Colonoscopy

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These scare me. I haven't got to have one, but I was once told (not by a medical) that they are common and that I will probably need one at least once in my life for whatever reason.

It scares me because of the stuff you have to drink beforehand to give you diarrhoea, and you have to keep drinking water otherwise you will be sick from dehydration. I heard people say that they had loose bowels for about a week after. Also I get unwell if I don't eat something substantial for a few hours, so I probably will still be sick from severe hunger pangs. I don't do fasting very well.

And the colonoscopy might hurt, although I can be sedated I heard someone say that it still hurt even under sedation, and I seem to be so hypersensitive to pain.

And, lastly, I heard on the internet that after a colonoscopy the nurses don't let you go until you have farted. How undignifying. Yes I know everyone farts, blah blah blah, but I still get embarrassed, and I find it so patronizing to have to say "I've farted, can I go now?" Ugh!

I think I'll rather die than have a colonoscopy.

It may be embarrassing but it's better than having untreated colon cancer.

Imagine having to have a colostomy bag. THAT's embarrassing.

I've had two colonoscopies, just as meticulous precautions because I have a family history of Crohn's. Thankfully I'm 100% healthy in that area, but I'm sorta glad I had them both just to make sure.

Truly, the worst part was indeed the preparation. I had to go on a light diet the week of, a liquid diet two days before, and nothing but Gatorade and weapons-grade laxative one day before. It's not an altogether pleasant experience, but it's not painful, and the effects shouldn't last any longer than the day after. The worst of it is that you just get really tired of pooping so much within a day.

If you don't drink, or if you have little tolerance for alcohol, you'll be knocked out for the entire procedure and won't feel a thing. Both times I was out cold, from being given anesthesia to awakening in my recovery room.

Neither time anybody had to wait until I farted. I was able to just get up, get dressed and leave.

Naturally, it's not a pleasant procedure, but I think you might be imagining it to seem worse than it really is. I can safely say I'd rather have another colonoscopy instead of dying.

Joe, has your doctor actually signed you up for a colonoscopy?

If yes, asking for advice here and preparing yourself mentally is a good idea.

If no, you can put off worrying until your doctor signs you up. Then you are just driving yourself crazy for no reason.

If there's one thing I've learned from life is that there is little point worrying - your are most likely worrying about the wrong thing anyway. And I know it's not as easy as it sounds, but I find cold logic is the best defense.

If you can find a doctor who will do the proceedure with unconcious sedation you won't feel a thing. They use lidocaine on the scope. It is NOT medically neccessary that you be concious during the proceedure despite what any doctor tries to tell you. Even without the use of general anesthesia(requiring an anesthesiologist), unconciousness can be achieved simply by having them give a high enough dose of lorazepam through your IV.

To make the proceedure less miserable make sure your doctor uses the right bowel prep. There are different kinds of bowel preps, some more disgusting than others. I found polyethylene glycol bowel prep to be just awful, you can't mix it with anything to mask the taste and you have to chug like 4 litres of it. Good news is it is completely uneccessary as the 2nd time I was given a different bowel prep called Pico Salax which only required 1/4 of the amount of liquid and it had an orange flavour.

You just have to advocate for yourself as most doctors don't give a s**t what the patient has to go through as long as they don't die. If you ask around for these options I am sure they will be able to accommodate you.

The hunger pangs aren't as bad as you think, they actually go away after a few hours of fasting. You can still chug apple juice all day long for some energy, as long as you avoid blue or red coloured liquids and the liquids have to be completely transparent (meaning you can see right through a container of them).

The anal sphincter quickly tightens afterwards so it isn't as if you are gonna lose all control of your bowel function.

It's not as bad as you heard.What they gave me to drink was fleet,and you do need to be near a bathroom for that.I was sedated and it wasn't painful during or afterwards.All the nurse said about farting was that if you need to "toot"(her word exactly) go ahead and toot,not the time for modesty.But they didn't require it before leaving.I had no problem with loose stools later.
Expect to be really,REALLY thirsty afterwards and groggy.They will offer you a drink when you wake up.You will need a driver to get home.
It's certainly not fun,but it's not as bad as your fears make it.

I am in tears at this thread.

Thank you all, you beautiful humans.

My face now hurts from laughing, I love you all.

I was supposed to have one last year but I called and canceled because I'm too cheap to get a motel room a couple of days to have it done.

I live over 100 miles away. With the diarrhea, it isn't reasonable to expect to be able to drive to there without making a mess. Also, I would have to take someone along to drive me back.

So the solution would be to get a motel room in the city and take a taxi to and from the colonoscopy. That way when it was over, I could go back to the motel and sleep the medication off all day.

Chill out Joe90, it's not as bad as it sounds. I had my first one about 10 & a half years ago, & the other one at the beginning of this past October. I had just had a hysterectomy a few months before the first one, to cure me of cancer, so they felt I should have a colonoscopy to make sure there were no other signs of cancer down there. Fortunately, I was okay, except for a kink in my bowel, which is one of the causes of my lifelong bowel problems. During the second one, they found a polyp, and the biopsy was okay on that.

A few days before each colonoscopy you have to start eating lighter. A couple of days before the procedure you stop eating solid foods, and start drinking industrial strength laxative. While doing that you can have clear broths--Chicken and vegetable broths, but not beef, light colored jellos, but not the red or purple ones, and clear, light colored juices. I don't like broth, so I only had one can of chicken broth. I also don't like the unhealthy versions of jello sold by supermarkets, so I use my favorite juices, with no sugar added, combined with unflavored gelatin powder, to make homemade jello. I really like that, & ate as much as I wanted of that until 12 hours before the procedure. You have to fast for that last 12 hours. It is my understanding that they always put you to sleep for the procedure, to prevent discomfort. The first time I had it done they put me to sleep right away, but the second time, this past October, they started before I was fully under, and it was painful, as they have to put a lot of air into your bowels, to do the procedure, and the inflation process did feel somewhat painful. I did go under right after that, though. Once you wake up in the recovery room, you have to stay there for a little while to let the worst of the grogginess wear off. They give you water and/ or juice, as the anesthesia has a drying effect. This time I had water first, & then two litttle cartons of apple juice. They also gave me a package of crackers to tide me over until I could leave, and go eat a proper meal. You will need someone to drive you home, as it will take several hours for the grogginess to fully wear off, but you are able to leave before that, if you have someone with you. My step mom took me to the hospital, and brought me home. We stopped at a fast food restaurant on the way home, and she bought me a meal, so that was nice. It was a little funny, too. Because I was still a little groggy, it took me a while to pick out something from the menu, as I was having trouble focusing on, and registering what I was reading. This is perfect proof that I wasn't in any shape to drive. Anyway, I took it easy for a couple of days after that, and went back to eating real food again.

I hope this info is helpful to you, but if you are not scheduled for a colonoscopy, why are you "borrowing trouble?" When you eventually are scheduled for one, the doctor will give you the instructions and details you need. The laxative solution also comes with instructions, and has to be picked up at your pharmacy, as it needs a prescription.

Because of my cancer history, I have read up on colon cancer, and it is much scarier than a colonoscopy. I much prefer the colonoscopy, and yes, I will have to have it again. They say that after 50 you should have it every ten years. Having had cancer before, I have to keep an eye on the situation.

Please stop stressing yourself out over something you don't even have to face yet, especially since it isn't even anywhere near as bad as you think it is.

It's really not as bad as you think.

"Prepping" now for one tomorrow. One advantage of the feeding tube is not having to drink all that laxative. Had an issue but I was long overdue for one anyway. My last one was in the early '90's and there was no sedation.

Bring a book, radio, or your tablet to read WP to the bathroom/toilet.

Their is a form of it called capsule endoscopy.

It depends on if they want to fix something or just check for something, and what they want to check.
Each kind has it's strengths and weaknesses.

http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/capsule-endoscopy/basics/definition/prc-20012773

I had one in my 20's and it isn't bad at all. The worry of the unknown was the worst, the actual procedure was not bad. Now that I know what goes down, I would be fine for a second.

Never heard of anyone being "loose" for a week, I never was.

You go under, but I woke up and watched it on the screen lol. I wasn't happy since one of the nurses was gorgeous and I wasn't looking my best.

You may feel it a few times in places you never knew had feeling, but any pain is over in a second

You don't have to stay there until you fart.

I was still loopy from the sedative after I got home. I smoked weed an hour later and I felt damn good lol. They are no big deal and it's better to catch something early then wait and have no way to fix yourself