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Gastroscopy: nowhere near as bad as I was expecting

Posted , 5 users are following.

david05966
david05966

Hello, 

Having been helped by reading comments on here prior to my gastroscopy today, I felt I should add my contribution.

As a background, I don't like hospitals or the thought of any medical procedures at all, however my heartburn was affecting me every day and I needed to bite the bullet.

All nurses and the doctor were lovely and calm and friendly. After my assessment I was taken into the room, met the doctor and was administered the throat spray. I thought it was similar to the chloroseptic spray used for sore throats but much stronger and fast acting. I then lay on my side and the scooe was placed in my mouth and Teheran doctor said I would feel it on my to the, which I think I did, just. I don't remember if the doctor asked me to swallow or not but it passed painlessly down my throat. I was able to breathe normally and swallowed a few times but throughout soneone was auctioning to remove excess saliva.

I had about 7 or 8 biopsies taken and only vaguely felt a couple of them but compared to the pain of heartburn they were nothing, not even a twinge. I did feel a couple of times that I wanted the tube out of my mouth soon, but I just closed my eyes and breathed deeply and it wasn't a problem.

i had no after effects at all, not even a mildly sore throat, and have ben eating and drinking normally since an hour after the procedure started.

if I can do without sedation, anyone can. Please don't read all the scare stories on the internet. If you buy a fridge from Amazon, the people who will leave comments will be those who are not happy or who are delighted with the product, Not many people will bother to leave a neutral comment.

Be brave for 5 or 10 minutes and you will see that it's not worth worrying too much about! Everyone is on your side.

3 likes, 18 replies

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  • david05966
    david05966

    Posted

    Sorry for the typos. Predictive text strikes again!
  • Spindles
    Spindles david05966

    Posted

    I can totally agree with everything you say about the procedure.  I had it done last year and was absolutely dreading it.  I thought I would be heaving and retching after reading some of the comments from people so I practiced putting my fingers down my throat to get me past the gag reflex.   On the day I was really scared but when I went in the doctor and nurses were very calm, I had it all explained to me, I had the spray (didn't like the taste) the shield in my mouth, the scope was slowly passed down with me swallowing and keeping calm (surprisingly) I didn't feel it after it had gone down and I was able to see the screen and what the doctor saw. He took a couple of biopsies and then slowly drew it out.  I gagged once but that was it.  I hadn't gone for sedation as my husband and I were going away for the weekend straight after.  A man who had the sedation was rather annoyed because he had to wait an hour before he could leave while I had a quick cup of tea and then left, much better.  I was surprised how calm I was considering what I had been like before the event and even the doctor was impressed and said that I was so calm he wished he had done a video so that he could show his nervous patients!   For anyone who is going to have the procedure, I would advise not to take much notice of the doom and gloom messages as you may not experience anything like they describe.  The most extreme one I read was that a woman felt that she had been "violated", a bit of an exaggeration I think.  It wasn't half as bad as I thought it was going to be and was over in less than five minutes.
    • AmandaFA
      AmandaFA Spindles

      Posted

      Hi,

      Many thanks again for your vote of confidence.  I am having this procedure done in a few days time and after reading horror stories on here I am absolutely terrified and was even thinking of not having it done but it needs to be done to get  my acid reflux problems sorted out!  I am opting for sedation so hope that will help me.

      Thanka again,

      Amanda.

       

    • valerie04081
      valerie04081 AmandaFA

      Posted

      Amanda, have the throat spray it is no problem, have had my procedure done a couple of hours ago and since then enjoyed my lunch, not even a sore throat, ip is just relax, and do not read anything scary, it was a doddle, believe me. Valerie
    • AmandaFA
      AmandaFA valerie04081

      Posted

      Hi Valerie,

      Thanks for your update and glad that it went well for you.  I had mine done on Satruday private and they put me to sleep which was good for me as they needed to get it done. It was all clear but got another appointment with my gastro doctor next week to go through everything so hope to get to the bottom of it all!

      What were you results?

      Thanks,

      Amanda.

       

    • valerie04081
      valerie04081 AmandaFA

      Posted

      Hi Amanda, Everything was ok except for a small scar where the acid had burnt a bit of the tube and had a biopsy for helicobacter pylori [sounds awful] but it is something to do with bacteria but it may be clear and if not tablets will correct that. All in all everything is great. Valerie
    • AmandaFA
      AmandaFA valerie04081

      Posted

      Hi Valeria,

      I am glad that you were ok.  I have herad of Helicobacter. I am not sure if I had any biopsies done, none were mentioned anyway.  I will hopefully get an indept report on it all next week when I get to my appointment.  Are you still suffering with acid reflux problems?

      Thanks,

      Amanda

    • valerie04081
      valerie04081 AmandaFA

      Posted

      Hi Amanda,  I have to stay on omeprazole for 6 weeks to mend the small scar caused by acid, and of course only having the procedure this morning not much time to tell but will keep you informed, but so far so good. Everything else is normal.  Let meknow how you get on next week. Valerie
    • AmandaFA
      AmandaFA valerie04081

      Posted

      Hi Valerie,

      I will keep you updated.  Is the scarring causing you acid reflux problems?  My problem is that I have a lump feeling in my throat which means I only on liquids at the moment! 

      Many thanks,

      Amanda.

       

    • valerie04081
      valerie04081 AmandaFA

      Posted

      Hi Amanda,  They think it was the scar causing the problem but hopefully go away after the 6 weeks of omeprazole.  Hope you can get better soon as liquids are not too good, so please keep me informed of your progress Valerie
  • AmandaFA
    AmandaFA david05966

    Posted

    Hi David,

    Many thanks for your vote of confidence.  I am due to have a gastrocopy done in a few days time and I am terrified!  I was due to have one done a few weeks ago but didn't have the nerves to go thought with it and I am sweating about this one just at the thought of it!  I am glad to hear that yours went well.  Its just the thought of not being able to breath fully and the heaving/gagging feeling it doesn't excite me at all!  I have opted for sedation so I hope that this will help me!

    Thanks,

    Amanda.

     

  • david05966
    david05966

    Posted

    Hi Amanda,

    Glad to have helped reassure you.

    Don't worry about breathing as you will be able to breathe as well as you are doing now, through your nose and/or mouth. I concentrated on my breathing and this took my mind off the procedure and made me very relaxed and sleepy. I know it's easy to say but there are really no benefits to getting yourself worked up and stressed out beforehand. If you are relaxed things will probably go more smoothly and quickly.

    As for the gagging, I think I may have just done a very small cough/gag right at the end when the camera came out, but it's normal and nothing to worry about.

    Remember there is no pain. It turned out I had severe oesophagitis after suffering acid reflux for years and will need another gastroscopy in 2 months, but I felt no pain at all despite everything being red and inflamed. I would much rather have this process than having a wisdom tooth out or a difficult filling.

    As you are having sedation you will probably find things even easier than me. Good luck but, just remember it will feel very strange for a matter of minutes, then it's all over and you are immediately on your way to controlling or curing what is causing your reflux.

     

    • AmandaFA
      AmandaFA david05966

      Posted

      Hi David,

      Many thanks for getting back to me.  It is a big help to hear to positive stuff about these procedures after reading horror stories which does not help one bit and all it does it put me off.  I did ask if I could have the camera down my nose instead but that was a no as they need to use the one through the mouth instead to get a better look at everything so looks like I will just have to be brave and try and get it over and done with.  As you say its the only way to solve these kind of problems and I am sick of having acid reflux problems even after having medication for it for over 3 months!  I am hardly able to eat at the moment so it would be nice to get it sorted and enjoy a meal a some point.  Hope that you will be ok and your next endoscopy does well too.

      Take care,

      Amanda.

       

  • david05966
    david05966

    Posted

    No problem Amanda,

    Sorry you are having such problems with eating. What suprised me was that a diagnosis was made there and then (apart from any extra information from the biopsies), so you instantly know what is going on. In my mind, this is half the battle won. The worst part for me was coming off the omeprazole for two weeks before the gastroscopy, but I managed OK on a little bicarbonate of soda in water and Peptac (found cheaply online), also a little lemon juice in water helped if the heartburn/reflux worsened. I also worried about not being able to drink much water in the hours before the procedure as I tend to drink a lot, but it was fine in the end.

    Like anything the fear of the unknown and the knowledge that you are going to experience a strange feeling are worrying, but if someone like me who is scared of all things medical, including hospitals, can cope very well, then I am sure you can. Just see it as the final step to starting to get well and back to normal again!

  • valerie04081
    valerie04081 david05966

    Posted

    Yes you were right and nothing to worry about, have just arrived back from Blackpool hospital, staff kind and caring and like you throat spray and straight down the throat without any problems and have just had lunch no sore throat and do wish had not read the scary remarks about this procedure as it was a doddle. My tip is just relax and it will go down a dream.
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