Unbearable throat and ear pain after endoscopy

I think it is an infection! But I didn't realise the side effects of the procedure would be this bad.

Haven't eaten properly since the night before the procedure. I tried to have some soup and porridge later on, but even that gave me the worst burning sensation, in my throat and ears! I think I'll have to go a&e. Thank you for your help!

Good luck! Come back and tell us all the outcome if you can.

Another possibility that occurs to me is that it may be a coincidental viral infection, not connected in any way with the procedure. I can't see any way gastroscopy could actually cause an infection, even though it is possible for it to cause physical damage.

There is something very nasty circulating in the UK at the moment. I got home from there on Friday evening, fit as a fiddle, but within six hours of arriving home I suddenly went down with a terrible sore throat. I travelled by train, not by air, so that's not the problem. By yesterday morning I had a severe headache, with pain in my ears, teeth and sinuses, and have hardly been able to swallow anything since. I too am very hungry at the moment, but losing a couple of kg won't hurt me!

Forgot to ask. Did you have sedation or just throat spray. If it was just the spray there's virtually zero chance they could have done you any damage as you would have felt it and protested, and they would have stopped the procedure. Unfortunately sedation is another matter...

I've noticed a bug that's going around I hope you feel better soon! I think it may be to do with the on/off weather too!

Also, I was sedated as well as given the throat spray. Would my sore throat be a possible side effect from the sedation?

I just got back from a&e (after 7 and a half hours), they gave me a steroid injection, Difflam spray/oral wash, and some Co-Dydramol tablets. Really hope it works!

Hope you're soon feeling better Tara. I'm sure the steroid injection will help.

The reason for the question about sedation is that some people struggle violently under it and have to be restrained in order to complete the procedure. This can indeed lead to injuries (and shouldn't be allowed in my opinion, both as a former nurse and a patient who's suffered this.) You need to understand what happens in this sedation - which is often called "conscious sedation", and with good reason.

I know most people come out of it with no memory whatever of what happened, which makes them think they've been out cold, like under GA. But that's generally not the case. The main effect of the cocktail of drugs used is to wipe out all memory of the procedure, rather than render the patient unconscious during it.

In a small proportion of us the drugs can have the effect of depressing our higher centres (which would help us to cooperate) leaving the animalistic "fight or flight" brain in charge. Staff will then restrain the violently resisting patient, on the assumption that they won't remember any of this afterwards, even though they are to all intents and purposes wide awake at the time. I suppose this attitude is kindly meant, as it results in getting the procedure over with as quickly as possible, but in my nursing days I was always concerned that it felt like an assault.

This is actually what happened to me during an endoscopy performed four years ago. There was a further complication in my case, in that the amnestic effect of the sedation didn't work either, and I remembered the whole thing afterwards - including the six people holding me down and my wanting to gouge out the nurse's eyes! This was probably down to the fact that over-65s are only given a half-dose of sedation because of possible cardiac and respiratory depression.

If you ever need to have another endoscopy I'd strongly suggest going for throat spray only. That way, if you do struggle or protest the staff will stop the procedure immediately, for fear you might bring an assault charge against them. I have to admit to being so traumatised by my own procedure that if I ever had to have it done again I'd insist on a full GA! Fortunately our health service allows us to elect to do it this way and just pay for the costs of the GA.

I'm sure no serious damage has been done, and your symptoms will subside in a few days. However, if they don't you should return to a doctor again to get this documented. I think it's high time this procedure of restraint under conscious sedation - which no doctor would ever admit to, by the way - was stopped.

Were you given the throat spray alongside being sedated?

Also, I do remember some of the procedure and remember trying to scream in pain, with a nurse wiping my tears and telling me to calm down! I went in feeling very confident but ended up having an extremely negative experience. In future, I think i'll just go solely with the throat spray and bare the pain for a few minutes.

The steroids hasn't really worked. Good news is that I managed to forced some bland spaghetti today! (With water). It was horrible but feeling full again after 5 days feels great! Again, thank you for your help

Yes, I did get a couple of puffs of throat spray before the sedation went in, but not the full dose you get if you don't have sedation.

I'm really sorry you had to go through this experience. I think that if the patient is struggling and trying to stop the procedure then it should be stopped, regardless of whether they've had sedation or not. I realise that the down side of this is that the person would end up not having the procedure done at all in this case. Many people have contributed to these boards saying they were glad they were restrained and the endoscopy forcibly completed, as that got it over with quickly. However, I think some kind of informed consent to restraint should be given prior to the procedure, even at the risk of scaring people off. Forewarned is forearmed. It would be safer for the medical staff too. Sooner or later someone will bring an assault charge and the whole situation will have to be reviewed.

There are of course cases where a patient needs to be restrained in order for a procedure to be forcibly completed, but in my opinion this should be confined to events where their life is in danger. An example would be a badly injured person being extracted from a car wreck. But speaking as someone who's experienced endoscopy from both sides, I don't think there's any justification for forcing the scope into a violently struggling patient for a routine examination, with all the risks of injury that entails - to both patient and staff by the way!

Anyway, I'm glad you're on the road to recovery. You clearly didn't suffer any serious injury or you'd know about it by now. But if you have to have another endoscopy, I'd strongly advise you to avoid sedation. It suits some people more than others, and you're clearly in the group that reacts badly to it. Oh and finally, my flu bug is clearing up in record time. Apart from a persistent throat tickle, I no longer feel death would be a welcome release!

I'm sorry to hear that you're going through the same pain... It's extremely horrible isn't it! You should go to see a doctor, or to a&e if its really bad. I spend nearly 8 hours last night in the hospita, but I feel a lot more reassured knowing that it may go in a few days... we have to give it time and just bare the pain somehow.

Meanwhile, try taking 2 paracetamols 4 times a day to ease the pain, and buy some throat spray/wash. Try not to eat solid foods on it's own as it could further irritate the throat. I know it's hard but hopefully you'll be fine.

Let me know how you're feeling!

Also, if your Uvula has elongated/swollen and turned white then I think that should be checked out just to rule any infections out.

Hello! It's nice to hear you're doing fine :D Thanks for the tips though! The sore throat wash and lozenges helped in numbing the pain. I developed a back pain and this throat tightness feeling/feels like there's something stuck in my throat. My chest feels heavy too especially when i try deep breathing Is it a good idea to go to the hospital? I'm tired of going back and forth, just wanted this all to end.

Hopefully we'll get through this! Best of luck to you Tara!

Hmm if pain is spreading into the rest of your body then it would be best to get it checked out. If your chest feels heavy and you're experiencing a tight throat sensation, then I'd strongly recommend that you see a doctor or go to the hospital. Unfortunately going back and forth may be the only option right now, just to be on the safe side!

Maybe try and call NHS 111 and see what advice they give?

Hope you feel better again soon

Hi again! I'm trying to test it out if it's from the stress that's why I'm experiencing these on-going "side effects". I haven't been to the doctors yet but I will eventually if it gets worse (hopefully not!). Thanks for the advices though, Tara! I truly appreciate the talk and the help. How are you faring btw? Hope everything's going okay!

Hi! Hope you are well....

It's been a while so I was just wondering whether there was any progress and if you feeling any better than before??

I'm feeling better now and I guess I was just one of the unlucky patients who suffer the worst side effects!

Glad to hear you've recovered, Tara!

Oh hi again, Tara! I was in the same situation as you It just got better with time, though my symptoms lasted around 2 weeks. I'm so glad we got through those horrible side effects haha! Wishing you the best of luck in life!

Bet those 2 weeks felt like months! Glad you feel better now! And thank you, you too take care!