recent colonoscopy experience

Wow, ive had 5 colons and I never had any discomfort at all..

I think they just really load on the demerol

I had one and it was not under general and again it hurts like you know what when your awake.

renerian

I had a sigmoidoscopy, very uncomfortable. I went to the bathroom afterwards and nearly passed out.

A year or so later, I had a colonoscopy, morphine and versed for sedation. It worked really well, I don't remember anything. My problem started when I got home-not only do I throw up with demerol....morphine, too. I didn't quit until 5am.

Could have been the versed. Makes me vomit like all get out. So much they told me to write it down as an allergy.

renerian

Is this because of research that has shown that redheaded people may be more resistant to anesthesia? I'm intrigued.

Anyways.....

Thanks for sharing your experience. I usually tell my patients that they may experience mild discomfort with this procedure and that most people tolerate it very well. I will now keep in mind that this procedure can be painful. I am glad you will follow up with your next colonoscopy but am sorry it was such a bad experience. I too would have had nightmares. I had a c-section years ago that was painful and the recoverery full of complications. It was so traumatic and most people report that they were up on their feet with good results shortly after the operation. It stinks to be in the percentage of people in which things do not go well.

The topic of redheads and anesthsia has come up before on these boards. (See:[url http://allnurses.com/forums/showthre...light=redheads[/url] )

I did a quick Google search by typing: "Redheads and pain tolerance" and found a number of references and articles about them and anesthesia resistance. Here's one that starts out:

"If you're a natural redhead facing surgery, you may want to have a chat with your anesthesiologist before heading for the operating room.

A new study finds you're likely to need more anesthesia when you go under the knife than do people with other hair colors. Researchers at the University of Louisville discovered that, on average, people born with red hair require about 20 percent more anesthesia to obtain satisfactory sedation."

http://www.hon.ch/News/HSN/509658.html

And here's another article from "Health and Age" website, but the link doesn't work:

Red Hair and Anesthesia?

July 15, 2003

Question

I read your news item on anesthetics with red haired people. I have red hair myself, and eight years ago I had an unpleasant experience: I was having a C-Section and was advised to opt for an epidural, but it wouldn't work properly. I was a full hour with the anesthetist and he could not get me completely numb; the operation went ahead, but they had to put me fully asleep. Can you let me know more on this topic?

Answer

If you have red hair, you might want to talk to your anesthesiologist before having surgery - and request more anesthesia! A study has shown that women with naturally red hair require up to 20% more anesthesia than dark-haired women. Researchers administered a commonly used inhalation anesthetic, desflurane, to 20 women (10 redheads and 10 non-redhead controls) between the ages of 19 and 40 years. The researchers then gave small electric shocks to the anesthetized women to measure their pain response. Compared to the non-redheads, the redheads required more anesthesia to reach what the experts judged an "optimum" dose. The optimum dose was determined by the amount of anesthesia needed to suppress movement in response to the small electrical shocks. Because this is a small study and only women were tested, more research needs to be done before generalizations can be made. Everyone has a unique response to pain. Something that is unbearably painful to one person might be only mildly painful to another.

Attention to pain may also influence the perception of that pain. Redheads, however, apparently feel pain more than most other people because of a quirk of genetics that is linked to having red hair. Anesthesiologists had anecdotally noticed for decades that redheads seem to require more anesthesia during surgery, but this is the first study to show it actually is true. The study was done by Daniel Sessler, a professor of anesthesiology at the University of Louisville, USA.

That is the answer.....

I was reading your message and felt so bad for you. I am a Registered Nurse working in an Endoscopy Center. Our patients come in so nervous and leave with a big smile on their face and can not believe what a pleasurable experience they have had. We no longer use Demerol and Versed. We use an anesthetic agent called Propofol (Diprovan). We now have Anesthesiologists on board with us who administer the drug and within seconds, the patient takes a nap. The drug has such a short half life, so is administered prn throughout the procedure to keep the patient comfortable. So, on your next visit for your colonoscopy, ask about Propofol. It works so well for the patients, especially females who have had abdominal surgeries and have many adhesions. Good luck. Any questions, let me know.

I work in a GI unit and we use versed and demerol for sedation. by far, most patients report two things: first, they don't recall any discomfort; and second, that the entire expierience was better than what they had expected.

That being said, I have seen patients who had a very uncomfortable expierience. Some were clearly in pain but did not recall it and others recall everything. Your expierience is not very uncommon, but it isn't everyday either. You need to discuss your expierience with your doctor before your next colonoscopy and with the nurse who will be administering the medication immediately before the procedure. Perhaps your doctor and you can opt for general instead of sedation. If sedation is the route that is decided on, letting the nurse know about your expierience will enable him (her) to advocate for increased medication at the begining of and during the procedure.

I hope this helps. You are certainly not alone in your expierience and hopefully you won't have another bad expierience.