Today I scheduled my first colonoscopy for March 31st. I’ve read quite a bit about how much the prep sucks, but I haven’t read as much about how people feel afterwards. I’m sure it varies from person to person so I’d like to hear some anecdotes about how it went for you. Were you a little tired? Exhausted? Loopy? Gassy? How long after the procedure did you go home? Anything else? Please share!
I went home within an hour or two of the procedure, which is actually a fairly short one. I expected to be hungry, but really wasn’t. I think I may have ordered something for lunch by delivery.
Wasn’t any recovery. Once I was no longer drowsy, that was it. It was just life back as normal. You should also take some probiotics afterwards, because the colon prep washes out a lot of the good gut flora you need.
However make sure they give you enough sedative beforehand, too. For one of mine, they didn’t, and I felt the tube poking and prodding about agonizingly in the colon for a long time. I couldn’t speak or stop them.
I was hungry, and after eating a bowl of soup, spent the afternoon watching Frozen on the tv.
I felt pretty normal, but didn’t do anything major till the next day.
I was told not to drive or make decisions for twenty four hours, but . . . My usual work schedule has me at work at five AM and I drove myself like normal.
A great nap that anesthesia is. Woke up refreshed. Nurse said go ahead and pass gas, it’s normal. Met with the doc. They require a driver to get you home, but I would have been fine.
The whole (hole, snicker) process is no big deal
I’ll echo everyone else. I felt fine after I woke up. They watch you for a little while, then they let you go home. My wife drove me home. They said that I could eat as soon as I wanted, so we stopped at a restaurant along the way.
Some people say that you will be gassy afterward, but I didn’t experience that.
I’ve had two colonoscopies. I’m on the 3-year schedule, because they found and removed polyps both times, so I am due for another one in about a year.
People complain about the prep, but I found it more inconvenient than anything else. You don’t get to eat much, and you have to stay close to a bathroom, but other than that it wasn’t so bad.
There is no recovery when you nap the nap of the gods. I felt like a million bucks afterward.
The last one I had, they injected my IV with something that dried up my saliva so I wouldn’t “drool” during the procedure. Never again with the no-drool drug! The whole thing only lasted 20 minutes and the drool-inhibitor didn’t even kick in until after I’d left the facility with the friend who was driving me. I was so thirsty, but it didn’t matter what I drank. My mouth remained bone-dry for about 2 hours. It was awful.
Apart from than that, as others have said, no biggie. It’s just a nap and you’ll probably feel fine. Have an easy first meal, eat some yogurt and you’ll be in the, “What’s the big deal?” camp.
And actually, I don’t think the prep is as bad as some people imagine, particularly if you follow the instructions about what to eat and what not to eat. The more recent of my two colonoscopies was on a Monday morning, so the instruction was to start the liquid diet on Sunday morning. Instead, the last solid food I ate was midday on Saturday and I had only liquids after. And really, I wasn’t starving during this phase.
No problems or concerns here, either. The reason for the possibility for gassiness is that they inflate your colon while the scope is up there, and some air could get trapped here or there. I had no after-effects as such. However, I was loopy immediately after waking up from the anesthesia and I remember trying to be nice to the nurse who was taking care of me beforehand - she just ignored me, as if this is a common occurrence. Afterward I got a ride home and just resumed normal eating.
Re: the prep - follow the directions to the letter - it’s not something you want to have to do over again if you don’t get it right the first time.
For about a day or two beforehand, you eat or drink nothing except the stuff they give you to drink. You go to the clinic where they do the colonoscopy. You lay down of an examination table wearing just a gown. You go under anesthesia. You wake up. In my case, I didn’t experience any time between being going under and waking up. As I woke up, the doctor handed me a printout of photographs of my colon. In my case, their were no polyps, so the doctor said that he’ll see me in five years. You have to have someone drive you home.
The last time I had a colonoscopy I woke up giggling uncontrollably. The nurses got a kick out of it.
The prep is the hardest part.
Wait, is the 3-year schedule the norm? I had polyps that were removed in Dec-2022, a little over three years ago. The clinic said nothing about rescheduling a new one. I thought I could wait 5-7 years, but it’s 3?
I was specifically told to wait five years, but then I have never had polyps.
that’s what happened to me, 3 years–they want to be cautious about missed/regrowth of polyps
Okay so, my experience is not normal… But you might want to consider it from what I experienced.
I have a fear of being put to sleep. Yes, I know that they don’t put you fully to sleep when they do a colonoscopy, they give you like a Twilight drug like versad, so you’re awake but you’re out of it.
Well, that didn’t matter to me, I didn’t want any part of it…
I decided that I could just face whatever pain that came with a colonoscopy better than I could face my fear of being put under…
So I did not take any anesthesia at all, not even twilight. I went in fully conscious.
…
First of all, it was not painful in the least. I experienced no pain at all. There was a moment or two of discomfort but nothing that was not easily handled.
It’s actually surprised because he was almost done and I kept on waiting for the pain to start so I even asked him, “is this supposed to be bad?”
It was then that he revealed to me two things.
He said 1. That I was doing better without any drugs then most people did when on drugs…and
2. I was the very first person he ever did a colonoscopy on that did not have anesthesia.
I finished up… And I remember thinking why the hell does everyone not do that way? That was so easy. I was so afraid and fearful of it, and there was no pain and I didn’t even notice anything different.
But I am not a doctor, I don’t take my advice obviously, I have read many times that colonoscopies can be painful, that it really depends on the doctor, their experience, how well or not well your intestines twist around… I don’t feel good enough to suggest you go in and try it yourself, that would be up to you 100%… I merely telling you what my experience was. It was great.
They took me to the recovery room and I laid down and then my mom asked the nurse in there when I was allowed to leave and she told my mom kind of well as soon as the drug wears off… My mom then told her that I wasn’t given any drug… And she blinked like she was shocked as hell and then she said “oh, well then you can just get up and leave right now, there is no waiting time”. She said that if I knew how to drive I could even drive myself home… Although I had never learned how to drive.
She also told me that I was the very first person she ever met that passed on the anesthesia. For one day I was sort of famous in that clinic.
Up to you. Something to consider. Not sure if all doctors will even do it, I think the doctor that I had did tell me that some doctors won’t do it without anesthesia… But my experience was that it was not painful and nothing to fear.
The follow-up schedule depends on a lot of things - number and size of polyps, family history of colon cancer, patient’s age, etc. The doctor should have told you when they would like to follow up.
Ask all these questions of the doctor who schedules the colonoscopy. There are certain slight variations in how it works. Follow their rules. We’re not doctors and can’t give you medical advice.
I had one 5mm polyp removed, and they told me come back in 7. So far as the recovery, there was nothing noteworthy, just a little drowsy afterwards for a while.
I have been wanting to do my colonoscopies (two routine ones, so far) without anesthesia, but my docs won’t undertake it. I have been told that it’s commonly though not universally done that way by European doctors, no problems. Which appears to be true according to this PubMed study.