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endoscopy

christine77

christine77

New Member
need some help - if on monday when i next see my consultant if have lost the weight i will be booked in for a endoscopy - but every time i mention to someone about the endoscopy i get told make sure you get the sedation and thats it.

so what exactly happens and what are the choices about sedation and do i need to let them know before hand . im a tough old bird and can handle pain so do i really need to be sedated?

please give me some truthful advice and experiences , i would rather know what im letting myself in for - oh yeah and is my consultant there or does he just get the results sent to him
 
i heard its not very nice - and that its uncomfortable rather than painful - however i would imagine everyone is different regards to pain and comfy threshold!!!

i personally am a panic person and might not cope with something going down my throat...
 
Hi Christine I had an endoscopy at SRH and Mr Balpuri was present. I only had the throat spray and no sedation. I found it very traumatic with the feeling of not being able to breathe at times, the second worst was the constant gagging but the worst was when he was looking around the stomach and it felt like a wriggly worm. Honestly if I had to have it again I would have sedation. But I wanted to get out asap lol

Jx
 
Christine, my experience wasn't pleasant but I insisted on sedation. It didn't totally knock me out but helped me get the tube down. I didn't find it at all painful just extremely unpleasant & as I have a high gag reflux (so bad I have problems cleaning my teeth) I was totally panic stricken.

That's my honest experience.
 
have the sedation and the spray. it doesnt hurt it only takes a few minutes its a doddle nothing like you expect it to be. ive had 3.
 
I had an endoscopy recently for the first time. Basically it went like this.
Firstly you can't have anything to eat or drink for 12hrs before the procedure, so they usually give you an appointment early in the morning.
On arrival at the ward I had my blood pressure and pulse checked by a nurse, who ran me through a checklist of questions and then explained the procedure to me.
Back to the waiting room for a while and then they took me into a room with the doctor and 4 nurses. I also had a consultant in there as the doctor was a trainee (just my luck lol).
you sit on the bed and the doctor sprays your throat twice with a not very pleasant banana tasting spray. Then he leaves it for a couple of minutes to numb your throat. In the meantime the nurses put a gadget on your finger to monitor you. You lay down and turn on your side. There is a nurse standing at your head and another at the end of the table.
The nurse puts your mouthgard in and then the doctor inserts the tube, which has a light at the end of it. I personally didn't find the part where it goes down the throat to be the worst. It was when they pushed it down further into the stomach. Everytime they moved the tube it seemed to hurt on one side of my throat.
Then they pump air down the tube into your stomach so that it inflates and the doctor can view it easily. The air makes you belch and wretch. Unfortunately that makes the air come out so they have to do it again.
Sometimes the doctor will take a biopsy from your stomach for testing. You can't feel it.
I kept wretching the entire time so it took about 15 mins for them to complete the procedure. The entire time the nurse was stroking my hair and calming me down, whilst the other nurse held my hands.
Eventually the doctor pulled the tube out and they sat me up. I needed a couple of minutes to recover, after which the doctor told me what he'd seen. Then they took me to a waiting room where I had to sit for 15 mins to wait for the numbness to wear off in my throat. Then they give you a cup of tea and some biscuits. Once you've had that a nurse gives you a leaflet about any possible complications and discharges you.

If you have sedation you are there for longer and someone has to come and take you home. I didn't have anyone who could do that which is why I just had the throat spray.
I suppose it's like childbirth in that the memory of how horrible it was fades away. Only I don't have the benefit of a cute little baby lol.

I won't lie to you. I found the procedure to be very unpleasant. But it's not really painful and in reality it is over fairly quickly. If I had it again I would insist on the sedation though.

Think of it this way. It's not a great experience but it's taking you one step further to getting weight loss surgery. The staff are very experienced and do hundreds of these procedures. Also, you're basically getting a free MOT on the nhs. I found out I had gastritis and a hernia and am now taking lansoprazole.
 
My endoscopy at Sunderland was awful. Sorry and I don't want to frighten anyone, but you asked me to be honest.
I asked for the sedation: you can choose when you get there by the way. I think it was Mr Balapuri doing the endoscopy.

I had the sedation: but I still felt totally wide awake: I had the throat spray too: I gagged and retched and pulled the wretched tube out! They had a second go: same result. :cry:Unfortunately I think I had just enough sedation to make me a very naughty girl and not co-operate, and the experience fed back to some bad childhood memories too.:cry::cry::cry:

When I came around in the recovery and asked had the endoscopy been done, I was shocked they said,"no":( I must have been more sedated than I thought, but not enough!
So I begged them to do it again; they really weren't happy (as pulling the tube out is dangerous :eek:) but because I'd driven all the way from Harrogate (well, been driven) they did.
They gave me even more sedation; did it again and wheeled about 10 more people in to hold me down...and they had to! Because I fought AGAIN! But it was 3rd time lucky!

It doesn't hurt at all. But I hate having anything in my mouth, let alone down my throat, and I just gag and retch and basically embarass myself!:eek:

I hope this helps but doesn't upset or terrify you Christine. Have the sedation, have the spray, have anything going! Oh and just to reassure you: a lady having it done the same time as me, who was terrified, also had the sedation (I was calming her down in the waiting room, LOL) came round and couldn't remember a thing!
 
I have had x 10 endoscopy's the first one was so traumatic I was told it only takes about 20 minutes.... I was given the sedation and they were down my throat over an hour, I was so traumatised by this, as what they went down to do they weren't able to that day so they gave up, this was a friday and i was told to go back and they would try again monday!! OMG I was not looking ofrward to that, the main problem was the constrant trying to wretch and gag, not being able to breath through my mouth and the air they pumped into you after the long time they were down was so painful my tummy was like a balloon.
To be fair the docctor who did that one for me was a junior and my own consultant did it the second time around and he told me to have the spray as well as the sedation and this really did make a difference with the gagging and although it is not a nice procedure it is much better using Both the spray and sedation oh and the little sleep afterwards is nice..............

Hope you get on ok!!
 
thats it i'm running for the hills - yeah right like i could run anywhere !!!!..

no i was anticpating it wouldnt be pleasent and i am really greateful for you all being honest with me. my attitude is that its just one more hurdle and then im on the waiting list and the 'home stretch' as such.

although i was just thinking pop and get it done and straight back to work - maybe i will put a holiday in instead.

thanks everyone your advice is fab as always xxxxxxxxxxx
 
christine77 said:
thats it i'm running for the hills - yeah right like i could run anywhere !!!!..

no i was anticpating it wouldnt be pleasent and i am really greateful for you all being honest with me. my attitude is that its just one more hurdle and then im on the waiting list and the 'home stretch' as such.

although i was just thinking pop and get it done and straight back to work - maybe i will put a holiday in instead.

thanks everyone your advice is fab as always xxxxxxxxxxx
Click to expand...

Chris the thing is this: even after 2 failed attempts because I was so
unco-operative - it was ME who begged them to try for the third time!
WHY? because like you I regarded it as a hurdle I HAD to jump before surgery would be allowed. And I was more desperate for the surgery than afraid of the endoscopy, even after the bad time I had.
Book at least one day off, make sure you have someone with you,(they need someone to take you home after sedation), have all the hep you can, and hopefully, you will breeze through it and not even remember it! I truly hope so. xxxx
 
christine77 said:
need some help - if on monday when i next see my consultant if have lost the weight i will be booked in for a endoscopy - but every time i mention to someone about the endoscopy i get told make sure you get the sedation and thats it.

oh yes get the sedation, i had it with out Mr B. at S/land did mine it was the most awfull exp ever, id rather give birth, im not trying to scare you but i am being truthful, its very unpleasant.

so what exactly happens and what are the choices about sedation and do i need to let them know before hand . im a tough old bird and can handle pain so do i really need to be sedated?

theres 2 choices throat spray only which i had, never again i tell ya :eek: Or throoat spray and sedation, take the 2nd choice, i tryed to brave and i regreted it.

please give me some truthful advice and experiences , i would rather know what im letting myself in for - oh yeah and is my consultant there or does he just get the results sent to him
Click to expand...

u will be asked to lay on a bed once the throat has been sprayed a nurse holds down your head at the top of the bed they put a bit in between your teeth to stop u biting your tounge, then they will proceed to put down the camera, u have to swallow on there request, the gag reflex is normal but unpleasant, this all lasts about 5 mins while the cameras down, usually the results are given before you leave, you will need some one with you if you chose sedation. Good luck hun xx
 
OMG I'm having my endoscopy in a few weeks. I have no pain threshold at all, I'm such a baby, but like you all said it's one step closer to surgery, we'll be brave together Chris, Karen x
 
I echo the above from when i had an endoscopy...the throat spray was the worst for me i gagged and then thought i was going to be sick so they had to grab a bowl. With the sedation the actual tube going in and moving was fine and i was a bit groggy and said some strange things after the sedation!
 
My advice is please try to be calm. I got myself in such a state that it just made things worse for myself. I know its easier said than done but just try.

I felt right as rain the same day & could have gone back to work. It was the next day that I felt really groggy & in pain with what must have been from the trapped wind. In all honesty the sedative didn't really work but if they'd told me running down Chester Road naked would make things easier I'd have done it!! Ha, ha!! So take it & the throat spray!!

Good Luck
 
I had an endoscopy on Tuesday 14th September. I had the throat spray and sedation. I remember thinking at the time of the endoscopy that I was going to remember it. To be honest it's all very patchy. I don't remember seeing the camera, I don't know if I fell asleep, I remember it feeling uncomfortable on my throat and in my stomach, I don't remember gagging and I don't remember the doctor taking the camera out.

I'm a real wimp and i panic easily but with the sedation I didn't remember very much and the procedure was not as bad as I originally thought it was going to be. I left the hospital within an hour after a cup of tea and my throat felt a bit sore.

The sedation for me wore off very quickly and I did not need to sleep after. The spray had anesthetic in it and I react with lots of adrenaline to this so this is why I think the sedation wore off quick and I did not need to sleep it off.
 
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