Reassurance required. I feel TRULY DAFT!

[bellekeat]

Ok. Since discovering I MUST have a colonscopy the fear I have felt has been immense. Feel silly in honesty but have feared nothing like it ever. I have had allsorts of other procedures over the years and even given birth to a 10lb baby and this scares me more than that ever did! What is wrong with me?!?!?! I'm UK based and they only sedate here. Many have said it's not nearly as bad as it sounds but nothing is putting my mind at ease. Please anyone out there can reassure me I would be very thankful. A very worried/scared/ wimpy person I have lost sleep and cried even..... ugh. Terrible with the fear of the unknown I guess :lol:

 

[valleysangel92]

Ok, first off, take a deep breath and count to 10 . It's ok to be scared, but getting too stressed about it will just make the whole experience worse. We are here for you.

Many people say that the prep is the worst part of the experience, and once that's over you're on the home straight.

I was only lightly sedated for mine and can remember the whole thing, but I have a high tolerance for pain meds and sedatives, the nurse said I should of been a bit more out of it than I was. Unfortunately us in the UK do seem to get less sedation than elsewhere though.

I'll be honest with you, it did hurt for me, but like I said , I don't react to painkillers like others sometimes, so sometimes I'll still be in pain when others wouldn't be. I've been having pain meds since before I was a teen and it's given me somewhat of a tolerance.

Also , I had a narrowing in my intestine which they couldn't pass through, which made the pain worse because they did give it a good go. They stopped when they realised it would be too painful.

Throughout the procedure, I had a lovely nurse holding my hand and chatting to me, helping me breathe through the worst bits and keeping me calm..the physician performing the procedure was very gentle and did his best to cause the least pain possible.

If you are in a lot of pain, let them know, they may sedate you further or they may give you more pain meds.

Honestly though, most people say that they are more uncomfortable than anything else, my sister had one and she said it didn't hurt her, just felt weird, and many here have said that they don't remember any significant pain.

Try to remember that this is something that could open the door to a much better quality of life for you. It could mean that you are able to do more with your family and even eventually become symptom free. The procedure takes 20-40 mins in most cases, and after that, it's over. Its less than an hour to potentially improve your whole life. You'll get there.

 

[Essieluv]

I know how you feel; with my first scope I was petrified. But I woke up afterwards and didn't remember a thing! The prep is not fun, but you are worrying over nothing. You probably won't remember any part of the day of your scope.

But please don't say you are wimpy. It is fine to be afraid, normal in fact. But you will get through it and find out that it is not all that bad. Sending you hugs.

 

[bellekeat]

Thanks guys for your input. I hope soon enough I'm able to tell another nervous person it really is nothing to worry about

 

[KayleighMeek]

It's ok to be scared its something that no one really wants I do. I have to say the prep was the worst part for me, I had the sedation and I remember nothing I was so out of it so all of the worry I had was for nothing. Sending you hugs, you can do it!