beware- there are now 2 kinds of colonoscopy.

[mopinko]

it seems that the explosion in cancer screening colonoscopies has led to a stripped down version. lower anesthesia, basically, watching the little roller car go through the pink tunnels, as a friend called it.

found this out the hard way- i was due for screening, tho should have been asked anyway. i had bad breakthough pain my last 2, and that would have led to the higher level anyway. but they didnt ask.
i did, tho, get much sicker waiting for what was really ordered to address some current and serious issues. they should have noted this, as i tried to get seen before the test. and i also came in, unable to finish my prep, dehydrated, laying in a room on an iv all morning.
then i ended up being the last test of the day, tho this docs first, the anesthesia team having left, leaving me with- this is going to cause "serious discomfort", or go through this again another day.

holy moly hells bells.
i lived, but got a feeling that doc will never be the same. i did, however, resist kicking a nurse. not their fault.

so, yeah, if you are getting a diagnostic scope, make sure they know that.
oy oy oy.

[Warpy]

1. I told the doc up front that I was a fast metabolizer

and that I was going to wake up mid procedure. I did. I let him know it hurt. I got another dose. It was enough to keep me foggy after the scope so I got some sleep when I went home.

Versed doesn't work on everybody. Even if you wake up, it's supposed to give you amnesia. I'm not that lucky.

I got some nifty pictures, though. Lab report wasn't so nifty, so I'll do the next one on schedule.

[mopinko]

2. no versed.

this was 2 injections and you are awake watching the roller coaster.

it took both nurses to hold me down.

[DebJ]

9. Interesting to hear of a problem the direct opposite of mine.

When I get anesthesia, I'm out so long they have sometimes wondered if I'll wake up. And it seems to be getting
worse with age. I guess my liver just can't dispose of the stuff.

I don't remember the next several DAYS after my colonoscopy. Gone. Creepy.


I had my gall bladder removed 5 years ago. Went into surgery at 10 am, was supposed to be home late afternoon,
and certainly in time for dinner. Nope. 6 am the following day, 20 hours later, I was finally able to walk to the restroom
and urinate. They still didn't want to let me go home, but I pitched a fit. For medical reasons, I should have stayed,
but I hate hospitals. I had vivid, horrible, nightmares while in the recovery room. It seemed an eternal hell. And again,
I don't recall the next several days.

When I had my tonsils out in second grade, they used ether. I didn't wake up for three days, and my mother said
the doctors told her I might never wake up.

I've tried telling anesthesiologists that I am like this. Here's what I got when I had a c=section for my son: I AM THE DOCTOR
HERE WITH THE DEGREE! He was supposed to numb me to my waist. He numbed me so far up close to my neck the bastard
almost killed me. I couldn't hold my son for two days, because I was having severe shakes/withdrawal...so hard, I shook the bed.
If I'd been older and wiser, I would have sued the bastard. He might have had a medical degree, but he sure wasn't a scientist,
looking for data with which to work. I had been in this body for 26 years whereas the first time he saw me was in the O.R. I
had had 4 prior surgeries plus numerous times I had to get stitches in the ER.... anesthetics also take a VERY long time for my body to react to; as a child, ER doctors would administer up to 8x the normal dose... and I'd be numb for days. He considered none of that relevant. Probably all
the more so since I lacked a penis.

[mopinko]

3. and of course, all that for nothing.

this started 20 freakin years ago. that level of pain, and they see nothing happening.

she is chalking it up to "past nsaid use", although, a- this started way before i ever took any pain meds routinely and b-i never really used them that heavily, anyway. i have been for the last 6 months, but things were well and truly out of control before that.

no advice beyond having another scope in 5 years, this time with "monitored anesthesia care". yeah, that sounds like a good idea. so how come you did it without that this time. honestly, i am thinking this is the last time i do this. if i dont have a tumor now, i dont think one can catch up to me now. i am 60 yo. and obviously whatever is going on is not showing up on your tests, so i say bump this shit.

what an ass.

[CountAllVotes]

4. I cannot say I blame you mopinko

No one should have to go through so much pain!

I refuse to go near these freaks.

They are afraid they will perforate me with their "pediatric scope" if they do this because I have a massive amount of adhesions from four prior abdominal surgeries.

If this is the end for me because I failed to play the game, well so be it. I really do not care at this point in my sick life. UGH.

I hope you are feeling better soon and I do mean that btw!

[mopinko]

5. thanks. i do concur with her that nsaids were inflaming things.

but they are not the root cause. but fuck it.

so, but them back, and feeling mostly better. having carpal tunnel soon, which will alleviate a lot of the need. gonna try a couple other hits on some nerve problems if i have to drag the docs by the hair.
if i can keep my neck quiet, i can function pretty well. nice not to have a flaming right arm. gonna keep it that way.

best to you, and thanks again.

[lululu]

6. never having a colonoscopy again

I'm in my seventies. The prep this last time was much worse, very debilitating, because they no longer use the easier one since it in very rare cases causes some organ damage. I thought I was going to faint from weakness from the diarrhea effect. I have a heart problem, so it would be crazy for me to go through this again. In some respects, doctors are lack sense.

[pertilotte]

7. Ulcerative Colitis

What? You mean you had a colonoscopy without being knocked out first? Oh, dear Lord, that only happened to me once, while I was in Korea. I begged for them to stop and the pain was so severe that I simply passed out.

Here in BC, colonoscopies are performed with anesthetic, thank God. I have to have one every four years and I don't think I have ever had a complete one as my doctor always says that he 'can't get up there, it is too hard on you.'

[mopinko]

8. i had a lot of drugs, just not all the way out.

have since learned that tho i was told they needed an anesthesiologist (md) to be put all the way out, that this was just a rule in the hospital. have a friend, who is a nurse anesthetist, who told me that it is a boy s club at this hospital, and that is the ONLY reason for the rule.
previous 2 i had i had breakthrough pain that woke me up.
doc didnt even know till i told her that i was there because i was sick.

yeah, fun times. for the boys club.