4 ms·

> Plus if you’re awake you can actually watch the scope going, it’s cool! Not painful at all. For sure! My first colonoscopy I was sedated and enjoyed watching

> Plus if you’re awake you can actually watch the scope going, it’s cool! Not painful at all. For sure! My first colonoscopy I was sedated and enjoyed watching the screen. In fact, I remember I was making HILARIOUS jokes the entire time. I could not remember them afterwards though. My second colonoscopy my doctor sedated me again, but put me further under for reasons that remain a mystery. Also, a year ago we buried my brother-in-law at age 53. He was diagnosed stage 4 at age 48. DO NOT DELAY your colonoscopy. I think 50 is too late to wait.

fortran77 6y ago
I remember asking my doctor (I was sedated, but not 100% asleep) to look for the iPod I lost about 10 years ago.... I must admit, the experience wasn't awful. It was like getting an intestinal reset. Getting completely cleared out from the fast and prep. I felt like a new man, and very well rested after the "twilight" sedation. I only wish they could have given me a copy of the video of the procedure for my YouTube channel.
shalmanese 6y ago
> For sure! My first colonoscopy I was sedated and enjoyed watching the screen. In fact, I remember I was making HILARIOUS jokes the entire time. I could not remember them afterwards though. My second colonoscopy my doctor sedated me again, but put me further under for reasons that remain a mystery. It was the 15th time that week he'd heard the "rectum, damn near killed them" joke and he didn't feel he needed another aspiring comedian on the operating table.
- taneq 6y ago
  Couldn't handle another joke about "crappy jobs". :P
thaumasiotes 6y ago
> In fact, I remember I was making HILARIOUS jokes the entire time. I could not remember them afterwards though. This is the primary purpose of the "sedative". I had samples taken from the interior of my stomach via a machine that went down my throat. It was an intensely unpleasant experience; you're trying to vomit for most of the time the cable is there. Anesthesia was not even recommended, but they really wanted me to take something that would inhibit memory formation. I asked if people who took the drug struggled or retched any less. "No." (I declined to take it.) This is also how women were drugged for childbirth in the mid-20th century. No anesthesia, but memory inhibitors so they couldn't remember what had happened. That was eventually "discovered" by the press and became a huge scandal. I don't get how the approach persists elsewhere.
- Cthulhu_ 6y ago
  If I recall correctly, "general anesthesia" is actually a combination of multiple drugs with different purposes; some that inhibit memory formation, another to put you to sleep, and another to I guess relax the muscles etc?
  - rob74 6y ago
    Not sure about the drugs, but during anesthesia, you will be completely unconscious, and inhibiting memory formation is a side-effect of that. Sedation is when you are still (more or less) conscious, but relaxed. But between these two terms there are several levels: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedation#Levels_of_sedation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedation#Levels_of_sedation
    - thaumasiotes 6y ago
      > during anesthesia, you will be completely unconscious, and inhibiting memory formation is a side-effect of that. Sedation is when you are still (more or less) conscious, but relaxed. The concept of anesthesia is that you don't feel pain, not that you're unconscious. If you're unconscious, it's "general anesthesia"; if you're not, it's "local anesthesia".
- a9h74j 6y ago
  The philosopher Stanley Cavell asked in one book if it was OK to torture someone who was given drugs to completely forget the experience. Aside from potential lasting effects from trauma remembered or not, and so on, I always thought: It would still change the doctors.
- hef19898 6y ago
  Colonoscopies are much more pleasent that having a probe sent to your stomach. Going up from behind, you are sedated, for the stomach you have to stay awake to "swallow" the probe. ut hey, I guess it still beats surgery, chemo therapy and potential fatal cancer down the road.
- ajxs 6y ago
JKCalhoun 6y ago
> In fact, I remember I was making HILARIOUS jokes the entire time. Jimi Hendrix remembered he was playing MUCH BETTER guitar when he was on acid. Until he heard the recordings....
vharuck 6y ago
>Also, a year ago we buried my brother-in-law at age 53. He was diagnosed stage 4 at age 48. DO NOT DELAY your colonoscopy. I think 50 is too late to wait. The rate of new colorectal cancer diagnoses has been increasing for those under 50 years old, despite the rate falling for the older population. I don't know if they've narrowed down a major cause. My pet theory is obesity. The usual recommendation to start screening at 50 is for asymptomatic people with no increased risk. If you have symptoms, family history of colorectal cancer, or enough other risk factors[0], bring up screening with your doctor. As somebody else mentioned, you could do fecal occult blood tests (FOBT) or other non-invasive tests if you're worried about colonoscopies. [0]https://www.cancer.org/cancer/colon-rectal-cancer/causes-risks-prevention/risk-factors.html https://www.cancer.org/cancer/colon-rectal-cancer/causes-ris...

fortran77 6y ago

I remember asking my doctor (I was sedated, but not 100% asleep) to look for the iPod I lost about 10 years ago.... I must admit, the experience wasn't awful. It was like getting an intestinal reset. Getting completely cleared out from the fast and prep. I felt like a new man, and very well rested after the "twilight" sedation. I only wish they could have given me a copy of the video of the procedure for my YouTube channel.

shalmanese 6y ago

> For sure! My first colonoscopy I was sedated and enjoyed watching the screen. In fact, I remember I was making HILARIOUS jokes the entire time. I could not remember them afterwards though. My second colonoscopy my doctor sedated me again, but put me further under for reasons that remain a mystery. It was the 15th time that week he'd heard the "rectum, damn near killed them" joke and he didn't feel he needed another aspiring comedian on the operating table.

taneq 6y ago
Couldn't handle another joke about "crappy jobs". :P

thaumasiotes 6y ago

> In fact, I remember I was making HILARIOUS jokes the entire time. I could not remember them afterwards though. This is the primary purpose of the "sedative". I had samples taken from the interior of my stomach via a machine that went down my throat. It was an intensely unpleasant experience; you're trying to vomit for most of the time the cable is there. Anesthesia was not even recommended, but they really wanted me to take something that would inhibit memory formation. I asked if people who took the drug struggled or retched any less. "No." (I declined to take it.) This is also how women were drugged for childbirth in the mid-20th century. No anesthesia, but memory inhibitors so they couldn't remember what had happened. That was eventually "discovered" by the press and became a huge scandal. I don't get how the approach persists elsewhere.

Cthulhu_ 6y ago
If I recall correctly, "general anesthesia" is actually a combination of multiple drugs with different purposes; some that inhibit memory formation, another to put you to sleep, and another to I guess relax the muscles etc?
- rob74 6y ago
  Not sure about the drugs, but during anesthesia, you will be completely unconscious, and inhibiting memory formation is a side-effect of that. Sedation is when you are still (more or less) conscious, but relaxed. But between these two terms there are several levels: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedation#Levels_of_sedation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedation#Levels_of_sedation
  - thaumasiotes 6y ago
    > during anesthesia, you will be completely unconscious, and inhibiting memory formation is a side-effect of that. Sedation is when you are still (more or less) conscious, but relaxed. The concept of anesthesia is that you don't feel pain, not that you're unconscious. If you're unconscious, it's "general anesthesia"; if you're not, it's "local anesthesia".
a9h74j 6y ago
The philosopher Stanley Cavell asked in one book if it was OK to torture someone who was given drugs to completely forget the experience. Aside from potential lasting effects from trauma remembered or not, and so on, I always thought: It would still change the doctors.
hef19898 6y ago
Colonoscopies are much more pleasent that having a probe sent to your stomach. Going up from behind, you are sedated, for the stomach you have to stay awake to "swallow" the probe. ut hey, I guess it still beats surgery, chemo therapy and potential fatal cancer down the road.
ajxs 6y ago

JKCalhoun 6y ago

> In fact, I remember I was making HILARIOUS jokes the entire time. Jimi Hendrix remembered he was playing MUCH BETTER guitar when he was on acid. Until he heard the recordings....

vharuck 6y ago

>Also, a year ago we buried my brother-in-law at age 53. He was diagnosed stage 4 at age 48. DO NOT DELAY your colonoscopy. I think 50 is too late to wait. The rate of new colorectal cancer diagnoses has been increasing for those under 50 years old, despite the rate falling for the older population. I don't know if they've narrowed down a major cause. My pet theory is obesity. The usual recommendation to start screening at 50 is for asymptomatic people with no increased risk. If you have symptoms, family history of colorectal cancer, or enough other risk factors[0], bring up screening with your doctor. As somebody else mentioned, you could do fecal occult blood tests (FOBT) or other non-invasive tests if you're worried about colonoscopies. [0]https://www.cancer.org/cancer/colon-rectal-cancer/causes-risks-prevention/risk-factors.html https://www.cancer.org/cancer/colon-rectal-cancer/causes-ris...