Upper gastroscopy without sedation - it was ok!
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I had an upper gastroscopy today (UK) without sedation and just wanted to share my experience. I opted just for the numbing spray as I don't like needles or the feeling of being sedated and I had no choice but to drive myself home anyway! I was a bit nervous but I thought it couldn't be any worse than giving birth or having wisdom teeth removed!!
First the nurse went through my forms and told me what would happen. I then had to swallow some infacol to settle any gas in the stomach. I then had a spray in the nose to open the nasal passage b
- this tasted horrible but was just like a nose spray that you sniff back. Once in the procedure room they talk through why youve been referred, i then had to lie down while they gave me another nasal nu
spray, this one to numb the nose. This tasted vile as it dripped down my throat but was ok after a couple of sniffs. They try to go through the nose with the tube if they can so I laid on my left side and they tried to put the tube through my nose. As it turned out my nose is too small so they then sprayed my throat a couple of times and put a mouth guard in and went via my throat. I gagged a few times when they put the tube in which wasn't pleasant at all but this was the worst bit. I can see how some people may panic at this point but the nurse was fantastic and really reassuring. I just focused on my breathing and stared at a poster on the wall the whole time and it was bearable after that. It felt weird when they put air in my stomach and I'd say it feels worse when the tube came out, not painful at all, just weird. The whole thing was 5 mins at most. Afterwards my throat was still numb for about half an hour but I could still talk and went home after a few minutes.
My throat hurt for a few hours afterwards but doesn't really hurt now (6 hours later). It really wasn't as bad as I imagined.
Everyone has to make their own choice. I'm not sure bring sedated would have made much difference to me personally but if you are really really nervous and don't mind being sedated then it might be a good choice for you. But for me it was ok having just the nose/throat spray.
0 likes, 1 reply
Fidonips15 amy11460
Posted
Thank you for writing about your experience Amy, I like you, have no choice but to drive myself and I have been getting more and more anxious about not having sedation when I go for gastroscopy in 5 days time. What you have said is really helpful and has calmed me down a bit, I can't wait for it to be over.