to be scared.

[thingamywotsita]

four weeks ago I was admitted to hospital with awful stomach pain. I was in for four days and told it was colitis, the last four weeks have been pretty miserable and I've lost a stone and a half in three weeks. they are doing a colonoscopy to find the cause it could be inflammatory bowel disease or chrones they don't know, I know nothing really about any of it, I've been anxiously waiting for the colonoscopy appointment, I just want it done so I know what's happening so I can fix it, up to this point I've not been worried about the colonoscopy at all, if anything just anxious to get it quickly, well I got the pack through today with my appointment for two weeks time, and I am now terrified, really nervous butterflies everything, anyone had experience with this? what to expect? eek feel a bit sick (not that that's New )

I've got Crohn's and have been through all the interventions. Colonoscopies are fine. Really nothing to worry about.

I've had a colonoscopy a few weeks ago. It was fine, nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be. The preparation for it (not eating, taking the 'bowel prep' etc) were not exactly fund, but it was ok. The procedure itself was a bit uncomfortable at times, but fine. I quite enjoyed watching it all on the screen, but then I'm a bit weird. And I got some nice pictures of my insides afterwards!

I can understand why you're anxious about it, but in my experience it really is not as bad as you imagine it to be. :)

thank you I think maybe I am more scared of getting a scary diagnosis. they have given me a diet sheet which would have been a lot more helpful three weeks ago, I've gone gluten free as that seemed to give me a lot of pain, but the sheet has so many foods to avoid which I have been eating! hopefully following this diet plan will make the next few weeks a bit less sore and sicky! what is Crohnes? what will it mean and what's the differentl between that and inflammatory bowel disease?

Just to add, I had very light sedation. I had considered doing it without but it was so light that it didn't affect me at all - apart from it being more comfortable (if that's the right word!). I assume if you find it more uncomfortable/painful, you can ask for them to top it up.

My daughter has sedation as she has 'funny turns' where her blood pressure drops and she faints - happens when she has a blood test as well.
Chrones is where any part of the digestive tract can get ulcers and ulcerative colitis is where it is the lower part of the bowel affected. They are not diet linked, not sure of cause but can be made worse with stress.
Coeliac us where gluten damages the system and avoidence helps.
Chrones and colitis are helped by drugs and you may have times when its fine and times where you have flareups.

If these are the options of what they are testing for then please don't worry - they sound worse than they need to.
If you are nervous tell them before hand you would like sedation as you may need a different appt time.

thanks cjel that was really simple to grasp (Dr Google is not your friend when asking what might be wrong with you) I'm being given a light sedative and pethidine it says.

great, in that case you can switch fear off!!!!

my father in law is going to be picking me up afterwards. I have an irrational fear of farting in his car.

ha ha! I know thats not funny as I have phobias so I know what its like but the though of you started this thread by having huge fear of everything else and now its been reduced to fear of farting!!

I have had this and they wouldn't let me out until I had farted!!! I went into the ward loo for some privacy

when I was in hospital one of the ladies on my Ward opened her bowels for the first time in two weeks (in the loo) she came out and announced it and we all clapped and cheered. check your dignity at the door in the gastro Ward

I had to delurk to add a message of support. I have Crohn's and was diagnosed after a few weeks of intense stomach pain. The colonoscopy was really the easiest part of the whole episode. To clear up some confusion, inflammatory bowel disease is an umbrella term for a few diseases that cause long term inflammation in the gut. Crohn's is one of these diseases, ulcerative colitis is the other main one.

The prep was the worst part of the colonoscopy, I highly suggest you read Dave Barry's account to get a rough idea of what you're in for (just google colonoscopy funny side and it's one of the first links). I had twilight sedation for the procedure which sounds like what you're having, it just made me feel nice and relaxed like after having a couple of drinks.

Word of warning- they squirted water or something up there to lubricate the camera. When I farted afterwards, it was rather wet. So please do your farting in recovery before you get dressed.

If you do get a diagnosis of Crohn's or IBD, it's not the end of the world. I had to take steroids for a few weeks to get the inflammation under control, and watch what I ate (not easy when the steroids give you the appetite of an elephant and make you feel very stabby- I was discharged from hospital after threatening to suffocate the woman in the bed opposite after she kept me awake all frigging night). But now I have regular meds that keep things under control and haven't had a proper flare up since that first one. I do have phases where I'm in pain or have the runs for a day or 2, but a bland diet and a few extra meds sort it. Crohn's and IBD aren't caused by diet by the way, but if you have a flare up your insides basically end up looking very red and sore, some foods can irritate and stop you from healing properly.