Anyone had a gastroscopy?

[Danex]

I’ve had to have one every 2 years for the past 20 years as I have Achalasia and unfortunately that puts me at a higher risk of stomach cancer so they like to keep an eye on things.

Definitely agree with the other posters to make sure and insist on sedation, some times I feel the medical staff prefer if you just take the throat spray, but I know there’s no way I’d be able to manage without it.

Hopefully with the sedation you won’t be able to remember it, hope it goes well you for.

[sam7]

I even gag when brushing my teeth, have to wander round the house to take my mind off it. I had sedation and honestly it was fine. Felt a bit tender in the throat for a couple of hours after but not sore, by next day I was totally fine

[cartoonp]

Had3 over 10 years best advice just relax never had sedation

[Tigger71]

I had one with just throat spray and two with sedation. With sedation you really dont feel a thing and if you are lucky you wont even remember it. The first one I had was with just throat spray because consultant couldnt find a vein and said to go without sedation 😮 He said it would take longer to get me sedated than to find a vein… I would never agree to it now - I am a bit if a wuss with low pain threshold and a strong gag redlex. Didnt throw up and although it only was five minutes I was drenched in sweat after. I have a colleague though who always does hers with just theoat spray and she says she doesnt feel a thing 😮 So we are all different

The actual procesure is very quick - just a few minutes. If you take sedation you cannot drive after for 24hrs so need someone to take you home.

[gl20]

One other thing on this from my own experience. It may be worth finding how long the procedure is as it may be much shorter than you would expect. It was for me. To take some samples it was 20 seconds to get the tube in, maybe 40 seconds in there, then 10 seconds to draw it out. Very quick, but if you’re really nervous about it then maybe sedation is the way to go.

[Puddle5]

I had one last year
Opted not to have the sedation then I could go straight home. It was absolutely horrible gagged and cried the whole way through. Would never have again without sedation.

[dizzzy]

I had one a few years ago and only had the throat spray as I needed to be able to drive the next day. For me it wasn’t as bad as I expected. Like you I’ve got a really bad gag reflex and struggle even using a snorkel. The only time I thought it was starting to get too much was as they took out the endoscope.

More recently I’ve had a bronchoscopy which is similar but goes into the lungs instead. This time I had sedation and throat spray as they don’t offer just one or the other. For me this was worse than the gastroscopy but I’d been thinking it wouldn’t be too bad as I knew I was having sedation and throat spray. I’m not sure if the throat spray didn’t work properly as I kept gagging when she was trying to spray the back of my throat so not sure it actually got my throat. With regards to the sedation I didn’t feel at the time it made any difference but in hindsight it probably helped.

One thing I will say is at no point with either of my procedures did I feel like I couldn’t breathe. Hope it goes well and isn’t as bad as you’re thinking.

[sam_b]

I had one in October (and a colonoscopy) and I had sedation …as others have said, I don’t remember a thing other than going in to the room and being in the recovery room.
I also ate straight after (i had been starving for the colonoscopy). You will be fine, but I would not do it without sedation.

[WhereIBelong]

I had one 3 years ago or so and was ok with just the throat spray. Couldn't have sedation as I was in the middle of heart issues and the stuff they use makes my blood pressure temperamental.

I found it uncomfortable. But not completely hideous... and I have a strong gag reflex and am a complete cowardy custard with a low pain threshold. The thing I was not expecting was the mouthpiece... to protect the device I guess, stops you biting. So your mouth is held open and it is very hard to swallow your spit. Made me panic because I was not expecting it.

The nurse who was there to look after me was absolutely wonderful, explaining every step as it happened, talking through every sensation, giving an indication of how much longer. Only took a couple of minutes and I watched on the monitor which was both fascinating and reassuring.

Basically not much fun, but over quickly.

[Sandra & co]

I didn’t enjoy it, I gag if something smells bad. They stuck the throat spray in and I gagged but it was over quickly and they didn’t find anything. I’ve had them both ends and they only found polyps.