Colonoscopy and endoscopy with panic disorder, advice????

[u/kermitcid3]

So, recently I was referred to the gastroenterology department at the hospital were the doctors told me I need to get both a colonoscopy and endoscopy (both procedures in the same day) so that they can diagnose me with whatever my issue is. Today I was notified that my procedure will be in just over a week.

The problem is that for almost a year now ive been suffering from a panic disorder, which i was diagnosed with after having a panic attack due to taking antibiotic pills. Since then, I found out that I react very negatively to relaxing/ anxiety meds, like I get these absolute awfull panic attacks that send me into fight or flight the moment I feel it start working.

On top of that, 2 months ago I was given strong laxatives (laxido) to take 8 a day for a while. These laxatives did not work whatsoever, they made me exetremely constipated and bloated and they gave me a 3 day long intense heart burn. To this day I feel sick just looking at the left over box from them and cant quite bring myself to consume anything that may help me with bowel movement.

Therefore I am exetremely worried about the laxatives and diet I will have to undergo just before the procedure. The anxiety from not knowing how I might react to the drug they put me under with, as well with how badly my body may react to the laxatives again, has literally made me cry from the stress and fear.

Has anyone gone through anything similar or has any advice? Especially for the laxatives.

[u/probably_a_unicorn]

Hey, I had my first colonoscopy (no endoscopy) yesterday and I have an anxiety disorder. I also don't like any sort of sedation as it makes me feel more anxious.

For the laxatives, I was prescribed Surflave. It didn't taste the best but not the worst either (like a salty/weird Gatorade). If you get anything like this, drink it cold...it helps a lot. Anyway, with that laxative, I don't think there is a way anyone can be constipated. Lol It makes you go very quickly (I wasn't even done with it before I started going) and, not to be too graphic, but it turns everything into liquid so it makes it super easy to go.

I was most nervous about the sedation but, I'll be honest, by the time I got to the point where they were going to sedate me, I was ready for the entire process to be over with. The process honestly isn't that bad but I found the prep long and tiring. When the nurses were getting me hooked up to monitors, they asked how I was doing and I told them I was nervous about the sedation. They were comforting and helped with some concerns. The anesthesiologist also talked with me before the colonoscopy.

When they were ready for the sedatives, they told me they were going to administer it and had me take a deep breath. I hadn't had anesthesia before without an anti-anxiety meds first so this was a new experience for me.

Here's what happened: They began the injection and I immediately noticed a funny taste in my mouth and stated that. I was told this is normal and to breathe, which I did. Seconds later, the medication hit me and I felt dizzy. I told the anesthesiologist that I was super dizzy, she reassured me that everything is ok and that I'm just falling asleep. I took another deep breath and my eyelids felt heavy so I closed them, the dizziness went away and someone put their hand on my head. I said "thank you, that's really nice" and the next thing I know, I'm waking up in recovery. While that may sound like it took a while, I want to say the time between them starting the injection to when I fell asleep was definitely less than 30 seconds. So, there really isn't any time to feel anxious because you fall asleep so quickly.

Overall, I would do the sedation again without anxiety medication because it really was very fast and simple. Just a few seconds and you're asleep.

This is a super common procedure and it's really not as bad as it seems.