Colonoscopy experience report: Everything about preparation and expiry of colonoscopy

Table of contents

I have already had three colonoscopy behind me. The last time even in combination with a gastroscopy. And I also asked myself: How does a colonoscopy work? Can I do that too? Am I awake or not? And isn't that all terribly uncomfortable and embarrassing?

Short answer: It is neither bad nor embarrassing. And it would be stupid not to do this type of provision because you are afraid of. Therefore, on all brave people who have a colonoscopy (colonoscopy) in front of them: you can do it! Here are all information:

When does a colonoscopy make sense?

In principle, the health insurance companies recommend colonoscopy within the framework of cancer provision in legally insured women aged 55 and over in men aged 50 and over.

However, there are certain requirements in which one should previously make a so -called colonoscopy. For example, if there are already cases of colon cancer within the narrower family, i.e. parents or siblings.

Basically, the following applies: In whose family, colon cancer has already occurred, it has a higher risk of developing it himself. In these cases, you should undergo colonoscopy earlier and closely.

When exactly it makes sense in your case, whether with 35 or 40 or later, you should discuss that with your family doctor. And if polyps or other abnormalities are found in the reflection, your doctor will discuss with you whether you should repeat the colonoscopy every year or every 3, 5 or 10 years.

Also withChronic inflammatory intestinal diseasesLike colitis ulcerative and Krohn's disease, regular control is important via colonoscopy. In addition, intestinal mirroring can also be used to clarify intestinal complaints such as digestive problems, chronic diarrhea, blood in the chair or similar.

Your attending doctor will be able to tell you whether a colonoscopy is suitable for you and when it makes sense. If necessary, he will transfer you to a specialist, in this case a gastroenterologist.

->Information on family disposition and the various methods for the early detection of colon cancer can also be found hereOn the side of the German Cancer Society.

What exactly is done with a colonoscopy?

In the case of a colonoscopy, the intestinal mucosa is examined and examined for abnormalities. If necessary, tissue samples can also be removed. For a colonoscopy, a soft, flexible hose, at the upper end of which there is a small lamp plus camera, from below, i.e. through the anus, inserted into the intestine and then slowly pushed into it.

The treating gastroenterologist (and also the patient) can check the interior of the intestine on the monitor and the doctor can remove tissue samples or remove polyps if necessary. The whole thing takes between 20 and 45 minutes.

Date and preliminary talk

A colonoscopy requires preparation because the intestine has to be completely empty and clean so that you can take a close look at it. Therefore, you have to pay off before the examination.

In addition, blood is usually taken from you in a preliminary discussion to control blood clotting. Then you usually get a leaflet with all important information for dissipation before examining and nutrition in the days before.

The most important thing, of course,: you also get the laxative. And yes: this is the nastiest in the whole thing. But considering how important and helpful colonoscopy is, this is really a little problem. Because the examination is really extremely useful as a intestinal cancer screening.

Because if there are polyps in the intestine, they can easily be removed with a small loop attached to the examination rod and the problem has already been eliminated.

Polyps themselves are not yet bad, but in the long term they are very dangerous because they can degenerate and can develop cancer. Therefore: go to colonoscopy! This provision is important and saves life. And there are hardly any types of cancer in which the precaution is so easy.

Important:In the preliminary discussion with your doctor, you should urgently talk about medication that you currently take in. Because medication that influences the time of blood clotting can be a risk of colonoscopy, which also points out thisBerliner Charityhin.

Reading tip:

Will you be on sick leave for a colonoscopy?

As a rule, the doctor has a sick leave for the previous day from the afternoon (i.e. from the time you have to be removed) and on the day of the examination itself.

The food & drink before the examination

In order for the removal and your intestine are clean when the colonoscopy is clean, you have to pay attention to a few things about the diet in advance and on the day before the examination there is only breakfast and then almost nothing more. Here are all information:

1. You can eat that: 4 days before

AlreadyFour days before the colonoscopyYou should no longer feast like God in France, but delete a few things from your menu. Everything that is difficult to digest, stuffing, bloating or grainy is forbidden. Foods that contain fixed components such as seeds or grains can later take a view of the doctor because they can settle in the intestinal folds. For example, there are tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries, etc. Also grain bread, muesli and Co. are not optimal.

Basically you should remember:

  • No bread with grains or seeds, no whole grain products
  • No muesli, no nuts, no wheat bran
  • No legumes
  • No fruit and vegetables with seeds, such as grapes, strawberries, raspberries, kiwi, tomatoes, cucumbers etc.
  • No bloating food, such as cabbage, onions, etc.
  • No fiber -containing vegetables such as leaf salad, spinach, asparagus, peppers etc.
  • no sugar (va sweets)

Are good: white bread, soups, yogurt, meat, fish, potatoes and a lot of drinking

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2. You can drink that: 1 day before the colonoscopy

The day before the examination is the day you have to pay for the first time. The second time again on the day of colonoscopy itself.

Basically, if you want to empty the intestine, you have to drink a lot. But not something: From the day before the examination, all transparent liquids are ok, all other taboo.

Tipp:If you are unsure, take the simple test: put your drink on a newspaper. If you can see the letters through the glass and the liquid, the drink is allowed. Ok, for example, are tea (not green or black!), Water, apple spritzer (but not with natural apple juice, otherwise you will not see the newspaper).

3. You can eat that: 1 day before the colonoscopy

In the morningYou can have a little breakfast, but please no grains. That means: white bread or toasted bread with cheese or jelly or jelly (attention no jam with berry varieties, such as raspberries or strawberries).

LunchtimeThen a clear broth, without an insert, parsley and other herbs. And as minimalistic it sounds: On that day you will love these broth.

Danger:Make sure that the broth is really clear. Many instant soups should be clear, but contain herbs such as parsley, and they are bad for the examination, since they deposit themselves like granular foods in the intestine and make their view more difficult. The soup saves you over the day in terms of taste and hunger. Although you also have to say clearly: If you have to tip literally, you are not hungry.

Everything around it

There are different variants of laxatives. There is none. But you still get it.

The laxative usually consists of a powder that you have to stir in one liter of liquid in twice. In addition, you have to drink several liters (at least 2, the more, the better) other drinks to empty, rinse and clean the intestine.

The laxative is then drunk in two phases. The first liter on the day before and the second on the day of the colonoscopy itself, about five hours in advance - when exactly, that ultimately depends on your appointment. If the appointment is early in the morning, this division shifts. According to the manufacturer, the liter of laxatives should be taken within one to two hours. To do this, a lot of liquid must be drunk.

There is also a different preparation in exceptional cases. Here, significantly less must be drunk by the unsavory stuff. However, this remedy does not act as safe as the 2-liter agent and is therefore used less frequently, for example if someone has problems drinking a lot.

Last time I was lucky enough to get the latter. This reduces the amount that you have to drink from the nasty salt mixture. But "improved recipe" and "tastes of orange" or not: Sure, it remains more uncomfortable. In this case, the twice each only 150 ml were really a great relief. However, you had to consume more other liquids.

In order for this remedy to make just as acidic, I also paid attention to what I consumed the week before that, so they consumed more digestible foods and not feasted. This requires some discipline and attention. Often you are not even aware of what is now good and what is not so good for colonoscopy preparation.

Attention when choosing the appointment

Tipp:Lays the date of colonoscopy, if possible at lunch, around 12 noon. Because on the day of the examination itself, you have to get up five hours in advance and drink a liter of the laxative again. This second part is usually half as bad because most of it is already done. Nevertheless, an appointment at 8 a.m. would be rather painful, unless you like to get up at 3 a.m. So this calculates.

Tip: that makes drinking easier

Yes, the stuff tastes really nasty - although this is of course a subjective impression. There are people who are easier for them to drink the laxative, others find it difficult. Ultimately, it tastes like a multivitamin tablet with a lot of salt taste. In terms of taste, a lot is said to have improved, but it is far better.

That helps:

  • Mix the entire mixture and cold stations. The remedy tastes a little better.
  • Drink the whole thing with a straw. So you can handle the taste buds on the tongue a little.
  • Drink from a measuring cup and always make a certain number of milliliters that you want to drink per glass sustainable. Because every new start is more difficult. I always tried to drink a liter with about four times, i.e. 250 milliliters each.
  • Every time after stopping, you should search for a tasteful distraction for the troubled flavor nerves. I made it with a sip of clear apple juice or by having an ice cream candy next to myself that I put myself in my mouth briefly. Both help directly.

When the remedy works

If you have to drink as many liters of liquid, along with laxatives, you feel like a huge water tank and it rumbles quite violently in the belly area. If the remedy works (about half an hour), you shouldn't move too far from your toilet. It is best to take a book with you and make you comfortable for the next hour on the bathroom carpet. Sounds bad, but is really half as wild.

You can tell whether the intestinal cleaning worked out that in the end only water only comes out during bowel movements. Ideally light yellow and clear. Orange color is not enough.

Therefore, correct termination is so important

Always remember:You have to get your intestine really clean so that the examination also makes sense. The better the view for the doctor, the more he can see. And every polyp that is found and removed is an important step against cancer. Always hold this. You do that for yourself and your health.

And: Most doctors give you feedback in the sense of: 'I could see a lot, the intestine was nicely cleaned.' And picking yourself up a scolding is not very fun. If the intestine has not yet been cleaned, you also have to improve on site. Not even the point.

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The process of colonoscopy

The good news:If you have done this with the removal, the rest is really easy in my experience.

On the day of colonoscopy you come into practice, can move in a small room before you enter the examination room. Get warm, preferably a long bathrobe or cardigan that remains open at the front. This is usually done if something should happen so that you can intervene quickly. A loose T-shirt underneath was allowed last time.

In addition, thick socks. In practice you can often buy a special disposable shorts for one or two euros that has a slit at the back of the butt. So you don't feel naked, that makes it a little more pleasant. Otherwise you simply do not put on pants / underpants under the bathrobe. The consultation hour aid will tell you exactly what you can wear. Some doctors are certainly different. So better asks beforehand.

On the other side of the small changing room, you will then come directly into the treatment room. There you lie down on the side and get a venous access in your arm, through which the narcotics will be injected later, if you wish (it was propofol for me). The assistants usually say that you should think of something beautiful and you are gone and sleep. You definitely don't notice anything from inserting the hose into the anus by the doctor.

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Credit:Getty Images

Do you sleep or are you awake during the examination?

In advance, I made sure that I am seeking an experienced doctor who specializes in colonoscopy and from whom I knew that you sleeped with him during the examination so that you can see almost nothing.

Here the process of colonoscopy is like this:After the hose is completely inserted, the doctor slowly pulls it out again. The intestinal mucosa is only checked when pulling out.

There are also doctors where you can follow everything on the screen as a patient, i.e. the camera trip through your own large intestine. Of course, this is also exciting. In my second time I also had this experience at least partially because the doctor slowly reduced the dose of the narcotics, so that I was awake again towards the end of the examination. But that is also absolutely ok - and exciting.

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Combined stomach and colonoscopy

If both areas are to be examined, i.e. in addition to the intestine, the stomach and the duodenum, you actually have to do nothing else in the preparation than with colonoscopy. You shouldn't drink anything two hours before the examination. Smoking is also counterproductive because it stimulates gastric juice production. Your treating doctor tells you exactly what you have to consider.

As with colonoscopy, the course of the examination is: you come into the room and lie down on the side. Before you are sent to sleep via Propofol (in my case), you will get a plastic tube or a protective ring in your mouth. This pushes the gastroscope into the stomach. The tube or the ring are necessary so that your mouth remains open and does not bite on the inserted hose.

I was afraid in advance that the combined examination could be worse, but it was not. I was immersed all the time and did not feel it as different from the colonoscopy alone.

And after the colonoscopy?

After the examination, get dressed again in the changing room. You are usually quite stunned. In the meantime, the doctor looks at the pictures that the endoscope has taken and then you have a short feedback discussion with the doctor who can already tell you the first results of the examination. Was there polyps? How were they? How do you continue? When is the next check?

The doctors make sure that you don't completely leave the practice after the conversation. If you feel uncomfortable, you can recover briefly in an extra room - this is also usually offered. If possible, you should have someone picked up because you are still doing something on your feet. However, I also went home as normal with the subway.

In the second time, however, I was extremely happy to be picked up because I was very dizzy and bad. And very clearly: you should put yourself at the wheel yourself, or depending on the narcotics, you shouldn't be able to do a colonoscopy.

Possible aftermath of colonoscopy

Basically, you may still feel light air in your stomach. This is normal because the doctor pumps a little air or carbon dioxide into the intestine so that the intestinal wall widens. Slight circulatory problems can also occur.

However, if you have pain or blood in the stool, you should see a doctor as soon as possible to rule out that your intestine has been violated during the examination.

If everything is over, you can eat what you want. (Unless you have a nervous stomach. Then please start slowly, not directly with a three-speed menu.) As a rule, the day before the reflection, you have already imagined what you treat yourself , after all the procedure. You have always deserved it!

-> Detailed medical information about colonoscopy can also be foundhere on onmeda.de.

Info: "Hello Doc" topic colon cancer on March 20, 2024 in Berlin & per Livestream

In Berlin on March 20, as part of the event series "Hello Doc!" The focus on colon cancer. The series is organized by the non -profit organizationyeswecan!cerAround founder Jörg A. Hoppe, also known for the associated "Yes! App", Germany's largest digital self -help group on the subject of cancer.

The aim of the event is to affect the direct line to the best To enable specialists. The focus is on exchange, information and the presentation of the latest therapies and treatment methods. The Funke media group is one of the partners.Participation in the event is free. If you can't be on site in Berlin, you have the opportunity to track the event via livestream.

All information:
When: 20.03.2024, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Where: Bum, Paul-Linke-Ufer 21, 10999 Berlin
ToOnline registration, by phone on +49 152 126 893 55
->All information about the program
->Here you will find the free livestream on March 20th

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Important NOTE:This article is only for information. He cannot replace a doctor's judgment. Your attending doctor will tell you whether a colonoscopy comes into question in your case and the right method is.

If you have complaints, pain and other problems, please always contact your doctor instead of trying to do "Doctor Google". Cancer provision is important and correct in any case. The responsible doctors are always open to your questions and worries.