<p>^^^^I have never heard of that being associated with propofol. But yes, you could ask for something else instead. They would probably offer you versed/fentanyl or maybe valium. Those are sedatives, however, not general anesthetics.</p>
<p>^I donât care if itâs a sedative instead of an anesthetic. I wouldnât object to feeling drowsy for longer. You have to take the whole day off from work anyway. Iâve had procedures with versed/whatever and remembered nothing, which is just fine with me.</p>
<p>Thank you for the information, nrdsb4.</p>
<p>I had a colonoscopy today. The procedure was very easy and the prep wasnât bad, either. </p>
<p>I ate lightly the day before yesterday, and had to follow a liquid diet all day yesterday, including no breakfast. It was surprisingly easy to go through the day on chicken and beef broth, ginger ale, apple juice, lots of water, and some orange jello. I didnât feel that hungry. The hardest part was actually when I was cutting up vegetables for my sonsâ dinner. I am used to eating them while Iâm preparing them, so I had to make sure not to eat one out of habit. I had a beautiful organic English cucumber, and I was dying to eat it (I donât know why I was craving that rather than the chicken drumsticks or potatoes in the oven). </p>
<p>I used a liquid prep called Suprep. Itâs a clear, colorless liquid in 6-oz bottles that you dilute to 16 oz. It did not have a strong flavor and was not at all thick. There was a very slight bitter aftertaste but this wasnât a problem because I could drink something else afterward. Then I had to drink 32 oz of water in the next hour. I am used to drinking lots of water so that wasnât a problem, either. I had to do this at 1 pm and again at 9 pm. It did cause watery diarhhea but I had no cramping or pain. I was able to work all day, but only because I work at home. You cannot be more than a few seconds from a bathroom. </p>
<p>This morning I went in for an 8:30 appointment. I spent about half an hour with nurses coming in to place an IV, go over paperwork, ask questions about my health history. The doctor and the anesthesiologist stopped by briefly. Then I waited for about another half hour before I went into the procedure room. I had general anesthesia because I had an endoscopy as well. When I woke up I felt fine. They gave me crackers and water (I was starving, not having had anything to eat or drink since midnight) and I was ready to leave around 10:15. I felt fine all day and canât even tell that I had anything done.</p>
<p>Timely thread. Just had my colonoscopy today. They told me it would be conscious sedation, but I was out like a light as soon as the drip started. Donât remember a thing. Barely remember meeting with the doc afterward. Couldnât even get dressed by myself. Good thing my H was there to drive me home. Came home, laid down on the couch and was out for another 4 hours. This evening Iâm still drowsy.</p>
<p>Able to eat normally though. Overall, if not for the prep beforehand, relatively painless procedure.</p>
<p>Glad I did it. He found and removed 2 polyps, but doesnât think they are cancerous.</p>
<p>^^^^I have found that the docs are pretty darn good at recognizing cancerous vs. benign. Glad your polyps were the latter!</p>
<p>Read post #211. It has so many good suggestions. I did a lot of reading about preps before my colonoscopy, and I asked for suggestions from doctors in my family who had had colonoscopies themselves. This is what I did:</p>
<p>1) Went on low-fiber, bland diet five days before the procedure.
2) Started liquid diet 1 1/2 days earlier than the recommended time. Ate huge amounts of lemon jello, clear broth, and non-red/blue/purple popsicles. Was very, very hungry.
3) Did the Miralax/Gatorade prep because I knew I could keep it down.</p>
<p>I started the prep the afternoon before the procedure, fearing the worst, which never happened. I stayed near a bathroom but did not need to sit there for hours. I ran clear by 9-10 p.m. and slept in my own bed, albeit with several towels underneath me (which I didnât need). I sat on towels during the drive to the doctorâs office and had to do two bathroom ârunsâ (while connected to the IV) while there. The propofol worked beautifully. I was out instantly and woke up right after the procedure. I remember everything I said and did afterward (including exactly what I ate â fast food on the way home because I was starving!).</p>
<p>I am convinced that the reason that the prep went so well is because I restricted my food intake (not drink intake â I drank huge amounts of fluid) so far beforehand. Propofol was wonderful, although I have no desire to use it for sleep! It just did the job it needed to do.</p>
<p>The doctor pronounced my colon perfectly clear and healthy. I donât have to go back for ten more years, but if I had to go sooner I wouldnât dread it. The absolute worst part for me was being hungry for 2-3 days, but I think it made the prep better, so I would do it again.</p>
<p>My friendâs mother was diagnosed with colon cancer several years ago. She was 72 and had never had a colonoscopy. The h*ll she endured while undergoing treatments was far worse than what she would have gone through with routine colonoscopies. The cancer killed her. Sadly, she might have lived much longer. Her mother, in her 90s, was still alive at the time.</p>
<p>Colon cancer, when caught in its very earliest stages, is quite treatable.</p>
<p>How sad for a 90-something mother to lose her daughter to an avoidable disease! </p>
<p>I altered my diet a bit the day before prep day, but I ate full meals, including some eggs at 8 pm. My prep was still easy and I was clear by the time I took the second dose. My hunger was manageable with one full day (36 hours by the time of the procedure) on liquids only. My second dose was at 9 pm, and I stayed up until midnight because I was still hitting the bathroom periodically (although with minimal output). I slept with a towel underneath just in case, but did not need it. I woke up quite early, 4:20, probably because my stomach was empty. I did not need to use the bathroom at all at the hospital while waiting. And I had no more diarhhea after midnight. </p>
<p>So I donât think itâs necessary to start a liquid diet so early. I would have found it really hard to function if Iâd done more than 1 day.</p>
<p>I started my liquid diet the day or two before and I had a giant jug of something to drink that I havenât seen mentioned yet⊠Canât remember the name for my prep but Iâd know it if I saw it. The biggest problem I had was that I ran clear after less than a quarter of the jug but was told I had to drink at least 2/3a even if I ran clear before finishing. I gave up after half the jug because it took me until 3am to even get that far, and for about 24 hours afterward I was basically incontinent even though there was nothing but water left in my system. I couldnât lay down to sleep, I could barely make it to the dr for the procedure. If I had to do it again id do the fast the same and stop the prep whenever I was clear regardless of what the instructions said. I was just so desperate not to have to do it again, I wanted to follow the instructions to a T.</p>
<p>I didnât experience any nausea or cramping or any real discomfort otherwise. I ate a huge meal as soon as I was allowed and slept for the whole day. My own imagination was a thousand times worse than anything that happened in reality.</p>
<p>Glad to hear it, Ema. I assume everything was good?</p>
<p>My 42 y/ o female coworker felt tired this summer and her doctor told her to take iron for anemia. She just returned to the doctor because the iron wasnât helping with the fatigue and long story short is that she has widely metastatic colon cancer! Adding my 2 cents that a colonoscopy is important.</p>
<p>VH, yes, they found nothing wrong-- It was a couple years ago because I was sick. Iâm still sick, though, so it would have been nice if theyâd found something non life threatening to cure. </p>
<p>I will probably have to start getting regular colon cancer screenings much earlier than usual. My dad is actually supposed to go every year but only seems to go periodically even though they always find polyps. I guess Iâm almost glad I had to get one when I was too sick to say no so I wonât be too scared to do it when Iâm older. Once the first one is out of the way itâs really more of a nuisance than a real bother.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That is really awful. You wouldnât normally be thinking âcolon cancerâ in a young person who is tired unless there was a strong family history of it. Best wishes to your coworker. Sheâs got some hard times ahead of her and will surely appreciate your support. Maybe some of your coworkers can do some kind of meal delivery to the family once she begins treatment. I know we appreciated that when DH was going through treatment and the DDSâ school set up a meal assistance plan.</p>
<p>I havenât been following this thread but if anyone is looking for something on the lighter side of colonoscopy I listened to David Sedarisâs latest book today and he wrote a humorous piece about his experience.</p>
<p>(My own experience-- as a small person (<110 lbs), I could not keep keep all the prep liquid down. I wish someone had told me ahead of time that this was not a huge deal. I was afraid I would have to start all over.)</p>
<p>I have my packet from the gastro. on my counter. I need one every 5 years (had BC). Restricted diet (no fiber) 3 days before, no solids after 12:30 the day prior, then start the Moviprep - yuck - that evening. The fun part will be the day of the procedure - my house cleaner comes at 9 and my appt is at 1.
I am looking forward to the relaxing feeling from the drugs and a nice evening meal. Thereâs a work lunch the following day, which I will enjoy. </p>
<p>A family friend is 55 and has weeks to live with metastatic colon cancer. Any pain from the test is less than that of the cancer.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I wish you all the best with that. My H and I visit the same GI doctor and have the same meds. He metabolizes them as recreational drugs but they make me crabby and groggy.
As a fellow BC survivor, I wish you enough clear years to join the every10 club.</p>
<p>I have not read through all of the posts, but I have had a colonoscopy. I checked in, the put my in a bed and went thru my medical history, I was wheeled in shortly after that. The asked me to roll onto my left side (I still had my gown and blanket on). They then started some profopol (spelling). The next thing I remember was waking up - thatâs it. It was as easy as could be. I was hungry later that day and couldnât wait to eat. The prep part also was not bad. I couldnât finish the complete second round, but I knew that I had drank enough of it to do the job. The âstuffâ tasted like like salty lemons with sweet and low added in. Pretty gross. I made it icy old and drank it with a straw trying to pull it way back in my mouth and swallowing quickly. Near the end it was gagging me, but it was doable. I am glad that I had the test and will tell anyone that it is not that bad at all - plus I have peace of mind for now.</p>
<p>Well, here I am. The night before doing the prep. I was dreading the drink and it was awful just like the last time. What concerns me is that I took the first dose at 6pm and nothing is happening!</p>
<p>It will. Probably around 3am. Good luck!</p>
<p>I didnât mind my prep too much (gatorade mix) but nothing much happened with me either until late but I was fine. I did eat lightly the few days before. Good luck!</p>
<p>Yeah, it kicked in! Once it did, it really did. I was awake most of the night. Scheduled for 11:00 am. Hope I make it to the endoscopy center without having to stop at every gas station between here and there.</p>
<p>Canât wait for my muffin.</p>