Colonoscopy and endoscopy same day

My advice would be to contact the unit at the hospital where your husband is going to discuss his concerns with them. I'm sure they'll have encountered the issues your husband has thousands of times and will be able to provide reassurance. In my case, I was told I could take my medications as usual on the day of the colonoscopy, and I have to say the staff were brilliant, really kind and supportive. 

My guess is your GP is looking to find the cause of his low iron, and a colonoscopy and endoscopy would rule out, or identify and treat the cause if it emanates from his bowel or gut. 

I had been having bowel problems for about 6 months before I went to my GP - within 2 weeks of seeing him I had all blood works and a colonoscopy. Fortunately, apart from a small benign polyp which was removed during the procedure I was fine, and diagnised with IBS. 

I do understand your anxiety, but not having the procedure won't make the problem go away, and the sooner the cause is identified, the sooner the right treatment can be given. 

Good luck. 

Jan

Can I just mention two things? I am type 2 diabetic too and have had both tests. I am about 7 years younger. Before my first endoscopy I was petrified: I have a terrible gag reflex. I couldn't bear the doctor even putting that thing in your mouth as a child to check out a sore throat. But, oddly I didn't find the six endoscopies I have had bad at all. You are sedated and don't actually remember that much and the thing they don't tell you, but is obvious when you think about it, is that the gag reflex is for a milli second and they spray your throat with a substance that means you barely feel it. Once the tube passes the gag reflex (and it is so fast) you are generally ok. When you think about it, that would have to be the case otherwise you couldn't swallow food. So, actually I find a mouth/throat exam by a doctor or dentist more gag producing than this test.

Second thing, you need to tell the hospital about the diabetes and medications. They have this issue the whole time because a lot of the people having colponoscopies are of an age to have type 2 diabetes. You are very closely monitored before and after. He should be able to test his blood sugar whilst he is having the laxative the day before and take some glucose if necessary, although the laxative may have some anyway. They are much better than they used to be. It's not much different from having a diarrhoea bug and you don't usually go hypo then.

There are, of course, other tests for occult blood but these two are the gold standard. I have a friend who had this anaemia problem and it related in the end to declining kidney function. So it might be worth checking kidney function, particularly creatinine. Metformin is contract indicated if creatinine gets to a certain level and I had to stop it. Iron supplements didn't work with my friend and he now has a monthly injection with a protein which stimulates production of red blood cells. But obviously, a bleed somewhere can also be the problem. For myself, I would have the tests because then they can rule that out completely and definitely. No one likes these tests, but for the vast majority of people the fear of the test is much worse than the reality and that has definitely been my experience. Good luck!

I agree with most everything others have said. Speak to the health care professional at the next appt. in terms of the endoscopy... I tend to be 'over the top' anxious about medical procedures. Haven't had these 2 done the same day, but have had both, and in both instances had general anesthesia. Ceratainly much easier, for me, anyway.

Prayers to you both. ?