Frightened to death of having a colonoscopy

No I’m not a smoker. I’m evidently just prone to dry socket as I got one last time I had a wisdom tooth out but I don’t remember it being as painful as this time. It really is complete agony which has been going on now for almost three weeks. Thanks for your sympathy, much appreciated.

Hi - has anyone received propofol sedation rather than the midazolam/fentanyl version that seems standard? My partner and colleagues didn't find the later very effective, especially if you were anxious - which I am! I don't want to do this at all - so looking for things to make it easier (full disclosure, I've had several meetings with GP, nurse practitioner, consultant that all seem to think I just need reassurance it will work - but that's not enough for me to risk it - plus I have stockpiled all sorts of things over the years such as diazepam, gen 1 antihistamines, beta blockers that I could use to help me self medicate to actually get to the appointment because the small diazepam from the GP didn't do anything). The referral was a year ago and my partner wants to know my plan!

I have contributed to this post previously. Briefly, I was due to have a colonoscopy and did all the preparation but they couldn't do it as my blood pressure was too high.

I am now on BP medication and had a CT colonography at the end of May. It was a bit uncomfortable but OK. I don't have any other medical conditions.

I have just seen the hospital doctor for my results. I have three polys which need to be removed. I will have to have a colonoscopy in order to do this.

I mentioned to the doctor about my blood pressure and the white coat syndrome. When I take my BP at home it is OK. The minute I walk into a medical situation it goes up. He advised me to speak to my GP and ask him to give me a tranquiliser to take prior to my appointment to calm me down.

I have decided to have sedation this time but I am worried as I had a bad reaction to general anaesthetic about 10 years ago and ended up in intensive care because of this.

I am worried that a tranquiliser will react badly with the sedation.

Has anyone else been in this position with the colonoscopy, anxiety, blood pressure, bad reactions etc?

I haven't received an appointment yet but am stressing out already.

Thanks in advance.

I had a colonoscopy a few years ago. I had 1 mil of sedation and 1 mil of pain relief and didnt feel anything but stayed awake. The nurse held my hand as I was very nervous. Staff were lovely to me.

Might be a bit late, but a friend of mine did recently have similar issues and as a result they refused to attempt the procedure under midazolam/fentanyl again so they got it done under Propofol - which they said was a breeze. They too (as it turned out) needed some large polyps removed which surely was made easier as they were totally out of it. They said they would always request Propofol going forward (I think they will have to have every 3 years now). The NHS does offer this but it requires more planning and waiting. The GP's hands are tied as offering a reasonable dose of Diazepam unsupervised isn't advised by NICE these days.

No problems when I used to have colonoscopies ....BUT as soon as I go into an MRI machine, I go into total panic. The first time this happened is when I discovered how very claustrophobic I am.
Was given all sorts of breathing exercises, etc. But panic continued, starting as soon as the machine starte to move move me.
I even looked up, at one time, how much it would cost to go private for this test, in the more open machines, but could I afford this.
Then one time, GP gave me Diazepam tablet. Had to attend appointment an hour early to take it there, but it was absolutely wonderful!!! Got through the whole scan without any problems. Mind you it did effect me for the rest of that day. But, at least with that little tablet I know I can actually have these important scans.