Endoscopy NO Sedation

Sedation for me, and I speak with experience, is the removal of fear and anxiety prior and during whatever procedure is being performed, which helps both the patient and also the surgeon and his staff to get the job done.

im do for mine next week, not very encouraged by what being said here about it. i want to be put out thats for sure but im having two procedures done in the same morning so i hope they will agree to do this. ill just freak out on them so they wont have a choice haha.

Thank you Fay and Fred. When you say 'put out' Fay, do you mean that you don't want to remember anything at all about the procedure, or that you you just want to be less anxious (in the way Fred describes)? Fred, when you say 'removal of fear and anxiety' do you expect to be fully aware of what is going on at the time and have a full memory of the event, or do you have another expectation?

Hi James,

Maybe I'm saying this because i've already had and endoscopy twice without sedation just had the throat spray, and had sedation for a double procedure endoscopy/colonoscopy and I personally found that with sedation although I was fully aware of what was going on the sedation made me feel like I had no worries in the world. One really good note I will say is that sedation normally helps and stops any gagging during endoscopy.

I know not everyone experiences the same, but I have to say for me personally that I would have no hesitation whatsoever if I had to have the exploration of the oesophagus and colon again that I would certainly be asking for sedation.

My last experience with sedation was good, like I say no gagging and all fear gone, it's the fear that I think causes the issues, and with sedation there is no fear at all, you just feel relaxed and you let the surgeon get on with his job, the sedation leaves your system quickly, the only thing I forgot to mention is that if you do go with sedation then you will need someone to take you back home as you are not allowed to drive or be on your own for 24 hours, but I can guarantee it is well worth it.

The sedation involves a needle into one of your veins, but this isn't a problem, well not for me anyway.

I really hope that this helps all people that are unsure whether to have sedation or not.

Thank you for these helpful comments. Does anyone else have a view on what they feel sedation should provide? Do you feel that allaying fear is just a part of it? Do you expect complete amnesia? Do you recognise that you may be aware of waht is happening? Please let me know.

This morning I had a gastroscopy at Brighton RSUH. I had read some of the terrifying and almost blood curdling accounts above and was naturally somewhat aprehensive, to say the least. My appointment was for 09.30 so taking advice from above subscribers I had nothing to eat after 6.00 pm last night. I arrived a little early and was seen almost immediately. My blood pressure, reflecting my anxiety, was above the 199 limit on the machine. However it didn't appear to be of concern so I was shown to a cubicle where I waited for about ten mninutes before I was called in to the "operating" room. There I had my throat sprayed twice with the banana flavour which quickly deadened it. I was asked to lay on my side, had the mouth shield inserted and before I knew it the camera tube was in my stomach. There was little sensation and certainly no pain. The investigation lasted four or five minutes which included two "procedural" biopsies. The tube was withdrawn without me being aware that it was happening. Certainly no gagging and no pain. Breathing through the mouth is normal and unrestricted.

Am I just lucky or do people who write on such forums only tell the bad stuff? No kidding, I would be happy to do the same thing again tomorrow. It is one of the most straightforward and painless procedures I have experienced in my 76 years. A younger lady who had the same procedure just before me agreed totally with my findings and experience. It is nothing to worry about at all.

Thanks to the excellent NHS staff involved.

This was my experience, too. I have been very surprised to read some of the traumas and feel I was very fortunate. Another would hold no fears for me.

I believe its all to do with the person who is performing the procedure.

If they are experienced then gagging etc will be void or limited.

To James Palmer. What did I expect from procedural sedation? Well, I would normally understand that to mean I'd be conscious but feeling pretty laid-back or, better still, I wouldn't remember a thing even if the procedure turned out to be a nightmare. (Though there's an interesting philosophical point in there somewhere.) In my own case, I expected the worst. I'm a former nurse and I'm over 65 so knew I'd only get a half dose. However, as it was an emergency - a large, spiky denture stuck in my throat for three weeks after a series of hospitals turned me away refusing to believe me as it wasn't radio-opaque - I knew I couldn't argue.

I can only describe the experience as feeling as if the sedation had switched off my higher centres, which might have induced cooperation, leaving the limbic system (kill, kill, kill!) in the driving seat. I felt like a terrified animal. It took six people to hold me down and I'd have cheerfully gouged out the nurse's eyes if she hadn't been kneeling on one of my arms. I remained not only wide awake but completely "wired" for the next 20 hours. I'm still having flashbacks now, two months later.

The young doctor who did my discharge check the following day told me I'd have to be followed up as they might have damaged my throat as I'd struggled so much. He seemed to think it was my fault. My throat feels far from right, probably due to scarring, but I'll live with it. I'll have another gastroscopy when hell freezes over!

To the under-60s out there, I'd say don't worry about this. Most younger people don't remember a thing after procedural sedation. If you're a senior, it might be better to skip sedation.

I totally agree with the two people who said that they had it done without sedation and it wasn't as bad as they had read. I am a particularly nervous person and I was absolutely dreading the procedure. I practiced sticking my fingers down my throat to try and avoid the gagging sensation but don't know whether this helped or not. When I had it done I was surprisingly calm, I only gagged once and that was at the taste of the spray in my throat as I didn't want sedation. I tried to keep my breathing calm and regular which I think was a big help. The camera went down without any trouble, took a couple of minutes and was taken out without any problems. The doctor who did it was very impressed with how I handled it and said that he could do with me to be in a training video for staff and patients!

I had read several messages about how bad it was, in fact, a woman said that it was so bad she felt "violated" which had really raised my anxiety levels. I'm sure that some people do have a bad time but everyone is different and it's no good just going by the bad reports as there are probably just as many good experiences or perhaps even more good ones than bad. If I had to have another one done I wouldn't feel half as nervous as I did the first time.

I had a Gastroscopy on Monday 30th December. I was worried about the whole experience as I have a funny throat that catches when I swallow sometimes and I usually end up retching, so I was worried about getting a tube down my throat. I explained all this to the nurse who was taking all my details and she said I would probably be better with sedation.

She inserted the needle in a vein in my arm and said when I went into get it done they would put the sedation in just before the procedure.

After about 10 minutes I was taken in, told to lie on the bed on my left side and the doctor explained what would happen. She said I would have a gum shield in my mouth in case I bit down on the tube and she said as I was so nervous she would give me the throat spray as well as the sedative.

She sprayed my throat a couple of times and the sedation was put in my arm and the last thing I consciously remember is when the gum shield was put in and she asked me if I was comfortable. I vaguely remember something being inserted in my mouth through the gum shield but have no memory of anything else.

When it was over I was left to rest for about 30 minutes and I was wide awake by this time.

I was given 3 mg midazolam and 3 puffs of throat spray of xylocaine. It was also noted on the report that I had one or two episodes of mild discomfort,well tolerated,but I have no memory of this although the report did say I was awake during the procedure.

The procedure from beginning to end was much easier than I thought it would be and to be honest the worst bit was getting my blood pressure taken as she had to do it 3 times as it wasn't registering properly.

All of the staff I met were extremely helpful and friendly, and I wouldn't be as worried if I had to get it done again.

Catherine, I'm glad you had a good experience, and hope nothing too serious was found during your procedure.

As mentioned in the last paragraph of my 29 November post, I think sedation is probably an excellent option for the under-65s. It's mainly the oldies like me who have problems with it, as the over-65s can only be given a half-dose of the drugs due to fears about cardiac or respiratory depression.

I'd like to reiterate what I said in that paragraph: if you're under 65, don't hesitate to go for sedation, you won't remember anything about it afterwards. Over 65? Discuss it with your doctor. Make sure he/she knows that you know about the half-dose rule. If I'd known exactly what that half-sedated state was going to feel like I'd have gone for throat spray only, even though I'm terrified of having anything put down my throat.