Aaaahhh. Help! Colonoscopy tomorrow.

[thesootherfairy]

How long after a colonoscopy does diarrhoea last? 😬

Mine is tomorrow afternoon. Am starting the horrid prep (tastes vile) and need to be back at work Thursday morning.

Suddenly worried the diarrhoea won't stop. Then googled which did nothing to allay my fears.

I don't think so. I think I would be in a real state of that had happened.

I'm going to take some more painkillers and ring my GP in the morning.

My god, that is so dangerous. If you are feeling continued pain, please seek help/advice. I hope everything is ok.

I felt and was aware of nothing after getting the sedatives - fentanyl and midazolam. Admittedly I did have a proper doctor. Do you know what you were even given? TBH I think i would be presenting at A and E for a thorough check.

Honestly if you're in pain I'd at least call 111 for advice. They've seriously screwed up.

I had a colonoscopy &, was in no pain whatsoever after it. Please get checked out.

You wouldn't be able to tell yourself if you had suffered an intestinal perforation.

I really urge you to go to A&E if you are experiencing pain.

I had propofol, a properly qualified doctor, nurse anesthetist, and a nurse, and was completely pain free after mine.

My letter says fentanyl 75 and midazolam 3 was given.

The pain went right through that.

I've tripled up and had paracetamol, ibuprofen and codeine doses together now. That will settle things down.

It doesn't help that whenever I have any gasto upsets, my arthritis pain goes into over drive (axial spondyloarthritis). The prep diarrhoea means all my joints are on fire.

The whole reason I was having the procedure was because this type of arthritis can become peripheral. Mine has and I have pain in knees feet ankles shoulders etc. it can also go into your intestines and you end up with IBD hence the colonoscopy.

That sounds utterly grim and obviously worth escalation. More than a decade m of living with IBD and all of my imaging has been carried out by consultant or in a couple of acute incidents, registrar.

Regardless you're in pain so need to follow up. As someone who has had a few, stools returned to normal quite quickly; digestion likewise but I felt I had to be a little careful about food eaten within 24hrs of anaesthetic (very personal, but I wanted really simple food to avoid nausea).

I'm horrified for you. I had one on Tuesday, although you wouldn't do it for fun, it was a completely different experience. There was an anesthetist, consultant and I think three nurses in the theatre. I felt absolutely nothing. I'm having a little cramping now, but I also had endoscopy with biopsies of my stomach. The idea that a hospital would let an unqualified nurse assault you like that is horrific. You should definitely have your injuries documented and enter a formal complaint. Also, from your description, it would require a really skilled consultant to get the answers you needed on your condition. What the hell did they think this nurse would be able to see?

It sounds as if the person responsible for scheduling was trying to cover their own ass by going ahead with the procedure, so a box could be ticked.

Once again, please go to A&E and get looked at. And please complain. This is not a light matter. Operating without a license is a major breach of the nurse's professional code of conduct.

So sorry for your experience. I had a similar thing (in Harrogate). Turned up having done all the prep and the doctor was on holiday! Thankfully there was another one who could do it and she stepped in, but only because they agreed that to have done all the prep for nothing would be a waste.

This also happened at my introductory appointment. Drove all the way there at the allotted time and the guy wasn't there. Why are they so disorganised?!

I’m a health professional, admittedly not in gastro, but please please complain about this. It’s horrifying that you’ve had this done to you, it doesn’t even sound like they had your full informed consent.

do get checked out, and documented, by a&e or GP today. And keep your own notes about what happened/what was said etc.

i’m so so sorry this was done to you.

That is horrific - a nurse is not qualified to do that procedure. An endoscopy is not even close to a colonoscopy. I would make an official complaint and demand a response, I know it won't change what happened but this should never happen to anyone else. Hope you aren't too traumatised. As someone who has had upwards of 15 scopes they should not be a bad procedure to endure - don't let it put you off having another one as you obviously had good reason to have one in the first place.

Omg that’s horrific, I’m so sorry.
i may be having one soon which is why I clicked on your post, did not expect to read that.
i really hope you are feeling less sore today too.

OP I am really sorry

• and angry - that you had this experience.

Having been the victim of a few unnecessary things myself, I do feel obliged to ask. Did you need the procedure at all? They do so many of these unnecessarily. I thought there was no way to confirm arthritis with IBD, therefore what treatment do they expect to give following the results of a colonoscopy? Please ask that before you go through this again.

I've spoken to my GP and I'm going in to be checked over.

My GP initially said the nurse would have been qualified until I said she was an endoscopy nurse.

Anyway I don't feel any better. Im in agony. I've had 4 x lots of paracetamol today, 2 x lots of ibuprofen and 2 x doses of 60mg codeine and it's still agony.

I've been drinking water but can't seem to force food down. It hurts my stomach a lot.

Im not normally someone who gets railroaded into things. I've no idea why I went along with this yesterday. I feel very stupid. I usually make better decisions.

GP said I have the option of a CT scan instead. I'll be having that thank you.

Thanks for all the support last night. Was feeling very very sorry for myself

I hope everything is okay OP.

if you can face legal action, I would think you have a good case.

My GP initially said the nurse would have been qualified until I said she was an endoscopy nurse.

I've found several resources on the web saying that in the UK, colonoscopy is "increasingly performed by nurse endoscopists". So while there's no doubt you've been treated appallingly, it's possible the nurse wasn't acting outside of her license.

GP has seen me and has prescribed a couple of things to help with possible spasms in the colon.

She said if no better in 24 hours or if it got worse, to go straight to a&e.

She said she'll ring me on Monday to talk again. Also said to get in touch with PALS.

I've picked up the stuff and taken some. Fingers crossed it helps.
What an ordeal. The local hospital is crap. Never want to go there again.

Hope you feel better asap

How are you doing @thesootherfairy? Hope you're feeling better x

@N0tfinished
I'm still sore on the right. It feels very bruised inside.
On the mend but it's taken a few days. Well 5 this far

Sorry to hear that. Hoping you make a full recovery xx