My experience

So I had my first colonoscopy this weekend. The prep was by far the hardest part of the whole thing. Couple of days on a white diet (no fruit, seeds, grains etc) then liquids only from 4pm the day before. I was a little hangry but got plenty of Sprite and jelly down me to keep my sugar up.

The laxative stuff tasted pretty bad but powered through it and within 20 minutes of the first dose on the evening I was off to start the long night in the bathroom. It was not as horrific as I anticipated but my advice is to stay close..

Very early morning start for the second dose of prep as my procedure was the first of the day at the clinic. A few more visits to the bathroom but again not terrible. Baby wipes for the win but after the first 2-3 visits it is pretty much liquid and not a lot of cleaning up required.

Clinic time came around and the nurse had a couple of tries to get the line in as being a bit dehydrated my veins were not good. The doctor and anaesthetist made quick visits to say hi and answer any questions. Usual blood pressure checks then into the gown, on the bed and wheeled into the theatre.

Oxygen mask on, O2 and BP sensors attached then a shot of propofol in the line. Next thing I was waking up in recovery.

It was all a very painless process, no pain afterwards even though several polyps were removed and sent off to the lab.

I had a couple hours sleep in the afternoon and back to normal.

The plan was to band haemorrhoids at the same time but I am on blood thinners so the Dr will do a different method separately to take care of them.

Thanks to everyone in the sub for sharing their experiences. It put me at great ease and I hope this does for someone else 😁