# Waking Up During Colonoscopies?



## 15578 (Oct 27, 2006)

Hey guys,I have had about 5 or 6 colonoscopies in the past - using 3 different doctors. I have woken up during two of these (one when I was in 5th grade, one this past February). Each of these were with a different doctor, and I woke up SCREAMING in pain! My last doctor told me this usually happens to thin women, which I am. I have another colonoscopy this Monday (with a new doctor). I am very scared that I will wake up again. Has this happened to anyone else?Thanks,Jessica


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

The main thing is to talk to whoever controls the drugs to put you under.Usually if you have a response like that they can change up the medications or alter the doses, etc. in order to keep you under.But they need to be told ahead of time you have this problem. It may be very worth getting the records of all the colonoscopies so they can review if there was a difference in how they put you under for the ones that you stayed under and the ones you did not.I get very sick when they try to bring me back up so I always have to have a talk with them that I will throw up, a lot. I think the last time I had surgery they got the drugs right because I didn't have a very weary recovery nurse asking me if I though I was going to throw up again. Usually by the time I am aware I am fine, so I don't have to deal with that, but apparently it wears the nursing staff out.K.


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## 14416 (Jun 21, 2005)

I woke up during my colonoscopy screaming in pain, too. It really is an awful experience isn't it?Wow, it hurt soooooooo bad.They tell you you won't remember it, but man they can be wrong!I would just do exactly what Kathleen told you to do. Great advice.


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## 13594 (May 14, 2006)

In the UK (NHS Specific) They don't put you under at all during Colonoscopy's at all!They just give you a mild-moderate sedative that is susposed to keep you at the drooling/spaced out level. I've always had a high tolerance to sedatives and analgesics so my colonoscopy was not much fun at all. Unlike what they tell you I do remember a good part of it. I was wishing they either gave me more sedative or morphine like they said they would but they didn't even though I told them it was absoloutly killing me.Also I had a flexi-sigmoidoscopy previously under no sedation whatsoever; that was pure hell. To make both tests worse, the post procedure bloating is hell till you start venting it out.Unfortunatly I can't afford the far better and safer virtual-colonoscopy which can see more and is non-invasive.Thats the NHS for you!mr_colt


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## 16229 (Jan 28, 2006)

I remember waking up during my first one. The nurse was like, calm down it's okay. Yeah right, if I wasn't getting the endoscope at the same time I would have had some choice words.On ones since then I usually warn them I better not wake up again. That was the only time it's happened to me.


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## Mary:::))) (Oct 23, 2006)

I have only had 1 colonoscopy done this past May.....they told me I would probabley go to sleep and not remember anything....well I forced myself to stay awake.....totally remembered everything....I had a point where the scope was way up there and said OW....but I watched it all on the teli....unfortunately I didn't find out my diagnosis until last month.....idiots


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## 20270 (Nov 1, 2006)

Im in NZ and we aren't usually put under for a colonoscopy either. I was given a sedative and something to stop the gut pain, and I watched the whole thing on the tele. My Sigmoid was far more painful (no drugs given) but the worst was the Enteroscopy that they did. Kinda like a Gastroscopy, looking at your small intestine, and it took over an hour. I spent almost the whole day in hospital and was an absolute mess, and remember waking up gagging halfway through that one!


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