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Anyone here had an endoscopy? What was your experience afterwards?

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Catsymoo

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301
Location
Portsmouth, United Kingdom
Type of diabetes
Type 1
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Having diabetes
Hello all. I posted here a while ago about high sugar levels and I am happy to say they are mostly under control again, and I'm in the process of reducing basal as I'm currently taking 16 units at 6pm, and 19-20 units at midnight. (sounds weird but it solved my high sugar problems!) Starting to have mild hypos at around 1am. All is good on the diabetic front.

On Tuesday, I had an endoscopy to investigate acid reflux and nausea I've been having on and off the last 6 months. I've actually been feeling great the last 2 weeks, I stopped Omeprazole a week before the procedure. Felt okay. A little bit of rebound reflux but no nausea and I was able to do normal things still. And I need to stress that the last 6 months I've barely been able to work as I would just feel sick and off-balance 24/7 with acid reflux, no appetite. I've lost a lot of weight (for a type 1 who can't lose weight no matter what I do anyway.) Ironically I didn't have any reflux problems until I was given Omeprazole. I originally went to the doctor with nausea, feeling weak and no appetite whatsoever. I couldn't eat at all.

I was gonna have sedation for the endoscopy but the surgeon said my veins were so tiny and I started freaking out when they were prodding me so I opted for gas and air, and throat numbing spray. They didn't find anything apart from a slightly lax valve but nothing to worry about. Now, since the procedure I feel rubbish. I have a burning reflux sensation in my throat that tends to ease up when I eat. I'm bloated to the point where it kinda hurts, and now I have bright yellow diarrhea (sorry!). I don't feel nearly as bad as I have been during the last 6 months. I'm able to do things but I'm just in pain. Is this normal? Just wanna hear any other experiences.

I'm waiting for a call back from the doctor and I'm sure it might just be the scope irritated my food pipe or something and the air they pumped in might've ''sped things up'' if you know what I mean, causing the runs. I don't have much appetite either. Since Tuesday I've eaten like 2 sandwiches, a chinese bun and maybe some hypo treatments like a few biscuits. I have a special night tomorrow and now I'm worried about drinking alcohol!
 
I've had four endoscopic procedures, nothing as dramatic as yours tho.
Mine was found in to be heliocobacter pylori and a hiatus hernia, I was sore for a couple of days but after that, no problems.
Have you had a report from the hospital?
This will tell you specifically what is happening.
I have heard from others that they might have noticed something on the way back and the soreness is due to that.
Did they take any biopsies, because if they do find something, they usually do, that could be a source of the soreness.

If you are feeling rough it's better not to drink alcohol. It could trigger more soreness.
There are other drinks.
If you are not happy you should have a contact number at the hospital. Give them a ring!

Best wishes
 
I'm not sure if they took a biopsy. They didn't say they did. My report just said everything normal apart from slightly lax valve. I tend to bruise quite easily to be honest, I'm really sensitive. Even carrying shopping I get muscle aches something.
 
I have had a three done in the past few years. The last one was quiet sore afterwards probably because the doc was swiveling the scope a lot to get past the stomach. It was all right about 5 days later.
I also get reflux when i take Omeprazole. I know a lot of people swear by PPIs , Iam more a swear at PPIs and think they are overused and prescribed instead of taking the time to diagnose.
I wonder if you first problem wasnt related to gallbladder, the yellow stool sounds like it might be from the gallbladder/ liver area. Usually gallbladder problems can be spotted on a ultrasound. Don’t know what else to suggest, wish you luck with your malady.
 

I haven't had yellow stool until today. They tried me on Lansoprazole in March and it gave me the worst bright yellow acid diarrhea I've ever experienced in my life. It stopped after a day and they put me back on Omeprazole. I've been feeling really good recently, more energy, back to work. It's only since the endoscopy that I've felt rough. Once I eat I feel a bit better, it's just the first few bites of food (almost like when you're getting over a bug) make me feel sick.

If I had to guess what happened to me originally, I think I may have had a bout of gastritis after a night out and stopped eating, got starvation ketones which made me worse, and then they probably gave me PPIs in error which made my stomach reliant on them. The reflux feeling is really random and doesn't matter what I eat. I drink lemon water and eat spicy food like kimchi and I swear it makes my stomach better which makes no sense. Yet there's days I've drank normal water and eaten an avocado or something very alkaline and I get burning. Omeprazole or not. It stopped a few weeks ago though, things were finally looking up until today! I felt so good, I was having regular BM like clockwork. I stopped Metformin as well and I got better. The endoscopy only took about 1 minute!
 
I've had two endoscopy procedures. No reflux but a lot of pain in the area where they blow air in to open the sphincter muscle and this took months to settle down. I wasn't warned that this might happen.
 
That seems to be a very short time for an endoscopy.
You did say you had anaesthesia, could you have misjudged the time?
 
Lamont D said:
That seems to be a very short time for an endoscopy.
You did say you had anaesthesia, could you have misjudged the time?
Click to expand...

No I didn't. Where did you read that? Lol. I didn't have sedation at all, just gas and air and throat spray. I was awake through the entire thing. It was uncomfortable and I kept gagging, I could feel it in my stomach. It was over in 1 to 2 minutes but felt a lot shorter.
 
Guzzler said:
I've had two endoscopy procedures. No reflux but a lot of pain in the area where they blow air in to open the sphincter muscle and this took months to settle down. I wasn't warned that this might happen.
Click to expand...

My doctor just called me back and said I have a stomach bug... no I don't.
 
I had 2 endoscopes because they forgot to take a biopsy for Coeliac disease the first time. I was put under and had no problems afterwards except for higher BS and I was diagnosed with Coeliac, that was 6 years ago.
 
Catsymoo said:
My doctor just called me back and said I have a stomach bug... no I don't.
Click to expand...

Did they say which bug it was?
The amount of gut bacteria is in the trillions, and if they say there is a bug, it could be one that you won't know you have.

I was diagnosed with a particular bacterium.
I was given treatment and it went away.
 
I don't know your history, diet etc but Gas & Air (Nitrous Oxide) is known to inactivate vit B12 in your system which may, or maynot, account for your symptoms since. Also, PPIs can also affect absorption of B12 so maybe it's possible your B12 levels were low enough for the Nitrous Oxide, knocking out your B12 in your system, to be significant.

Having said that, a blood test will likely still show adequate B12 in your system so a blood test wouldn't really prove anything. It may be worth you posting on https://healthunlocked.com/pasoc/posts, which is where very valid, and reliable advice is available, not by medics but people who have experienced Vit B12 deficiency, or have Pernicious Anaemia (same problem but different causes)

Also, if they have discovered H Pylori in your gut, that is a cause for not absorbing vit B12 and other important vitamins. Unfortunately, it's quite clear that most GPs and also Consultants, have very little knowledge on this and don't seem to feel it's important enough to research etc.

Hope this helps you to consider this in regard to your symptoms. Wishing you well
 
I have had one endoscopy done under sedation with no problems. I'm lucky.

I wouldn't want to have one without sedation. If anyone reading this is planning to have it done please ask for other options than going without sedation, unless you have unusual toughness for procedures, I guess.

Based on your symptoms I think you should push harder to get medical care from your GP or from a more urgent service (I don't know what you have in your area). When I had it done, the gastro dept nurse told me to call them any time with any questions. If after hours, she said to call the hospital and someone in A&E would help.

I've had dozens of tests and surgeries over 30 years and have often had issues afterwards. In my experience in most cases the hospital/clinic/specialist dept was more helpful than my GP.

Even if they can't immediately diagnose or treat the problem, they can give you symptom relief.
 
Guzzler said:
I've had two endoscopy procedures. No reflux but a lot of pain in the area where they blow air in to open the sphincter muscle and this took months to settle down. I wasn't warned that this might happen.
Click to expand...
hey what type of pain were you having? im thinking mine might be due to that. im having a sore chest and upper back and a throbbing at the bottom centre of my sternum (feel the throbbing more in my back)
 
poppy8 said:
hey what type of pain were you having? im thinking mine might be due to that. im having a sore chest and upper back and a throbbing at the bottom centre of my sternum (feel the throbbing more in my back)
Click to expand...

It was a dull, thudding ache, nothing sharp. No pain in back at all, centre/right of lower chest.
 
I think that avocado could also lead to this reaction, especially if you haven't eaten anything. As it's almost 90% fat, it could overburden your gallbladder and provoke yellow stool. Also, I think that a contaminated endoscope can also trigger this issue. It's a very common issue. My cousin is working in a company that provides decontamination services, and he says that a huge number of hospitals tend to save money on disinfection. I know that decontamination equipment like this one https://www.im-med.com/endoscope-decontamination-equipment is not that cheap, but it's essential! Thus, I can't understand why are they risking people's life in this stupid way.
 
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