I was just told today that the pain I have been having in my side is caused by IBS. I met the doctor today (gastointerologist), but read the story about miss kitty having the colonoscopy and now I'm kind of worried about it. I am supposed to have that done next month, but they said I would be knocked out with medicine. I hope anyone can tell me a better storey about this thing I need to have done. The doctor was really nice and didn't seem worried that it is anything serious wrong, and I thought it would hurt maybe afterwards but not during the colonoscopy. I remember seeing on TV that Katie couric had it done on TV and saying it was no big deal. I was hoping someone could tell me a better experience that the one I read just now. Sort of worried!
Thanks
beaniebunny.....I was a basket case fretting about my colonoscopy this past June. Of course I too had read some of the horror stories but most said the prep was the worst part. I was quite worried when I saw a bed wheeled out of one of the rooms and the patient was fast asleep (they don't put too many to sleep here in Canada for this procedure). Anyway, the surgeon told the nurse, three syringes of joy juice and I watched the whole thing and conversed with the surgeon during the procedure.
The worst part - preparation! Just had a colon resection and the prep the day before was gruelling.
My wife had a barium enema booked the day after my colonoscopy and she hated her prep (far worse than the CoLyte) and hated the procedure - told her doc should the need arise again, she'd far prefer to have a colonoscopy.
Being a heterosexual male, I freaked about that tube being shoved up you know where and didn't find it too invasive either - I didn't enjoy it but it was not as uncomfortable and scary as what I had imagined.
So beaniebunny, the worst part is the prep and while there are isolated cases, go in with the positive outlook that you'll ace the whole thing.
Bruce
The worst part - preparation! Just had a colon resection and the prep the day before was gruelling.
My wife had a barium enema booked the day after my colonoscopy and she hated her prep (far worse than the CoLyte) and hated the procedure - told her doc should the need arise again, she'd far prefer to have a colonoscopy.
Being a heterosexual male, I freaked about that tube being shoved up you know where and didn't find it too invasive either - I didn't enjoy it but it was not as uncomfortable and scary as what I had imagined.
So beaniebunny, the worst part is the prep and while there are isolated cases, go in with the positive outlook that you'll ace the whole thing.
Bruce
Hi beanie,
I just posted a response to you about my colonoscopy experience on miss kitty's thread. I also wanted to share what my mother told me about my father's procedure. Actually she was laughing so hard that I could hardly understand what she was saying. Evedently, my father was so talkative with the doctor during the whole procedure and just went on and on about his upcoming fishing trip and how he was so excited and even asked the doctor to come and was just so happy. (This is while he was being scoped mine you LOL) Well I guess he didn't really realize what was going on. The funny part about this is that there was NO fishing trip in his future. HAHA!!! My dad cracks me up... He didn't remember anything and just looked at my mom as if she was crazy when she explained it all back to him. He had the "amnesia" type sedation.
Radioman,
I also had the barium enema and I so totally agree with your wife. I would take the colonoscopy any day over that procedure. It is very uncomfortable.
I just posted a response to you about my colonoscopy experience on miss kitty's thread. I also wanted to share what my mother told me about my father's procedure. Actually she was laughing so hard that I could hardly understand what she was saying. Evedently, my father was so talkative with the doctor during the whole procedure and just went on and on about his upcoming fishing trip and how he was so excited and even asked the doctor to come and was just so happy. (This is while he was being scoped mine you LOL) Well I guess he didn't really realize what was going on. The funny part about this is that there was NO fishing trip in his future. HAHA!!! My dad cracks me up... He didn't remember anything and just looked at my mom as if she was crazy when she explained it all back to him. He had the "amnesia" type sedation.
Radioman,
I also had the barium enema and I so totally agree with your wife. I would take the colonoscopy any day over that procedure. It is very uncomfortable.
Des (dbab)
IBS, Diverticulosis, GERD, Disc Degeneration
"If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it" - Mary Engelbreit
Please help Healing Well continue to help others by donating http://www.healingwell.com/donate
Thank you radioman and dbab now i am not as scared as i was I hope mine is fun like your dads my doctor is real handsome and looks like that cute guy with the beard on despararte housewives tv show. I hope i dont tell him THAt!
lol...:)
lol...:)
I've had three colonoscopies within the past year and a half. They are not painful, and I have never had any pain afterwards. Like everyone else has said, the prep work isn't fun, but it is probably something similar to what you've been experiencing with IBS anyway. If they give you the choice, take the pills rather than drinking the barrel of stuff. My first two were the liquid, and after about half the barrel I was wanting to throw up. I did the pills this past time and they were much better. Good luck with your test - don't sweat it!
31 year old female
Married in April 05
Diagnosed CD 1 year, symptoms for 2 years
Anemia
Haven't yet seen a "remission" period but hopeful!
Meds: Prednisone, 6-MP, Protonix and Colazal.
Check out the post someone had on here earlier about getting Pico Salax out of Canada. They said it actually tasted good and wasn't a chore to drink. The Golyghtly stuff is super nasty! Like drinking some sort of thick, salty sludge you'd find in an old tidal pool. All it needed was a dead horseshoe crab floating in it and a little sand on the bottom, LOL. I drank it a shot glass at a time to try and get it down without tasting it. You get nauseous from it simply because it tastes so bad--not because the medicine in it is sickening. I've heard the Fleets drink is also fairly bad tasting (best if you mix it in with something, like apple juice or coke), only you don't drink nearly so much of it, so it doesn't end up making you feel sick. If you gag easily or have a weak stomach, tell your doctor that and beg for the pills. If I had ended up having a colonoscopy, I would have definitely gotten some of that Pico Salax on my own and taken it. My boyfriend said I was crazy for not wanting to follow what the doctor recommended but hey, if it works on Canadians, why won't it work on me? I mean, yeah, they're Canadians, but that's not quite the same thing as being space aliens (lol, j/k). Besides, when you have diarrhea every day, how much help do you really need to get cleaned out? It's not like it has to work real well to end up doing a super sweep of your colon.
Regardless of what you have to take, wipe with a wet washcloth to avoid paper burn (or maybe you should try Kleenex with lotion--I never get paper burn with those on my nose even when I go through a box during allergy season). They gave me that "sleeping consciousness" stuff for my test and I don't remember a thing about it. Apparently they gave me a bit too much (or else it increased my natural tendency to sleep more than most people) and they couldn't get me to wake up to go home. Finally they let my mother back into recovery to see if she could get me to get up. I did wake up to the sound of her voice, but I kept going back to sleep in the middle of things. She had to dress me because I was too tired to do it and kept going back to sleep in the middle of it. And then I went to sleep walking down the hall to the bathroom. Apparently I was walking funny because I can remember my mother laughing and asking why I was "high stepping." I sort of realized then that I was lifting my legs up really high while I was walking, lol. Not that I could see, because I had my eyes closed and was more than half asleep. I even slept while eating breakfast! I went to bed when I got home and slept until about 7 or 8 that evening (I had it done very early in the day).
Regardless of what you have to take, wipe with a wet washcloth to avoid paper burn (or maybe you should try Kleenex with lotion--I never get paper burn with those on my nose even when I go through a box during allergy season). They gave me that "sleeping consciousness" stuff for my test and I don't remember a thing about it. Apparently they gave me a bit too much (or else it increased my natural tendency to sleep more than most people) and they couldn't get me to wake up to go home. Finally they let my mother back into recovery to see if she could get me to get up. I did wake up to the sound of her voice, but I kept going back to sleep in the middle of things. She had to dress me because I was too tired to do it and kept going back to sleep in the middle of it. And then I went to sleep walking down the hall to the bathroom. Apparently I was walking funny because I can remember my mother laughing and asking why I was "high stepping." I sort of realized then that I was lifting my legs up really high while I was walking, lol. Not that I could see, because I had my eyes closed and was more than half asleep. I even slept while eating breakfast! I went to bed when I got home and slept until about 7 or 8 that evening (I had it done very early in the day).
Radioman,
Just curious. Why did you have the colon resection? IBD? Is life better?
Runningrd
Beaniebunny...Don't worry about a thing...the Doctor with the black hose will be very gentle. I got to watch the whole thing on a television screen. I didn't have the complete, knock-out version...only up to the first bend.
It's true that a barium enema is eleventeen times worse!!!
I found that the prep-work wasn't as bad as the daily symptoms.
Worst of all is the part where they tell you it's not life-threatening, but it's not curable, either. Keep a change of clothing in your car at all times. Keep Imodium in your pocket. Buy stock in Kimberly-Clark. I can't believe there are almost 20,000 members of this site.
Hope that together we can all find solutions.
Beaniebunny, I just had this done about a month ago, and it was no sweat at all. Actually I had a colonoscopy and upper endoscopy at the same time. I didn't have to drink the dreaded golytly stuff (thank goodness, I was more worried about what everyone told me about that than I was about the procedure). My doc had me do the fleet phosphosoda/pill deal. I had nothing in my system so the prep wasn't too bad, and I mixed the fleet with ginger ale. I thought it tasted kind of icky but I later realized that I had accidently bought diet ginger ale (I hate diet drinks, they have a horrid aftertaste) and that was the taste I was screwing my nose up at. I didn't have any discomfort afterwards, and they did 4 biopsies while they were in there. I had it done in the morning and they gave me the stuff that knocks you out and gives you short term amnesia. i made them let a friend of mine sit with me when they talked to me afterwards since I had been warned I wouldn't remember much. I remember thinking the day before that I needed to buy more eggs and apparently that is what I fixated on during the ride home after the procedure so my friend went to get some after he made sure I was safe on my couch. Pretty much slept all day, and I think I called him three times to remind me what the doc said. By that evening I was back to my old self and STARVING. Probably the worst thing the day of teh procedure was when I registered at the hospital...over the shoulder of the nurse I could see a fresh pot of coffee and a bowl full of chocolate donuts. Now THAT was torture! Hope this helps, just make sure you have a good friend wth you who won't hold your silly behavior as the anaesthetic is wearing off against you :)
Hugs.
2002 - PTSD
11/2004 - Spontaneous Pneumo, rt lung
12/2004 - Spontaneous Pneumo, rt lung
1/2005 - Bullectomy & Talc Pleurodesis
5/2005 - Fibromyalgia
8/2005 - Collagenous Colitis and IBS
Lifelong - Migraine, gastric issues, peripheral numbness, insomnia (brief period of narcolepsy), RLS, super fast metabolism, rapid weight loss (and interminably slow weight gain), hand tremor.
Hugs.
2002 - PTSD
11/2004 - Spontaneous Pneumo, rt lung
12/2004 - Spontaneous Pneumo, rt lung
1/2005 - Bullectomy & Talc Pleurodesis
5/2005 - Fibromyalgia
8/2005 - Collagenous Colitis and IBS
Lifelong - Migraine, gastric issues, peripheral numbness, insomnia (brief period of narcolepsy), RLS, super fast metabolism, rapid weight loss (and interminably slow weight gain), hand tremor.
Hey Bunny, I'm 24 and I've had IBS now for a little over 3 yrs. The colonoscopy was the easiest thing. I was soooo worried about it too, but it turned out that it was nothing but an added stress i didn't need. Probably the worse part of it for me was drinking the nasty stuff the day prior to cleanse your body out. But other than that it was nothing. You're still awake during the procedure usually but so doped up you won't remember, I remember little things here and there. But after it was over I was really hungry and felt really good because of the drugs, they make you feel stress free. Try not to worry about it. It's not too bad. Molly 
Has anyone tried the nutraprep system for a full colonoscopy? It's not manditory that I get one, as I'm only 21, but I've been suffering with IBS all my life, so better sooner than too much later. The trouble is I get a lot of pain when I don't eat. The doctors say my stomach isn't emptying properly because my intestines are backed up, but even when I am cleaned out with milk of magnesia, I still feel that nasty hunger pain. I've been getting more nauceous lately (though that's also a symptom of GAD, which I also have). I'm *really* worried about the fasting. What can I do to make the experience easier on the stomach? The doctors around here, I've called several and they don't support the Nutraprep regimen which lets you eat specially crafted, low residue foods. I can get the regimen without a prescription, but I don't want to do so unless others have used it successfully. I'm trying to find a doctor on Long Island who will ake the procedure easy on the stomach. Help!!!!
Hey there,
Have your doctors considered GERD? I also get really bad pains when I don't eat and it's because of the extra acid. I take Prevacid daily however when its time for my prep, my doctor will give me an extra Protonix to shut down the acid pumps in my stomach that cause the pain. My doctor always prescribes me an anti-nausea medication as well to take during my prep (either Phenergan or Reglan) and it helps me tremendously. The worst part is you really start to notice all of those food commercials on your prep day and its pure torture. I would definitely ask your doctor what he recommends and hopefully you will get some feedback on the nutraprep.
Have your doctors considered GERD? I also get really bad pains when I don't eat and it's because of the extra acid. I take Prevacid daily however when its time for my prep, my doctor will give me an extra Protonix to shut down the acid pumps in my stomach that cause the pain. My doctor always prescribes me an anti-nausea medication as well to take during my prep (either Phenergan or Reglan) and it helps me tremendously. The worst part is you really start to notice all of those food commercials on your prep day and its pure torture. I would definitely ask your doctor what he recommends and hopefully you will get some feedback on the nutraprep.
Des (dbab)
IBS, Diverticulosis, GERD, Disc Degeneration
"If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it" - Mary Engelbreit
Please help Healing Well continue to help others by donating http://www.healingwell.com/donate
And of course you're supposed to drink a lot. That should help keep the stomach acids flushed out and help with the sickness.
Though, I wonder what they do for diabetics? Give them a sugary drink so their blood sugar doesn't get too low? I know that Type 1 will have to forego insulin, but many Type 2s control theirs with diet alone.
Though, I wonder what they do for diabetics? Give them a sugary drink so their blood sugar doesn't get too low? I know that Type 1 will have to forego insulin, but many Type 2s control theirs with diet alone.
Perhaps my doctorwill allow me more antiacidmedication, but having just drinks isnot enough. Also, the pain is not in my throat; it's in my stomach. It starts out as discomfort, then gets progressively worse the longer I go without eating. I know you can take tums with nexium, and I'll take them occasionally when my stomach gets *real* bad. Since tums contain calcium however, too many are likely to bind you up more unless you take magnesium to counteract that. I think you're allowed tums, but I'm not sure when, how many, and at what intervals. Don't know about Malux, Milanta, or a double-dose of Nexium. As for the commercials, I can deal with that, but I'm a chicken for pain! Maybe I can just sleep the day and night away so I won't feel the hunger, like take sleeping pills or sedatives or something around mid afternoon? You can eat breakfast in the morning, I know that, so I prob won't feel real bad until much later, depending on how late I can eat my breakfast and how tense/nervous I'm feeling. I notice heating pads help me to relax too.
Beanie bunny, there really is nothing to be worried about, I have had a colonoscoopy done and i have another coming up soon, you realy do not know that anything has been done, there is no pain no discomfort afterwards, it's just like having 40 winks then feeling refreshed.
when and what you eat will depend on what time you have the proceedure. I don't think you will be able to eat anything in the AM as you have to be clean by then. Mine was a 2PM and I couldn't eat anything. I could eat breakfast the day before and then clear liquids the rest of the day and I think I could have some clear broth in the AM. nothing solid and especially no milk products for the day of and day before. Personally I would not have it without sedation as I have had and it was painful for me but everyones colon in different. They can always give you alittle more if you are not comfortable. I used the phospha soda and it isn't pleasant but at least you don't have to drink tons of it. Everything will be fine.