I have been referred for a colonscopy to investigate several weeks of diarrhea and rectal bleeding. I have been reading the posts in this thread:
https://patient.info/forums/discuss/painful-colonoscopy-397954
about the pain that people have experienced during this procedure. Even before that, my GP had urged me to ask for sedation. However the hospital are insisting that I have someone stay with me for 24 hours after the procedure. I live alone and have no family. I have friends but no-one I feel that I could ask to give up what would effeectively be 26+ hours including the time immediately before and during the procedure. I do not feel that I can ask people to give up a day’s paid work or not be able to take care of their children or grandchildren in order to watch over me.
I have had a gastroscopy of the upper GI tract and a CT scan of the lower GI tract in the past with the necessary sedation and have felt fine 30 minutes after the procedures and for the rest of the day. The hospital is nearby and I walked home from both.
While I can see this might be necessary for older, frailer patients, 24 hours seems overkill for someone who is otherwise fit and healthy. I have been told that if I cannot decalre that I have someone stay with me for 24 hours than they will not do the procedure with sedation. After contacting the hospital patient liasion service I have now been told that they will have to arrange for an overnight bed for me so long as my GP will confirm that I have no-one. This seems a terrible waste of a hospital bed not to mention my GP’s time but my only option if I am going to have the tests done without a lot of pain. I suppose I could always discharge myself after a few hours. I’d rather go home and rest in the quiet of my own home rather than be among the noise of a busy hospital ward.
I thought I would post this here as I am sure I am not the only person who has no-one. According to an ageUK survey done in December 2014, 2.9 million older people (65+) in Great Britain feel they have no one to turn to for help and support and it bothers me that a lot of those people might be being forced into having painful medical procedures without sedation just because they happen to be alone.
Each time I have gone out for a meal so I was technically watched over! I suppose there are some people who really need this but I think it is daft personally. I think it is all done to cover their bottoms (so to speak) with their insurers. In my view, if they have actual worries that you need that kind of supervision for more than a few hours, they should not discharge you. What would a friend too during the night? Stay awake at your bedside monitoring you? I just sign and make my own decisions...
To be honest my experience 3 times of sedation once I came round I was absolutely fine and could have coped without any one. I think you have to have someone take you home though. That's their procedure, once you are out of the hospital you are out of their hands
Yes, etheremail, exactly. I had the same argument when I was trying to arrange the gastroscopy about five years ago when the friend I had nominated asked if she would be able to sleep in the spare room or was she supposed to watch over me all night? In the end I arranged to have the procedure carried out in a private hospital under the NHS choose and book scheme. They did it at 8.30am (with sedation), I was having breakfast by 9.00, dressed and left at 10.00 and no-one said a thing. Sadly, I need the colonoscopy done more urgently than can be done under choose and book where I would have to go through the rigmarole of seeing a consultant first. When I called the same hospital I used before they said it would take several weeks to get the consultation and procedures arranged and I don't think I can wait that long. I wish I could sign a disclaimer taking responsibiity for my own welfare afterwards. I asked the NHS hospital but it's not an option.
Thanks Babs. I think I might do that. Ask someone who can spare an hour or two to come get me and then let them go. The procedure is scheduled for 8.30am. There is no way I am going to take up a bed for a whole day and night when odds are I will feel perfectly fine.
Don't. It's crazy! If you have had sedation before you generally know how it affects you and we do have phones (something hospitals curiously forget). Most of my friends (love them as I do) would be completely useless anyway. Just smile sweetly, sign the form, have someone to accompany you home and use your own common sense to take things from there.
And I found the sedation stronger on the gastroscopy than the colonoscopy to be honest, but I was fine in a couple of hours on both. They're just covering their backs for the small minority who react oddly to it which you know already that you don't.
They will recommend the precautions due to the type of sedation that is used. It can affect memory and thinking let alone driving long after the sedating affects are over. People have done things after they have "recovered" from their sedation that they vaguely remember the next day.
I had a Colonoscopy in the states done without sedation or pain meds, which is highly unusual. In the states about 1% of colonoscopies are done drug free. I experienced something discomfort and a some pain at times. I was expecting for the doctor to use more air, which usually causes more pain. Once the scope was completely it was amazingly comfortable in spite of the doctor's twisting and moving the scope in and out to clear the debris around the Ileum due to the extentive prep not doing its job completely.
Unfortunately each person's tolerance of the Colonoscopy procedure is dependant on the operator's skill and the pain tolerance of the person to the air inflation and stretching of the colon. I am used to a lot of bloating and stretching of the colon so the Colonoscopy was just more of the same, but shorter duration. Your experience may greatly vary.
Yes I am due to have a colonscopy and have no one to come with me either so not sure what I will do, which area do you live in I am in London if its not too far I would come with you
Thank you Christine. I am not in London but I will let you know what the outcome is as regards my own arrangements as you might be able to arrange something similar through your local hospital's PALS. Hospitals really do need to wake up to the fact that people don't always have someone to take care of them. The organisation Ageing without Children recognise this and are lobbying for change: http://awoc.org/2015/07/27/alone-and-in-hospital-frightening-quote-for-respondent-to-awoc-survey/
I've always managed colonoscopies on my own, all done without sedation. I've had 3 of them, and it was not a terrible experience unlike some of the reports one reads here. The only drug they gave me was Buscopan where a phial of it with a needle is inserted into the back of my hand and it relaxes your colon. Having taken the bus to the hospital, within an hour after the procedure I was back on the bus on my way home. No discomfort and no side-effects afterwards. So I'd suggest maybe that's the way to go.
Thank you PaulBen. I must admit, I have allowed myself to be influenced by some of the negative experiences others have reported in the forum so it's good to hear from someone who says it's not so bad.
Everyone's experience is different. Depends a lot on twists etc in your colon. My Mother in Law in her Late 70's had the same experience as Paul. No sedation no discomfort. I was knocked out to almost unconsciousness and a shot of pethadine yet still found it unbearable
Babs is right. It also depends on if you have any condition that might make it more painful. I have had sedation 3 times. Twice it did nothing for me and once I cant remember much. No pain on each occasion, but a bit of pressure when they move from the sigmoid bit to the lateral bit. That went once we were round the corner so to speak. In my view it depends on (a) your physiology, (b) the skill of the operator and (c) not drawing yourself in during the procedure but slightly pushing as if you were going to the loo. If you draw in the muscles contract. I think sedation helps me a bit but it's the other factors that really count. Good luck!
I am in the same situation.
I am alone also, and next Friday on Augst 18th, I have to go for a colonoscopy. Since my divorce 4 years ago, I have been on my own, doing everything myself. I also have no friends, because it is very hard to find a good friend. So when I go for this test, once its finished, I will stay and wait a little bit until I am ready to leave, then I will take my time going home. I have no choice . I cant count on anyone. I rather be home resting in my home instead of a hospital. I understand what you have gone through, but we are strong woman
I think they overdo the sedation warning. Each time I have had a sedated colonoscopy I go for a meal afterwards and have never had an issue. I think they have to be ultra cautious because a small number of people react oddly to it. I live by myself and have never had or needed anyone around. So I tell them I have someone which covers them, have my meal, go home, feel a bit gassy and am fine. Unless you have reacted badly to sedation/anaesthesia in the past. I would trust your instincts. Good luck!
Hello Koalablue
I was wondering if you could help me. I have to go for a Colonoscopy and Endoscopy very soon and , like you I have no close family or friends to accompany me, or stay with me afterwards, so I can't ask for sedation. Did you get sedation and pretend that someone was with you? Or did you have no sedation and, if so, how was it? I am very frightened and don't feel I should be penalized because I am alone.
Thank you
Nada678
I have had these procedures (both of them and both of them together) and never had anyone stay with me. I think it is being too fussy unless there is some sensible reason to think you might become unwell. I think they are just covering themselves from an insurance point of view. Unless you are asking someone to stay awake all night they aren’t necessarily going to be that aware of you for the time they are asleep and if the hospital is that worried they should keep you in to be monitored by professionals but of course they won’t do that because of bed space and costs. So I would make a common sense judgment about it as most of us do.
I have a colo on July 17 and complained to my GI nurse about having to stay over at someone's house. I live alone and having me stay over seems ridiculous to me. If I'm asleep and everyone else is asleep and something happens, who's going to do anything. I'm going to make a call tomorrow to see if I'll be required to spend the night with someone. If I am, I'm cancelling my colo.
Hi tsimm. My original post was three years ago. Since then I have had three colonoscopies without sedation so I didn't have to bother with the 24 hour guard thing and it's been fine. It turned out I have mild to moderate (sometimes severe) Inflammatory Bowel Disease so it's necessary to get the endos done on a fairly regular basis.
The point you make is exactly the point a friend made. Do I have to sit on your bed and watch you? What happens if I'm asleep or you're asleep and something happens?
When I went for the first endo I asked the nurse why this need? She explained that the drugs are amnesia inducing and it was more (in her opinion) to do with being forgetful when you get home - putting a pan on the stove, forgetting it and setting fire to the house was her example.
Coincidentally, I have just had day knee surgery and encountered the same problem - needing to have someone with me overnight. I dug in my heels over it and said if they insisted then they had to keep me overnight - which they did. The procedure was being done on the NHS in a private hospital where I'd estimate well over 50% of the beds were empty so I did not feel I was taking up a bed needed by someone very ill plus the hospital said they would absorb the overnight costs not pass them on to the NHS (even if they could?)
As I was being prepped for theatre the anaesthetist said he would be perfectly happy for me to go home alone the same day but it is the hospital which insists on the 24 hour supervision for insurance purposes. A pre assessment nurse said she suspects many people go home alone and just lie about having someone there. We shouldn't have to lie. Why not just allow us to sign a disclaimer? I have good neighbours who are happy to keep an eye out for me. We have one another's numbers. They respect my need for privacy and preference for managing that 24 hour post-procedure period alone but are there if I need them. That should be enough.
As it was, I stayed in hospital for 24 hours after the knee surgery. I was in a room on my own with the door closed. The physio came in once, my blood pressure and temperature were checked every four hours, catering brought food and drink occasionally but most of the time I was alone. Had I collapsed out of reach of a call button it's doubtful anyone would have noticed until hours had elapsed so it makes a mockery of the whole thing.
Please don't cancel your procedure. Having it done without sedation isn't so bad and had I cancelled mine doctors would not have picked up the serious illness that needed rapid intervention.