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painful sigmoidoscopy

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Had Sigmoidoscopy yesterday and would need to be dragged kicking and screaming before having another! The hospital staff were lovely, I was given an enema before the doctor came to speak to me about what he was about to do. He was very nice and reassuring so up to then, all was going well. Then I was taken to the treatment room where I was asked to lie on my left side on a bed which had sides on (to prevent escape ha ha) and the procedure started. Boy oh boy, the pain I experienced was terrible cramping all over my abdomen like I had never experienced before (even child birth wasn't as bad as this). The nurses kept reassuring me and asking me to take deep slow breaths but this did not help and eventually having been unable to cope with it anymore, the doctor agreed to stop but did take two biopsies. However, because it was too painful for me to allow him to go any further, he said he was 20cm short of where he wanted to see. Now heres the question. Why on earth don't they just put the patient under total sedation? This way no pain is caused to them, the doctor can look at the area he needs to see and all in all, every one happy. It seems a waste of time to me to put people through such agony when there is a simple solution. The doctor is unable to perform a full examination because it is too painful for the patient so its not cost effective, its cruel and its a waste of everyones time!

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  • TheLifeOfBrian
    TheLifeOfBrian Guest

    Edited

    Hi

    firstly, on reading through the replies here I think it's worth noting that to say that this procedure *is* or *is not* painful is nonsense. All anyone can do is post their own experience and hope that others will show respect and not be dismissive.

    For those whose sigmoidoscopies went well, I am really very pleased for you and, given that all of the leaflets and advice is that the procedure isn't painful, it certainly gives hope that anyone else waiting for this shouldn't have anything to worry about smile

    When I was told I needed this I was asked during my consultation if I wanted sedation. As I was being repeatedly told that the procedure isn't painful, I declined.

    Two lovely ladies that I work with have both had it done and neither experienced any pain whatsoever, which made me feel really confident about the procedure being simple and pain free.

    I had read up on forums and could see that some people experienced pain and, I'll be honest, I thought the posters were drama queens and maybe a bit of crank, because I was so assured that it was painless. Which makes my posting this difficult, because I am sure some people reading it will think I am a drama queen or a bit of a crank!

    On the day of the procedure I walked down to the room with a nurse and, again, was offered sedation, which I refused. Why would anyone need sedation for a pain free procedure?

    The nurse then said that they would give me gas & air. It was at this point I realised that, despite all assurances to the contrary, this procedure was not going to a walk in the park.

    I have given birth twice and pride myself in the fact that my son was born in two hours and my daughter in one hour- and that's from the START of labour. Yes, it was painful, but I coped on gas & air, so I don't count myself a person with a low pain threshold or someone who likes to create a drama where one doesn't exist.

    To be offered gas & air was confusing.

    However, the nurse told me to take ten breaths on the gas & air before the consultant was even ready to begin. The consultant 'corrected' her and said I needed to take at least fifteen breaths before he began.

    Despite the fact I was feeling confident that the procedure would be painless and despite the fact I was high on gas & air, this was extremely painful. Enough to make me cry and cry out. At one point the consultant paused until I could stop crying out.

    I don't know what the cause of the pain was. The pain was not for the whole twenty minutes, but at certain points, so I don't know if it was he hit a bend in the bowel or what, but it hurt like hell.

    I am more upset that it hurt after being assured it would not, and the girls I work with insist that they did not have sedation and they had no pain. The only difference that they seem to have in their procedure is that they were on a moving table that tilted and I was not. I don’t know if that makes such a marked difference in the reduction of pain experienced, but surely if it did then the powers that be would have cottoned on to that and we’d all have magical tilty tables.

    Another important thing to note is the hell of the movieprep. I started to drink this at 5pm as instructed and, going by the leaflet, expected it all to be over by 11pm. However, the ‘movement’ began at around 8pm didn’t end until around 5:30am, meaning I had no sleep at all. By 11pm it was like shards of glass ripping me open and I was bleeding, so for 6 ½ hours I was in a lot of pain every time I went to the loo. THIS you are not warned about. On the day of the procedure another lady was having the same thing done, but she hadn’t taken her movieprep (not her fault) so the hospital gave her an enema, which was all over in an hour. I wish I had been given the choice of an enema rather than having to go through so much with the movieprep.

    From the start of taking the movieprep, which is also a thick salty vile thing to drink that makes you baulk, to the moment the scope was removed was the worst and most traumatic experience of my life- and that includes childbirth.

    I am upset with myself I feel there is something mentally wrong with me to experience such extreme pain where other people have had none. I have asked the nurse why I felt such pain, but the answer that ‘everyone is different’ is hardly satisfactory.

    The reason I am posting this is so that anyone reading this BEFORE their procedure makes the ‘safe’ choice and accepts sedation, and for anyone reading AFTER a painful procedure to know that you’re not alone and others have felt the same pain.

    • Dor
      Dor TheLifeOfBrian

      Posted

      I am so sorry to hear someone else had a diabolical situation with flexible sigmoidoscopy.  If it is any consolation I had an enema at home before the procedure and at the hospital I had sedation and was still in absolute agony!  I have been advised recently that it can depend on what bowel condition they find which is crucial to the level of pain.  I have diverticular disease which I knew before the procedure but had no idea that this is one of the conditions which can cause extreme pain.  Had I known this prior to having the sigmoidoscopy I would have asked for sedation which knocks a person out during the awful procedure which has scarred me considerably.  The staff can give strong sedation but the recovery time mucks up the schedule of patients to get through in the day.  So basically at my local hospital numbers of patients through the system is more important than individual patient care.  I was rushed out of the building even though I had diarrhoea after the procudure and was told to get a cup of tea from the cafe!  The cramps were awful after but the worse thing was the actual sigmoidoscopy and apparently it should be stopped if the patient is in extereme pain.  The sedation I had was so little it would not have touched a mouse let alone me and there was no gas and air.  The nurse at my side was lovely but the specialist nurse who did the procedure did not care about me and barely said anything except to tell me where the diverticuli were, which I did not care about one iota as the pain was like a knife twisting inside me.  No way with I have any bowel examination without being knocked out in future.  I too felt a woose taking sedation but I would have asked for heavy duty stuff had I known how bad it would be.  "Life of Brian" in no way were you a woose and neither was I or the others who have posted nightmare scenarios. This is a dreadful procedure for many and if your GP has an idea of your condition they should warn you before having this barbaric procedure performed and as in my case request to be given stronger sedation which makes you unaware of the whole thing - as it can be done!  I hope you are now well and nothing too serious was found, if anything that is the only blessing.  In this day and age patient comfort should come first over hospital targets.
    • TheLifeOfBrian
      TheLifeOfBrian Dor

      Posted

      Thanks Dor. I'm sorry you went through that, hopefully we'll never have to again x
    • Dor
      Dor TheLifeOfBrian

      Posted

      Thank you.  I hope neither of us nor others have to go through this in pain again.  At least we are now forewarned as to what to expect and request to be knocked out if we require this or a colonoscopy in future.

      Many best wishes, Dor x 

    • andy_62876
      andy_62876 TheLifeOfBrian

      Posted

      Sorry to hear that, but your experience is not typical. I'd also point out that a lot of people come onto these forums looking for a bit of reassurance about a necessary procedure they are worried about, and may go away reading posts like this feeling like they want to back out - something that in a tiny minority of cases may be the difference in finding something early when its treatable.

      People from the UK also visit this forum and sedation is not an option commonly offered through the NHS - I wasn't even offered gas or air,  and in honesty would not have really needed it.

      Please try to think of the impact long stories of angst might have.

    • NHS_Survivor
      NHS_Survivor andy_62876

      Posted

      YOU WERE JUST VERY LUCKY,  BY POSTING COMENTS LIKE YOU HAVE YOU ARE NOT BEING REALISTIC AS TO THE MAJORITY OF PATIENTS THAT UNDERGO THIS.

      AS A WOMAN I HAVE HAD TO HAVE THIS PROCEDURE 3 TIMES NOW AND CAN SAY WORSE THAN CHILDBIRTH.

      I WAS BEGGING THE DOCTOR TO STOP AS WAS DRIPPING WITH SWEAT AT THE PAIN I HAD TO ENDURE.

      I WOULD RECOMMEND THAT THESE DOCTORS WHO PERFORM THESE TESTS HVE TO FIRST UNDERGO ONE THEMSELVES AND MAYBE THEN THEY WOULD BE MORE RECEPTIVE TO WHAT THEY ARE PUTTING PEOPLE THROUGH, AS MOST OF US HAVE NORMAL BOWELS AND SUFFER A GOOD DEAL AT THIS PROCEDURE.

      SO ANYONE GOING,,, NATURALLY I HOPE YOU ARE IN THE MINORITY OF PATIENTS WHO CAN STAND IT, BUT ALSO BE AWARE YOU PROBABLY WONT BE AND BE LIKE THE REMAINDER OF US NORMAL BOWELLED PEOPLE.....

    • catgirlshirl.
      catgirlshirl. NHS_Survivor

      Posted

      I agree I had to stop mine as was to painful . And I have given birth 5 times with no pain relief . Would never have another without sedition.
    • jane06268
      jane06268 catgirlshirl.

      Posted

      Ihad mine done last night 6pm got so upset waiting for this appointment,had it done at nnuh in the uk,took less than ten minutes,offered entonox, didnt need it,bit uncomfotable when they blow in the gas, all that worry for nothing had a flexi sig,watched it all on camera, self enema, 2 hrs before i left for hospital, mine was quick, pain free,and everything came back negative.stomach scan tomorrow,in regards to ibs and bloating.sorry to hear your experience,dont know why that happened. xx
    • joe10258
      joe10258 andy_62876

      Posted

      I can only imagine that andy would prefer to be lied to and be told that no one has any discomfort.  I basically went in for this procedure relaxed and not anticipating anything of discomfort.  Now that I have been lied to, I have no reason to trust any doctor's word.

    • Rockshell73
      Rockshell73 TheLifeOfBrian

      Posted

      Thank you for such an honest post, I really wish I'd of found this forum yesterday! To be honest I was fairly confident, I've had 3 children which I didn't find too painful, I have and generally have a good tolerance to pain.

      They told me it was a quick 5 minutes painless procedure so opted for no sedation, boy oh boy this was a huge mistake!

      I thought it was going to be a walk in the park and I was wrong,

      As soon as the camera hit my bowel I was screaming in pain.. The air was excruciating! They asked be to try breathing and please stop screaming, it was actually so unbearable I thought I was going to pass out.

      Unfortunately they had to stop 20cm in with another 30 to go.

      I felt like I was a complete wimp.

      I asked the nurse after if it was supposed to be that painful and she said no.. Perhaps I had some lesions up there in my bowel from a nasty accident I had 3 years ago impaling myself on the spike of a chair.

      I can honestly say they will have to knock me out with an anaesthetic before I go through this pain again.

  • mucklebones
    mucklebones Guest

    Posted

    I went for a sigmoidoscopy this morning, I was looking forward to the lead role in my own movie, being told it was possible for some minimal discomfort I had hoped to watch the lot. After about 2 minutes I was shouting for the gas and air, I had some acute bends which did not help but jeeebas I was not expecting that sort of pain. It was really unbearable. I managed with gas and air but there were still some moments of excrutiating pain. Hopefully never again.
    • TheLifeOfBrian
      TheLifeOfBrian mucklebones

      Posted

      Sorry to hear about another painful one sad

      Hope they didn't find anything to worry about and you'll never have to go through it again.

      Thanks for sharing your experience, because I really do think it helps others to know they're not alone- or hopefully warn others who are about to have it so they make the wise choice of being sedated.

    • mucklebones
      mucklebones TheLifeOfBrian

      Posted

      Thankfully all was normal, although unfortunately the pain I am experiencing is still unexplained. 

      The lady did say that women do tend to have more acute bends which can make it more painful but I also found the position on the bed might have not helped, perhaps lying flatter might have made it easier. I dont know, but I would definitely opt for that if I ever had to experience it again but I would also request gas and air from the word go :D

    • TheLifeOfBrian
      TheLifeOfBrian mucklebones

      Posted

      Glad all was normal (though if you're like me, you'll be thinking 'I put myself through that hell for nothing?!' lol)

      Two ladies I know have had it done and said it was pain free. The only difference they have stated is that they were on a bed that tilted throughout the procedure.

      You would think that if a tilty bed made so much difference, everyone would have that, so I don't know if it's just coincidence.

    • NHS_Survivor
      NHS_Survivor TheLifeOfBrian

      Posted

      Think you may find that these two ladies in fact had barium enemas,  I have had both, signoidoscopy and the barium ones, and barium does have one on a tilting table,  to put it crudely a tube is inserted into the rectum and white liquid is pumped into the bowell,  it is by no means as excrutiating as he sigmoidoscopies are.   I was tilted in many different positions allowing the stuff to completely fill my bowell for xrays, a little air only is let in, unlike the torturous Sigmoidoscopies.
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