I just had an EGD without sedation yesterday. It was very uncomfortable and horrifying, but if I need to do it again, I can manage to get through easily. In the USA almost all of GI endoscopies are done with sedation. I opted out the sedation at the last minute, since I couldn't find a babysitter to look after my special need son for the rest of the day. The staff didn't prepare for it and my nurse admitted she had never done this before. However, the doctor was willing to "try". She said she would do it as quickly as she could for about 3-5 minutes. She told me to focus on breathing and listen to the nurse's instruction.
The doctor told the nurse to spray a few extra pumps all over my throat. One of the spray got to deep that made me choke severely and tear for longer than a minute. However, I didn't feel numb at all, but I didn't realize I should have told them that. Then they put the mouthguard in my mouth. I saw my teeth, tongue and all of the sudden the nightmare began.
As soon as the tube touched the opening of of my esophagus I started gaging violently. I couldn't stop gaging and couldn't breath at all. I felt like the bronchi and the esophagus had their own mind, since I couldn't control either of them. I gagged every time she moved the tube. I kept on gaging till I felt like suffocated. At that time my breath was coming in gasps. I realized that gagging reflex and breathing couldn't happen at the same time. The problem was my esophagus fought so hard that I couldn't take a breath.
Despite my doctor tried so hard rushing the procedure, it took longer than she expected. I had so many ulcers all over my esophagus, stomach and deodenum. She had to take more than biopsies. She had to stop for a few seconds for the nurse to get more tissue jars. When she stopped, I was able to breath again and suppress the gagging reflex. So the biggest tip I learned is to tell my doctor to take many breaks instead of rushing through.
Talking about the pain, I was in great pain during the procedure unlike most people only experienced some pressure to the stomach wall. It could be because my stomach and intestine was severely inflammed. I also felt the spasms from the overly contracted esophagus. The whole thing took about 8 minutes, but I felt like centuries.
The nurse asked me if I could walk. I said yes, and she gave me my clothes and let me go to the dressing room myself. I was so weak, and blacked out in the dressing room.They should have been more careful.
After waking up, I was starving, so I asked the nurse some juice. I choked badly on the first sip due to the throat spray still afftected. I had mild bronchitis for 2 days from that juice.
My experience was unpleasant, but I wanted to share with you, who don't want or can't have sedation. A simple thing, but very helpful is to tell your doctor to give as many breaks as they can rather than rushing it. When they stop, try to breath right away. I know that I should focus on breathing, but it is impossible to do so when I gag. Also tell the nurse that they have to make sure you're fully recovered from the procedure.
PS: Please forgive my broken English, which is not my first language.
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