recent colonoscopy experience

Specialties Gastroenterology

Published

I had my first colonoscopy last Friday. I am 46 and my mother has had two surgeries for colon CA, so I felt pretty good about being so responsible. I went to every website I could find and researched all aspects of the procedure (patient teaching, videos of colonoscopies, personal experiences, etc.) I also spoke to several people who had gone through the procedure recently including my husband and my OB/GYN. I felt very well informed and more than educated about what would happen, what I would see on the screen, and how it would feel.

I was given Versed 2 mg and Demerol 50 mg IVP and the doctor waited until I assured him that I was groggy. Everythiing went just as I expected until just after insertion when air was instilled into my colon. I experienced some of the worst pain I have ever felt. The doctor immediately instructed the nurse to give me "25 more" which I assumed meant more Demerol. He continued the exam with me moaning in pain. I felt every mm. of my colon being blown up and navigated. I tried to watch the screen because I was really interested to see my own colon after viewing so many others in my preparation for the procedure. The pain was practically unbearable. Since then, I have had trouble concentrating and sleeping because I keep reliving this scene. I feel so duped and betrayed. All of the instructions and testimonials I read stated that there is little dicomfort and the Versed gives the patient amnesia to any discomfort that may occur. I have lamazed three children and had I known ahead of time, I would have gotten into a breathing pattern and anticipated the pain. I will know better next time. And as a nurse, I will return in 5 years because of my FH.

I guess what I want from you guys is some validation that indeed this does occur occasionally and that I'm not alone in this experience.

Thanks for your input. Sorry about the length of this, but I needed to vent!

Please send the quick reply back to me that I sent about my gastroenterologist and the upper and lower scopes that were done. I replied to the wrong spot. Send it to [email protected]

thanks

Sorry, still learning to use this site.

I had a colonoscopy and upper endoscopy on June 25th. The Versed they gave me had very little effect as I have a high tolerance to Valium. They took me into the procedure room and hooked up my IV. The doctor had previously decided to use "MAC" monitored anesthetic care where they knock you out completely using Propofol. He didn't even give me a choice.

Thinking back on it, he probably did it to make the procedure easier for himself rather than me. No having to listen to moans and groans or dealing with the patient squirming around. I hear these procedures under conscious sedation can be very painful. But they want more people to go for the test so no matter where you read about it they always say that that it's "somewhat uncomfortable". That's why they use Versed. To wipe your memory of the procedure and the pain. It helps protect the doctor from being sued.

They didn't even warn me that they were about to knock me out. I was awake one second and then I was awakened by motion of the gurney. The nurse saw me open my eyes and said in a cold, uncaring, indifferent, I say this a hundred times a day manner, "the procedure is over and you're in recovery." Then she walked away.

I felt like nothing had been done. I suppose that's a good thing. No throat pain from the upper endoscopy in which they took one biopsy from my stomach and one in my duodenum, although later when I read the nurses report "gagging" was noted. No pain in my butt area. No passing gas. No burping or bloating. No nothing. The only evidence that something had been gong on around my butt area was when I reached back there and felt some lube around my orifice.

The main thing I regret is not being conscious to witness the procedure on the monitor. I think I am going to ask for conscious sedation next time WITHOUT the Versed for wiping your memory. I want painkillers only. Will they do this? Am I making a big mistake about this? I have an insatiable curiosity and feel that I WANT to experience the procedure and see my innards "live". Pictures later just don't do it. Can't they have the IV set up so that if I am in too much pain I can say, "I give up! Knock me out!"?

I don't like the idea that I was completely gone for 45 minutes and feel as though I have been intimately violated. I feel like the 45 minutes that I was gone was just like being dead. If I HAD died, I never would have known the difference! I sure hope there's more to death than that "nothingness"!

To sleep, to sleep, perchance to dream. :bow:

theofour:

Wow, I could have written your thoughts on amnesia and death myself. I never really expected to find someone who relates to me so well. Your description of the creepy amnesia as a violation is exactly how I interpret it.

I am a Christian. I do not expect heaven to be a physical place, with physical bodies, but I certainly hope to continue to exist in some manner.

I described my colonoscopy experience on page 3 of this post. That post is a little out of date, since I have requested my medical records since then, and have a lot more knowledge (courses in addiction, medical terminology, biological aging, gerontology, and pharmacology).

I was given 2 mg of Versed and 50 mg of Demerol for my EGD, with no effect. The Cetacaine throat spray eliminated any problems with gagging.

The initial dose for my Colonoscopy was 1 mg Versed and 50 mg Demerol. After I asked for more drugs, I was given the remainder in the syringes, for a total of 3 mg Versed and 75 mg Demerol. There was no pain relief, just that creepy amnesia. I regained the ability to remember a few minutes before I was moved out of the recovery room. The nurse did not speak to me when she moved me. Since my coworkers do not remember the recovery room, I assume she did not think I would remember.

My doctor, on the other hand, does his best job of providing patient information while the patient is under sedation. He never met with me prior to either procedure, nor was any kind of detailed description of the procedure provided to me. He told me the results immediately after each procedure. Because I was not actually sedated for the EGD, I remembered his talk, and when he asked if I wanted pictures, I of course said Yes. There was no follow up talk about the results.

I do not remember anything said to me after the colonoscopy, and if he offered to provide a picture, I was too drugged to say Yes. The nurse told him that I wanted to speak to him before I was released. He was apparently surprised that I did not remember. I was not even told that a picture was taken.

They removed the excess air and fluid from my colon, as the nurse said they would. This was good, because I saw a lot of fluid, along with some fecal matter, during the part I was able to watch. Passing gas might have been a messy and embarrassing experience. Someone did wipe my orifice, but I don't remember that part. I hope you washed your hands after you felt your orifice ;)

I believe Versed is given for the following reasons:

1. Many people do not want to remember. I can accept this, but I will never be able to relate to that.

2. Versed is supposed to relieve anxiety. If I experienced that, I do not remember due to the creepy amnesia.

3. There is this belief that pain is not real if it is not remembered. I disagree, and anyway, the creepy amnesia is far worse than the pain, and while the pain is temporary, the creepy amnesia is unfortunately permanent. I do have a lot of sympathy for those suffering PTSD from painful procedures, however.

A couple of my coworkers described their amnesia as "The best sleep I ever had." To each his own. "Different strokes for different folks. And so on and so on, and scooby dooby dooby."

A little OT, N577450, but there is an online support group for quinolone family meds (Cipro, Levaquin, etc.), [email protected], and they are thrilled that they've finally prevailed and FDA will be ordering or has ordered a black box warning for that family of antibiotics.

I had my first colonoscopy last Friday. I am 46 and my mother has had two surgeries for colon CA, so I felt pretty good about being so responsible. I went to every website I could find and researched all aspects of the procedure (patient teaching, videos of colonoscopies, personal experiences, etc.) I also spoke to several people who had gone through the procedure recently including my husband and my OB/GYN. I felt very well informed and more than educated about what would happen, what I would see on the screen, and how it would feel.

I was given Versed 2 mg and Demerol 50 mg IVP and the doctor waited until I assured him that I was groggy. Everythiing went just as I expected until just after insertion when air was instilled into my colon. I experienced some of the worst pain I have ever felt. The doctor immediately instructed the nurse to give me "25 more" which I assumed meant more Demerol. He continued the exam with me moaning in pain. I felt every mm. of my colon being blown up and navigated. I tried to watch the screen because I was really interested to see my own colon after viewing so many others in my preparation for the procedure. The pain was practically unbearable. Since then, I have had trouble concentrating and sleeping because I keep reliving this scene. I feel so duped and betrayed. All of the instructions and testimonials I read stated that there is little dicomfort and the Versed gives the patient amnesia to any discomfort that may occur. I have lamazed three children and had I known ahead of time, I would have gotten into a breathing pattern and anticipated the pain. I will know better next time. And as a nurse, I will return in 5 years because of my FH.

I guess what I want from you guys is some validation that indeed this does occur occasionally and that I'm not alone in this experience.

Thanks for your input. Sorry about the length of this, but I needed to vent!

If there is a next time, ask for Fentanyl and Propofol. Versed is an evil poison that never should have been allowed to be used. I had it for an endoscopy 17 years ago and my entire life has been ruined by that experience. I woke up 5 times during the procedure, tried to strangle the dr, felt EVERYTHING and stopped breathing. I woke up covered in bruises and I suffer from severe anxiety attacks and PTSD now. I am in therapy, seeing a shrink and on medication for this. Had I known then what I know know I either never would have had the endoscopy done (it was totally unnessary just a way for the hospital to make money, and now my throat is permanantly damaged and I'm unable to eat quite a few foods or I choke.) or I would have requested Propofol and Fentanyl. I just had major abdominal surgery 4 weeks ago and I insisted they give me that for anesthesia. While I wasn't crazy about the effects of Propofol, at least it was a quick in and quick out, and I still have what little brain cells left that the Versed horror took from me.

Please tell EVERYONE you know to not let any Dr, Dentist or anesthiologist use this poison on them. It does WAY more harm than it does any good. Dr's love to OD patients on this crap so they won't remember anything and won't sue them...nice, huh?

I spread the word all over the net and in person. Versed/Midazolam is poison and shouldn't be given to ANYONE. It's cheap and a big money-maker for the medical field, that's why they try to force it on you for almost anything. If you ever hear the words "Oh it's just something to relax you," and they won't tell you what medication it is...RUN for your LIFE!!!

Kathy a Versed Victim and basketcase since 1991

I had a colonoscopy and upper endoscopy on June 25th. The Versed they gave me had very little effect as I have a high tolerance to Valium. They took me into the procedure room and hooked up my IV. The doctor had previously decided to use "MAC" monitored anesthetic care where they knock you out completely using Propofol. He didn't even give me a choice.

Thinking back on it, he probably did it to make the procedure easier for himself rather than me. No having to listen to moans and groans or dealing with the patient squirming around. I hear these procedures under conscious sedation can be very painful. But they want more people to go for the test so no matter where you read about it they always say that that it's "somewhat uncomfortable". That's why they use Versed. To wipe your memory of the procedure and the pain. It helps protect the doctor from being sued.

They didn't even warn me that they were about to knock me out. I was awake one second and then I was awakened by motion of the gurney. The nurse saw me open my eyes and said in a cold, uncaring, indifferent, I say this a hundred times a day manner, "the procedure is over and you're in recovery." Then she walked away.

I felt like nothing had been done. I suppose that's a good thing. No throat pain from the upper endoscopy in which they took one biopsy from my stomach and one in my duodenum, although later when I read the nurses report "gagging" was noted. No pain in my butt area. No passing gas. No burping or bloating. No nothing. The only evidence that something had been gong on around my butt area was when I reached back there and felt some lube around my orifice.

The main thing I regret is not being conscious to witness the procedure on the monitor. I think I am going to ask for conscious sedation next time WITHOUT the Versed for wiping your memory. I want painkillers only. Will they do this? Am I making a big mistake about this? I have an insatiable curiosity and feel that I WANT to experience the procedure and see my innards "live". Pictures later just don't do it. Can't they have the IV set up so that if I am in too much pain I can say, "I give up! Knock me out!"?

I don't like the idea that I was completely gone for 45 minutes and feel as though I have been intimately violated. I feel like the 45 minutes that I was gone was just like being dead. If I HAD died, I never would have known the difference! I sure hope there's more to death than that "nothingness"!

To sleep, to sleep, perchance to dream. :bow:

You CAN have a colonoscopy with just Demerol or Fentanyl and no sedation. Just a word of warning, they will do their darndest to get you to take Versed. The nurse kept telling me 'Oh honey you NEED Versed, you won't be able to stand the pain."

First of all, there was NO pain with this procedure. I took 1/2 of the normal dose of Demerol (which was like basically no pain killer at all since I have a very high tolerance for drugs.) I told the nurse that I do NOT need Versed, that Versed was poison and ruined my life and left me with PTSD since 1991. I also told her that if I saw her go near my IV with a syringe that I'd tear it out of my hand and be walking out. (I said it with a smile, and the Dr laughed and said 'this one is a tough cookie, leave her alone.')

You need to discuss this with your Dr before hand. If your doctor won't agree to this, find another Dr. Oh two more things you WILL want to request that alot of people don't know about, and you are entitled to:

1.) Request a stick of lidocaine before having that very painful IV needle/tube inserted, you won't feel the lidocaine or the IV needle, doing this is the difference between night and day and will save you alot of pain and stress.

2.) Absolutely DEMAND that the Dr use a pediatric colonscope on you. My Dr only uses that and stated that the adult colonscope is way too large and very hard to maneuver for 95% of the population, unless you're a very large man, it also makes viewing the lining of the colon very hard and often times small polyps are missed. Also the chance of being perforated is ten times greater than when a pediatric scope is used.

I hope this helps. Please remember to tell EVERYONE you know not to ever let anyone use Versed on them for anything!!!

Specializes in OR, PACU, GI, med-surg, OB, school nursing.

Wow -- I am sorry you had such an awful experience with Versed. However, just because you reacted so badly to it doesn't mean it's a bad drug for everyone. I have only been working in GI since January, but we use Versed on nearly everyone, and I have never seen anyone react badly to it. People can have bad reactions to many drugs; these should be listed as allergies even if it isn't a "true" allergy. In my experience, Versed really helps people to relax, zone out, or sleep, depending on the dosage. I would ask for it for my colonoscopy; I personally wouldn't want narcotics alone, and don't have a medical reason for Propofol to be used (in my state a CRNA or MDA needs to give it, so the cost of the procedure goes way up).

There are certainly others who feel as stongly as you do about Versed. It would be interesting to see some data on numbers of bad reactions; it seems rare to me, but maybe it's not as rare as I think.

Wow -- I am sorry you had such an awful experience with Versed. However, just because you reacted so badly to it doesn't mean it's a bad drug for everyone. I have only been working in GI since January, but we use Versed on nearly everyone, and I have never seen anyone react badly to it. People can have bad reactions to many drugs; these should be listed as allergies even if it isn't a "true" allergy. In my experience, Versed really helps people to relax, zone out, or sleep, depending on the dosage. I would ask for it for my colonoscopy; I personally wouldn't want narcotics alone, and don't have a medical reason for Propofol to be used (in my state a CRNA or MDA needs to give it, so the cost of the procedure goes way up).

There are certainly others who feel as stongly as you do about Versed. It would be interesting to see some data on numbers of bad reactions; it seems rare to me, but maybe it's not as rare as I think.

Google Versed Horror stories, you'll get a bunch of websites on what a horrible drug Versed is and how it gives people permanent memory loss, anxiety, depression and PTSD.

If there is a next time, ask for Fentanyl and Propofol. Versed is an evil poison that never should have been allowed to be used. I had it for an endoscopy 17 years ago and my entire life has been ruined by that experience. I woke up 5 times during the procedure, tried to strangle the dr, felt EVERYTHING and stopped breathing. I woke up covered in bruises and I suffer from severe anxiety attacks and PTSD now. I am in therapy, seeing a shrink and on medication for this. Had I known then what I know know I either never would have had the endoscopy done (it was totally unnessary just a way for the hospital to make money, and now my throat is permanantly damaged and I'm unable to eat quite a few foods or I choke.) or I would have requested Propofol and Fentanyl. I just had major abdominal surgery 4 weeks ago and I insisted they give me that for anesthesia. While I wasn't crazy about the effects of Propofol, at least it was a quick in and quick out, and I still have what little brain cells left that the Versed horror took from me.

Please tell EVERYONE you know to not let any Dr, Dentist or anesthiologist use this poison on them. It does WAY more harm than it does any good. Dr's love to OD patients on this crap so they won't remember anything and won't sue them...nice, huh?

I spread the word all over the net and in person. Versed/Midazolam is poison and shouldn't be given to ANYONE. It's cheap and a big money-maker for the medical field, that's why they try to force it on you for almost anything. If you ever hear the words "Oh it's just something to relax you," and they won't tell you what medication it is...RUN for your LIFE!!!

Kathy a Versed Victim and basketcase since 1991

That's interesting. If you had Versed in the US in 1991 you would have quite a case against the physicians. According to the nice people at the FDA Versed was first approved for use in the US on October 15, 1998.

http://www.fda.gov/cder/foi/nda/98/020942_versed_toc.htm

David Carpenter, PA-C

That's interesting. If you had Versed in the US in 1991 you would have quite a case against the physicians. According to the nice people at the FDA Versed was first approved for use in the US on October 15, 1998.

http://www.fda.gov/cder/foi/nda/98/020942_versed_toc.htm

David Carpenter, PA-C

David, I'm sorry but you are incorrect. Versed has been available and given to the public since 1986. My daughter was given it in 1988 for an EEG to find out why she was having seizures.

Specializes in Critical Care.
David, I'm sorry but you are incorrect. Versed has been available and given to the public since 1986. My daughter was given it in 1988 for an EEG to find out why she was having seizures.

It must have been difficult to analyze your daughter's seizures given midazolam's strong anti-convulsive properties.

Serial mom, why is every one of your posts an attack against midazolam? Do you work in the health care industry?

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