i am scheduled for my endoscopy tomorrow...problem, today i woke up with a sore throat and some mild cold symptoms...I really dont want to postpone my appointment as it is causing me a lot of anxiety already waiting for it....anyone else had it done with mild cold symptoms? Or should I cancel and forget about it because postponing is not an option for me with my anxiety
I don't think it will make any difference at all, as they'll numb your throat with the local anaesthetic spray anyway. It could make your perception of breathing a bit uncomfortable if your nose is blocked so it might be wise to mention this to the doctor if it's the case. That being said, you can still breathe perfectly well through your mouth while the tube is down, as it goes into your gullet, not your windpipe. It's just that you might feel psychologically as if you can't.
I had it done with a severe throat infection due to my large, spiky denture having been embedded in my throat for three weeks, causing ulceration. They only did it to "reassure" me I'd imagined swallowing the denture - I'd been thrown out of three different hospitals in three weeks! They got a massive shock when they saw the denture down there, and I can't say that getting it out was the most pleasant of experiences, but the infection didn't make any difference at the end of the day.
Good luck with your procedure!
That's horrifying!! In which hospital did you have your endoscopy done? Was it in London?
Hi, do you mind if I give a copy of your comment to the endoscopist as they insisted that what you experienced is impossible to happen. I cancelled my endoscopy today as they didn't seem to be prepared to handle cases like yours adequately and if it happened to me - I'll be certainly dead and they will have only find out after they are finished... 
No. Not in the UK either. But this could have happened anywhere.
Once again, however - I was 69, which meant I only got a tiny dose of sedation. Also they thought they were going to go straight down and up again, and really didn't believe they were going to find a denture firmly embedded in my throat. You can't really compare the two.
Elle, bear in mind that Guest, above, didn't have sedation, just throat spray.
I know, but I cant have a sedation because of my epilepsy and low blood pressure. I also can't have the throat spray because I'm having some sort of sinusitis and have mucus constantly flowing down my throat. As I said - I'm a bundle of troubles lol
Sorry, Elle, I hadn't picked up on the fact you were talking about having it without sedation. No, of course you can't have sedation with a medical history like yours. I can't, however, think having sinusitis etc. would prevent you from having throat spray.
Still, you're plainly very nervous about the whole thing, so I think it would be better to try and pressure your doctor into letting you have a CT scan, at least initially. There was someone on one of these forums a few months back who got as far as the endoscopy room twice but the procedure had to be cancelled both times. The cost of those "wasted" appointments must come to about the same as a CT scan, I reckon.
Oh, I just realized that CT scan means MRI scan. 
I will discuss with my gp on Monday the possibility to combine the things somehow as I need to have an MRI anyway to determine what's the reason for my severe tinitus and the sinusitis. I have been told however that CT scan might not be as effective as an endoscopy but since the CT scan is so costly it isn't hard to assume why they insist for the endoscopy.
No it doesn't - they're two quite different things. An MRI is much more accurate but costs way more than a CT scan (which, incidentally, doesn't cost an awful lot more than an X-ray, though it's less effective at spotting stomach lesions than a gastroscopy). Also, if you're being investigated for tinnitus/sinitus, they're only likely to scan your head. But it's still worth asking your doctor if they could extend it to a full-body MRI. I don't know a lot about costings, but it might well be that the extra cost of doing a more widespread MRI mightn't make much difference. And MRI is certainly the Rolls-Royce of medical investigations. There's very little an MRI scan won't pick up.
Oh, thanks for making that clear. Probably if I am more clear with my gp about the eventual complications that I can get during endoscopy - he might refer me for an MRI. Fingers crossed!
A bit late to the discussion but thought I'd contribute my two pennies worth having been faced with a similar decision in the run up to a Gastroscopy, that I had earlier today.
Like, I'm sure lots of other people, I ended up on this page after searching the internet to try and decide whether to have my Gastroscopy with or without sedation.
Having been told by a dear friend about a year ago, who opted for no sedation when he had a Gastroscopy, that it was the most unpleasant thing he'd ever experienced, (and that assessment included the intensive Chemotherapy that he had to have subsequent to his Gastroscopy), it was a bit of a no brainer for me to go for the sedation. Even so I still wavered a bit, especially after reading some of the posts here that seemed to indicate that sedation didn't really help or made you feel awful for days after.
Anyway, I went for my Gastroscopy this morning, (to an NHS hospital in England), and although I was definite I was going for the sedation, and had my lift home all arranged, interestingly when I had my initial assessment with the nurse, although I wouldnt say she she tried to pressurise me into giving the sedation a miss, she did question whether I really needed it as I was, to quote her "so calm and relaxed", and she did definitely make me feel as though if I went without the sedation the whole procedure would be far more straightforward.
As a result of her comments, I did almost reconsider my decision, however stuck to my guns in the end and had the sedation. I can honestly say that when I saw the state of my face after the procedure I am so incredibly thankful and relieved that I went for the sedation.
Basically without wanting to scare or frighten anyone reading this, whenever I retch badly, I always end up with tiny burst blood spots on my face, (it's to do with the pressure induced by the retching). The spots don't hurt, and after a few days they disappear.
Anywsy, coming back to this morning, when I was lying in recovery coming to from the sedation, the nurse came over to check on me and looked concerned and then told me that I was coming out in a rash all over my face. Knowing about the blood spots I sometimes get, I asked her to get a mirror for me to have a, and when she did I immediately realised that the 'rash' was actually my face being almost entirely covered in these spots, so much so that parts of my face and around my eyes were almost a purple colour. Not even when I came down with Nora virus and spent 14 hours straight stuck in the bathroom throwing up every 30 minutes had my face even been 1/4 as badly marked with the spots.
As a result of this, I realised that, although I really genuinely couldn't remember anything much about the procedure, (other than the nurse putting the mouth guard in, the sedation then making me drowsy and at some point me burping/coughing a bit), judging by the marks on my face, I must have retched really badly and probably been a nightmare for the nurses and Doctor to keep still, but thanks to the sedation, I was blissfully unaware of any of it.
As such, judging by my experience earlier today, if you're brave enough to go without sedation, you have my utmost admiration, but if you want to be blissfully unaware of anything at all, then stick with the sedation.
Totally agree. Provided you're under 65 (60 in some areas). Seniors only get a half-dose, which can give you the worst of both worlds.
Glad your experience wasn't too bad, Alexandra, and hope the blood spots soon clear up.
I have compensated end stage liver disease, cirhossis, and I had endoscopy done to determine if there were any varices, I also went with no sedation as I had to travel using public transport.
Researching the procedure made me think that the camera/cable they feed down your throat is thinner, and I was surprised at the size of the cable, being more the size of a coaxial cable than the thin camera I was expecting.
I really struggled to breathe with this procedures, I cannot quite remember how long it went on, but at times I felt I was suffocating, I must say the nurse was very good and the encouragement and her talking to me helped a lot during the procedure.
I gagedf quite a bit when the procedure was done and I would recommend they give people a lot more tissues to being able to vomit/gag/puke into afterwards, but it was a relief to get it over with.
I have been told I have to have to have this done every 3 years, and there is no way in hell I am ever going to go through that procedure again willingly.
Me neither! I supposedly had sedation but as I was over 65 they only gave me a baby dose. Not only did it totally fail to knock me out, it took away my inhibitions. Six people had to hold me down and I was fighting like a wild animal the whole 20 minutes. I would have gouged the nurse's eyes out if she hadn't been kneeling on my arm!
In fairness, a lot of people on these blogs have had good experiences, both with sedation and throat spray - I seem to recall one having it even without throat spray and saying it was fine. I think it depends on how brave you are about having things pushed down your throat. We all have our pet fears and foibles.
Some people are terrified of going to the dentist. Personally, I'm pretty fearless in that department. I once survived a root canal job with no anaesthesia whatever, due to arthritic calcifications completely blocking the local. Can't say I'd be in a hurry to go through it again, but I'd rather do that a dozen times than have another gastroscopy!
I had a gastroscopy 3 years ago with just the throat spray, It was very unpleasant but didn't hurt, just uncomfortable and I was glad once it was over in about 5 minutes, I get very anxious but was determined to not panic, so I concebtrated on just breathing deeply and hoped it would be over quickly! I have got to have another one in 2 day's time, and will have the throat spray again as I want to be in control of my breathing , and be able to go straight home. Last time I had no after effects.
I have a really sensitive gag reflex and have found wrapping my tongue round the pipe, once it's going down, seems to help a lot.
I had an endoscopy today after much panicing about the procedure. I intended to have the sedative after reading people's experiences online. However I met a very nice lady in the hospital waiting room who had personal experience of both sedative and throat spray and she convinced me to try the latter. I appreciate that everyone has a unique experience, as for example individuals gagging reflexes differ but I have to say it was very quick and I had no problems at all using the spray. As an aside the hospital staff at QA Portsmouth were brilliant!
I found this page Googling for endoscopy and uncomfortable.
Plenty of scary stories on here, but I just had my first gastroscopy about 2 hours ago and thought I'd post to say..... It wasn't that bad. It was uncomfortable but not unbearable by any means, and over fairly quick. ZERO pain throughout and it didn't even make me gag.. almost, but not quite!
I didn't have any sedation, just some throat spray which gives a comparable result to having an injection at the dentist.
All the best to others that have to have one soon.
I have just come back home from an endoscopy. You guys frightened me yesterday with this discussion, it all went very well. I did not have the sedation because there was no one to collect me. I went to the Whittington in N London and the 2 nurses and the doctor were lovely. I went straight in because I was not having sedation and they could get me over and done with. The nurse gave me loads of throat spray, really numbed my throat, wierd feeling. The mouth guard was fine. The doctor said I might feel as though I could not breath as the tube went close to my wind pipe but that did not happen. She asked me to swallow twice which was fine. I breathed through my mouth which I found easier. The nurse held my hand and stroked my hair. I had a little gag twice but that was nothing. Down in the duodenum it made me feel full. Then she did a biopsy, you can't feel that and it was over. I was so relieved I could have kissed them. Appt. at 2pm and I left the building 40 mins later after waiting for the report. Procedure 3-4 mins I think. It is not worth having the sedation. So I am really sorry for all you out there who have had a bad experience but the Whittington is great.