Due to have a colonoscopy - worried sick.

[jenkel]

I'm due to have a colonoscopy and I have managed to get in quite a state about it. The only reason that I am having one is my dad didnt recover from Colon Cancer and died when he was 44. So I have been pretty insistent to my GP that I go on a screening program, which looks like it is just about to start So on one hand its good that I will be screened but I've got really worked up about the procedure and if they find anything, no real reason why they should - no symptons etc. So any reasurrances will be gratefully received.

i have had one- due to bowel problems for many years- so i was definitely worried....turns out i have crohns disease.

the procedure itslef was fine - i had a sedative type drug and do not remember anything of the procedure, 30 seconds into the procedure - my mind goes blank and all i remember is waking up in my room..... no pain afterwards, bit woozy from the sedation, but thats all.....was very reassuring to know nothing sinister as cancer was my main concern.

lulamama - can i ask what your symptoms were for chrons??

thanks

The lead-up is not nice (fasting, bowel-emptying meds) but it really is the worst of it. Like lulumama I was out of it throughout - came round to being supported out of the practice by dh and a doctor due to a bomb scare!! (fortunately they had finished the proc) - and mine was all clear too.

sorry lulu, just saw yours wasn't all clear

sorry lulu, just saw yours wasn't all clear

don't worry FIT - it is controlled well with medication

my symptoms -

going to the loo a lot - 15 times a day not unusual
horrific cramping pain, combined with nausea, waves of spasms, like labour pain, for hours
a lot of bleeding
anaemia
running constant raised temperature
very susceptible to other illness
and more besides.......

deeply unpleasant

if you have no symptoms, would imagine you are clear....

hi jenkel, So sorry about your dad. well I had a colonoscopy last friday, am awaiting biopsy results but they didn't come across any big obstacles, which is reasuring. I had a general anesthetic and don't remember a thing till I woke up, I was fine just afterwards but then had a bit of what felt like bruising which dissapeared when I took an Arnica 30 (homeopathic remedy). The prep wasn't much fun as you have to be totally cleared out, but I stayed close to the loo and still managed to look after ds 2.4 with the help of lots of DVD's, although it's probably better not to have to look after littlen's if poss as you do spend a lot of time in the loo! Well done for being cautious, my doctor told that cause my blood protein was good and I wasn't loosing weight it was highly unlikely I had cancer, she was right about that..best of luck to you

Thanks for all this, hioe your biopsy is clear Kjaysmum

oh lulumama I have crohn's too, is your under control now?

jenkel the procedure is not nice but you should be fairly out of it and you won't know anything. As someone said the bit before is the worst, it does give you a fright when a high pressure jet of water sprays out of your arse!

Best of luck

My advice would be to try to separate your anxiety about the procedure itself from the anxieties/vigilance that you have about what they might (but very, very probably won't find). I always try to think ofstuff like this in terms of having screening to confirm that you haven't got something, not see if you have.

Take it easy. And all the best kjasymum.

I had a colonoscopy about 5 years ago, the worst thing was that I couldn't eat the day before and only clear fluids on the day! I had to take a laxative that day as well and bloody hell that works quick!
I had a pre-med to make me sleepy and I slept through the whole thing... I will mention that they blow your stomach up with air and when I layed in the recovery room coming round I was aware that someone was farting like a carthorse, and to my horror I realised it was me! but I was too zonked out to control it and I just pretended to be asleep!

they did tell me there and then that everything was fine and did I want a photo of my colon!

good luck with your procedure when is it....

Cd- yes - under control thanks and yours? i am very lucky its not more serious

to whomever mentioned the clearing out before and the farting afterwards.....they are definitely the worst bits! you won;t remember or feel the procedure....!

KJ & Jenkel - hope all is clear for you !

jenkel, as others say, the worst bit of this (for me anyway) was fasting the day before. I was at a b/day party for one of DS1's pals with load of gorge food for the parents (grr).
For the thing itself, the sedative meant I don't remember it at all (which freaked me out a bit actually, but there was no pain).
Mine was clear (looking into why my blood count is/was so low - still don't know). Hope yours is too.

I just had my first Colonoscopy Dec 2018 at 50 years old. I was full of anxiety before the procedure, I was afraid my intestine would be torn, I was afraid that the tube would be dirty and not fully disinfected, I was afraid to be put asleep and so I was up and watching the procedure the whole time. The doctor came into the room and told me to lay on my side and bend my knees and the tube was inserted and I could watch everything on the monitor. Believe me!!!! I did not feel a thing it was so quick and easy. At one time I felt a mild discomfort as the tube was pushed further. It felt like the procedure took 12 minutes. I can see them washing away the stool that was left in me so they can see my colon clearly. When it was over, I could not believe it was over and I felt no pain. I felt foolish to have been so full of anxiety before the procedure. My fear were hoping that my intestines did not tear and that I did not get an infection from the tube they were inserting.

Jenkel it is great you have pushed to have one. The current advice is that you start screening ten years earlier than the age of any close relative diagnosed with colon cancer under 50 (sure you know that though!). Sorry about your dad. I found out I had colon cancer this year (age 39). Not through screening but after emergency admission with stomach pain (no family history here, just very bad luck). Touch wood treatment has worked and scans clear at the moment. Anyway just had my first screening colonoscopy. I too was really worried about it. The prep is not much fun but surprisingly manageable - just stay near a loo obviously. The actual colonoscopy was fine. The conscious sedation is great. I remember vaguely seeing the inside of my colon on the screen - and as Marva says them washing bits. However, I didn't feel the tube going in or coming out or anything during the proceedure. Good luck and hope they don't find anything sinister - but even if they do colon cancer has an excellent prognosis if caught early.