Endoscopy, both ends

I have had both - I had the colonoscopy with no sedation and it was no hassle at all. I had sedation for the gastroscopy and that too was fine.

Please do not worry; both are OK and you will be fine.

I've had several colonoscopies. I had sedation the first time but still managed to stay awake to watch the action, since then I haven't bothered. It's uncomfortable but not painful. The prep juice is either Moviprep or Picolax. Some people dislike one less than the other, for me Picolax is the more effective and slightly less disgusting.

Don't plan anything too exciting for the day after in case you need time to settle down!

I had my two endoscopies this morning and it all went smoothly. Not the most fun Wednesday morning I've ever had but nothing to fear. The'lower end' preparation was a couple of days on a bland diet, 2senna tablets, followed by a day with no solid food but a sachet of laxative at 8am (Citrafleet - quite pleasant to take) followed by a litre of water, then another at 4pm and another litre of water. Plenty of dashing to the lavatory for most of the day but not really a problem. I drank lots of water and lemonade throughout the day to avoid dehydration. Nil by mouth overnight for a morning appointment. I had sedation and would have it again should the need arise. I did watch some of it on the screen. One of the nurses was a neighbour of mine (she offered to get someone else if it was a problem but I didn't mind at all, it gave us something to talk about.).
Thank you to everyone for messages of support and advice; I hope this thread will be useful to others who have the same thing to face in the future.

I was scared before I had a colonoscopy and cancelled it twice. I also found it impossible to self-administer an enema as they wanted.
In the end the hospital staff gave me the enema which was fine. I was not offered sedation but the procedure was uncomfortable but not painful and the whole thing was nowhere near as bad as I expected.
Since then I've had major surgery for another condition, prior to which I had various procedures. I have to say that all these experiences have been nowhere near as bad as I expected and all the hospital staff were kind and caring.
Years ago staff were much less caring which was why I became scared of having anything done, but I'm not worried now.

So glad it's over and all went well rubysong. Bet you enjoyed the cuppa and biscuits after! We went into the M&S foodhall at Derriford after mine and bought a rather delicious lunch, full of naughty things. I felt I deserved it

I had a colonoscopy about 20 years ago, part of a random screening by the NHS.
Like a few others I had to self administer the enema at home. It worked before I left, but had to travel on the bus to the hospital (no car at the time) and was very anxious about a potential accident.
But it was OK. No anaesthetic, and I didn't enjoy the "exploration", very uncomfortable, not painful.
It was interesting to watch on a monitor screen.
Husband has had a few, with full anaesthetic. His grandfather died of colon cancer.

Pleased it is over ruby, you only got two senna, they gave me 6 and then 4 litres of laxative, they actually gave me less prep when they removed my bowel and they fed me a litre of carbohydrate drink on the morning of the op too.
It is always a relief when it is over

I've had gastroscopies twice without a sedative - no problem. I have also had an endoscope in my throat to look at my vocal chords and yesterday an endoscope was shoved up my nose to look at my sinuses.

Good to hear everything went smoothly, rubysong.
I've had both and requested no aneasthetic. If anyone is reading this for advice, I'd suggest some Vaseline to protect your botty if you have a sensitive one, as all that pooping can take its toll!

anno that is gross, would hate to have a tube up my nose.

I had a gastroscopy without sedation, it was uncomfortable but not painfull The gagging reflex of haveing the tube down your throat was the uncomfortable bit.
A lovely nurse holding onto me and reassuring me throughout really helped.

having

harrigran - is the nose really any more gross than the other end?

In my book, yes anno, I am tickly and gaggy, t'other end didn't bother me
My next check will be through the stoma, not sure how I feel about that

I'm not sure how to start a new thread so I've tagged onto this one which is topic I need comments about. I have gallstones with one stone lodged in the biliary duct. I had an endoscopy under sedation last Wednesday but after I experienced pain in abdomen. Was given intravenous paracetamol with no affect. Was examined twice by doctor before I left hospital and was éassured everything was fine. By the way, stone could not be recovered as too big so a stent was inserted. It is 3 days since the procedure and still have pain in same area which spreads through to my back. Has anyone else had this problem and did it resolve itself.

Sorry bobbydog24 I have not had any experience of that. Maybe somebody else has and can help you.

bobbydog I can't help you with this either. It probably would be better if you could start a new thread - you may attract more attention that way. One way to do it is to click on the word Health at the top of this thread, then when the Health forum list appears, just underneath the heading you'll see Start a New Discussion. Click on that and when the new discussion box opens, type in your heading, then your issue (you can copy and paste from your post above) and hit post
Good luck - I hope you find some answers

Bobbydog could the endoscopy or the stent have moved the stone and be causing the pain? I had gallstones when I was 24 and my husband a few years back - the pain is awful so you have my sympathy. If it continues I'd go back to the doctor and ask them to investigate further. It might have caused some inflammation and will hopefully settle down.

Find prep worse than procedure for colonoscopy didn't have sedation or pain relief it's uncomfortable when they put air in very interesting to watch try and relax I have had a couple now it's as they say doable, think I will be having top end this year dreading #that#