Colonoscopy without sedation

Call me crazy, but I did it, and honestly, it really wasn't that bad.

I had a GI appointment last month and he wanted to do a colonoscopy. I figured I was due for one and said okay. I asked my GI how many colonoscopies he had done without patient sedation. He said maybe 30, but also commented that I was a skinny and that skinny folks have bendier colons. I said I would consider that. So in the meantime, I come home and read all the info I can about colonoscopies without sedation. I read through the usual range of comments from "it was the most horrible thing you can imagine!" to "it wasn't bad at all." I figured I would give it a try, being the crazy skinny woman that I am.

So I show up for my appointment on Monday. The nurse asked me about 10 times if I was SURE I didn't want sedation. The more times she asked, the more SURE I was.

I was nervous, but I trust my GI, and one of the nurse support staff in the room was super awesome, and so the procedure began. Other than being a little uncomfortable, it actually didn't hurt at all. I got to watch the tour of my colon on the monitor/screen, and that was really cool. I could feel the camera/tube going around all the corners, and that felt really weird, like an alien being in my guts, but it didn't hurt, and was quite bearable.

Again, I was totally ready for it, and my support staff was excellent, but I wanted to post here to say (in case anyone's interested), yes, it can be done. :)

Ahhhh! Weird, and crazy.

That's awesome that you could do it though. I would love to watch and feel the whole thing happening. But I am way too scared of the pain. And I'm super inflamed.

So was it like the Magic School Bus? did you pretend you were on a fieldtrip in your intestines?! lol

I think we all have aliens in our colons.

I was given something for my first colonoscopy but whatever it was, it didn't work very well because I remember every minute of it. I did enjoy getting to see my intestines on the TV screen and laughing about the pools of green liquid in my colon (blue gatorade + bile, apparently), but it was definitely quite uncomfortable and at times painful (although not terribly so). I've been knocked out for all of them since.

Hard corps.
I have had about 20 rigid sigs,back in the day 1980. No sedation of course.
That is why I will not go near a GI doc.
Old Mike

Post Edited (Old Mike) : 4/3/2014 5:28:55 AM (GMT-6)

Wow Zucchini! - as OM says - hard core. Good job :)

I had a horrific go with an over zealous GI and an ummm extended flex sig without sedation that was a brutal experience... nightmares. "we're already in so I'm going to keep going around the bend so I can see more" says the GI. This is when the nightmare began, haha.

I have to admit though, being able to watch it on the screen and see was pretty amazing. Never again though... never again.

yours are much bigger than mine zuke !

Among my other peculiarities, I am resistant to sedation.

For my first scope, they did the standard sedation protocol for my height/weight/gender yada yada. NOTHING happened. I told them I was not sedate and they put a little more in my IV...Still nothing. The scope was extremely crampy/painful, but like you said, it was cool to watch the video screen.

For my next scope, I told them that I was not sedate for my previous one, and that I heard and remember EVERY WORD THEY SAID during my procedure. LOL! As it turns out, they tripled the doses of the meds...and it worked better that time. My comment must have scared them haha!

Besides the colonscopies, I have been alert during my upper GI scopes (gag!) I have had a tooth extracted while not numb, and the epidural I had when delivering my baby did not do anything. Yes, I know these are all different types of drugs, but they did not do what was intended. It's either some kind of drug metabolism problem or I have had seriously incompetent medical/dental care (doubtful, LOL)

I have a fear of being one of those people who is immobilized during general anaesthesis but can hear and feel everything *shudder*

Must be related to some cytochrome P450 SNPs...

I think a lot has to do with 1) a persons pain thresh hold and 2) the severity of their disease during a scope (of any kind, even just a sigmoidoscopy)...I have these horrid perianal crohn's skin tags, even when I'm knocked completely out for any type of scoping, I pretty much wake up in tears and freak my GI's out (have had 4 all together over the years) because they think I'm actually feeling the pain during the scope (but I'm not, I'm completely oblivious to it, even when I wake up I don't feel any pain but I'm quite upset and crying during my procedure every single time).

I think I would be too scared to do it w/out sedation!! However, it would be cool to see it on the screen. Maybe next time I have one done, I'll ask for the sedation, but also ask for a copy of the scope on DVD! Than I can take it home, invite some friends over, and have some snacks while watching my "movie" on a Saturday night! Cheaper than going out to a movie (well, as long as you have insurance). (Ok, ok, so that would be totally creepy and disgusting, but it's a funny thought!)

I go without sedation with no problem, no matter the state of my colon. In the research, patient education and expectation is one of the key ingredients to a successful scope without sedation.

Pb4, based on my observations in the recovery room, it sounds like you're having a reaction to the sedatives, probably versed if that's what they're using. You might ask for a different drug.

Wow, lots of replies to this! I just wanted to post it because I couldn't find a whole lot of positive non-sedation info on the www (especially for skinny females), so wanted to add my own experience to the mix.

I'm sure it has a lot to do with one's pain tolerance (I've also had an upper GI endoscopy and 2 flex sigs without sedation and they were all fine, also natural childbirth for 2 babies and that was also fine...). Also certainly could be affected by one's gut inflammation. I was inflamed in rectum but everything else looked fine. I also just don't like the idea of meds if I don't need them, and I really really wanted to watch it on the screen. I mean, how many times in my life do I get the chance to take a tour of my own colon? It was pretty cool.

They didn't exactly offer me a choice, I just told everyone I had to talk with that I didn't want sedation and while everyone was asking me am I really sure about that (and no, I don't even want the IV "just in case I change my mind").

So there ya go.

I hate being fully sedated and think it is unnecessary risk. When I asked about no sedation, I have been told no or told the doctor only does that at the end of the day. No doubt in my mind a sedated patient is easier on the doctor and more procedures can be done in a day.

The only doctor that did colonoscopies in the area I used to live discouraged full sedation especially in older people. He used light sedation and pain killers if you wanted. Never heard anyone complain about it and many had nothing.I ask my GI about that and his excuse was you would be stoned unlike prophol when you left the office. In many countries it is routine to have no sedation.