Painful colonoscopy

Hold them to account Tom Peters! Hang um! :D

....If there should ever be a next time I have one of these procedures, I'll insist that my wife is present during the procedure.

Hang 'em, House? Bogger that. I'll get Mrs TP to hold 'im down while I insert the kit up his derrière. Eyes, smart, revenge....

Cant be long 'till a poster comes along with tales of a colonic explosion during the procedure 8)

Meanwhile, it looks like "ratemygastroenterologist dot com" is available as a website name

Sounds nasty, rex. They should be healin'em not helium.

I think there are a few techies here who might like to know about today's Royal Society live online thingy www.innovationdebate.com/ Good cast and I expect good stuff.

That website doesn't seem to be working.

Would one expect the best doctors to get the highest or lowest ranking based on their patients' reports?

Tough question.

I don't know why this system puts an emoticon after http. It is pretty, but odd.

Hi Tom,

The emoticon issue has been reported and is waiting for a fix along with other things. I do try and remove them as I go.

Alan

Hi, I had the worst experience ever having this colonoscopy... I had sedation thinking its going to be a breeze.. how wrong was I. I was told to lay on my left side and relax. The next thing I know I was in tears with agonising pain.. they gave me more sedation, that did not help and I had to tell them to stop it completely. I am a healthy 40 year old and have had a polyp removed under general anaesthetic a couple of months before this procedure. I am also still in pain three days after, they should give the option of a general anaesthetic..

Sorry to hear Susan about bad experience. There doesnt seem to be explanation why it is really bad for some, including me. I rarely have any pain tabs etc., so that isnt the reason. Perhaps the preparation treatment causes extra sensitivity to bowel for some. It was very painful for me and nurse advised dr to stop twice, eventually he did almost half way into proceedure. As am elderly and on own was to stay overnight but pain was so bad and wasnt written up for pain relief so discharged myself as couldnt wait for next drs round,

. Like you pains were bad. The sedation had no effect on me, did it effect you when given. I was relaxed at start as was confident all would be OK.First one I didnt see or feel anything. Best wishes for the future.

should I report this. I feel violated.. because they said I would be sedated and would not remember or FEEL ANY PAIN....THEY LIED...

Yes, they lied. That's what they do. I've looked at a large number of reputable forums including the USA, Australia, France and the UK and painful colonoscopies are quite common. They lied to me, too. If they lie about the pain then maybe they also lie about the risks. Personally I think it nothing short of an outrage and should be taken up by the GMC or Government.

The Fentalyn medication given so you forget doesnt seem to work as lots do remember in detail. You feel the pain but apparently cannot remember it. lol. This medication is given for other proceedures also. Best find out what dosage and type medication you had. May change it but not guaranteed to be OK. Looked it up after my painful proceedure. Doubt reporting will make any changes

osborne -- It's Fentanyl, not Fentalyn and it is not an hypnotic; it is a powerful opioid (morphine-like) anaesthetic used in major operations. Midazolam is the usual hypnotic that makes you feel relaxed and causes amnesia so you don't remember medium breakthrough pain. Midazolam does NOT succeed in making you forget really bad pain nor does it of itself act as a painkiller so the jury is out on the relationship between hypnotic, analgesic and anaesthetic in terms of the (albeit sub or unconscious) experience of any painful procedure. Dental procedure is to use local anaesthetic plus Midazolam. Colonoscopies most usually use Midazolam plus pethedine in the UK, or Fentanyl. Propofol, remember Michael Jackson?, is both an anaesthetic and an hypnotic but they have to watch costs and risks. It's not the cost of the drug per se, it's the cost of the staff needed to administer it, and the recovery costs - how long, what staff, how many couches in recovery,.... It is perfectly possible and safe to make colonoscopy completely painless just as it is to operate on nerves. But the procedures would take longer in recovery, so cost more.

My insurer, BUPA, is now denying my GI specialist the full payment for sedation, analgesia or anaesthesia. Could be that's why I had so much pain? I was told that by his medical secretary who suggested I ask for more if there's a next time.

I disagree about complaining. It is only by complaining that things will change. The reason we get pain is so they can cut costs. Period. End of.

susan, got medicine spelling wrong and effect, its apparently the midazolom that tends to make you forget. In my case both failed to help. sorry.

I read this forum thread a few weeks before my colonoscopy and needless to say

I was very worried about it having read all the painful experiences .

So much so I asked the consultant if I could have a general anaesthetic for the procedure . He was very against general anaesthetic explaining that a little bit of discomfort or pain is better during the procedure to avoid such things as perforating the Bowel etc

Yesterday I had the procedure and needless to say I was a bundle of nerves. The surgical doctor who performed it came beforehand and explained the procedure and potential risks, and said the most assuring thing , " I am here to check your bowels are ok , not to inflict pain , if at anytime the procedure hurts say so , and if it is too painful we can stop"

I felt I was in safe hands and am glad to say the whole experience was extremely well done . The sedation was not obvious and I watched the whole thing on the monitor , I felt no pain at all and only slight feeling that something was going on 'inside' .

Luckily nothing sinister was found and I was taken to recovery . The only pain experienced during the whole day was the trapped wind left after the procedure , which went after an hour of gently moving and walking around . Afterwards I was driven home and had a nice sleep for a couple of hours .

All in all , a very different experience to some of those posted , I hope this helps others worrying about it