Difficult colonoscopy - don’t know what to do

Posted by lucyrichards @lucyrichards, Apr 21 6:51am

I have had colonoscopies in the past and doctors noted I have an angulated colon making it hard to get the scope in…but they were able to.

A year ago I had a screening colonoscopy and felt a searing pain unlike anything I’ve felt in the past. I think the scope almost perforated my colon because the doctor stopped the procedure.

I now need to do another colonoscopy due to some bleeding and I am afraid of another incomplete colonoscopy or a perforation. I am looking for advice how to locate a highly skilled doctor who may be able to navigate my colon.

Has anyone had a similar situation and if so were you able to have a successful colonoscopy afterwards?

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celia16 | @celia16 | Apr 21 7:08am

You were awake for the procedure?

lucyrichards | @lucyrichards | Apr 21 8:36am

In reply to @celia16 "You were awake for the procedure?" + (show)

No I was sedated (conscious sedation) and I felt the pain and tried to move my hand over my abdomen to push it away. I’ve felt crappy feelings before but this was a burning sensation.

celia16 | @celia16 | Apr 21 9:19am

In reply to @lucyrichards "No I was sedated (conscious sedation) and I felt the pain and tried to move my..." + (show)

Oh….I had the kind where I was asleep, but not general. Still, was out. I have no memory of it until they woke me up.

Do you intend to be awake for the next one? I have a lot of faith in the gastroenterologist who did that colonoscopy, since it went so well. She is highly rated. I’m not sure where you are located. She is with Duke.

lucyrichards | @lucyrichards | Apr 21 11:17am

In reply to @celia16 "Oh….I had the kind where I was asleep, but not general. Still, was out. I have..." + (show)

No I do not want to be awake!

Did you have a problem or a difficult colon for colonoscopy?

celia16 | @celia16 | Apr 21 12:43pm

In reply to @lucyrichards "No I do not want to be awake! Did you have a problem or a difficult..." + (show)

No, it was a screening colonoscopy in 2020. No problems. I’m scheduled for a diagnostic one next month due to chronic constipation. I insisted the same doctor do it. Since, I have no idea why I’ve had this problem, I’m concerned as to what they might encounter.

lucyrichards | @lucyrichards | Apr 21 3:09pm

In reply to @celia16 "No, it was a screening colonoscopy in 2020. No problems. I’m scheduled for a diagnostic one..." + (show)

I understand. I am always afraid of what a doctor will find. Because I have a difficult colon I was thinking of doing the CT colonoscopy, but apparently they often find “incidental” findings that I don’t want to know about!

I know this is a small suggestion… but if you eat all bran BUDS cereal every day, it really moves things along!

celia16 | @celia16 | Apr 21 5:39pm

In reply to @lucyrichards "I understand. I am always afraid of what a doctor will find. Because I have a..." + (show)

I wish the bran worked for me, but it didn’t. I tried that first, but it made no difference. Makes no sense. Plus, any kind of cold cereal shoots a person who has type 1 diabetes blood sugar through the roof! It’s crazy. Even if I take much more insulin it soars. I was willing to deal with the high blood sugar if it worked on my constipation, but it didn’t.

I’ve looked at all the options to a regular colonoscopy, but keep coming back to it for multiple reasons.

jeanadair123 | @jeanadair123 | Apr 22 8:53am

I had a highly recommended gastroenterologist do my colonoscopy years ago he hurt me so bad I needed a CT to check for issues. He was recommended by my cardiologist all you can do is research, check our reviews etc. I learned later than the amount that this gastroenterologist got paid was less per colonoscopy so he had to do more per day to fit his lifestyle.

chinoomee | @chinoomee | Apr 22 10:16am

In reply to @lucyrichards "No I was sedated (conscious sedation) and I felt the pain and tried to move my..." + (show)

It is possible to feel pain even under conscious sedation, when they biopsied my recital tumor woke up and started trying to move away and they had to dose me again.

Peforating the bowel is one of the risks with any colonoscopy. I would ask the Dr who performed it more about what happened.

Did your report mention anything? Pictures of the difficult area?
If he won’t explain more about your anatomy that maybe was difficult etc, I would go to a different one for sure but explain what happened here so they know they may encounter an area harder than normal to navigate?

lucyrichards | @lucyrichards | Apr 22 11:36am

He didn’t say much but said he had to stop to avoid perforating. My heart rate went up to 170 as I was panicking. I am setting an appointment with a gastroenterologist who was recommended before I try again to make sure he has techniques and experience with difficult colons.

You keep hearing how colonoscopies are so great and the worst part is the prep but there are real risks and they can hurt.