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Colonscopy really worried

Posted , 10 users are following.

dan48682
dan48682

I'm in a real mess

I was meant to have a colonscopy 6 weeks ago but cancelled last minute since then stomach pain has got worse and so has nausea. Lost 5kg in 3 months ( got told that is because I'm diabetic and changed my diet) also blood when I wipe which I've been told is piles.

Feel really unwell and I'm petrified it's bowel cancer. After what I've read I am worried it's going to be too painful to have done. I'm really struggling

Why can't they give everyone virtual colonscopy and save the pain

0 likes, 158 replies

158 Replies

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  • dan48682
    dan48682

    Posted

    No BM for 2 hours. Thought that was it but no its back again. I assumed it was done but no so

    Feel sick and tired

    • TheToad
      TheToad dan48682

      Posted

      It will stop! Soon there will be nothing left, which is what they want of course. 'This too will pass.' (Sorry. ) Try to get some sleep. Soon be all done, then you can relax. 💤
    • dan48682
      dan48682 TheToad

      Posted

      Trying to sleep but stomach making really loud noises and feeling sick
    • Guest
      Guest dan48682

      Posted

      I think you are going to have a few more bottom rippers before the evening is out cheesygrin
    • etheremail
      etheremail dan48682

      Posted

      Don't worry Dan. The noises are normal because there is a lot of gas there. You will feel much better after the procedure. You've done brilliantly and only a little way to go now. You're overthr worst.
    • etheremail
      etheremail dan48682

      Posted

      You've just got a little way to go now. Grit up and get it over. You're nearly there.
    • dan48682
      dan48682 etheremail

      Posted

      I'll go and try buy all I can think of is how painful it was without sedative and is sedative really going to stop the pain
    • TheToad
      TheToad dan48682

      Posted

      If my timing is right, it should be about over by now. Looking forward to your thoughts when you post again. 
    • dan48682
      dan48682 etheremail

      Posted

      Very uncomfortable indeed. In pain but good news was my colonscopy seemed okay they just took a few biopsies

      Had stomach ache that gone but now just very sore where it went up

      Glad had it done. I did scream out in pain a few times. The sedative didn't seem to do anything as I was wide awake

    • etheremail
      etheremail dan48682

      Posted

      Glad it's all over. You shouldn't need another one for years because things happen very slowly in the gut. I find germaloids (probably misspelled) piles ointment (not cream) very helpful and it has a local anaesthetic in it to calm everything down. Sounds as though they may not have got the sedative line in properly if it had no effect. You can eat now! Which is a relief. Hope the biopsies are clear, but sounds as if all was well. The big thing is, it's all over. Well done! D.
    • dan48682
      dan48682 etheremail

      Posted

      Thank you very much for all your help. You've been superb

      I was told no BM for 2-3 days. Is that normal

    • etheremail
      etheremail dan48682

      Posted

      After my first one it was a couple of days but the second and third I went normally the next day. You might be a bit loose or a bit bunged up depending on how your gut reacts, but it settles down after a couple of days. If they took biopsies you may get a few spots of blood for a day or two. I just ate normally and my gut seemed keen to get back to normal. Mind you the first time I had picolax (which is the one prep that doesn't agree with me so well) and had really really violent BM so that probably explained the gap.
    • etheremail
      etheremail dan48682

      Posted

      No. More like 90/10. Tumours in the bowel take a long time to happen and for years and years the little polyps people get are completely innocent but they need checking and sometimes removing. If they turn nasty then it's usually pretty obvious to them so when they take biopsies it is just to be absolutely sure.
    • etheremail
      etheremail

      Posted

      That's the reason that going thru these wretched colonoscopies is so important because bowel cancer is the one you really can prevent. As you get older, polyps become more common although I have avoided them to date. My first guy who did it was really the founder of modern colonoscopy checks in the UK and he talked a lot to me about it and he said having them could save so many lives. Plus there are other less serious things that can go wrong in the gut and they need to be checked too.
    • etheremail
      etheremail dan48682

      Posted

      I think you're the one who has been brilliant, Dan. You have examined, thought about and stared down your very real fears and had the courage to have this procedure. I hope you have a good time digestively after all this. I was plagued by IBS for years, sometimes really badly, and I found in the end it was largely due to certain food intolerances - of foods I really liked. Top of the list was baked beans of all things which I now completely avoid. So just because you are having or have had long patches of digestive trouble does not mean it will go on forever. Good luck to you! D.
    • dan48682
      dan48682 etheremail

      Posted

      Thanks I genuinely mean that. I just need to sort my upper GI now.

      Thanks again

    • dan48682
      dan48682 TheToad

      Posted

      It was unpleasant and wouldn't want to do it again. The sedative didn't work

      Thanks for your help buddy

    • TheToad
      TheToad dan48682

      Posted

      Good to read that it's all over. 'All systems go,' from now then. Enjoy your night - hope you can get some well need rest now. Well done! 😊
    • dan48682
      dan48682 TheToad

      Posted

      Should I be having rectal pain. I guess the psin killer must have worn off. Is this normal. It's very painful
    • etheremail
      etheremail dan48682

      Posted

      That's probably distension from getting rid of the air. I had very bad distension problems anyway and they used carbon dioxide and it made a hell of a difference. If it's sore rectal pain then you might need a something like germaloids to soothe it. If it persists longer than a couple of days I would ask your doctor about it.
    • dan48682
      dan48682 etheremail

      Posted

      Sorry to bother you again but I've not been right since. I'm still waking up feeling really unwell and sick. I've been waking up feeling unwell since having the colonscopy done. Stomach ache and feeling sick. Could this be the colonscopy that making me so unwell?

      Also meant to ask they took 2 biopsies but no polyps what did they take biopsies of?

    • babs49935
      babs49935 dan48682

      Posted

      Dan when do you go back for your post procedure appointment? You really need to make a list of all your queries. If they haven't said you are to go back for a follow up, I would ring the hospital and insist on seeing your consultant. You need all your questions answered
    • dan48682
      dan48682 babs49935

      Posted

      I'm pretty sure they said they would get in touch or write to my Dr with the results

      The Dr Who did the procedure isn't my consultant

    • etheremail
      etheremail dan48682

      Posted

      Hi Dan, I don't think it will be the colonoscopy itself but it could be the preparation that triggered your old problem to resurface. I suffer from occasional IBS and the colonoscopy preparation makes that a bit tetchy for a few weeks. It is quite a clear out! You might try a pro biotic to see if it helps. The best sort is the one they and you keep in the fridge cos it is live. Live yoghurt sometimes does the trick too. I also found proper Manuka honey quite helpful in the upper gastric area but you need the strongest you can get. It has numbers on it. A health food shop will help you. Obviously not if you are diabetic though! I used to take a few table spoons a day and it made my stomach shut up. I think the biopsies are just an absolute precaution to rule out any other conditions. You should get the results soon but from what you told me you were told if sounds as if they were just being ultra cautious because you were reporting symptoms as opposed to having a check up because of age. The consultant should record the area he took them from but it may be fairly random to rule out any inflammatory conditions or it may be where he banded. Biopsies are extremely routine. Good luck!

    • dan48682
      dan48682 etheremail

      Posted

      I'll give probiotics a go

      I looked at old posts and ten days ago I noticed I said I started feeling worse so I'm thinking maybe something to do with colonscopy. You think they might have damaged insides?

    • dan48682
      dan48682

      Posted

      My lower stomach sharp psin when I press it
    • etheremail
      etheremail dan48682

      Posted

      Hi Dan. You have to be very careful about pressing it because you can bruise it which can be the cause of the pain in a vicious circle. I did that to my gut once! The body is s strange old thing and you can get pain in sites distant from the trouble but generally speaking what you are describing are upper gastric symptoms which you get with hyper-acidity, stomach ulcers and gastritis rather than any lower gastric symptoms which is where the colon is. There is a procedure where they can look at your entire digestive system. You swallow a small camera (really tiny) and it can be magnetised from the outside to look at the digestive tract including the small bowel. You then excrete it and give it back to them cos it's very expensive lol. Are your blood tests all normal? It may be something like a stomach migraine. My mother used to suffer from that where they never really find anything. If you are still feeling bad I think the time has come to raise it with your doctor. It can help to keep a precise diary for a week in which you record what you eat and when and any symptoms you suffer and when and out a pain score by them of 0 (nil) to 10 (worst pain you can think of). Hopefully no tens lol.
    • dan48682
      dan48682 etheremail

      Posted

      Not had fbc since June but was all okay then apart from my diabetes discovered

      I think I need to see my gp. I'm not pressing haRd and it's sharp pain and feel nauseous

    • etheremail
      etheremail dan48682

      Posted

      No Manuka Honey sadly in that case! I got diabetes around your age too. If it's Type 2, It be controlled by avoiding starchy foods and getting the weight down. You have to be careful with the numbers because it helped me to a heart by pass eventually. If you press, only use the base of your hand NOT your fingers and keep it gentle. Might be a small ulcer. If it is don't worry cod they can deal with that nowadays. Might be worth having the Heliobactor test if they haven't done it already. Nausea is an irritating symptom because it's part physical and part mental but you have had this bout for some time now.
    • dan48682
      dan48682 etheremail

      Posted

      I can hear my gp now 'it's just your bowel going into spasm and anxiety' which infuriates me
    • etheremail
      etheremail dan48682

      Posted

      I presume you have tried colofac. Doesn't work for everyone but it helped me. You may want to see if there is a food element. I have an intolerance to wheat (except in small to moderate amounts) legumes and pulses (particularly broad beans; baked beans took me to A&E once) and too many nuts. Food is often there somewhere in these kind of difficulties. But with intolerance as opposed to allergy you have to look at the meal you ate about 24 hours ago. Not the last meal. I do think the colonscopy is not the culprit tho. You really don't like it big time and it's not surprising if it did cause some stress related symptoms. It's not in your head tho. The gut apparently has some rudimentary "brain" and it is quite an old b*st*rd at mixing up real things with stress things and food things. I think it is best to isolate and look at each one. Is there something there - a real physical illness. But don't bang your head against the wall if there isn't. Illness is not to be welcomed obviously. Is there some cause like food that is causing reactions and intolerances. Wheat is by far the most common one. Legumes are pretty common. I don't know about nuts. But although I love them, too many and I'm bad -particularly cashews. Keep a food diary; look back 24 hours and you will often spot it. Is stress there? If so, it is a condition like any other and you need to explore techniques for reducing it. That also helps control blood sugar too because that reacts to stress and goes higher very often. It's a bore because it's not one thing. It's several very often. Try and get a handle on each one.
    • dan48682
      dan48682 etheremail

      Posted

      I'll give it a try. I feel really unwell

      Feel b real nauseous especially when I wake up again. Can only sleep for a few hours max and then wake up feeling dreadful

    • etheremail
      etheremail dan48682

      Posted

      It seems to be related to sleeping and the principal things that happen when you sleep are that your stomach is empty and you are lying (relatively) flat which makes me wonder whether this is an acid issue and with some regurgitation (even if you are unaware of it). I do not know whether you have tried a course of ppi drugs (the ones where you take just one a day and which control acid production). You can buy two sorts from the chemist nowadays that you take for a couple of weeks. They do not work immediately but take about 3 days to kick in. The other thing may be to raise your head with a couple of extra pillows. The other feature is that something appears to have upset your stomach since the colonoscopy episode and that could well be another acid indicator because of the preparation stuff. As I suggested yesterday a probiotic might help that. Finally you might want to try a gut antispasmodic (of which there are several available) to help the gut calm down a bit.
    • dan48682
      dan48682 etheremail

      Posted

      I've tried omeprazole lanzoprazole and ranititinide and no joy. I use 4 pillows too. I need sleep because I'm exhausted but only get a hour then wake. I might try sleeping in a chair sitting up but that's not practical long term
    • etheremail
      etheremail dan48682

      Posted

      It's almost certainly not excess acid if you have tried those and they failed. It is a real mystery. It sounds to me as if you need a top gi consultant to take a fresh look at this from the top because something must be causing the symptoms. They may want to try an exclusion diet where they introduce foods one by one and see if a particular substance causes a reaction or an intolerance. I presume they have ultra sounded the gall bladder and liver although I think your symptoms would be different if you have trouble there. I wonder if they can check the pancreas in any way because sometimes, if it is not the stomach that is causing these kind of symptoms it can be the hepatic system, although it doesn't really sound like that to be honest. I think you need them to start looking at this again from the top. I know they always tend to go to the "stress" answer when they are stuck but my own personal experience is that "stress" is rarely the root cause although it can make symptoms worse. You need a kind of medical Sherlock Holmes to go through all the clues.
    • dan48682
      dan48682 etheremail

      Posted

      I had an ultrasound about a year ago and my pancreas checked via blood test when had my blood sugar diabetes level checked last month. Sadly no Chace my gp will refer me to a GI as thinks it's IBS. I did well managing to get a barium. I was going to see the consultant from my colonscopy and asking him but they were going to write
    • dan48682
      dan48682 etheremail

      Posted

      Is it worth ringing the dept that did my colonscopy speaking to a nurse about my symptons
    • etheremail
      etheremail dan48682

      Posted

      It might be. And it can't hurt. Did you have the colonoscopy because of lower gastric symptoms because all of your symptoms now seem to be upper gastric.
    • dan48682
      dan48682 etheremail

      Posted

      Yes blood in stool

      Spoke to nurse who said always chance but if peritonitis? I'd be in hospital now. Told me to see gp to check it out

    • etheremail
      etheremail dan48682

      Posted

      Mmm. It's definitely not peritonitis. In fact it doesn't sound like the bowel at all but as if your digestive system is out of sync for some reason. I had a thing with my prostrate twenty years ago where I went thru every test known to man and eventually I just lived with it although it nearly drove me mad. Went on for 6 more months and then just faded out. No one was ever the wiser as to what had happened. The best thing my specialist said was: "it's perfectly genuine but I just haven't a clue what is causing it." We both started to laugh but at least he was honest.
    • dan48682
      dan48682 etheremail

      Posted

      I'll try the probiotics and breathing oil and see what gp says
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