Day before colonoscopy advice please

Good news LundyLinda my DH had this colonoscopy this morning too and other than a couple of polyps all is fine.

He said he was given the sedatives and they started the procedure immediately so he wondered if he would have had the uncomfortable feeling if they had waited a bit. However he said it was not too bad and is now fiddling about in the garden, it's me who feels a bit shaky.

Brilliant news*lundylinda*, huge relief for you (probably in every sense!). I well remember sloshing around until the 4 litres of Picolax worked, one way to lose weight I guess!
Have a lovely meal to make up for all the bland foods!

My experiences of my two colonoscopies were different, so I'm still not sure what to expect next time. First time I was awake but dopey while she got me to fidget to and fro to help get the endoscope in more easily, and that just felt like wind rumbling. By the time she removed one of the polyps I was asleep and felt nothing.

Second time around he got me to lay on my left and just shoved the endoscope up, and that hurt. Later I was asleep while they were taking the biopsy, but that hurt too, I could hear them talking to me as I yelled out.

Why it hurt when they took a biopsy but not while they removed one of the polyps I don't know, I've also had a cardioversion under sedation, and I didn't feel anything. It begs the question what's the difference between a sedative and an anaesthetic.

When I had the surgery to remove the big growth, I was expecting the sort of pain afterwards that my father had after his pile operation, but there was no pain at all.

A sedative means you are relaxed and aware but not bothered (usually), an anaesthetic knocks you out completely so totally unaware. I wonder if effectiveness of sedation depends on how nervous you are? Have recently discovered that local anaesthetic for dental treatment doesn't work on me if am nervous- NOT the best situation to be in when having teeth extracted!

I haven't heard of that one before, I would have said there was more reason for me to be anxious the first time than the second. The point that was getting at is that two out of the three sedatives I've had have been just the same from my perspective as a general anaesthetic, so what actually is the difference, and why was the third sedative not the same as the other two.

I'm so glad your experience went well, lundylinda. Yay!

Not happy about the bland diet. It says fish or chicken with plain rice, but doesn't say how I am allowed to cook it. Must it be boiled/steamed or can I roast the chicken? The instructions aren't specific. And I'm not sure whether I can have butter/marg on my white toast. I rarely eat white bread so it's going to feel odd not having my usual, and no veggies or fruit.

Rowantree my DH has just had this procedure and I tried to get him as varied a low fibre diet as possible and it worked. These are the things he had which relate to the list he was given from the hospital.

Roasted chicken no skin
Jacket potato no skin
Mashed potato, swede and carrot ( bought ready prepared)
Tinned fruit
Toast
Seedless jam
Rice pudding no skin
Meringues and vanilla ice-cream
Cornflakes with sugar and milk
Scotch pancakes
Apple juice
Lucozade if you feel faint.

Hope this helps

Finally butter is fine.

Hello crun, I wonder if a different drug was given each time, with different effects on you? One like Midazolam knocks you out completely with no memory of what happened when you wake up, Diazepam would make you dopey but aware of what's going on.

Finally, finally, a small amount of a crumbled stock cube on top of the roast chicken took away the blandness of the meat.

Thank you - that's really helpful. Though my list says no fruit or veg at all

Sorry you are not allowed the fruit and veg Rowantree. At least it is only for a couple of days you need to follow the diet. Hope all goes smoothly for you.

I've just been watching a guy on 24 Hours in A&E getting cardioverted. He shouted "OW!" when they shocked him, so I'm left wondering whether they didn't give him enough sedative, or whether I did the same but have no recollection of it.

'OW!' sounds a pretty muted response to me. I'm sure I'd shout a few more choice things with the Silver Stallion up my jacksie

Nothing up his bum, it was a bit of a digression really, I was talking about sedatives rather than colonoscopies. A cardioversion is when they put electrodes on your chest and shock your heart to get it back into normal rhythm.

crun the sedatives may have been different types and the dosage also different.

My SIL has had this done crun he said it was quite a thump when they shocked his heart. Sadly it didn't have a lasting effect and he has since had them go in through his groin to destroy the nerves that are making the heart beat wrongly. This took 6 hours and was definitely a general anaesthetic! He won't know till February whether it has worked,

Deedaa yes I'm on the waiting list for an ablation too, the letter is due through the door at any time. They're doing mine under sedation, not a GA, patients recover more quickly apparently. The hospital is the next worst after Mid Staffs, and was in special measures until recently.

Good luck then crun SIL was very bruised and sore afterwards and glad of a few days rest! It wasn't long before DD had to start policing him to stop him doing too much though. He was in hospital with a chap who was having it done for the third time but apparently the average is twice.

Good luck with your ablation crun. It is becoming a very common procedure now and really improves people's lives.

I also watched the chap on 24 Hours - he put on a very brave face!

I get atrial fibrillation and flutter, they were going to do a fib ablation originally, but now they've changed their minds, they're doing a flutter ablation and then taking me off the Amiodarone and putting me back on the Flecainide to treat the fib. Apparently, flutter is more amenable to ablation than drugs, and fib is more amenable to drugs than ablation, so since a flutter ablation is quicker, simpler and safer they're going to try that first. Sounds fair enough, but it leaves me wondering why they were going to do the fib ablation in the first place.

Either way, I need to get off the Amiodarone before I get fibrosis of the lungs or something. They had to put me on it last August because the Flecainide wasn't working any more. My life revolved around cycle touring until this put a stop to it, but I don't think an ablation is going to make much difference, Heidbuchel's paper shows that the success rate of an ablation is halved if you don't quit exercise. I feel like calling it a day, I can't hack another 20-30 years just sat in the armchair.

My OH has AF and is well maintained on Flecainide.

Crun - I am, like many others on this site, having to come to terms with not being as active as I might wish due to health problems. Just because you may have to curtail your biking a bit does not mean there are not lots of other things you can enjoy. Have you talked to your consultant about the level of exercise that might be safe and appropriate?

Looks like I'll be having another one sooner rather than later, I started passing blood again this weekend.

Really sorry to hear that Crun, fingers crossed x

I think the hardest thing to do when an examination of the lower regions is due is resist the overwhelming desire to get on a bus and leave the country.