I've never had a colonoscopy but instead opted with my dr. to do a fecal occult test yearly. My last blood work found me to be anemic and when I did my last fecal exam they found trace of blood. I've never seen any blood in stool myself nor had any trouble at all with my bowels except for a recent hemorrhoid. I'm so nervous about the colonoscopy and worried about the results. Anyone else ever had the same problem with positive results? Thanks so much!
Angelbook2
Hi, I had a colonoscopy a few years ago, have to be honest and say it wasn't pleasant, but they did give me some sedation first, a bit of Diazepam I think. So if they offer you anything like that, my advice would be take it! The worst bit for me was having to drink the stuff beforehand, that empties your bowels, it was never ending, took a whole day.....never off the toilet. I'd been having unusual constipation for a long time, that was reason for the investigation, but they didn't find anything wrong thank goodness. I freely admit to being a wimp when it comes to any procedure that I have to have without a general anaesthetic, a low pain threshold - so most people will cope better than me! And if it's the only way to find out what's wrong, well it'll be worth it. Best of luck!
Thank you for advice..... I'll definitely take anything they offer as far as sedation!
If in the event you have to have a bowel operation and a bag put on I have been 30 years with it from Crohns disease it has never been a bother I was 30 at the time and first son born since I a father to 2 additional children and continued life as if nothing changed ie surf board riding 15ft plus waves now i am 60 I still surf a little bit but another disease has got me but I sail yachts in large swells ,ocean racing , but I believe beyond doubt that the pure Aloe Vera from forever living ie America I am in Australia by drinking or more to the point skulling daily glasses of the pure stuff took the inflammation out of the bowel and has kept it in perfect shape ever since , i also believe that if I had started drinking it from when the symptoms started it would have healed the bowel and I would have avoided 26 hours of surgery and no bag which is up to the ilium . The disease had come back after the surgery and I started drinking Aloe vera juice as a last resort and after 48 hours the heat in my gut started to reduce and day by day i improved , it was at the end of the road situation , but I know other people who avoided the surgery through drinking the juice but the Forever living I believe is miles better than any other supply . Its used for sunburn healing cuts and goes back to ancient Egypt .If you are bleeding its an option and i swear by it and my Prof who became head of Aust college of surgeons was amazed .
I will take your advice and try aloe juice. I've never had any bowel problems before except recently a hemorrhoid and I think that could be the blood on the occult test. I hope that's all it is.... thank you for your reply.
Occult blood means hidden blood in as much as it doesn't look as if there is any blood in the stool. Or the stool can look black or tarry, just the same as when you take iron tablets. They give you a bowel preparation to clear the bowel. This I done in 2 doeses and unfortunately work exceedingly well overnight, so you don't get much beauty sleep before the procedure. As I had a hours train journey to get to the hospital they lowed me to arrive early to take the second dose so I could use the hospital toilets for an afternoon procedure.
They ask you to lie on your left hand side and the Dr will put some lubricating gel onto the protoscope/sigmoidoscope/colonoscopeThis has a light on amd allows the Dr to see into the rectum area, which is the pouch area where the stool collects before you push it out. To look any higher up they would need a different scope, eg sigmoidoscopy goes into the decending part of the large bowel. Colonoscopy views the whole of the colon and these two are done in hospital as it is more invasive. Yes is is a bit uncomfortable. But as they say to a woman in labour, take a nice deep breath and blow it out as that will help you to relax. For the Colonoscopy they blow air into the bowel, so be prepared afterwards to try and massage the air back out again as it can be quite uncomfortable. I had gas and oxygen to breathe on for mine. They may also take samples from the bowel wall if they see any problems
It's a job we don't like to think about as it's not an area we would talk about around the dinner table or at the pub, so well done for feeling ok to talk about it here. Do hope that it goes well and they find the cause of you losing blood somewhere through the digestive tract. If they don't find it through ths examination they may need to refer you to a Consultant who deals with GI Gastro-Intestinal problems and other test such as a Barium test may be considered. There are many different positive tests for many different illnesses, and I hope that your Consultant can help you discover the problem. If they do come up with an answer get them to explain it so you understand what it is, what is goingto happen, what medicines you may be rquired to take, will there be any surgery required etc.
They may not be able to give you results on the day if they have to take samples, and waiting for results can be nerve wracking, but sometimes it is better to get accurate results.
Asking questions like you have today helps because others may have the experiences you are going through, but bear in mind different Consultants have their personal way of dealing with it.
The Internet has many answers but some are not written by experts and may give inaccuracies.
Wishing you a successful outcome and hoping that it may be easily treated Pam
Thank you so much for the detailed reply. I wondered how the procedure was done and it helps to hear it from you. I will try to keep in mind all of your sound advice and try not to be too frightened. I'm still waiting for scheduled appt. Again, Thank you so much!
You are welcome and I hope you have genuinely lovely people treating you when you do have your procedure. They do lots of them and are really experienced. Just remember to tell them how scared you are, it helps them to understand you. You are not alone in being scared lots of us are, and to have a friendly face really helps. Let's us know how you get on
Thanks Peecue, I will be thinking of all my kind responses that helped ease my fear. You know I will tell them how scared I am. I'll be in touch!!
Wishing you all success and whatever they find I do hope those treating/helping you may be as wonderful as one of my own Consultants. In 10 years time he tells me he is due to retire and what a loss that will be for us who continue to be treated. As was once written in a song they broke the mould that created that person.
I'm just waiting for the appointment for the same thing after positive blood result. If you've had a recent hemorrhoid then it's most likely to be that. And what I'm banking on is that for 92 out of 100 people with a positive blood result it turns out to be nothing more than a benign polyp. Fingers crossed for both of us!
Thanks for sharing. Yes, I've had a bout with hemorrhoids and I am hoping it is from that. Good luck to both of us. I'm waiting for scheduled appt. as well. Will be in touch.
Good luck to you and let us know how you get on
One more question to you since we're going through the same thing. I do believe that the positive occult reading was from a hemorrhoid I had been battling at the time of the test. However I stupidly went online and read that hemorrhoid blood generally doesn't show up on fecal occult tests. Have you ever read that? I'm hoping it's just misinformation! Hope to hear back from you. Regards, angelbook2
As haemorrhoids are close to the passing of the stool it is more likely to be fresh rather than occult blood. Occult comes from higher up and is hidden in the stool as part of the digested waste that is being pushed out, that is why they want to find out hwhere it is coming from and why they do a colonoscopy to look at the whole colon
Hi I've had 3 colonoscopies. To be honest they are more embarrassing than painful!
For 2 of them I didn't have any sedation but the 3rd I did. This was because the 3rd was examining deeper into the bowel.
On my first they found a polyp which they removed, which was non malignant but as far as I'm aware they remove them in case they turn malignant!
Remember prevention is better than cure so stay positive. It may be nothing or it could be piles or a polyp!
Good luck xxx
Thanks so much for your reply. I know necessary and will keep in mind that just as easily could be nothing.
Wow no sedation! You're amazing! Just hearing about your experiences helps control my fear. I'll let you know how it goes. I think it's probably from hemorrhoid or polyp too. Thanks so much for your reply!!
Yes fear not, I have had two. First one clear, second one showed that I have pockets in the bowel called diverticulitis which was why I was suffering discomfort with going to the loo. My husband had it too and he had polyps which they removed. At your age it is usually something like this. Try not to worry (easier said than done) but it does not take long, they give you a sedative and it's over and done with in a flash. Hope I have helped😊😊
You have helped so much. I think just hearing the reassurance makes it easier.
Glad I helped 😊😊 you will be finexxx
I recently had one, it was fine! They give you some sedation, which relaxes you and makes you feel a bit dopey (the dopey part has never worn off with me!).
It really doesn't hurt. It's the fear and thought of it that is most troublesome. Docs and nurses were absolutely lovely. They told me same day what problem was.
Yes to both questions, but try not to worry to much the people who do the exam are really professional and make you relax easy to say I know but they really try , hope everything goes ok for you 🌹Dawn
Thanks for these posts, I was diagnosed with Diverticulitis in December and was to have sigmoidoscopy today, howerev i had a small diverticulum perforation 2 weeks ago so now have to wait for another date.
Good luck to you and your healing process. Diverticulitis can be painful!!
I will now take the colonoscopy gladly. My husband is fighting stage 3b colon cancer. This man of mine did everything right as far as health ; did fiber pills, ate a bunch of fiber foods, kept his weight perfectly. And yet, he got a tumor as big as a baseball.
Even with his chemo treatments, he still worries about my RA. He is a sweetheart.
So sorry to hear about your husbands colon cancer. All of our greatest fears..... thank you for your reminder of the necessity of the test.
I had one last year although a bit uncomfortable it was nothing really mine turned out ok and just 1 haemaroid giving me bother so the surgeon just left it and said if it bothers me again he would cut it out, hope everything turns out ok xxx
Ask for the virtual one which is easy, its like a CT scan. Just a special diet for a couple of days no enema and a puff of gas. No pain, no discomfort just a weird sensation in the tum. Like needing to pee !!! and hot. That was it, it took 20 minutes then they give you tea and a biscuit. That sees everything so no doubt about anything.
Was this done privately ?
I'd love that.... wonder if virtual is covered under insurance?
Ask as its pain free, and non invasive of course. The diet of white food was ok and very gentle too on the bowel as no enema.
No but NHS paid as they have to do it in 14 days if it is suspected something wrong. Thus here referred to local private hospital. I do have insurance though but did not need it. I was clear by the way they have no idea why I had the problem. But I thought it might be down to Celiac whilst bowel is looked at and stomach they also do pancreas, kidneys and liver. All clear.
Have the colonoscopy, It's easy as they give you a twilight medication. They found polyps every time I've have one every 3 years since 50, I'm 67. Each polyp had cancer and finally they had to take part of my bowel, not bad at all. You won't always see frank blood in your stool they call it occult blood (not seen by the naked eye) They have these procedures as preventative care so you don't die of cancer. Be strong it may save your life
Thanks so much for the good advise. I'll try to think positive and know it's for my own good.
Hi Angelbook sorry to hear your news, I have had a colonoscopy it wasn't pleasant but not nearly as bad as I had imagined, it was going to be. The prep is the hardest part, you have to drink copious amounts of a fluid from a powder that you make up from sachets they provide. For 24 hours you eat nothing and the results are quite painful. Get some really kind tissue. But I believe each area uses different methods. Some it's just tablets and lots of water.
The actual procedure is uncomfortable and with me it will have to be repeated every 3 years as they found polyps. When they removed the polyps that was painful but, I repeat my imagination was worse than the actual procedure. Good luck my friend.
Thank you so much for your response. I am going in for a consult and then schedule the procedure. I wonder if taking pills would be easier or worse?? I'm such a baby, I hate taking pills too.......): Will be in touch.....
I had sachet to add to water, the drinks lots of still water not allowed allowed be sparkling, no food an as mentioned above , diarrhoea is evacuating and yes soft toilet tissue is better sending love
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