Colonoscopy Without Sedation

Thanks for your reassurance and detailed description of what happened with your procedure...just waiting for my appointment letter for this lovely test!

This procedure is different for everyone. I used this forum to understand the various experiences of others. I had an awesome doctor - which is critical. Do your research and learn who is the best in this field. I also had a very clean bowel/colon - therefore the procedure was made less painful. However, every colon is different - obviously, and depending on how yours' is shaped, and you don't know until the doctor is in there taking a look and a drive with the scope - you may feel some pain. Because my colon is smaller - and we learned that during the procedure, expanding it with air in various areas to make the turns while going in with the scope was briefly very painful. Once the scope was in, there was no more pain - just some discomfort because of the process itself. I also learned that if you release air (fart) it will help and some people don't want to do that. Listen, you're on the table exposed for all those in the room to see - who cares. But, if you are doing it without sedation - do remember this. You can cause yourself harm if you jerk or move alot as your colon could get damaged by the scope. If you can tolerate about a 4 second pain on two to three turns of your colon and IF you've completed the prep the day before successfully - then you should be ok. Just remember, there will be some discomfort and for some there will be pain. I screamed three times so that I could let out my emotions rather than moving around. It helped.

I have had a lot of painful conditions / accidents/ operations and can tolerate pain quite well.  I had a sigmoidoscopy which was moderately painful but bearable but the nurse stopped as she could not get any further and said I would need a colonoscopy.  On arriving at the day surgery I was given the option of  gas and air or sedation. I repeatedly asked which one would be less painful but not get a clear answer. The endoscope nurse specialist said we could start with gas and air and if needed she could sedate me. The procedure got progressively more sore but I was so spaced out on the gas and air I could not talk and could not hear properly. They gave me buscopan which is something to stop bowel spasm. At this point the pain seemed to stop and I started with uncontrollable giggles. Unfortunately the pain restarted and they gave me some pain relief which did not help much. They eventually stopped without giving me sedation. They said I had quite severe diverticulosis which was causing the bowel to twist  and they did not get past the distal sigmoid so I have to go for a scan and will have to fast and take that yucky laxative. Incidentally I found it really helped to have a bottle of tropical lucazade to gulp between swallows of the laxative mixture which made it go down relatively easy.

I have had the same experience as you did, May5.  I had it done without sedation but in the states sedation is used in most of colonoscopies.   My clinic offered with and without sedation and the additional option of anaesthesia because of past problems with patients not tolerating sedated and pain controlled colonoscopies and upper GI endoscopies.  I have no idea why ours were so easily tolerated while other have horrific experiences even with sedation and pain control.   I know that the states tend not to use nitrous for sedation, they tend to use Versed and Profofol, neither which I can have or tolerate.   In fact the only place I've seen Nitrous used in the states is in the dentist office.  I am told by a friend who is a healthcare provider that abuse and theft of Nitrous by other healthcare providers is a significant problem in the states.

If you don't remember being hurt is it ok to be hurt ?

is that ethical ?

there are pk put there that work midazolam has no analgesic qualities and pethidine would need to be at pretty high doze to kill pain meaning an overnight stay .

token amount ?

I opted sedation free it hurt pure n simple but I was in control and memory intact .

I would never put myself through another unless absolutely necessary 

even I knew I would forget the pain I went through after .

thought of simply forgetting pain creeps me out actually .

I am starting to notice a trend that would seem to be valuable in helping people decide what, if any, sedation would be needed for a colonoscopy.   Let's see if it squares with what you observe.

I see people who tend to tolerate colonoscopies without sedation better have one or more of these traits:

- They have easily tolerated sigmoidscopies without sedation

- They are male because males tend to have straighter colons

- Tend to be more calm and less anxious

- Their curiousity tends to outweigh their fear of pain of a colonoscopy

- Their fear of sedation is great enough to forego sedation

- They tend to tolerate and function with really considerable gas pain and bloating, the stretching of the colon

- They tend to not want to give up control of their situation unless they have to

- They tend to trust their operator and clinic

- They have other very strong motivations to do it without sedation

- They tend not to have known diseases that affect the colon

- They tend to have had tolerated other painful medical procedures without lingering mental anguish, with the possible exception of childbirth.  To be fair, literature indicates that childbirth seems to be a physiologically "unique" situation in terms of pain tolerance, meaning that the experience would be a poor predictor of pain tolerance in any other medical procedure.

Do you agree or disagree?

Thank you for the post I'm going to have a colonoscopy soon without anaesthetic and it has helped me a lot thank you x