One Strange Colonoscopy + Advice
#18905 - 08/28/03 04:02 PM
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sperry_twiggins
Reged: 01/30/03
Posts: 158
Loc: Beautiful Pacific Northwest
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Hello everybody,
You've all been so great about sharing your stories, I thought I'd share mine too.
I had my first colonoscopy yesterday. Well, I tried to have it. I guess about 10 minutes into it I began crying, writhing, and moaning, and finally told the doctor to "STOP." He did. Mercifully, I don't remember any of it. But now I have to reschedule the procedure in a hospital so he has access to a wider assortment of drugs, go through the day of fasting and ultra-extremo-lax (which, being D anyway, was way more than necessary for me), and lose another day and a half sitting on the crapper.
I seem to have this habit of making mountains out of molehills.
I don't want to scare any of you who haven't had your colonoscopies yet, since my results seem to be atypical, but I do have advice for you...
1. If you can fit a TV and VCR in your bathroom, it makes the time go faster and you don't get a crick in your neck like when you read a book.
2. Lemon-lime flavored sports drinks are better than Sprite for mixing with Fleet because you won't burp for hours afterwards. Plus, they contain stuff you'll need to avoid dehydration.
3. If you can find foam rubber for the toilet seat, your legs won't go to sleep. You can just throw it away afterwards.
4. Reading Harry Potter to the person giving you your IV will take your mind off what's going on. They usually can ignore you. (I got the Harry Potter idea from this board, by the way. Thanks!)
5. Memorize the locations of all the public restrooms on the route to the doctor's office, just in case.
6. Buy the softest toilet paper you can find. Just this once, don't get the cheap stuff in bulk at Costco.
7. Just in case you're the other person in the world who didn't find the colonoscopy a breeze, don't plan a dinner party for the next evening.
sperry_twiggins
Looking forward to the next go-round.
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I am so sorry you had this terrible experience. I don't mean to tell you what to do, but I'd be finding me another doctor ASAP. That's ridiculous! Has he never done this procedure before? He obviously didn't give you enough anesthesia. You should not have felt a thing! Do you have another GI doctor to go to? Call around and get references from other doctor's offices or nurses you know? Who would they use and trust? Good luck!
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I love ultra Charmin. It's one of the softest.
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Thanks for your concern, beaglelover. I was totally under anesthesia, but evidentally the sedative they give you is something that allows you to communicate while remembering nothing of the procedure.
It freaked me out a little, to know that I could be in so much distress and not "know" it. I actually respect the doctor more for stopping when I said so, even though I kinda wish he had just pressed on rather than have to go through it again. I've never known anyone who was a bigger whiner than me when it comes to medical/dental procedures. Now I know it even goes as far as my subconscious.
sperry_twiggins
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I woke up in the middle of my colonoscopy because of the intense pain at the top of my colon. I was grabbing my stomach and told them, "Give me more pain killer or something." I remember all this clearly. They gave me more, and I went to sleep again. After the procedure I found out that I have a "redundant colon"--apparently it does some loopy thing right across the top. You may have something like this. My doctor recommended I have the barium enema next time.
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It's funny you mention that. While I was waiting for the procedure, I was looking at the diagram of the GI tract up on the wall. No offense to God or anything, but what a crazy design! It's a wonder every human doesn't have some kind of bowel trouble going on.
A redundant colon! That's a good one. Thanks for letting me know I'm not the only one who had a tough time. It makes me feel better.
sperry_twiggins
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Oh Lord, I thought you meant he didn't put you to sleep. I would have been running, not walking, away from that doctor!
So you were talking in your sleep?
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When my doctor did my sigmoidoscopy, he said that I had very sharp turns in my colon, which made it hard to turn the scope in there. He said this is what caused more pain than normal during my sigmoidoscopy.
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- Jennifer
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Ditto that for me! He called mine a "pretzel colon". I don't remember a thing, though, if that puts anyone's mind at ease. 
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Take care,
Michelle
...the greatest of these is LOVE. (I Cor 13)
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Thanks for writing about your experience. I had my first colonoscopy about 4 years ago and am due for another. During the last one I awoke on the table with pain, and wondered afterwards why, but didn't get the chance to ask. I thought it was an "error," but am relieved to know, from your experience, that it probably was just a twisty turny type bowel. Ha! Makes me feel less nervous and more prepared for the next one.
I wonder if anyone else has had the experience of having their ibs actually start a month or two after having a colonoscopy. Probably coinicidence, but I've wondered.
Linda
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