Colonoscopy/Endoscopy Sedation

My suggestion is not to worry at all about anesthesia. In fact I suggest you want to be fully aware so you can watch on a high definition monitor what the doctor is seeing You can ask questions and he can explain things to you. However they will put a line in your hand or arm so that they could administer Versed, In the unlikely event that you need something to calm your nervous system down. Just relax and be aware to ask questions!

I’ve had two colonoscopies, with IV sedation administered by an anesthesiologist in non-hospital setting, but not at the Mayo location. It was great.

@jandm212 Hello,
I have had two colonoscopies and an EUS at Mayo Gonda. For both, I have had an anesthesiologist who administered the normal conscious sedation one would get anywhere a colonoscopy is done. For the EUS I did have general due to my particular circumstances. No worries, they will take care of you. You can express any concerns when you meet the anesthesiologist and gastroenterologist prior to the procedure.
Jennifer

I had my first endoscopy two years and hopefully my last, was given a sedative and pain medicine but I didn’t feel any effects from them, I told the nurse but she said I should be fine. I said earlier that this was new to me and they were trying to see my pancreas because a shadow showed up on a previous ultrasound. Well I must say it was very invasive to feel this scope moving around inside but the doctor was speaking out loud so I focused on that. I would definitely recommend that you ask for something that puts you to sleep, I know that they use propafol for colonoscopy and it helps a lot because you’re in a light sleep, a perfect medication for these types of tests.

I too had my last colonoscopy at the Mayo Clinic. I was given a sedation that they said would make me sleepy and not care what was going on. I don’t remember any of it, which was great.

I've had a bunch of them - one had some sort of white happy pill which made me not care. Painless, but I missed the show.

Others I've had awake including the one where they found cancer. The video was fascinating as was conversing with the doctor and that cancerous section was extremely dark and ugly. It was pretty obvious something was wrong. The doc snipped a few samples, marked the problem area with a tattoo and told me to wait for the report.