Have you been awake during your colonoscopy and remember what happened?

Question

Did you experience any pain or discomfort?

Answer 1

I don't remember being awake during the procedure. They use something called "conscious sedation" via IV. They try to keep you "under" just enough to keep you comfortable and relaxed during the procedure. If you "moan" - the nurse anesthetist administers more medicine in your IV and you're "out" again. My husband and daughter both woke up for a second during their colonoscopy and before they knew it - they were "out" again. They felt some gas pains - that's all. I don't remember anything - either waking up during my colonoscopy or feeling any pain. The anxiety before the procedure was the worst part. The actual procedure wasn't bad at all. I have a place you can go to to watch a 12 minute video about "a patient having a colonoscopy". It helps make you feel "less anxious" about the whole thing. Contact me if you are interested. I will e-mail you the website and the instructions on how to access it. Take care!

Answer 2

In the days before having a colonoscopy, a patient must clean their colon of all waste materials. Doctors may prescribe different techniques for different patients. For example, a patient with severe diarrhea may not need as much prep as a person with a healthier bowel. Common methods include drinking a solution to stimulate the bowel, laxatives, and enemas. By following the doctors' instructions correctly, the large intestine will be clean and free of waste so problems can be more easily seen and diagnosed. Patients are sedated during the procedure (this is an important point to discuss beforehand with the doctor performing the test) through an IV. The doctor may also use a heart monitor, oxygen, and other monitoring equipment to ensure the safety and comfort of the patient. The entire procedure commonly takes about 30 minutes. The doctor may take some biopsies, a small sample of tissue that will be sent to a pathologist for testing to ensure an accurate diagnosis. After the colonoscopy, patients are monitored for another period of time to reverse the sedation and make sure no complications have occurred. Because the colonoscope introduces air into the colon, there will be some bloating that will be relieved by passing gas. Patients should arrange to have someone drive them home from the procedure, as they will be quite groggy. This person can also remember any further instructions given by the medical staff. A few days after the procedure, patients will meet again with the doctor to discuss the findings. The results of the biopsies will be available at this time. No, having a colonoscopy is not what anyone would consider "fun." It is, however, a useful diagnostic test. Without it, those of us with digestive problems might never get an accurate diagnosis or effective treatment.

Answer 3

A little info I think should be considered about this drug Versed ( Midazolam ) that is used for Sedation for many medical procedures..Sedation and General Anesthesia are not the same and quite a few people being given Sedation
think they are being given General Anesthesia!

There is simply no good or valid reason to ever purposely induce amnesia during a medical procedure. It is only a recent development in medical thinking that amnesia is somehow a "benefit" to the patient. On occasion some
some patients will remember a bad experience. Forgetting does not mean it did not happen!!
I feel that if people were aware of the effects of this drug they would Opt For Another Drug!
Erasing someones memory of what was done to them is wrong!!
In fact, many people who use Versed for " IV Sedation,Conscious Sedation" Twilight Sedation, during a procedure are Awake For The Entire Procedure but remember nothing, often Believing They Were "Out" the whole time.

Versed (Midazolam) is an amnestic. It is also commonly used for minor procedures like setting broken bones,colonoscopies,endoscopies, dental procedures like extractions,conscious sedation,twilight sleep, so that patients won't remember pain and discomfort.HOWEVER THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT THOSE SENSATIONS WILL NOT BE EXPERIENCED!!!!


Here is a note from a Dentist Who uses Versed
I've used Versed 1000+ times during oral surgery procedures and I've never had a complaint. It's a miracle drug because it is safe and it causes you to not remember an unpleasant experience. My answer to him is isn't it better to have not experienced the pain than to have forgot it. No wonder you have had no complaints they have no memory of the procedure.....

I feel that giving a drug for amnesia is cruel I would not want it done to me!

A strange development in medical thinking that it's okay for a patient to have
pain as long as they don't remember it and think they slept thru the procedure..


Here is a link for some info

http://www.freehelpforcancer.com/manages...

Answer 4

The fact is that for the majority of people colonoscopy will be mildly to moderately painful. Doctors don't publicise this but the papers are available on the Internet to prove it. No local anasthetic can help and a general anasthetic is excessive/dangerous for such a procedure so what you get are drugs to take the edge off the pain (not prevent it) and one to make you forget that it hurt. The result is that for most the episode will be unpleasant and they will sware and curse with the discomfort but they will wake up afterwards with no memory and so think it was painless. For the few that receive too little amnesic the truth will be known. The thing that confuses me is how anyone can ever believe/be conned into thinking that having 6 feet of fairly stiff hose rammed up the anus and through a very windy and twisty soft, delicate organ could be painless?

Answer 5

Hi, colonoscopies done this part of the world are carried out when the patient is half-sedated. In fact, some patients that i have seen do not need any form of sedation and are just appropriately content with some form of pain relief, which invariably is the normal xylocaine.

Nonetheless, the procedure of colonoscopy involves inserting the scope through your anal verge all the way to your ileocecal junction. All the while, air and normal saline will be flushed through your gastrointestinal tract to enable the surgeon proper visulization of any pre-malignant polyps, or overt cancers. It is one of the best modalities to treat and diagnose simple polyps or surgical cancers of the GI tract.

Pain is always documented by the doctor and asked during consent, however, it is minimal with adequate analgesia and sedation.

Other side effects of this procedure are regarded as minimal compared to the potentially life-saving benefits. Such side effects include short term flatulence and abdominal bloating, but they will go off after awhile.

Hope this helps. :D

Answer 6

Worst pain in my life. No medication was given to me. I was almost in tears from the pain. I remembered the nurse saying I must not have given birth before. And she was right.

I don't know if it's due to the fact that I have a low pain threshold or if it's normal. If natural childbirth is worse than this, I might not want to get pregnant.

Answer 7

I woke up during my colonoscopy and I remember waking up and then they knocked me back out. When the Dr came to talk to me in recovery I said "Hey I felt that and it hurt" and he told me that he had to knock me back out. But I can honestly say that I really don't remember how it felt.

Answer 8

woke up half way thru it, no pain no discomnfort but that was due to the meds they gave me. the key is to relax. I got great pictures or some polyhp removals!

Answer 9

I was in incredible amounts of pain! I will NEVER have another one. I'd rather deal with the cancer....