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Are colonoscopies worth it?

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Re: Are colonoscopies worth it?

#161

Post by collinstevens »

If you're worried about getting a colonoscopy, don't be.

I got one last year and it was the best sleep I ever got.

It was two days of the prep stuff you drink to shit your brains out which is a little rough, but I have a bidet, no big deal.

Then you go to the hospital, you dress down into a gown, nurses come in, they put some things on your chest, you get a little cold, they put a nice warm blanket on you, they start an IV, they wheel you into the procedure room, and then you pass out.

You suddenly wake up and I felt like I had an amazing nap and I was incredibly comfortable. Then you have someone drive you home and that's all there is to it.

It was really no big deal.

The only thing that sucks is you pretty much just drink powerade and eat chicken broth during the prep.

Re: Are colonoscopies worth it?

#162

Post by [deleted] »

collinstevens wrote: post #161

If you're worried about getting a colonoscopy, don't be. I got one last year and it was the best sleep I ever got. It was two days of the prep stuff you drink to shit your brains out which is a little rough, but I have a bidet, no big deal. Then you go to the hospital, you dress down into a gown, nurses come in, they put some things on your chest, you get a little cold, they put a nice warm blanket on you, they start…

[deleted]

Re: Are colonoscopies worth it?

#164

Post by Zanfa »

collinstevens wrote: post #161

If you're worried about getting a colonoscopy, don't be. I got one last year and it was the best sleep I ever got. It was two days of the prep stuff you drink to shit your brains out which is a little rough, but I have a bidet, no big deal. Then you go to the hospital, you dress down into a gown, nurses come in, they put some things on your chest, you get a little cold, they put a nice warm blanket on you, they start…

Honestly, even without any anesthesia or sedatives, the worst part is drinking the laxative for prep. If you can sit through a visit to a dentist, you can likely handle the procedure itself without any meds. I was actually surprised they even do general anesthesia for it in the US.

Re: Are colonoscopies worth it?

#165

Post by hermitcrab »

Aeolun wrote: post #157
hermitcrab wrote: post #120

>3. It’s irresponsible to call colonoscopies “invasive” (as CNN did) since that might make people think they are unpleasant and not do them. LOL. It hard to imagine anything much more invasive than having a metal tube (with light and camera) shoved up your arse. It is definitely unpleasant. I speak from personal experience. That said, it is less unpleasant than bowel cancer. So don't be put off if you really need to…

Colonoscopy is fine, but it’s uncomfortable. It’s not something I’d want to have without a suspicion anything is wrong.

Especially given the non-zero risk of complications, such as perforating your colon wall.

Re: Are colonoscopies worth it?

#166

Post by vultour »

silisili wrote: post #138
methou wrote: post #40

My uncle had one, it almost killed him when the probe breached his colon causing an internal bleeding. It was done with anesthesia, which according to him could be a major contributor to the incident.

This is actually what killed my grandmother back in the 80s, for the same reason. I'd hoped they'd be safer by now...

Do any countries apart from US routinely do it under general anaesthesia? I don’t know anyone who was under during the procedure.

Re: Are colonoscopies worth it?

#167

Post by balfirevic »

Zanfa wrote: post #164
collinstevens wrote: post #161

If you're worried about getting a colonoscopy, don't be. I got one last year and it was the best sleep I ever got. It was two days of the prep stuff you drink to shit your brains out which is a little rough, but I have a bidet, no big deal. Then you go to the hospital, you dress down into a gown, nurses come in, they put some things on your chest, you get a little cold, they put a nice warm blanket on you, they start…

Honestly, even without any anesthesia or sedatives, the worst part is drinking the laxative for prep. If you can sit through a visit to a dentist, you can likely handle the procedure itself without any meds. I was actually surprised they even do general anesthesia for it in the US.

> If you can sit through a visit to a dentist

Do you mean with local anesthetics?

Re: Are colonoscopies worth it?

#168

Post by Smaug123 »

surfsvammel wrote: post #150
ramraj07 wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

M&Ms work better. Just take a mouthful, chew a bit, and swallow, and then take another mouthful.

No. This is not a good idea. You are not supposed to eat stuff. The whole point is to empty out your system. It would not be great to be half way through the procedure when they say: “oh. Here is a bunch of M&Ms, we can’t see anything. We need to redo this procedure in a week. And this time don’t eat stuff…”

(As well as making sure you don't have actual matter blocking the view, you also want to avoid staining the bowels with something that could be mistaken for blood; so also don't drink red stuff.)

Re: Are colonoscopies worth it?

#169

Post by op00to »

sillysaurusx wrote: post #58

It’s time to share something personal again. When I was 20, I vividly remember being in the bathroom at my workplace when a large amount of blood started coming out. I did what any smart, effective 20yo would do: ignored it because I was embarrassed. Fast forward 10 years, and I’d been ignoring it for a decade. It had continued to happen every few months. Sometimes the blood was so bad I’d have to wait up to 20 minut…

I haven’t had hemorrhoids since I installed a bidet. Just passing on some info from one sensitive butthole to any others out there!

Re: Are colonoscopies worth it?

#170

Post by Arch-TK »

theodric wrote: post #94
sillysaurusx wrote: post #58

It’s time to share something personal again. When I was 20, I vividly remember being in the bathroom at my workplace when a large amount of blood started coming out. I did what any smart, effective 20yo would do: ignored it because I was embarrassed. Fast forward 10 years, and I’d been ignoring it for a decade. It had continued to happen every few months. Sometimes the blood was so bad I’d have to wait up to 20 minut…

I've had two colonoscopies done in the last 10 years. The second was possibly unnecessary, but I pushed for it because I just really enjoy propofol. Maybe if more people knew that the sedative drugs used in the procedure are fun, they'd be more inclined to have it done. Edit: downvotes? Really!? I'm 100% fucking serious! Work any angle to get people to test!

Sedatives are not mandatory. They take you out for a day and in my personal (informed by direct experience) opinion are not worth it (I would rather have the time to spend doing things I want to rather than have a day of recovery from sedatives).
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