The Long Hair Community - Anyone had a colonoscopy? Please tell me what to expect

laurachiplock · April 5th, 2007, 01:50 PM

I need to go for the dreaded colonoscopy. I knew this day was coming, but really I am nervous. Maybe more embarassed than nervous

Anybody who went through this, I could stand to hear the good, the bad & the ugly. Don't be afraid to give me bad details, I just want the honest truth of how bad this is & what to expect

Any advice would be welcome---

tomm · April 5th, 2007, 05:51 PM

I'm afraid I can't tell you much about the procedure itself - I was given an anesthetic and slept through the whole thing. But I can say (and my DW agrees) that the prep (colon cleansing) was much worse than the colonoscopy itself.

Good luck with the test!

jessie58 · April 5th, 2007, 05:56 PM

I agree with tomm. I will PM you about it because it is rather graphic.

TessieAnn · April 5th, 2007, 10:34 PM

Everyone talks about how awful the prep is. My doc ordered a powder called Trilite to be mixed in a gallon of water. It wasn't fun to drink but it really wasn't as bad as I've heard ... and seen in my DH and father's cases. I've heard that many docs use a tablet now.

What helped me was to eat lightly for about three days before the prep. I had no meat during that time. So there was less food residue than usual.

Versed is the usual anesthetic, which puts you in "twilight" sleep. You can respond to commands to turn, etc., but you really don't remember much. I watched the monitor and tried to remember, but only have a few mental pictures of what was on the screen. My GI doc always does a biopsy so he wanted me I'd feel a slight, sharp prick. It wasn't bad.

It's better to just go ahead and have a look. We've lost several people to colon cancer, which should have been discovered much earlier, but they feared the colonscopy or just didn't want to take the time.

Best wishes ... Here's to sailing through just fine!

TessieAnn

Tabitha · April 6th, 2007, 12:27 AM

I took my ex to have a flexible sigmoidoscopy and they actually went a little way further than planned, into the beginning of the transverse colon. He had no sedation. He is a surgeon and had previously done general surgery, so was aware pretty much what to expact.

What I would say to you is that AFTER the procedure, for the next 24 hours at least, he was doubled up with strong colicky pains which he attributed to air in the gut that had been introduced by the scope. Buscopan (hyoscine butylbromide, commonly used for the cramping of IBS) and simeticone (a wind remedy that reduces the size of air bubbles) were helpful to him.

He also found that a low residue diet for several days before taking the Picolax was helpful and the doctor doing the procedure congratulated him on his excellent bowel prep - this not only helps avoid embarrassment, but ensures the very best quality diagnostic images.

He was very relieved afterwards to have the all clear apart from mild diverticula, as his father had died of bowel cancer - it is such a very worthwhile investigation to have done. Best wishes to you!

Anje · April 6th, 2007, 03:50 AM

I had one a few years ago (to confirm IBS, make sure I didn't have inflammation or Crohn's, etc.), and it really wasn't that bad.

The prep... Different doctors have you do different things. My dad had to mix a gallon of water with some rather nasty tasting powder and drink it all. I just had to drink a glass of this nasty tasting (lemon ginger -- ick) Fleet stuff at a couple intervals, and then made sure that I drank plenty of other fluids. Now I have the diarrhea version of IBS, so my perception is likely skewed, but I thought that the stuff was really quite mild in its action. Minimal cramping and discomfort, much less than a lactose reaction, though you'll want to stay home and near a reserved bathroom during the prep period.

The colonoscopy the next morning wasn't that bad, except that unlike most people, I have some memories of the experience. I was scared when they started coming at me with the thing before the meds had completely kicked in, but my memory is very fuzzy after that. I remember being mad because the people were standing in front of the monitor and I wanted to see too. They tell me I talked a lot. I don't remember the endoscopy portion at all. The next thing I remember, I was waking up in the recovery room.

Don't plan to be very coherent for the rest of the day after the colonoscopy. I was, but the meds didn't affect me much. My father, on the other hand, seemed perfectly rational and coherent when you spoke with him, but has absolutely no memories from the whole day. Don't sign any important documents or do anything legally binding, because you might not remember it.

Good luck. I think you'll find it's not bad.

laurachiplock · April 6th, 2007, 05:24 AM

Thanks everybody for the replies. Gosh, I guess I need the day off before the colonoscopy too. Can't be doing "prep" while trying to work, that would be awful.

Thanks Jessie, for the pm---I said not to hold back, thanks!

I'm not sure I'm in enough discomfort to warrant this though--

spidermom · April 6th, 2007, 05:28 AM

That stuff they give you to drink for the prep? Get it as cold as you can. It's better as a slushy.

As for the procedure itself - no worries. They give you a good sedative. I slept through most of it.

Joliebaby · April 6th, 2007, 06:22 AM

I have had to go through several, I have an IBD. (which is not the same as IBS)

I mix the stuff with grape fruit juice, I have found it masks the taste wuite well, and it doesn't dye the bowel red as it would be a problem. Oh, and definitely eat light, low residue foods a few days before. Which for me means avoiding fiberous foods, fruit and veggies and and bread. I'd eat cheese, eggs, and perhaps some meat, plus maybe soups and drink plenty of liquids. All protein is actually low residue. All of this has helped to reduce the amount of prepping liquid I need to drink.

I have had sigmoidoscopies and a colonoscopy without any medication. I would not go through another one without, I'd simply refuse. It was a surgeon who wanted to do the colonoscopy without pain medication or sedatives. I nearly threw up with pain. I was shaking with cold chills. BUT since then I have always requested a sedative and pain medication which they administer intravenously. I have never fallen asleep though, I watch the screen or just lie there. There still may have been a bit of pain, it depends on how the bowels are lying that day or something.. But it's really not much. I would say also that the prepping is the part that I dread the most.

They have gone all the way to the beginning (or actually the end) of the small intestine. The biopsies don't hurt, they feel like a tiny pinch. A growth or something weird was once removed from my appendix and that didn't hurt either.

If you have questions, feel free to ask.

jessie58 · April 6th, 2007, 06:25 AM

I'm so surprised that you guys all had a sedative before the procedure. I was given nothing and found the the entire thing fascinating.I was wide awake and I found watching the progress of the camera as it traveled through your insides most interesting.

Joliebaby · April 6th, 2007, 06:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jessie58

I'm so surprised that you guys all had a sedative before the procedure. I was given nothing and found the the entire thing fascinating.I was wide awake and I found watching the progress of the camera as it traveled through your insides most interesting.

My sedatives have been mild enough to stay awake and watch the screen. When I was not given one however I was in so much pain that I could not even have watched it, and also the screen wasn't even so that I could have seen it!

Leisha · April 6th, 2007, 07:10 AM

My boyfriend had one last week. For three days before the procedure, he had to eat only things that don't leave much residue in your bowels/colon, like Joliebaby said. Anything that's left will have to come out with that cleaning solution you have to drink...

NO fruit or veg, potatoes, milk, cheese, fizzy drinks, fruit juices (except tomato juice, OJ or grapefruit juice - strained), sauces, wholewheat etc,
YES white bread, white pasta, rice, eggs (only hard boiled), soy milk, light biscuits, tea, coffee, water, lean meat like chicken and turkey (without skin) and a few other things are ok...

They gave him a list of the things he could and couldn't eat.

He was supposed to drink the cleansing solution between 2 and 5 pm the day before the colonoscopy, but he drank it between 7 and 9.30 pm because he had to go to work, and indeed you want to be near a bathroom when you drink that stuff. With my bf, it only started "working" about an hour or even two after he drank the first glass.

He was under anaesthetic for the procedure, they removed a polyp (I think that's what it's called). He didn't have any pain or anything afterwards, maybe just a little discomfort, or a bit of a weird feeling in his intestines, but he was home a few hours later and could eat and drink no problem.

Good luck

PseudoScot · April 6th, 2007, 07:28 AM

I have not had this done but two people in my family have. They have both said that the mental stuff beforehand, the dread, was far worse than the procedure.

What you've had here is excellent advice as far as I know. Don't worry about embarrassment - to these people it's routine and you're better off knowing if anything is going on!

Hope it goes well for you - just listen to doc and do what they say - the light eating advice is great!

Good luck!

laurachiplock · April 6th, 2007, 10:01 AM

Thanks everyone for your replies. I go for a consult on Monday. I will see if it is really necessary for me to go through this.

I would have to be knocked out, or there is no way in hell I'm doing it.

Kitty · April 6th, 2007, 11:18 AM

I have not had a colonoscopy, but have watched quite a few as a student nurse. And I will have to say that it is different for everyone. Some people are out like a light in 2 seconds after the meds are given, some never really fall asleep. Some people don't make a sound, others moan a little in pain.

Alot of the pain that is experienced is due to the air that is put into the intestine in order to inflate it for a good view of it. A person with any sort of obstruction (i.e. severe Crohn's) will have a lot more pain than someone with a healthy bowel. Most people have quite a bit of gas afterwards due to the filling with air.

I know someone who has Crohn's disease and when he had active inflammation in the colon the colonoscopy was horrible and painful. After he had surgery and was no longer in active disease, he remembered nothing of the next colonoscopy.

As for any embarrassment about the procedure itself, just know that no one is every looking at you from the outside (if you catch my drift, it's not like anyone has to search around for the opening...). The probe goes in fast and the medical staff is only viewing the inside. You're not lying there exposed, you'll be on your left side and covered with a blanket.

I saw all of these patients afterwards in recovery, and everyone of them, even the ones who were moaning said it wasn't as bad as they thought. I think that you will mostly forget it.

Goodluck.