaesthetist and they can make sure you remember nothing. Sorry you had to go through that.

@Coeliacsmum that sounds right. My friend has had 6 and she said that once she gets the sedation she can’t remember anything until recovery! It felt brutal, as if she was really ramming the tube down. I was in shock afterwards and sick. Terrible experience.

The aim with sedation is usually to be aware of what’s going on but not bothered by it. ‘Sedationist’ lists are usually strictly protocolised but still usually mean people are comfortable enough. Anaesthetist delivered lists have a little bit more scope for higher doses/different drugs because we’re more experienced at managing the (significant) cardiovascular and respiratory side effects the drugs can cause. It isn’t always that obvious from the outside what patients are experiencing once some sedation has gone in. There is quite a spectrum of how people respond to sedative medication…. Some people are sparko after not very much at all, others need industrial doses….some people look comfortable but are actually not but others look uncomfortable but aren’t that bothered.

Thanks @Greybeardy i think that the sedation didn’t work as I’ve spoken to a few people and they have all said that they were aware of having the procedure done but they were ‘out of it’ If I have to have another one I will mention it to the consultant.

@Greybeardy I can't follow what your saying . Are there two types of person who can do this and anaesthetists are better ?

anaesthetists aren't necessarily better...we're different. Anyone can give sedation, but without the experience that anaesthetists have in managing the cardiovascular and respiratory side effects they have to be more careful with the doses to keep it safe. Where the list is being done by nurse & physician/surgeon combo the dosing is usually more protocolised to avoid emergencies, but what they do do is safe and usually enough for most people. Anaesthetists are more used to dealing with it if a patient stops breathing/the BP tanks etc. (which at high doses of sedation is more likely) and we use a lot more different types of drugs as part of our normal practice so we can sometimes give higher doses (depending on the patient/their medical problems/the reason for the scope). There is a variation in response to sedation drugs depending on things like age/weight/medical problems/medications (and drugs/alcohol) so that explains why some people don't remember anything, some people remember but don't care and some people don't get much effect at all. Most people don't need an anaesthetist doing the sedation (which is good, because there aren't enough of us to do it for every list), but where things are expected to be more complicated then the endoscopists arrange it.

@Greybeardy thank you for explaining
My 85 year old mum will potentially be having this done in the next day or so to sort out a gall stone issue after being taken into A&E and admitted
Can I ask what the recovery time from this type of sedation looks like please?

Hugs @Ladybird69 One of the first gastroscopies I had was absolutely awful - I remembered everything, it was so painful, everything they said it wouldn’t be! And I’d only just turned 18 so felt a whole lot more frightening. We (well Mom) fed back to the consultant who was mortified, apologised & made sure the sedation was better for all future ones. Definitely talk to the person who carried out the procedure, they’ll want to know, & @Greybeardy offers excellent advice (Have seen on lots of similar threads). Hope you feel better soon 💐

When my elderly DM went for one they couldn't do it maybe the medication didn't work and she was resisting and they had to stop. She had in under general anaesthetic.

How does that help with a gallstone when they thought I had past one from my gallbladder I had an MRI they never did find it.

best bet is to to speak to the people looking after her. It can be a bigger deal when it's being done as part of an acute illness, but they wouldn't be suggesting it if they didn't think it was a sensible idea. Everyone always blames the sedation for how they feel afterwards, but it's important to remember there's the procedure and the acute problem to recover from too. They'll be able to go through it in more detail bearing in mind her normal health, what they're expecting to need to do etc.

they can find the stone and fish it out/do a sphincterotomy/place a stent/do biopsies as necessary. It's a fairly common procedure.

Of course thank you. I’m in the unfortunate position of having had to rush right across the country as she was away when taken ill and I’m just trying to guage how long I may be here
Bit pointless I know asking as no one can know!!

Used to work in this field. I imagine it’s an ERCP she’s having? It’s a different kind of endoscope (has a camera on the side rather than the top so it can go up to clear the bile duct). She’ll need supervising for 24 hours from the sedation and a few days to fully recover, but she’ll probably get quite a lot of relief from it.

Thank you yes I think that’s it. It’s not certain yet that she’s having it or how urgently as still waiting on a scan
Overall recovery doesn’t sound too horrendous then as an average - that’s encouraging at least

How long can people move after a sedation do people stay in hospital or go home ? Can it given them a headache

I've had many endoscopies under sedation. I'm in Ireland, where they keep you for a few hours afterwards, then you can go home accompanied by someone who will be staying with you for the next 24 hours.
The headache is common because you've been fasting for hours before the procedure.

No sedation here and it didnt hurt. Was horribly uncomfortable and nasty feeling but not painful as such.