# How often do you have a colonoscopy?



## 18419

Hi Everyone ,im new here but have been reading the posts for a few weeks and have found it very helpful,i have crohns disease and have been diagnosed with ibs also ,what id like to know is how often do you go for a colonoscopy?My consultant wants me to go yearly... surely it cant be good for youre bowels to have this invasive procedure done so often .Ive cancelled mine because i am scared stiff to have it done ....i havent had very painless ones in the past and now i cant cope at all.Landy.


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## Jannybitt

Landy;Just be straightforward with your doctor and tell them you are extremely nervous for this and want to be as drugged as possible. Tell him/her about your past experiences. It is important to get one if you haven't had one in a while.I'm going next week for the consult, and I plan on very assertive in my expectations. I want to be able to get another one someday if I need to without looking back at it as a traumatic experience. My husband just had one. Piece of cake. Doesn't remember anything!Hope that helps, Landy! It will be ok.


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## OppOnn

My GI tells me every two years, even though he found polyps the last but one time, but not the last time. For the record, I never felt so good after my colonoscopies...all cleaned-out, light, wonderful.But I had the Miralax prep, with Ducolax tablets, which is a very gentle prep, with no taste!I walked home after, abot 8 blocks the last but ne, and could have the last one, but it was too far away, but I did work after the last one, albeit at home. I felt fine. After the first one I had, with the foul-tasting harsh phospha,I was out of it for the rest of the day, and developed hemmoroids I'd never had before and never got rid of entirely.Good idea to be straight forward with your doctor, and strong.O


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## 16127

I had my first colonoscopy last December. I will have another one in a year. After that I may go to one every 2 - 3 years depending. In a few more years however I will have to go to having one anually because of my age and the length of time I've had UC.I insisted on a "light" prep. Some docs are in tune to that and others don't seem to care. Believe me, you DO NOT have to have the "dynamite" prep if you've been suffering from diarrhea. There are mild, well tolerated preps that work just fine. And I had what's called the "twilight sleep" for the procedure. Don't remember a thing. They gave me a shot and I woke up what felt like a minute later and it was all over.


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## 21029

Whatever you do, please do not skip out on the recommended colonoscopies! There is too much at risk (cancer, colostomy, bowel surgeries).







If you don't like your doctor, remember that you are a patient and as a consumer of the medical field you have a right to shop around until you find someone you are comfortable with. I bet if you talk to some of your friends, they will have personal recommendations or some from their family.Remember, colonoscopies don't have to be painful. They are useful diagnostic tools - very important!


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## 18419

Hi Everyone,many thanks for youre answers its nice to know it isnt just me who has to have these yuccy procedures on a regular basis!!Im seeing a psychologist at the moment for anxiety so hopefully she can help i have a history of cancer in my family and i know i have to go for these but im so frightened, Im so glad i found this site thankyou very much,ihope i may be able to contribute as well as pick folks brains!!!!







LandyBy the way are there any members from Scotland?


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## 18110

I am due to have a colonscopy soon. I have IBS and have been to the docs so many times I have finally forced their hand. I guess it will put my mind at ease of nothing else. I have already had a gastrscopy.Not really sure If I want to be unconscious. Any other IBSer had this done?


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## ManualShift

I've yet to get an IBS diagnosis but I did have the colonoscopy. They also did an esophageal endoscopy at the same time. I was out and not given the option to be awake. I asked and was denied three times before they finally put me out.


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## Homebound

I have Crohn's disease, and my doctor also seems to be the kind that likes to do one every year. I actually have an appointment next week to see him, and will be letting him know that I want to go every 2 years. My disease is mild, and I'm doing well right now. For me I find every year to be excessive. Of course if I started having problems that would be a different story. I don't think there really should be a single standard, I think doctors really need to take the patient in to account. How bad their disease is, how long they've had it, how their treatment is working, before deciding how often they need colonoscopies. This test isn't free of complications and risks. Espeically for those of us with IBD. So for me at least I want to feel that I really need to be having it at that time before doing it.


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## yiyayiya

Landy said:


> Hi Everyone ,im new here but have been reading the posts for a few weeks and have found it very helpful,i have crohns disease and have been diagnosed with ibs also ,what id like to know is how often do you go for a colonoscopy?My consultant wants me to go yearly... surely it cant be good for youre bowels to have this invasive procedure done so often .Ive cancelled mine because i am scared stiff to have it done ....i havent had very painless ones in the past and now i cant cope at all.Landy.


I have never and will never have any form of invasive treatment. i suffer from GERD and was told I had to have an endoscopy which I refused. I will take my chances


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## AIRPLANE

I'm 52. Recently I went to a colon-rectal doctor, hoping to investigate a possible abscess/fistula but he only spent a few rushed minutes with me- I didn't even get a chance to show him some imaging tests I had taken with me because he talked and walked out of the room so fast. All he cared about was my getting a colonoscopy which wouldn't help with the abscess/fistula. I told him about a painful sigmoidoscopy test I'd had years ago and I said to him twice when he kept pushing for a colonoscopy that I didn't tolerate scope tests well because I had adhesions from previous surgeries to which he merely replied, "Oh, I'm sure you do' but didn't indicate that he'd consider any treatment for them if I did have the test. The last scope test I had was in the late 1990s after my hysterectomy. It was a sigmoidoscopy and I was awake. The scope came to the one spot where I often experienced the worst pain and spasms that I often had that gave me urgency and diarrhea. The doctor could tell that I was in pain- he asked me if it hurt and all I could do was nod because it hurt so much. I assumed that there would be a follow-up apppointment or phone call and we would discuss 'why' it hurt there so much and maybe attempt to find a solution. All I got was a letter telling me that the test was normal.I didn't know about adhesions back then and think that that is why that area hurt so much. I did have a colonoscopy many years before and had increased pain afterwards and didn't think that it was solely due to the prep. I'd also had several bariums and only had a brief discomfort from the prep but definietly not the amount of pain I got from scope tests.I have no interest in getting any scope tests if the doctors are going to ignore issues such as unusual tightness. I read somewhere about a nurse who said that doctors will always say the test is normal as long as there are no polyps or any sign of cancer, even if there are narrow areas which might indicate an adhesion problem. It is not worth the discomfort I experience for so long afterwards if the doctor is not going to make full use of the test and be just as interested in my quality-of-life as they are about cancer.


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## overitnow

I had a father who managed to outlast his heart disease, prostate cancer, and fiberous lung lining long enough to die from an undiagnosed colon cancer at 82. After self-supplementing my way out of a 10 year case of D along with a few other more life-threatening conditions, and being pretty close to well for 10 years or so, I got a doctor who caught me and sent me for a "virtual"colonoscopy. We have recently bought a house near Puerto Vallarta to retire to. I am hoping, with my non-existant Spanish, to avoid ever having one again. (Frankly, if I get to 80, what with a 30 year smoking addiction accompanied and survived by 40 some years of alcohol consumption, I will consider this life fully valued.) If I get to pass on while sitting on a Mexican beach with a Margarita in my hand, I can only hope I drank it all before departing. If you two (Airplane and yiyayiya) want to join me, bring your own chairs...Mark


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## yiyayiya

Landy said:


> Hi Everyone ,im new here but have been reading the posts for a few weeks and have found it very helpful,i have crohns disease and have been diagnosed with ibs also ,what id like to know is how often do you go for a colonoscopy?My consultant wants me to go yearly... surely it cant be good for youre bowels to have this invasive procedure done so often .Ive cancelled mine because i am scared stiff to have it done ....i havent had very painless ones in the past and now i cant cope at all.Landy.


HiI have never had, nor will ever have a colonoscopy (or any other invasive treatment or procedure) despite being told that I have to have one. I blatantly refuse and will take my chances.


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## yiyayiya

Landy said:


> Hi Everyone ,im new here but have been reading the posts for a few weeks and have found it very helpful,i have crohns disease and have been diagnosed with ibs also ,what id like to know is how often do you go for a colonoscopy?My consultant wants me to go yearly... surely it cant be good for youre bowels to have this invasive procedure done so often .Ive cancelled mine because i am scared stiff to have it done ....i havent had very painless ones in the past and now i cant cope at all.Landy.


I have never had, nor will I ever have, a colonoscopy or any other form of invasive treatment. You are right, people shoving things into your body is not good and usually does more harm than good. I will take my chances


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## JenS

I have had several colonoscopies, mostly because I had to switch GI doctors (due to me moving or insurance changes)

1997 - Fleet prep, totally asleep

1998 - Go-lyte, remember being awake somewhat, watched on screen

2001 - Fleet, woke up in the middle in some pain, quickly re-sedated

2004 - Fleet, totally out

2012 - Su-prep, totally out

2013 - tomorrow!!! (trying Miralax prep for the first time!)

In terms of preps and sedation all have been different!

I know many people are against it. It is invasive, but I have a history of GI bleeding and a family history of GI cancer, so I don't see a way around it 

I asked for barium xrays or something different this time but my GI said no. I am anemic due to bleeding so they need to find where it's coming from.


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