Endoscopy/Colonoscopy

Eeyores Butterfly

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Does anybody have experience with either of these procedures? I have to have them done and am wondering what to expect. Why does medicine have to be so humiliating?
 
I don't personally. Colon cancer is prevalent in my family though so my parents have had them regularly. I believe they give you something to cleanse you out beforehand...my mother affectionately refers to this as "joy juice." After that--well I don't know. They both seemed fine within 24 hours. Didn't Katie Couric show hers live on tv? I'm sure you'll be fine, but I'm sorry you have to have one.
 
I just had a colonoscopy a few weeks ago. The prep - the night prior - was awful. I was supposed to drink a 64 oz bottle of gatorade with a bottle of miralax added in. I'm petite and definitely did not need to drink the entire thing.

The actual procedure was a breeze after they got the IV in. They put you to sleep.
 
Yes the stuff before is the worse stuff. Stay very close to the bathroom and have a change of clothes. But once it is over, and the procedure is no problem at all.
 

Does anybody have experience with either of these procedures? I have to have them done and am wondering what to expect. Why does medicine have to be so humiliating?

I've had both. They are both a breeze. The "issues" with the colonoscopy are in your mind.

With the prep, don't listen to people or you will only get yourself worked up before even starting. I didn't think it was bad at all. Make sure the liquid is refrigerated, drink it on time and be close to a bathroom about 45-60 mins after starting.

You will do fine.
 
A colonoscopy is a necessary fact of life. My DH's Mom died from Colon Cancer. As somebody else said, the prep is the worse part.
 
I just had them both done on Monday. It wasn't that bad at all. By far the worst part about it was the prep the day before and that morning. Even that is not too terrible. You do have to go about 24 hours without eating and drink sugary drinks. I seem to remember that you have diabetes. If my memory is correct I woyuld guess it would be important to discuss with the docot how this will impact the diabetes and what to do with it. You'll be fine I am sure:hug: Here is my experience if you want to know:

I had to drink a liter of the nasty medicine (tasted yucky--was better cold--keep it in the fridge) plus a liter of another clear sugary liquid (sprite was recomended so it is what I had) around dinner time the night before (not eating anything after lunch) and again the next morning. I drank small glasses full of the medicine and "chased" it with the sprite. I was surprised by how little time I actually had to spend in the bathroom. I was not running to it or there for long or too often at all.

I couldn't drink the drinks quite as fast as the suggested (just too much liquid too fast) but did it as fast as I could and the doctor said that was okay.

They put me to sleep for a very brief time during the endoscopy. I woke as they were pulling the tube out and gagged and coughed and tried to pull it out and they grabbed my arm. I don't think that is entirely normal that I woke at that point (I also woke in the middle of oral surgery once--teh only otehr time I ahd ansthesia, so it seems to be a me thing) but it wasn't that bad--only lasted a few seconds. I was awake for the colonoscopy part and it was not painful at all--just a bit uncomfortable. I was fine to get up and get myself dressed right after (the whole thing for both procedures took about 15 minutes) and walked into the recovery room to sit and sip a cola before they released me. Leaving I felt fine except light headed from not eating since noon the day before (it was about 4:00 pm)--I get light headed skipping one meal:rolleyes: DH drove me as you are not allwoed to drive yourself home and we stopped at Burger King so I could get food ASAP. After I ate I felt totally fine except for a very minor sore throught (lasted about 2 days) and I even asked to stop and but groceries before heading home.
 
I don't think they're giving me the nasty prep liquid. She said something about bottles of Miralax from over the counter. I have alternating constipation/diarrhea. She asked me what Itake when I'm constipated and I said nothing. I know it will go away eventually, but now she's telling me that I have to have a bowel movement every day for a week or it won't work. I'm scared to take anything though because I don't want to make the other side of it worse.

How bad is the recovery? I know this sounds bad, but I'm really uptight about my body and I heard that you have to basically fart a lot afterwards. That's the part that I'm dreading. Is it really that bad?
 
How bad is the recovery? I know this sounds bad, but I'm really uptight about my body and I heard that you have to basically fart a lot afterwards. That's the part that I'm dreading. Is it really that bad?

I didn't have this issue at all and I know many people who have them that do not experience this.

You might have a little bit of it but nothing major. The only odd thing for me was that it seemed to take 3-4 days for my "movements" to become what I consider their normal stuff but it was extremely minimal changes.
 
I don't think they're giving me the nasty prep liquid. She said something about bottles of Miralax from over the counter. I have alternating constipation/diarrhea. She asked me what Itake when I'm constipated and I said nothing. I know it will go away eventually, but now she's telling me that I have to have a bowel movement every day for a week or it won't work. I'm scared to take anything though because I don't want to make the other side of it worse.

How bad is the recovery? I know this sounds bad, but I'm really uptight about my body and I heard that you have to basically fart a lot afterwards. That's the part that I'm dreading. Is it really that bad?

It depends on what you mean by "a lot". For some, it could be a normal amount :rotfl2::rotfl2::rotfl2::rotfl2:

[As an man I have to believe that an GYN exam is far more intrusive into your personal space than is a colonoscopy. ]
 
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How bad is the recovery? I know this sounds bad, but I'm really uptight about my body and I heard that you have to basically fart a lot afterwards. That's the part that I'm dreading. Is it really that bad?

I had no issue with that at all--just the very, very minor sore throat for a couple of days.
 
I had both done and I had no problem. Dh and I took pills for the clean out part. We were lucky we had 2 bathrooms. Ds2 drove us to the place and was going to pick us up when we were ready. The nurses couldn't believe that we would let our then 17 year old drive us home. They were also surprised that he was up and awake at 7 AM on a Sat morning.
 
:hug: I know how you feel, it seems I can never have a test for something that isn't humiliating. The Dr I saw for my colonoscopy was my friend's husband. :scared1: I see him at least once a week, so at least in your case you won't have to worry about that. :thumbsup2 (by the way, I say he 'was' my friend's hubby not because we're no longer friends but because sadly she just passes away in April)

Truly as everyone stated the worst part is the Prep. I had to drink a bottle of Fleets Phos Soda mixed in with whatever clear drink I wanted. (obviously nothing red) I chose lemonade. It still tasted horrible but I managed to get it down. You certainly need to have a bathroom available asap after taking it. The fun begins very quickly. :upsidedow

Afterwards I felt completely fine, no problems whatsoever!! It's over so fast and when they knock you out, it's the greatest, most peaceful sleep. :flower3:
 
These threads keep popping up! There should be a larger thread started...anyway--It's not that bad, the prep is the worse. I would start drinking it earlier than they tell you because it is WAY hard to drink it in that amount of time and that way you can be sure you are cleared out :thumbsup2

Otherwise, enjoy the nice nap during anesthesia! I was a little sore from biopsies they had to take, but otherwise just tired.
 
:hug: I know how you feel, it seems I can never have a test for something that isn't humiliating. The Dr I saw for my colonoscopy was my friend's husband. :scared1: I see him at least once a week, so at least in your case you won't have to worry about that. :thumbsup2 (by the way, I say he 'was' my friend's hubby not because we're no longer friends but because sadly she just passes away in April)

Truly as everyone stated the worst part is the Prep. I had to drink a bottle of Fleets Phos Soda mixed in with whatever clear drink I wanted. (obviously nothing red) I chose lemonade. It still tasted horrible but I managed to get it down. You certainly need to have a bathroom available asap after taking it. The fun begins very quickly. :upsidedow

Afterwards I felt completely fine, no problems whatsoever!! It's over so fast and when they knock you out, it's the greatest, most peaceful sleep. :flower3:

You're braver than me. No way would I want to regularly see someone who saw that side of me before. I just couldn't handle it. I would wonder if every time he saw me if he would be wondering about my colon :lmao:

At my sweet 16, one of my friend's got so freaked out because she saw her dentist there. He is my mom's cousin, but my friend was so afraid she only ate healthy food at hte party, didn't even eat cake :laughing: And that was just a dentist!
 
I know, it's kind of weird but he's SUCH a nice guy and a great Dr so it just didn't make sense to avoid him because I'd be embarrassed. The first time I saw him after (about 3 days later) I wanted to become invisible. :lmao: But after the first couple times, it doesn't enter my mind anymore.

He's seen one, he's seen them all. :rotfl2:
 
Thanks! That makes me feel a lot better about it.

I am glad everybody has helped you to feel less anxious about it. Really this is not a test worth worrying about. Not difficult or painful at all. You'll be fine. I just hope the results are good for you:hug:I know you have had a hard time pinning down what is wrong.
 
I worked in our endoscopy lab today. I promise you, the prep and the anxiety over the test is actually worse than the actual procedure itself.

I can't speak for other endoscopy centers, but I can walk you through how ours is.

If you're really worried about being 'cleaned out' enough, you can actually switch over to clear liquids a day or so before the test, then take some Dulcolax tablets or similar laxatives the day before you do your actual prescribed prep. Ask your MD if this is okay, but all of the women I work with have done this with no problems.

Start your prep the afternoon before your procedure, so you won't be up all night running to the bathroom. Nothing to eat or drink at all after midnight.

The day of your exam, your doctor may or may not tell you to take your normally prescribed medicine...of course, check with them beforehand. You'll probably have to show up at the center about two hours before hand, the nurses will check you in, go over your history and allergies again, and make sure all your paperwork is in order. They will ask you to get totally undressed, and take off your glasses and take out your dentures if you have them. They will start an IV in your hand or forearm, and sometimes start some IV fluids through them.

Once you get in the actual procedure room, they will do both procedures back to back. You will be hooked up to a heart monitor, a blood pressure monitor, and an oxygen saturation monitor. Sometimes they will go ahead and put a nasal cannula on you and give you oxygen through it during the procedure. The doctor will tell the nurse to administer the medicine through your IV. Most places use a combination of pain medicine and a sedative, this is called conscious sedation and you will be in 'twilight' sleep, and probably won't remember anything about the procedure. You will still be able to follow commands and might even be able to answer questions, but you should be comfortable. If you complain of any pain, or even give the MD non-verbal clues that you are uncomfortable, most of them will give you more medicines. Sometimes pts receive sedation from a CRNA or anesthesiologist instead of a nurse.

If the colonoscopy is first, they will ask you to lie on your side, and draw your knees up to your chest. You will be draped prior to the procedure, so don't worry about your hiney hanging out. By the time they uncover it, you won't care. The doctor will do a digital rectal exam, then pass the scope. There will be quite a bit of air introduced into your colon during the procedure, as well as some flushing and suctioning done. We encourage patients to pass gas during and after the procedure. You will be absolutely miserable if you don't!! After the MD advances the scope up to the distal end of your colon, or the cecum, they will slowly back it out, looking for abnormalities along the way.

If you have the esophagogastroduodenoscopy first, they will probably spray the back of your throat with some numbing medicine, then give you the IV sedation, then put a plastic bite block in your mouth to protect your teeth and to make passage of the scope easier. The EGD is a much quicker test than the colonoscopy...not as much 'real estate' to cover. The doctor will tell you to swallow while they are trying to pass the scope.

The doctor can take biopsies through the scope, they can remove polyps, band bleeding vessels, and cauterize bleeding as well.

Afterward, you will wake up and hopefully not remember anything after getting in the procedure room. I can't tell you how many patients wake up and ask, "When are you guys going to start?" You will feel a little groggy an sleepy the rest of the day, and will not be able to drive. You may have quite a bit of gas afterward, too, just let it out. After a couple of hours, you will be discharged home and can start drinking liquids and advance your diet as you tolerate it. Your MD will give you a preliminary report of what they saw during the exam, and if they biopsied any places or removed any polyps, they will have to send them off for pathology, and you will have a followup appointment to discuss the findings.

Hope this helped a little, and hope your tests go smoothly!
 


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