To ask for your experiences of colonoscopy, super nervous

[elm26]

Hi

Been referred for an urgent colonoscopy due to a high result from a FIT test.

Should I take the sedation route or just gas & air? How bad is it, really? If I'm sedated will I still feel it? Please be honest, I'm feeling worse about this than I was labour! The thought of something going up my backside is just bleugh.

When I do the prep, do I need my DH home to watch baby? She is nearly 11 months and I can't exactly lock her in the toilet with me and by the sounds of it when I'll need to go, there is no stopping it so can't rush around putting her in play pen etc.

Definitely go with sedation. It will make it fly by.

I didn’t find the prep as bad as other people. I just didn’t eat loads in the few days running up to it, so there was less to come out. If your partner, or someone, can be there, it would be better.

I’ve had many colonoscopies and a couple of sigmoidoscopies over the years, due to having Crohn’s disease.

During every colonoscopy I’ve opted for sedation teamed with G&A. It’s THE best option. I’ve still managed to watch the procedure on the TV screen but have been pretty chilled due to the sedation.

Worse for me was the prep beforehand. I’d recommend making each dose up, adding a bit of orange squash or lemon, and chilling in the fridge. It felt more palatable when chilled imo.
have a glass of juice ready between sips of the prep. The straw makes sure the prep doesn’t linger on your tongue.

As you can’t eat and can only drink clear liquids beforehand make sure you have boiled sweets, jelly sweets, broth options, in the house to take your mind off eating, to take the edge away.

Most importantly yes, you will need your DH to watch your DC. Once the prep takes hold you will have no option but to head off to the toilet (you should be nearby at ALL times).

Good luck OP. Hope all goes well 💐

Oh and no red or blackcurrant sweets etc

My prep drink was absolutely fine, didn’t taste awful (well not to me). Get some Vaseline for your bumhole - I was patting/blotting not wiping so it could have been worse.

Sedation all the way. My team were lovely and I enjoyed a cup of tea and biscuits once the sedation had worn off.

I had one a fortnight ago, had prepped for one in January but didn’t happen because of problem on day. Prep second time was better as I knew what not to do. Which was to drink prep out of a glass. I made it in a big sports bottle with a straw, added lime. Drank it alongside full fat clear lemonade and got it down much quicker. Also had lemonade ice lollies, boiled fruit sweeties for energy as well as drinking water. Felt hungry and cold at one point so had a cup of chicken stock.

Sedation was great, I barely remembered it. Great sleep that night too! Good luck.

Oh yes, the tea and toast afterwards is THE best tea and toast EVER!

For me the prep was probably the worst bit - it is unpleasant but ok though.

My colonoscopy was nowhere near as tough as giving birth. Labour was much worse and challenging, the colonoscopy was actually fine and I don’t even remember much discomfort. I had sedation but felt aware throughout so I’m not sure if it worked or not.

Good luck & I hope all is ok.

I've had a few. The procedure itself has usually been fine. The prep isn't fun. My advice is to follow the low fibre diet they advise beforehand - that makes a big difference in my experience.

I may get lambasted for this one ….
2nd time I skipped the prep with the uncontrollable diarrhoea and had a colonic instead 🤷🏼

I’m confused?

I found the fasting the worse bit, I think I wasn't supposed to have food for 48 hrs. I didn't have explosive diarrhoea just lots of trips to the loo. I had gas and air and it was fine. The best bit was the ham sandwich and a cuppa afterwards. The best ham sandwich I've ever tasted closely followed by the toast I had after a long labour and giving birth to a 10 lb baby.

Prep - you basically want to park up on the toilet for about 5 hours. You can’t care for kids. Take a book.

Take the sedatives, you won’t really care what they are doing then.

A veteran of many many colonoscopies.

Make sure you slather your bum in vaseline or sudocrem as soon as you take the laxatives. If you don't you may get nappy rash.

And yes, go for sedation.

I always pack a marmite sandwich (or whatever you fancy) for after the procedure as they often offer biscuits but you need more !

Also take a charger and kindle /phone to keep yourself entertained whilst you wait.

At my hospital they give you modesty pants to wear- which are essentially large paper pants with a back flap for access 😬. So flattering !

Just be prepared. It's not fu ln but it is necessary.

You usually get verbal feedback on the day for results. It's common for them to find polyps and take biopsies so don't be surprised on that front.

Good luck and hope it goes well for you.

The prep is grim and definitely have your DH around to look after the LO - when you need to go you need to go. The advice on food/timing/fluids varies from surgeon to surgeon and hospital to hospital so just go with whatever they tell you. It’s worth doing it properly (I always feel unreasonably proud of myself when they tell me I’ve done a really good job of the clear out!). Also don’t expect the effect to be instant, mine took a good few hours first time round.

Take the sedative. You can’t legally do anything, including sign a contract or drive a car, for 24 hours after. That’s because you are still off your head. With small children around (mine were 2 and 5 the first time I had one) I quite enjoyed having an actual legal reason not to be in charge of anything.

They give you weird paper pants with a flap in the back.

If the surgeon finds any polyps they may try and remove them there and then. It feels no worse than a lot of tugging. Again, take the sedative!

I was really paranoid that I would continue to “leak” during and after the procedure but everything goes back to normal really quickly.

The first solid food after is amazing.

The laxative prep wasn't as bad as I feared. Yes it technically brings on diarrhea but it wasn't as bad as the most awful gastroenteritis diarrhea that I had previously had and was expecting the prep to mimic. You certainly can't look after a baby during it though but you won't feel too poorly with it. Sticking to a low-residue diet for 5 days before reduces how much there is to come out significantly.

Personally I recommend going for sedation right from the start. I started with G&A and I really couldn't cope and they had to sedate me anyway and it would have been a lot less traumatic to just start off with sedation immediately.

Good luck and don't worry too much - even if they find something worrying there have been so many advances in medical science that treatments will in many cases be really effective and all will be well sooner or later.

I had a camera put up my bum and into my colon about 10 years ago. I hated it.
All I can remember is having to take something that caused bowel emptying (diarrhoea). The person doing it was male, which made me feel uncomfortable. He was rough and made a comment that I was being precious when I said he was being a bit heavy handed. Then he had a conversation with the nurse about holidays. I wanted to punch him in the face. I'm sure yours will be better than mine. Good luck with it. I could see the screen as they were doing it. People are talking about sedation, I wasn't aware that was something offered.

I had one a few years ago. I don’t think I was offered sedation, it was bloody awful. I’m due another next month and will be asking for ALL the drugs

My mum had one last week, she had the sedation and said it was absolutely fine. She's a big wuss and struggles to have a smear test or anything so the sedation must of worked well. She was ringing me less than an hour after the procedure, asking me to come and pick her up. She did sleep all day though. The explosive shits the night before was the worst part of it all she says.

Undignified but v reassuring procedure. Take all sedation offered, and ask for more on standby. Prep is housebound status and satisfyingly cleansing. Vaseline is top tip. Hope all goes well for you

I haven't read any of the replies yet as in a rush but just wanted to tell you that I've had two, about ten years apart. I'm a retired nurse and used to work in Endoscopy unit so wasn't at all nervous before first one. I had sedation first time, didn't find it that comfortable and was zonked for ages afterwards. I had recent one a few weeks ago, prep was awful of course but gas and air was fantastic. I was able to watch the screen, get a running commentary from the doctor and wide awake to have tea and toast served to me as soon as it was over. I'm a full time carer for my husband so don't get out much. I'd honestly say it was most enjoyable morning I'd had for ages!

It's more like pooing water tbh than like when you're ill.

I’ve only NOT been offered sedation when I’ve had a sigmoidoscopy rather than a colonoscopy, I’ve found that some people get mixed up with which procedure they’ve had. A colonoscopy goes all the way up to the terminal ileum, therefore that’s why sedation is offered, a sigmoid scope only goes part way up, sigmoid can still be uncomfortable though, especially when going round a ‘bend’, therefore G&A is generally offered, although one experience I had they didn’t offer me anything until I asked for G&A!! Sigmoidoscopy prep beforehand is also easier than colonoscopy prep in my experience!

OP asked about colonoscopies though and I’ve always been offered sedation, every single time!

I had one with sedation. The procedure was fine but the prep was horrible. I did enjoy the white food 70s diet pre prep though! After the procedure I honestly felt that I would have no problem doing it again.

I had one last year and like you I was very nervous about it.

I had the sedation - it was great! I woke up not realising it was all over. (this was in the US though and they give propofol so you'e out for the count. Not sure what drugs they give on the NHS so may be different).

If you can get pills instead of the liquid - get those. There are a lot of them and they are fairly big pills but easy enough to swallow. Someone told me the pills are so much better than drinking all the liquid as it's difficult to finish and can make you throw up.

The prep is the hardest part and you need to be near a loo for a good few hours, I basically sat in the bathroom with my ipad / phone.

But try not to worry - it will be over before you know it.

Brilliant tip re the Vaseline - it's a game changer. Set up the loo with books and/or your iPad and expect to be there for a couple of hours so make it comfy!