Mine was 10 years ago, too. I’m due for another, but have been dragging my feet. I’ve had some friends tell me that they just had to drink two bottles of Gatorade with powder mixed in, and others have said that they only had to take a pill! When I asked about these methods, I was told that the Go Lightly (I think that’s what it was called) is the best method and that is what my clinic uses. The Go Lightly was in a gallon jug. I had to drink 3/4 of it that evening and the rest the next morning. It was salty, slimy, and it felt cold inside my body. The morning portion was even worse. It had thickened up by then. UGH
For my colonoscopy, the doctor prescribed Suprep (a combination of sodium sulfate, potassium sulfate and magnesium sulfate), which as I remember, I took with about a pint of water or Gatorade, in two doses about four or six hours apart. It certainly wasn’t a gallon of vile tasting liquid.
Same here. They told me I would have the greatest nap of my life, and wake up feeling refreshed and fantastic, and that’s exactly what happened. No wonder Michael Jackson got hooked on, and eventually OD’ed on the stuff (I believe they told me I was given Propofol).
I had no discomfort afterward whatsoever.
I remember the nurse telling me to roll onto my left side and then waking up in the recovery room.
I’m jealous of y’all. When i had propofol, i woke up convinced that I’d nearly died, and with a profound sense of having been violated. That was for an upper endoscopy, which (unlike a colonoscopy) leaves you sore in lots of places. I had PTSD and couldn’t sleep for more than a week afterwards, and finally was helped by talking to the anesthesiologist, who walked me, minute by minute, though his notes of exactly what had was done. (Which was routine, by the way.)
I remain terrified of needing to take propofol again.
But most people enjoy the experience.
(And the worst physical after effect I’ve had from a colonoscopy is feeling slimy from the lube. Really, no recovery needed at all. Any recovery needed will be from the anesthesia.)
A big nothingburger. I remember coming out of anesthesia and the nurses shouting my name repeatedly. “Mr. [Mylastname]!! Mr. [Mylastname]!! Aaron!!!” and I remember one of them shoving my inhaler into my hand. Then I realized I was having an asthma attack. I very much doubt it was brought on by anesthesia but whatevs, I was fine within seconds.
Got lunch on the way home.
[Bolding mine]
Maybe your experience was more a result of the specific procedure than of the anesthetic, then?
In any case, I’m sorry to hear of your bad experience.
Nope, I’ve done several upper endoscopies sober, too. It leaves me with a sore throat, but when I’ve been awake and able to consent to the procedure, I’ve had no psychological issues after. And the aching jaw is a side effect of having your mouth propped open when you are too deeply sedated to guard your own breathing. That’s a common side effect of a sedated upper scope, but isn’t an issue if you do it sober. I have no idea if it’s sometimes a problem with sedated colonoscopies.
I have severe gastric reflux, (mostly controlled by drugs) and for a while the doctors wanted to monitor how my stomach and esophagus were doing pretty regularly. I’ve done a lot of upper endoscopies. The one with propofol was by far the worst.
Anyway, I’m an advocate of doing colonoscopies sober. You can drive yourself there and back, there’s no recovery time, it’s cool to watch, and there’s not very much pain. And it’s cheaper and slightly safer.
That’s me. I had my first colonoscopy mid 40s, and will have my third later this year, on a 5-year schedule. They found 2 polyps with my first, I think only 1 with my second.
My PCP at the time of my first colonoscopy said he always does it without anesthesia, and I could if I wanted, no problem. I’ve always gone for the anesthesia. I remember the post procedure discussion with the doctor. My husband doesn’t remember any of the post procedure discussion, so it was good that I was with him.
I had actual surgery in September, was intubated, etc. There was a long recovery period - it took days for me to get out of the fog, and weeks to totally recover. I went home in a taxi - taking a bus was out of the question.
Colonoscopy recovery? Finished by the time I got home - less than 2 hours after the procedure was done. And I went home on the bus, with my husband escorting me. (Parking in that area is horrible.)
Between my colonoscopy 10 years ago and the one 5 years ago, they halved the product volume, but still have to drink a lot. For the one I have 5 years ago, I took a swig of product, and then a swig of some other liquid - might have been tea or some other pale liquid.
Hubby confirmed - his latest was 2 years ago, and his first was 12 years ago. He really had an issue to complete the prep the first time, but the second one was a lot easier.
As he has no family history of colon cancer, and because his first colonoscopy was clear, his one small polyp during his second colonoscopy earned him another 10 years before his next screening.
Make sure the product is cold, and use a straw. We have a metal Starbucks tumbler with a metal straw. We both used it for the product.
Because the product is cold, alternating with something warm will help prevent getting chilled.
After the procedure, our doctor’s office offers a choice of broth or coffee or tea or even just water. I had time to finish mine before going to chat with the doctor about his findings.
Between mine, 1 and 11 years ago, the product was the same, except the first included its own flavoring (go lytly) and the second was the same drug, dissolved in the same volume, but with Gatorade.
Different doctors have different preferences, and most also take patient preference (and prior experience) into account.
I did a bit of searching, and found the brand that both my husband and I used for our second colonoscopies. We only had to drink 1 liter of solution plus another liter of liquids compared to 4 liters solution before. Same practice, but different doctors between the first and second rounds.
Or for @EinsteinsHund https://www.plenvu.de/ They even have an app! 
Thank you very much! I bookmarked the site and will remember it when I schedule my next colonoscopy, which is due this year after ten years. The vast amount I had to drink was my main issue of discomfort, because I’m really not used to that much liquid.
The tablets made me vomit. I’ll go back to the liquid next time.