Any Advice About Colonoscopies?

[MarmaladeSandwich7]

I’ve had the procedure before but it was several years ago & I can’t remember much about it, apart from the discomfort. Any advice would be welcome.

I mean lemonade is generally fizzy 🤷‍♀️

Depends on what they use. I ask for the knockout stuff, I don't want to see my insides or experience anything to do with the procedure at all! So in fairness I get a mix of midazolam and fentanyl and wake up without any recollection of anything, and the best night's sleep that night ever too!

Others are different and either want a lighter version of sedation or none at all. I am not that brave and stand by that.

I wasn't given a choice! Wish I had been!

Following as I'm waiting on an appointment for one too. I'm utterly terrified and am not looking forward to the prep. I don't want sedation either I just want it done and over with. Two people have told me it's just a bit of discomfort and to use the gas and air if needed.

I had one about 6 years ago. I don’t remember the prep being any drama, and I opted not to get sedation so I could go straight home on my own and it was fine.

I wouldn’t worry about it. Maybe eat low fiber in the days running up to it so prep is easier.

Hmm. That will be tricky. When the preparation has started to work you will be sat on the loo for hours unable to leave it, not even for a minute or two.

It's only the second lot that causes the diarrhoea, as you won't have eaten it's mainly water. You are backwards and forward to the loo but there is a break in between . I didn't find it that bad a taste and so glugged it down to get it over with.

You are backwards and forward to the loo but there is a break in between

There wasn't for me, nor for DD.

I’ve had them with and without sedation, it’s bearable without but can be very painful going around the bends!! The recovery from the sedation is very quick.
The prep is by far the worst part!! I found it easier to use a straw to get the liquid down and avoid the taste. Also get some moist toilet wipes, saves the soreness!!
Sounds obvious but don’t skip any part of the prep because you’ll just have to go through it all again!
Good luck!!

I would have thought @MarmaladeSandwich7 that if you had one several years ago, that you would be pretty au fait with what they entail?

Re: those who are due to have one and are dreading it. You don't HAVE to have one, and can request a CT scan (with contrast.)

I have a friend who had a positive FIT test (blood in poo) and immediately her GP contacted her and said she must have a colonocopy, as it's a sign of BOWEL CANCER. 'You NEED to go and have a camera shoved up your bum' were the GP's words to my friend.

Firstly, in 93% of cases, blood in the stool, is NOT bowel cancer, and also, you don't HAVE to have a colonoscopy, you can request a CT scan (with contrast) of your bowels/intestines. They don't tell you this though, because it's 3 times more expensive than the colonoscopy. My friend refused the colonoscopy (for several personal reasons,) and they let her have the CT scan.

A colonoscopy is horrible. It's intrusive and uncomfortable, and the prep is vile. Also, there are a number of risks with it. I won't name them, just google them. (Google downsides to colonoscopy.)

The only 'advantage' of it is if they find something (like lumps or polyps) they can remove them immediately. If you have the CT scan, and the scan picks something up, you will have to go back, and still have the colonoscopy anyway. In around 80% of cases though, they find nothing at all. (With the colonoscopy or scan,)

They will have you believe that a colonoscopy is the 'Gold Standard' medical care, purely because they can chop anything away if they see anything whilst the tube/camera etc is up there! They also tell you that colonoscopies will see/detect more than the scan. Not true. Scans can occasionally miss things, but colonoscopies can too. They don't tell you the downsides to colonoscopies, or the fact that some things (growths or small polyps etc,) are probably better left untouched anyway!

That’s not strictly true. I had the CT with contrast and all they could see was bowel thickening. I ended up having a colonoscopy afterwards which showed lots of inflammation and ulcers and let them take biopsies. To be honest, the CT was a waste of time.
The colonoscopy was fine, I had minimal sedation and entonox and was able to leave 20 minutes after the procedure.

And Farleys rusks!

I’m having it to try to find out why I’m anaemic - my iron levels appear to be in the normal range so it’s not lack of that.
And yes I did have one before but it was years ago so I just wanted a few hints & tips really

But you said 'several' years ago in your OP. Which indicates 3-4 years ago. Colonoscopies won't have changed much in that time.

So how long has it been?

Several years = 3 or 4 years.

'Years...' could mean 20 or 30 years or more.

Hopefully you have had enough help from posters on this thread. I can't add anything to what's already been said really. I think most things have been covered. Good luck ...

You are confusing lemonade with some lemonade type drink.

For avoidance of confusion, when I say ‘lemonade’, I mean the crystals one mixes with water.

I recently had a sigmoidoscopy, I’ve had colonoscopies in the past.
I would definitely go for sedation, I find them very painful regardless of sedation plus entenox. After my sigmoidoscopy I was very uncomfortable and sore for nearly a week. Biopsies were taken so perhaps it was because of those.
I’m dreading the next time.

I had one recently. Nowhere near as bad as people make out. Prep wasnt the best taste wise but it did the job. I didn't have the toilet rush or any accidents. It just came out when I sat on the toilet for around an hour after each prep liquid. Someone upthread suggested it hit their walls, no idea how that happens! I definitely didn't need incontinence pads or pants either.
The actual colonoscopy was quite painful and I was told I have a very long and bendy colon which would cause the pain. They gave me gas and air. I had sedation but didn't notice any effects of it. I was still completely with it and not drowsy at all.

Are these a UK thing? I've never heard of lemonade crystals.

I’ve never heard or seen of Lemonade crystals, where do you get them?

Thank you for this!

I have had 2 CT scans with contrast (2 years apart) and found them a mostly quick and pleasant experience on the whole.

I have since been diagnosed with hemorrhoids and am considering whether I should have a colonscopy to rule out other issues.

Dh unfortunately was diagnosed with bowel cancer thanks to a colonscopy due to a high FIT result as part if the NHS bowel screening programme. So I'm terrified of agreeing to have it done and then finding something similar to him 😢

Apparently I was also happy and chatty but I have absolutely no idea what I said as I don’t remember a thing! 😂

That isn’t necessarily the case. I was able to leave the toilet and sit on my bed and read for a bit before I needed to go again. I just stayed within easy reach of the toilet but I was able to go downstairs to answer the door a couple of times.

I am in the UK and have never heard of lemonade crystals either.

Most lemonade is clear, sweet and fizzy.

Women on the whole experience more discomfort due to their anatomy.
I took sedation and painkiller as with my endoscopies and it was fine.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who had no effects from the sedation because most people don't believe me!. I was wary about G and A as I had that during labour and threw up both times. I too have a bendy colon and they couldn't get it round the bends so I had to have a CT.