Upper Gastroscopy/Endoscopy Without Sedation

Fal, gastroscopy can be unpleasant for various reasons but very few people actually vomit during or after the procedure. I'm speaking both as a former nurse and someone who also had a bad experience during gastroscopy - but which didn't involve any vomiting.

If you've never been sick in your life, this suggests that you're one of those people who don't vomit easily anyway. I'm the same. I've only thrown up a handful of times in my whole adult life (I'm 72!) in spite of having had some horrific attacks of food poisoning when I lived in the Far East. In some of these I used to feel so sick I longed to throw up but it never happened!

The main reason for vomiting during or after endoscopy is failure to observe the usual instruction not to eat anything and only to drink small sips of water from the night before the procedure. People who are having the examination because their stomachs don't empty properly may also vomit, but then they vomit frequently anyway as a symptom of their condition, so you clearly don't fall into that category.

This really isn't a reason for not having the investigation. If your stomach is empty there'll be nothing to vomit up.

Thank you for your quick reply. Apart from the vomiting I'm generally terrified of hospitals and operations etc. If it's decided it's essential I have the procedure I'll have to go for the sedation route. What people say about people being held down sounds horrific.

Actually, very few people who go for sedation retain any memory of the procedure, even those who were very nervous went they went in. It's mainly the over-65s like me who recall the whole thing, because they're not allowed to give us a full dose of sedation. But even most older people recall nothing. The unpleasantness in my own case, which you may have read about somewhere in this forum, was down to a combination of age-related inadequate sedation plus the fact that the doctors refused to believe I'd swallowed my denture three weeks earlier. When they got as far as my throat and saw it embedded in the tissues, they panicked and pushed ahead anyway.

You'll be absolutely fine if you opt for sedation. Don't forget to come back here and tell us all how you got on!

I opted for no sedation, just throat spray - bearing in mind the reason I was there, was that I was been sick throughout my waking hours, randomly and in my profession, very untimely.

It takes 5 minutes and it isnt pleasant but I assure you, follow the nurses instructions and you will be fine. After I had mine, I took 10 minutes just to get back to normal, then I actually decided I would walk home, around a 40 minute trek.

That night I went to my local and had a few beers with my friends, actually relaxed in the knowledge they had found nothing sinister.

My advice, just go ahead and dont worry, Ive done things in my life far worse than this.

That sounds terrible. I'm glad you're ok now. I'm 63 and generally healthy so I'll check and if they can give me full sedation that might convince me to go ahead.

I will report back with the outcome.

The sedation may or may not work; didn't work for me and the test was abandoned. I went to the main hospital to have it repeated with stronger stuff and I remember nothing. It was much more pleasant to go in as a half day patient I found, but it is different for everyone x

Unfortunately I'm pessimistic that I'll have a bad experience like some have experienced so I will request full sedation. How long does the anaesthetic take to wear off? I'll allocate the whole day for the procedure so time won't be a problem. How long does it take to get the results?

I didn't have sedation, just throat numbing spray. I remember when I came out, there were many who took the sedation route and they were all asleep or were in a drunk-like state; thus I was glad of my choice.

The sedation had no effect on me, so I can't talk personally, but most people come out of it within a few minutes. However, you won't be able to drive yourself home afterwards, just in case it kicks in again. Most people stay in the hospital for just an hour or two afterwards.

Thanks for all the feedback on different experiences. I've had my appointment and it's a bronchoscopy I need. Don't know if that's better or worse but was told I will be sedated and can't drive afterwards.

Aha! I agree, the terminology can be confusing. An endoscopy is an examination (with or without surgery) of any body cavity etc. Hence gastroscopy for inspecting the stomach etc., colonoscopy for the lower bowel, bronchoscopy for the airways; also things like laparoscopy (for keyhole surgery within the abdomen) and arthroscopy (ditto for joints). Endoscopy is the generic term for all of them. But if you look up the word on a US-based medical site, more often than not it will define it as examination of the digestive tract. Don't know why they do that.

Good luck with your bronchoscopy anyway. From the patient's point of view it's little different from a gastroscopy (which is what we've all been talking about here) but without the risk of vomiting. The sedation will be the same as for gastroscopy too. 

Hello Fal, I had an endoscopy and was worried sick before hand.

You might like to take a look at my experiences, hopefully it will help.

I was booked in for this following my blood iron levels falling off a cliff, leading to some unpleasant symptoms.

It was carried out up in the Highlands. The team there can only be described as excellent. There was a briefing covering all the important bits first.

I was worried about being sick during the process, I gag sometimes when cleaning my teeth. However, that's not going to happen.

One thing to remember is that you have to concentrate on your breathing, because you can't breathe and gag at the same time. But you will be told that.

I was given the throat spray, because that's what they use there.

I would have preferred the sedation, but as it turned out the spray was fine, possibly better.

A squirt at the back of the throat, swallow what's left to numb as much of the throat as possible, lie down on the bed, and have the mouth guard fitted.

The camera tube, which isn't very thick, about the size of a finger, is fitted through the guard. The next bit is to swallow hard as it is passed down into the throat. This was the unpleasant bit. It took me two goes, but then the doctor said, ok, it's in, just relax for a moment.

While it went down into my stomach, I just lay there, concentrating on the breathing. It did not hurt, just a very slight tug when the biopsy was taken from the duodenum. Next thing I knew, it was being removed. You can hardly feel it inside at all.

It does not take very long, you are not having to recover from the sedation afterwards, a rest with a cup of tea and you are on your way.

While it is not pleasant, it's not half as bad as I had feared.

It shows up any internal problems, in my case, gastritis that was bleeding, but has now, hopefully, been fixed.

 If I had to do it again, I would go for the spray every time.

I'm very nervous about these things, but I managed ok and if you go for it, you will too!

Sorry Fal, I didn't see your latest question. For some reason, the site didn't notify me.

Well, the tube doesn't go into your stomach, which is what causes a lot of the problems. But you'll still be told not to eat or drink anything (except maybe a few sips of plain water) after midnight the night before.

The main difference between gastroscopy and bronchoscopy is that you'll almost certainly be given a sedative for the latter, so you don't need to worry about your reaction.