Extremely painful colonoscopy

Hi, i’ve had several colonoscopies and they are never comfortable. Yesterday i had this procedure and thought i was going to die! Honestly never in my life have experienced such chronic pain, and with no backing off from the surgeon or staff i felt so vulnerable. Ok they took 40 biopsies and its all for my good but gosh i don’t think i’ll ever forget that day. I understand you have to be “awake” so as to move under the instruction of the surgeon but under so much pain you can’t anyway. Surely there must be a better way than this. Utterly barbaric and yes the feeling of being violated is there too. I’m dreading the next one already 😰

Hello to all. I'm posting because I don't know anyone who has been in the same situation as all of us and feels better not to suffer alone.

I was sedated for the procedure (which was yesterday morning), but have been in pain ever since. I have an anal fissure (basically, a tear) caused by childbirth that led to bleeding, which is why I was sent for a colonoscopy at such a young age. I had panic attacks going into the procedure (the result of being assaulted), which is why I was fully sedated.

Since I came out of sedation I have had very intense pain between my hips and pelvis. I thought I was imagining it and kept trying to tell myself I was okay because I've heard that this procedure should be painless afterwards. Well, after a full day of pain and taking ibuprofen I called the endoscopy office and found out that my colon was curved more than average and they pushed on my abdomen a lot to get the camera through. I also was told that women generally have a longer colon packed into a smaller abdomen and the camera must make it around the uterus as well, so women (especially slender women) often have more painful colonoscopies.

I am writing this for everyone to feel less alone and also if you are considering getting a colonoscopy to go with your instinct. They can save your life if you have polyps and I know they help diagnose very painful diseases, but I wish I had trusted my instinct and declined. My original problem - pain from anal fissure- is worse now after defecating 42 times from the prep liquid and then having a tube go past the tear. If you're a woman who just a baby and is diagnosed with a fissure, I strongly urge you not to get a colonoscopy unless you have a family history of cancer or several indicators. Ideas that are helping me heal (well, before the colonoscopy wrecked me again) - stay hydrated, put your feet on a stool for bowel moments, get a prescription for lidocaine nifedipine, eat well, and find a pelvic floor physical therapist. They can actually help the problem by teaching you how to relax muscles and heal birth-related trauma. To all of you who have suffered on this board, my heart goes out to you. Much more care and thoughtfulness and support should be built around this procedure. It is anything but routine.

Hi,

Have had similar experience. Curious how was the out come? Like you I'm wondering why I had so much pain 3/4 through colonoscopy? 

Because of the nation wide scare of opioids they are nervous to give enough medication to get us through a colonoscopy without pain. I know for me if you do not take care of the pain before the procedure starts, if they start and I experience pain, my adrenaline kicks in and then trying to stop the pain is MUCH MUCH harder. I learned this with several difficult dental procedures. You must give the 'proper' medication before any procedure starts so we are relaxed enough to LET the pain medication work. I did talk to the nurse, who was there during the procedure, and she said that they did try to give more meds after they started to NO effect!

In my last Colonoscopy they found polyps and I will need another procedure in 5 years. I really don't like to think about that because I get nervous at just the thought. I was screaming in pain the whole time. After the first one, that went well, they reduced the pain meds to 1/8th of what I had the first time. 1/8th!

The best we can hope for is that we talk to the department about what we need for the procedure to happen, without pain. Best of lucky to all of us!

Hi lina. I had the same type of experience. I had the sedation that made my head woozy immediately but that was it. As the doc was blowing the colon up it was utter agony. I was astounded by the pain. They gave me the gas and air and that did nothing at all to help. Every time he moved it up i bellowed. I couldn't help it. It was so painful. They said it was because the colon is flat and they need to blow it up for the camera. I didn't realise it would be that bad. I was on the verge of screaming to get it out twice but they said "nearly over Andrea". It wasn't nearly over. I told my daughter that if they said i could have cancer and needed to look in the future then i would rather die it was that bad. I thought i was being a baby but now i know i wasn't. I'm sorry to hear how badly you suffered lina but glad i am not alone with this shocking experience. I hope you have fully recovered.   Andrea.