# have any of you ever had a colonoscopy before?



## carlita (Jan 19, 2004)

:cry: :roll:  :?    :crazy: 

okay so i'm totally not looking forward to friday.  well, friday actually won't be as bad as thursday probably.

i finally went to the gastroenterologist about my *ahem* issues and they decided the pain i've been having for the past 3 years is "non-specific abdominal pain" which i don't agree with and they gave me antispasmodic medicine that hasn't done anything but make my eyes burn so far.  (that's one of the side effects.)

so the pain in my upper abdomen, i was told, doesn't concern them as much as the problems my lower abdomen has been giving me.  so... they said they wanted me to have a colonoscopy.  they said "you probably have IBS, but there's no way to diagnose that without doing the procedure and we also have to rule out any kind of inflammatory bowel disease."

my mom and dad have both had this done and i've talked to a couple of other people i know that have also had it done and the general concensus seems to be that the preparation the day before is the worst part.  they're putting me to sleep with "the good stuff" according to one of the ladies at the doctor's office so i'm thinking the procedure itself won't be that bad.  my mom says i won't even remember it.  at all.

so anyway, if any of you have had any experience with this and have any tips or just things you think you want to warn me about ahead of time, i'd really appreciate it.  i know it's sort of a personal discussion, but as you can see it doesn't really bother ME all that much.  i can understand if other people aren't as open about it.  so if you'd like to say something but just don't want everyone knowing about it, feel free to PM me.

okay now if any of this bothered you, just try to pretend i never said it!!  ;-)


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## MDowdey (Jan 19, 2004)

hey carlita!!!  Your talking to the king of stomach problems!!!


ive had 2 colonoscopies and 3 endosopies. The medicine they give you(probably mag-citrate) is the worst thing i have ever had to endure. lets just say that youll need a couple good magazines and a quiet bathroom. the actuall procedure was a snap. they gave me meprigan(demerol and phenigrin). that was really good stuff. you wont remember it, youll feel completely fine afterwards and they wont find anything. ill be thinking about you this week.

in my thoughts..
md


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## carlita (Jan 19, 2004)

thanks.  

and yeah, i'll end up having an endoscopy done as well here in a few weeks if this medicine they gave me doesn't start helping my upper abdominal pain before i check into the hospital friday morning.  they just said they didn't want to do that procedure yet if the medicine did the trick.  it doesn't seem to be as of yet though.

do you have to drink nasty crud for that one too?  :-?


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## MDowdey (Jan 19, 2004)

for the endoscopy you dont. it will reach as far as the bottom of your stomach and thats it. The endoscopy was far more painful than the rear entry. MY throat was sore afterward and my mom told me that the orderlies AND nurses had to hold me down while the tube was going in because i was trying to fight it. then, to make matters worse...they gave me pictures of it to take home. bastards.


md


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## steve817 (Jan 19, 2004)

And don't pay any attention to those that tell you they are going up there with the hubble telescope.







Not quite the hubble


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## MDowdey (Jan 19, 2004)

it certainly didnt feel like the hubble. but that doctor wasnt gentle. from what i can recall. i fell asleep right after the two hot nurses came in the room and turned me on my side. THANK GOD.


md


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## havoc (Jan 19, 2004)

You know its a sad commentary on todays medical society that doctors have to jam a camera in your ass to diagnose a problem that isn't there... I am with Carli and Trish on this one, i bet they won't find anything! Is it because they have an ass fetish and they enjoy it? I am thinking so....

Well i hope everything goes ok this week for ya Carli, we all will be thinking about you.


On the lighter side though, i knew you were a kinky girl..... But i had no idea


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## voodoocat (Jan 19, 2004)

Western medicine has no cure for our sickness.  I have similar issues to yours and will never bother with the camera up my rear.  Good luck with that!


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## MDowdey (Jan 19, 2004)

yeah! they called mine bad nerves. basically if i think hard enough about it...i can make myself crap. could i be one of the x-men?



md


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## Jewel (Jan 20, 2004)

Hi Carli

I'm a nurse (operating theatre), and have seen a few colonoscopies.  Apparently the worst thing is the prep solution - they have to make sure it's all empty or they won't see a thing.  Apart from that, some dream-juice on the day and you won't know anything about it.

I've had an endoscopy, you fast for that one.  Once again, everything has to be empty.  Most I can remember is them putting a bite-block in my mouth, then I was out to it.  The home video they sent with me has been relegated to the back of the video collection........

Good luck with it all, and just remember - doctors and nurses aren't sadists, we don't do this for the fun of it!  

Jewel


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## Dew (Jan 20, 2004)

i've never had that procedure done, but i guess its a necessary evil  :?  ... good-luck girl ... get it done, before something comes back to haunt u in your old age


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## terri (Jan 20, 2004)

Dew's right; symptomatic or not, it's one of those procedures encouraged by physicians that everyone undergo eventually.   I've dodged it for years.        Once you get past the prep, it'll be over before you know it - good luck girl!!!


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## carlita (Jan 22, 2004)

i'm fairly young to be having this done though.  my 24th birthday is next friday.  :-?

in 2 hours the preparation begins... gotta start chuggin that nasty crap they gave me.  it's chilling in the refrigerator.  i brought a book here to my parents' house from my place that i've been trying to finish for like 3 years and i'm bettin i'll get a fair amount of it done in the next several hours.  ;-)

ooooooooohhhhhhhhh, there really is no way to brace yourself for this part is there?  BLARGH!!

i feel like i should be doing lamaze breathing or something.  

maybe i'll stop by here tomorrow when i'm all doped up (or on IRC even).  that could be entertaining.  probably more so for you guys than for me.

anyhow, thanks for the support and i'm sure i'll be fine.    talk to you guys later!


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## metroshane (Jan 22, 2004)

No anal for at least 48 hrs after.


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## TwistMyArm (Jan 22, 2004)

Hope everything goes well Carli


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## Dew (Jan 22, 2004)

good luck ... u'll be fine   

just do it, so u wont have problems later ... most young people could give a dam about their health ... stuff like that comes back to haunt u 20 yrs from now in a different form  :?  ... it'll be over before u know it


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## MDowdey (Jan 22, 2004)

metroshane said:
			
		

> No anal for at least 48 hrs after.




 :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock: 
 :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock: 
 :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock: 
 :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock: 
 :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock: 
 :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  :shock: 


md


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## Chase (Jan 22, 2004)

Yeah, what MDowdey said... :shock:


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## metroshane (Jan 22, 2004)

That's much more practical advice than "good luck".


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## MDowdey (Jan 22, 2004)

metroshane said:
			
		

> That's much more practical advice than "good luck".



but what i want to know is...would you really wait that long?

just kidding...

md


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## carlita (Jan 22, 2004)

how about 48 *YEARS*?  and then if i live that long, i'll start another 48 years after that.  ;-)


the only thing i'm going to be at all interested in upon leaving the hospital is getting something to EAT!  i'm so hungry i want to cry.  


i finished drinking the whole gallon of that crud in like an hour and 20 minutes.  so that whole process took way less time than i thought it would.  now i'm just waiting for tomorrow morning to roll around so that i'm that much closer to fooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood.


this is why i could never do one of those survivor shows.  i'd be a security risk for them.  i'd turn cannibal if i had to. :evil: 


and my dad forgot i was doing all this crap (no pun intended) today and he just got home from work and walked in here and said "so what's for dinner?"


ARGH!!


so other than being really nauseous (which i've got medicine for) it wasn't/isn't too bad.


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## MDowdey (Jan 22, 2004)

carlita, 

im soo sorry you had to go through that!! how many was it? i went 16 times before it quit. yikes.


good luck tommorrow, we will be thinking of you and your colon.

md


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## carlita (Jan 22, 2004)

MDowdey said:
			
		

> carlita,
> 
> im soo sorry you had to go through that!! how many was it? i went 16 times before it quit. yikes.
> 
> ...




hahahaha... my colon is very appreciative.  ;-)


and i hate to disappoint, but... i didn't keep count.


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## metroshane (Jan 22, 2004)

> how about 48 YEARS? and then if i live that long, i'll start another 48 years after that.



Well, then maybe that's the problem.


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## carlita (Jan 23, 2004)

ummmmmm, okay.  so anyway.



all done.

the "good stuff" they gave me was not very good.  :no smile:   i felt a little drunk, but other than that i was awake, watching the monitor and wondering what part of my intestines i was really lookin at, tensing up now and then when something would hurt.... uh huh.  not happy about it at all.

in the recovery room my mom was surprised how awake i was cause i was talknig to her and i had told her i was going to ask them when they finished the procedure what time it was to see if i'd be able to remember it later.  she said "so did you ask them the time?" and i said "yes... 7:40."  that's when the nurse lady walked in and my mom asked her if it was normal that i would be so alert and whatnot and the lady said something to the effect of "not usually, but with a few people that can happen."

and they evidently gave me more drugs than they gave my mom when she had hers done and my mom couldn't even dress herself afterward.  she and my dad were both like in bed all day and woozy and stuff for several hours afterward.  i was up walkin around, talkin, eatin and feelin like crap within about 30 minutes.  :-?


so the results:  well, good news pretty much.  from the doctor's point of view anyway.  they didn't really find much, but clearly i have an irritable bowel.  they did some biopsies from my small intestine (and apparently they normally don't even look up there for this procedure) to test me for crohn's disease which i doubt i have.  so, basically just IBS.  which in turn means there's really not a lot they can do.  

i was soooooooooo hoping this would put and end to all the mystery and there'd be some medicine they could give me for whatever they found and i'd start feeling better soon.  and it doesn't look like that's going to happen.  

but... i survived.  there's that much at least.


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## terri (Jan 23, 2004)

Poor girl....but at least you have some kind of diagnosis you can live with, I mean, it's better than hearing: "there's a mysterious growth we had to biopsy".... right???    

Sounds like you soldiered your way through stoically.   And now you get to try a buch of drugs for IBS.    uke-rig:    atta girl!!!!  :salute:


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