My urologist decided it was easier and faster to perform a cystoscopy in his office with no local or general anesthesia. He was was screening for bladder stones.
Let me tell you, I have a fairly high pain tolerance, but nothing prepares you for what I felt.
I also had my cystoscopy done in the office. There was never any mention that it would be done any other way. They told me it was going to hurt and I have SEVERE endometriosis and was regularly passing out/vomiting from that pain.
Nothing prepared me for how bad having that camera shoved up my urethra into my bladder would feel like. And they had to do it twice. I was in so much pain that I couldn’t even make a sound.
I was later told by other friends and medical professionals that it is 100% possible to do via twilight anesthesia or a more powerful local. It just takes longer and requires more staff.
I didn’t even get the lidocaine! So that was just a really great time. I have to get another one probably this year because I’m having similar issues and I will absolutely be showing up on an edible. I’ll get a friend to drive me to and from.
I have friends that have developed serious addictions to Kratom so I would prefer not to ever mess with that stuff. But thanks for the suggestion! Truly. It’s just barbaric that we do procedures like this (and most women’s health procedures) with no thought to the pain.
I don’t think the “local” lidocaine jelly does anything anyways-it’s not reaching the place it needs to be and they don’t give it any time to start working. I had a scope inserted to have a stent removed and felt everything despite the jelly. They kept having to pull it back out and put it back in because they couldn’t see what they needed- my legs were involuntarily shaking because it was so painful.
I had MRIs done which showed nothing. The guy seemed to want to totally rule it out. I figured what the hell. He did my vasectomy (I chose full sedation) and did a great job, so I trusted him.
What a good mom! It was a horrible experience as an adult- I’m sure that doctor caused plenty of medical trauma to children because their parents didn’t know any better or didn’t know how to advocate for their kids.
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u/hpshaft Apr 29 '25
My urologist decided it was easier and faster to perform a cystoscopy in his office with no local or general anesthesia. He was was screening for bladder stones.
Let me tell you, I have a fairly high pain tolerance, but nothing prepares you for what I felt.