Drug averse hubby just had his first colonoscopy. Unsedated. Said it was not bad, just a bit uncomfortable. In Europe about half of all colonoscopies are done this way. I’m not sure what I’ll do when it’s my turn.
Since my colon turned out to be TORTUOUS, I’m glad I was under.
IMO, there’s no reason to undergo it without sedation, unless one reacts badly to the sedation.
Since my colon turned out to be TORTUOUS, I’m glad I was under.
My colon was torturous too, so I’m glad I was under. I cannot imagine having one unsedated and I have had a couple of gyn tests that were pretty darn uncomfortable.
I’ll probably opt to try without. They set up the iv regardless, so sedating is always an option at any point. But really…he said it was uncomfortable but not painful. I guess everyone is different in their level of pain tolerance. He just happens to HATE taking meds. For any reason. So this one was a no-brainier for him.
Just learned from the news that a 20+ year old got diagnosed Colon Cancer! She ate a lot of fast food. Should we screen younger aged, high risk kids?
I had one two weeks ago. My family doctor kept forgetting to send a referral so I asked the GYN. Good thing cause I had two hinky polyps. Get to go back in three years instead of ten now.
1 Like
What, did you think 20 yos never got colon cancer? I knew someone who died at 25 from colon cancer. Sad.
Screening is still based off risk factors, though. You can’t afford to screen every single person for every single disease at every single age.
I had my first a week ago. The prep was the worst part and even so it wasn’t THAT bad. I had Suprep and my goodness, all the complaining about taste - I just gulped it down and moved on already. I went on a low-roughage, mostly liquid diet a few days before and I think that made it easier as there was little to “clean out.”
I had my follow up appointment, and was charged $180.00 for initial appointment. The billing staff said that if MD had put down diagnosis, like constipation, Medicare would pay less for,procedure. If simply a screening, Medicare pays 0 for initial appointment, but covers the procedure in full.
I’ve been billing Medicare plus other insurance companies for 35 years, and I felt this was nonsense.
Please, what are other people’s experiences?
Mine was covered under preventative care, just like my Mammogram and annual physical and gyn appt. I had to have an ultrasound at my mammo but that was not covered. I am not sure if Medicare is similar.
I have United Healthcare and it was fully covered. I am 50.
My husband had his first one recently and I was surprised at how well he dealt with the prep. He is normally a pain in the you know what when it comes to anything medical . The only thing he complained about was the drink making him feel nauseous . It was also Supprex mixed with water. My sister told me that her gastro told her it was ok to mix with Sprite , which I think would make it easier to drink
i had one last month, ordered myself, as I got freaked out that two folks my age were diagnosed with colon cancer. Im not quite 50 but figured it wouldnt hurt to get it done a bit earlier. The prep was AWFUL! I had to do a two day prep of Dulcolax and Miralax. The procedure was fine. Heck I was so weak by the time I had the procedure, I was happy to get drugs and go to sleep!
I had my first one last Monday. My doc has you take Milk of magnesia the night before the prep day, liquid diet the prep day, 4 litres of golytely starting 6pm, dulcolex tablets when you finish the golytely, then do 2 enemas the morning of. Seemed like overkill to me! Having said that, it was not as bad as I expected (one benefit of being a pessimist and worrywart is things don’t always turn out as bad as I expect). The worst thing was the golytely. I read somewhere to put each 8oz dose in an emptied water bottle to hide the smell and make it easier to just chugg it down. That really helped until the last few doses when i would just gag as soon as I tried to drink it.
Colonoscopy itself was so easy. He does light sedation and said most people don’t remember anything which was the case for me. Did find one polyp which depending on lab result may mean a check up in 5 years rather than ten (I think). Also found diverticulosis which he says is not unusual in people my agent(62). Glad I finally got it done and it is behind me (no pun intended). My Mum had colon cancer in her 80s and they said it probably started with 2 polyps 10 to 15 years earlier. She survived it but never really recovered psychologically, it was the beginning of the end for her.
Mine was coded as a screening so 100% covered under my high deductible plan.
Words of advice:
- if you have golytely, the water bottle trick really helps. (I wasn’t offered an alternative - sure hope there is one before the next time!)
- apply Vaseline before the golytely starts working and every time it works
- buy some sort of wipes (gentle with no alcohol)
- don’t EVER Google enemas - there are some strange people out there (apologies if you’re one of them - it takes all sorts)
- if they put a pressure bandage on your wrist when the take out the IV, don’t fall asleep before you remove it. I have a massive and painful bruise @ 6x2 1/2 inches running from my thumb down my wrist. I look like I’ve been abused!
Do you mean Suprep?
Our center sees lots of patients who have used that prep. They are pretty unanimous in saying it is incredibly foul tasting and hard to get down. But we do get good results.
I just gulped it down - raised it to my mouth and said to myself, I’ll take 20 swallows and then come up for air. Much as if I were drinking from a water fountain. By the time I’d done 20 swallows, it was almost completely gone. I don’t have the time or patience to try to make it better tasting! Some of the stuff online (put it in a martini glass, etc) is just silly. Gulp and move on! It’s like trying to make a mammogram less uncomfortable. Just grit your teeth and it will be over with soon enough anyway.
I did Prepopik. It was 5 oz. two separate times and tasted like fizzy Sweet Tarts. Easy peasy.
Damn, how did I get stuck with 4 litres to drink! I think it was the sheer volume that had me gagging at the end! 2 x 5 ounces does sound easy peasy!