Hi, I just had a flexible cystoscopy today for the first time and all the leaflets and videos and - I want to say - propaganda say that it might hurt men, but that women it was just 'discomfort'. Some of them don't even admit that. Well THEY LIED! At least for me.
From the very first touch I about leapt off the table. I don't know what it was but it felt as if I had been punched in the urethra. This was before numbing gel had gone on/in. I'm not sure if they maybe put some kind of catheter in there for the gel? But I'd been told by someone who'd had a cystoscopy that they use an anaesthetic wipe. Hell's bells, if that was a wipe it was the sorest one I've ever had. Then we had the gel going in and then the camera. There were three 'events' and all three hurt. It didn't help that it was a student doing it and she had no bedside manner at all, that I could feel. The supervising doctor was saying to me, 'Push your bum into the bed and take a deep breath, just relax' and it took all my strength not to yell back 'HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO F***ING RELAX WITH SOMEONE PUNCHING THINGS INTO MY PEE HOLE!!!" if you'll pardon my French.
I was holding onto the bed and groaning 'Holy mother of God' every time, unhelpfully snapping my legs shut, but once the camera was in, it was just uncomfortable, Ditto it coming out.
The whole thing was traumatic as I hadn't been warned that there would be PAIN. Yes, pain. I felt ashamed and embarrassed afterwards, as if I was overreacting and everybody else breezed it.
Anyone else had a traumatic/painful cystoscopy. I'm just venting here but i'd love to know I'm not alone. At the moment i feel like both a failure and a freak of nature.
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I’m so sorry this was your experience. I work in days surgery and we regularly do flexible cystoscopy lists. Patients are cleaned with sterile fluid before numbing jelly put into the water pipe and then the camera is inserted. I’m so sorry you had the experience because when we have a patient in pain we stop and ask if they are okay to continue/if they want to continue and there’s always a friendly face there for a hand squeeze and some reassurance.
Oh how I wish I'd had you there then. Nobody asked me if I was okay to go on, they just kept shoving stuff in. No apologies either. I think the worst thing was it was sort coming at me like an assault. I wasn't told what was going to happen, as in, as each thing was done. They told me beforehand, yes, but not as they were doing it. That meant I just kept getting sudden random pain. I should have asked them to tell me before they did anything, but I think I'm an eternal optimist, I just assume doctors will do that. Lesson learned. In future I am going to ask that doctors tell me as they do each stage if it is something uncomfortable or invasive.
They absolutely should though and you are well within your right to say to them in future that you are anxious, what’s the protocol if you are in pain and if they can tell you what they’re doing with each step. Our team are lovely (surgeons and advanced nurse practitioner included in that who do the actual scopes) and I’m so saddened to hear of your experience
Thank you, it's very kind of you to empathise with someone who isn't even your patient. I appreciate that. Can I ask if you work for the NHS? If so, do you know if patients have the right to refuse a student doing the procedure, or to have people present in the room who are 'uninvited', as it were Twice recently I've had this happen. Once, someone in the room, at an ultrasound, who was selling the doctor the machine he was using. It was a woman, so it wasn't a terrible thing, per se, but I did have my pants down past my pubic area and my bum out so it was a bit embarrassing afterwards, since basically a rep off the street had been present, watching me struggle back into sticky pants (never easy with the ultrasound gel everywhere) .
The radiographer never asked me if was okay, just said who she was. And this time I had been told in my letter who was performing the cystoscopy but once I got in the room I was told immediately beforehand, and I mean immediately, that the student would be doing the procedure. In fact, it wasn't until I was on the table and they had already started that I thought "Wait, did she just say the student was doing this?" So I was angry about that. I waited over a year for this procedure and I feel very imposed upon that I didn't even get the more experienced doctor to do it. I am also now uncertain as to whether I felt pain because the student did it badly or just because I had sore, inflamed or atrophied skin there.
Firstly sorry to hear about your "ordeal".I had the test done last year and in the nicest possible way "the f.......ING" wipe doesn't work!!!!!
It was similar to a baby wipe!!
For me this was not the worst part.
Once camera inserted into bladder then the injections went in and omg I screamed in agony.
No amount of reassurance and hand holding was of any comfort, yes the staff were lovely but the doctor saying "oh was it painful" I could have screamed in her face "you bloody try it".
After what seemed like hours they agreed it was too painful too continue with procedure.
What baffled me was being told that most women can tolerate the pain but in future they could sedate me. "WTF" couldn't they have given me the choice.
Please don't feel like a failure you were completely reacting to a very painful procedure!!!!
Thank you. I wish I'd known there was a sedation option, assuming there was, because I would DEFINITELY have asked for it. If I have to undergo any invasive procedures again they are putting me to sleep, or doing something to help. I had taken 10mg of diazepam too, that I got from my doctor, to help me not panic, although that was to stop me getting a runny tummy as I wanted to be absolutely spotless when I went in - afraid of UTIs, since I can never seem to shake them off. The diazepam worked for that, but it was useless in face of that onslaught of pain. I hate the way people bandy the word trauma about, but as I haven't been able to stop going over and over it I'd say it was definitely traumatic.
I honestly thought everyone had General Anaesthetic for Cystoscopy nowadays because it is painful! You are not a freak . Why did they not offer you General Anaesthetic. I was told it was too painful to stay awake?
I think that's just for rigid cystoscopy. The flexible one is done when you are awake. If I'd known how painful it was going to be I'd have demanded the rigid one!
Never believe it when they say “ it won’t hurt” because we all know it dam well will 😬 putting instruments into places that weren’t designed for instruments is going to hurt 😬
I had a failed colposcopy once and the doc and nurses assured me it wouldn’t be painful, well it was absolute agony and the doc got cross and had to admit defeat, I bled for 3 weeks after that traumatic experience 🤦🏻♀️
Yeah, I was already suspicious about that, from past experience of doctors greatly underestimating pain experiences, especially in women's procedures. But Unfortunately I'd spoken to a really helpful woman who, with the best of intentions, had assured me it was fine. Then the first nurse that ushered me into the hospital dept has reassured me saying she hadn't heard anyone scream yet, so my defences were actually down. But I'm pretty sure they must sound-proof the doors because I was close to that. My only comfort is I didn't cry or demand they stopped, I got through it. But I felt really ashamed at my reaction, i wanted to apologise to them all. Now, however, I think they owed me an apology for setting a student lose on me (when did they stop asking you if that was okay?; I thought they had to ask, but twice now I've had people either present or doing things to me without my permission) and for just shoving things in without warning.
And poor you for the colposcopy. I stopped having smears done years ago because it was just too invasive and unpleasant and doctors just weren't kind or gentle enough. I remember once having one done when I had thrush, I believe it was, and he did something wrong with the speculum and it cut me. I felt it nip. He said when he withdrew it, "I seem to have made you bleed", not a word of apology. That kind of set the tone for years of rough handling, so I feel your pain. I hope the doc wasn't cross at you, although I've had my fair share of those, the patient blamers. Don't you just love doctors?
Sorry to hear about your experience, I was told that it would just be a little bit uncomfortable but IT DID HURT. It wasn’t unbearable but I was in pain and the staff seemed quite surprised…I felt like maybe I was just a whimp compared to others. We are all different however having a good doctor and a nurse who are kind and empathetic goes a long way. Hope you’re ok now.
That was my experience too. They all seemed surprised by how much it hurt me (I was swearing and pretty much trying to cringe away from it). I don't know why they were surprised because it MUST hurt other people and I had just, literally seconds before, told them how sore and fragile the skin was down there. I was ashamed at the time and embarrassed that I seemed like such a wuss, but now I wonder what else they expected. If you shove something up inside someone with sore fragile skin, it's going to hurt, especially as nothing is supposed to go up there in the first place.
hello there.. I’m sorry to Hera about your experience ? I’ve recently had one about a month ago and I can relate because even though they numbed me I felt a little pain and discomfort.. but it lasted maybe for a week then it goes away.. are you feeling better ? Did you get any other Side effects after the procedure ? After I remember I was given a pill to prevent infection.. your pain should subside give it a week or so have u contacted the dr?
It's still sore at the moment, but no worse than the flares I've had in the past. I think it's just irritated. Pretty much everything irritates it. They are sending a prescription request to my docs for oestrogen cream. God knows how long it will take to actually GET to my docs (my GP practice is terrible for losing letters form hospitals - they seem to have no system whatsoever), but if it doesn't materialise soon I'll just ask to talk to a doc and get it prescribed myself. Fingers crossed it helps.
I'm sorry, I don't know what GA is? If it's like a cystoscopy, no, I was very lucky on that front - no pun intended. The leaflet I got said most people bleed, or at least have 'pink water' and I didn't get that at all, so I was rather unique there. Some compensation, I suppose. It hurt a little to pee for about two days, very slight, but it's still not settled yet, but just irritation, not agony. For me, the worst thing was the procedure itself; the aftermath was a piece of cake, by comparison.
Glad you came through it unscathed. I shall be following your example if I ever need it done again, and ask to be put under for it. Hugs right back at you. XX
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