Scared about colonoscopy

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I'm having a colonoscopy next week to investigate bleeding. However I'm pretty scared due to a number of things. I've never been sedated before and I can't say it is an experience I'm looking forward to at all. I don't like the feeling of a loss of control or the feeling of lowered consciousness. I'm scared that the procedure might be a bit traumatic for me.
I am also scared of the risk of the procedure. Apparently sometimes the endoscope can pierce the walls of the intestine and can cause infection and might need surgical intervention.

I am also scared that they may find some polyps or something a bit nasty.

Has anybody here had a colonoscopy before? Is it really as traumatic as it sounds?

It wasn't traumatic in my case. Just make sure you keep pinching your nose shut when you drink that horrible tasting laxation stuff (very important) and also ask for complete anaesthesia if possible, so you won't be awake when you experience the snake thing pushed into your bowels.

People kept telling me the worst part was the prep (that nasty stuff that makes you go poo all night long).
I laughed at them - I have to deal with nearly the same thing one to three times a month (physical birth defect).

I DID turn down the head-drugs. I read too much about Versed (which is what they use here) that scared the hell out of me. It's a PRE hypnotic - which means it doesn't block pain, but rather makes you forget everything that happens in the next two hours... NO THANKS. My memory is about the only thing I have going for me, and I don't want it mucked around with.

The actual procedure went fine. Very little discomfort. I got another amusement when the doc looked at my rear end and didn't know how to insert the tube (but I had experienced the same issue when I'd had a barium enema long ago so not surprised at all) - so I had to do it. Being one in 5,000 is occassionally fun. [Edit: not fun inserting the tube, but rather fun mocking the doctors' and nurses reactions - "Oh My Gawd! Um, I Mean.. So Sorry! I've Never Seen....." ]

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it. If you felt comfortable with the doctor in the interview, go for it. Get it done. If you've ever had a bowel MRI or a barium enema, you've been through worse. For me at least (and remember I dodged the drugs) the colonoscopy was disturbing, invasive, but not terribly uncomfortable or painful.

And it was fun to watch the monitor.

Ok - the most traumatic part for me was drinking the clear fluid.... gallons of it. By a quarter through the first gallon my body would reject it, like my throat would lock up and expel it. No matter the usual tactics of nose plugging, not breathing through my mouth etc...

As for the Colonoscopy and sedation - that was so easy in comparison. They asked me to count backwards from 100 and just as I was about to say 98 I was out.

Think positive - stay calm - and things should go fine

Having had bowel cancer a few years ago I am a frequent flyer in the Colonoscopy Club. I agree the preparation is worse than the event itself. I manage to crack jokes in the waiting room because my surgery left me with a colostomy - no nerves, and a ready-made inspection route (sorry TMI!). As an Aspie I react oddly with drugs so try to avoid them - the sedation (aka 'Milk of Amnesia') doesn't have any effect on me, while general anaesthesia leaves me with hallucinations for days.

If they find polyps (I had one last time), they usually remove them there and then during the process - completely painless and instant. Mishaps in the procedure needing surgery to put them right are so rare as to be not worth worrying about.

Watching the monitor isn't everybody's taste (though more entertaining than daytime TV?). My report included photos of scenic highlights en route - I asked the surgeon what to do with the pictures, and he suggested turning them into Christmas cards....!

All the best, and I hope the result is clear.

Hi Joe, can't say how widespread these side-effects are, sorry: I only know for myself. I wouldn't be surprised if people have varying reactions, since these things act on the brain, which is where our wiring is different.
Are you in the UK? My last one in UK I was offered a choice between intravenous sedation and Entonox (Nitrous oxide x oxygen): the latter is less disturbing and you remain entirely in control of it.
Talk to your GP, or ring the Unit and ask to speak to a nurse (not a receptionist! They just tell you not to worry!). Explain you are Aspie, and that it would really help to be told in detail about what will happen. Ask how they handle the sedation side and explain your worries: if necessary saying that 'a friend of yours' is Aspie and has these kind of reactions because of his brain wiring.
Feel free to ask me anything you want. All the best, Chris

Well, in all honesty, having a lower colonoscopy sucks. No way to sugar coat it. I've been through them a number of times. As others have mentioned, the prep is awful. The enemas I received just before the treatment for final clearing might be worse. And being knocked out, isn't to bad, but recovering from the medication can take awhile. You fart a good deal afterwards too. The doctor fills your gut full of air. The procedure does have risks as you note. My mom has a friend, who has a sister that last year had a colonoscopy, and her intestines where pierced. She was in a bad way for a good long while. She recovered though.

With all that said, if you are having bleeding, best to have it checked out. Hopfully it is only a minor issue. If it is cancer, then good to catch it as early as possible. Best of luck.

For a laugh thought you might enjoy this classic article by Dave Barry. It humorously describes his colonoscopy experience.

"Dave Barry: A journey into my colon -- and yours"

http://www.miamiherald.com/2009/02/11/4 ... colon.html

I am due for one myself. I have never had one. I chickened out of the only one I was scheduled for. You might say it scared the you-know-what right out of me, so I could have submitted to the manmade snake without the purging liquids. My fiance will have one this week.
P.S. I told the doctor that she might agree to take the colonostomy for me, but he would not hear of it and was not amused.

I agree with all that has been said: having a colonoscopy is a fairly nasty way to spend a day out.
But major surgery, internal plumbing redesigned by a doctor, then six months of chemotherapy, all because of cancer
- that nastiness lasts a whole lot longer. Been there, done that, didn't bother with the T shirt.

Sick humour warning:
The chemo nurses used to reckon I was the worst Vicar in the county for humour, until one day I told them about what a colleague had said to me. After asking how the treatment was going he warned: 'you have to be aware of the long-term consequences of cancer surgery. I know: I had a testicle removed 25 years ago, and I've been half knackered ever since!'

As I previously posted, the drugs were what worried me too
I told the doctor as much, and she agreed not to use them.
Find a doctor that will agree not to use them.

i had it done, and it was not fun. but not as bad as a barium enema, in my opinion.

it's over quickly, and try to remember that it's being done for a good reason. i think if you stress yourself out too much the experience will seem even more traumatic.

good luck, and i hope it turns out to be something easily treatable.

I had one done for the first time 2 years ago because my mother had polyps.
People warned me about the horrible drink - really, it wasn't that bad.
People warned me about running to the bathroom - I just put on a movie and paused it every 10 minutes to take a bathroom break - no stress or running.
As for the sedation? I've talked to people that weren't sedated and they had an awful time. Really? It was the best sleep I'd had in a long time.
These guys doing the work have you lined up like an assembly line, one butt after another, so it's nothing new to them.

Try and relax. It's all in the name of good health.

I've had one, and I refused the sedation (they almost refused to do it, but I convinced them). I am terrified of any kind of drugs that alter the state of consciousness or even regular sedatives; even alcoholic beverages. The procedure was not bad at all, and I was talking to them the whole time and asking questions.

Basically once getting past the nastiness of having to drink the cleanout stuff, and the torture of going without food for 8 hours, it wasn't a big deal. I was fascinated to watch the monitor, and honestly I didn't feel much of anything once they stuck the first part of the scope in. I think there aren't any nerves or any way for the lining of the colon to feel anything, other than right at the outer end. They use a smaller instrument first, to look in there, and examine the just-inside part first. That stretches it a little, and that burned a little, but the scope itself is way smaller than when you do #2, so that's about what it feels like. There was no pain; only cramps like the stomach flu, because they pump a lot of air in there to inflate the colon to see it well. It felt like I had the worst bloat (and in fact that's what it was by all that air). The other thing that freaked me out is that they have to take a picture of your rearend and in all details, before they start the procedure. I guess that's a liability thing, in case they have to prove they didn't accidentally switch tests with another patient.

The only other thing I should mention, is that if you have a really hard time with it and they offer you a local anesthetic shot down there, turn it down! THAT SHOT HURTS LIKE A B***H!! ! I had that done once for another medical reason, and I'd rather have a needle in the eyeball than in that tissue down there. They also have anesthetic lube, which doesn't sting or hurt, and just ask for plenty of that in stead of the shot. In my case, when they did that shot (and it was 4 needles actually in a circle around you-know-where), it was to temporarily paralyze and numb the muscle that controls the bladder and the other bathroom functions for an hour. Nothing to do with a colonoscopy.

Charles

I had my colon scoped about 5 years ago, and everything concerning the prep being worse than the procedure is true. I did anasthesia and it was like I went to sleep in one room, and woke up the next minute in another...

And, remember, the sooner anything is detected, the less invasive and more curative the treatment.

For anyone having one, you MUST MUST MUST drink that sodium-whatever solution beforehand. I tried it once without and failed painfully because the colon was still "full". (Boy was the doc mad, too.) The second attempt with the solution wasn't what I'd call pleasant, but I made it through with only mild discomfort.

I hid the solution in something like Tang and was able to get a big 1L glass down, despite the less-than-pleasant smell and taste. (Seriously, Tang may be the perfect way to hide it!) It was actually a relatively pleasant feeling once the effects... passed. Knowing I was all cleaned out was somehow light and more comfortable than usual. That was 10 years ago.