New Here...and Nervous

[Brit]

OK so I am new on here and to start off my name is Brittany. I have my endoscopy on August 1st and I am really nervous. My brother had one and he said it wasn't bad but then I talked to my friends and they all said that it hurt a lot and they like couldnt eat at all. So I was just wanting some feedback on what its like!

Other stuff is I haven't had any symptoms so far but on Sunday I was really sick and I tried throwing up and that didn't work. The pain was so bad I couldn't find any posistion that was comfortable. Like it hurt to stand up, sit down, and lay down. Has anyone ever had symptoms like that before? Is joint pain a symptom for celiac disease?

I also have a rash on my stomach and not sure if it is DH. Does anyone have DH? If they do what does it look like? The doctors say it is an allergy to nickel but I haven't been wearing any jeans or anything that has metal on it and it is getting worse and they doctors keep telling me that it is an allergy to nickel and I don't believe them. Does anyone have DH??

[skoki-mom]

OK so I am new on here and to start off my name is Brittany. I have my endoscopy on August 1st and I am really nervous. My brother had one and he said it wasn't bad but then I talked to my friends and they all said that it hurt a lot and they like couldnt eat at all. So I was just wanting some feedback on what its like!

Other stuff is I haven't had any symptoms so far but on Sunday I was really sick and I tried throwing up and that didn't work. The pain was so bad I couldn't find any posistion that was comfortable. Like it hurt to stand up, sit down, and lay down. Has anyone ever had symptoms like that before? Is joint pain a symptom for celiac disease?

I also have a rash on my stomach and not sure if it is DH. Does anyone have DH? If they do what does it look like? The doctors say it is an allergy to nickel but I haven't been wearing any jeans or anything that has metal on it and it is getting worse and they doctors keep telling me that it is an allergy to nickel and I don't believe them. Does anyone have DH??

Hello Brittany,

Welcome. I can't comment on your symptoms because I'm an asymptomatic person, never been sick a day in my life (at least not with celiac disease). However, I have undergone 2 endoscopes. The first was a breeze. I had Fentany, Midazolam, and hurricane spray. The second sort of sucked. They were running late so I let a different dr from my own do it instead. I let them talk me out of hurricane spray on the guise they would use "more sedation". I could feel the scope poking me on the way down, it was pretty nasty. When I woke up I read my chart (I'm a nurse) and all they used was Midazolam, which has no analgesic properties, it's purely a sedative. I was pissed. Anyhow, even at that, it wasn't *horrible*, but if I have to do another one, I will be telling them to give me the freaking Fentanyl this time!! Just make sure you are getting analgesia PLUS sedation and you should be ok.

[Rikki Tikki]

Welcome to the boards Brittany. I don't have DH so I am afraid I can't answer your questions about that. I am thinking that if you have a positive blood test, it's also possible you don't have the damage to your villi when they do the biopsy, so it could still be that you have it. Maybe someone else can help out here.

Also, the endscopy (biopsy) does not hurt at all, they knock you out for it, and I was not sore at all afterwards.

Anyway, welcome!

[Lymetoo]

I had one 30 yrs ago with NO MEDS at all. I'm not kidding! It wasn't THAT bad....but 3 yrs ago I had one WITH meds and it was breeze....don't remember a thing....no soreness or anything.

Good luck and welcome!!

[elye]

Yep, ditto with the no-problem endoscope for me. The spray freezes the back of your throat, which feels unusual but certainly not painful, and there is absolutely no pain during the process. I was given the option of sedation, and I said, "yeah, but just enough that I'm really relaxed". It was fine!

[dlp252]

I've had three endoscopes since April and didn't feel anything on any of them except for a slight sore throat afterwards...I mean slight too. I can't remember a single thing about any of the three procedures except being wheeled into the room and then waking up in the recovery area. The worst part of the whole thing for me was the needle prick for the IV...and that was just a needle prick. The first scope I was sedated heavily because they also did a colonoscopy at the same time; it took a long time for me to come out of it, but the last two (endoscopes only) I came out quickly (according to my mother who has had the pleasure of being there with me all three times, lol).

Where is the pain you feel? I had pain in my knees for several months which improved a LOT after going gluten free...I now only ocassionally have a pain in the knee, whereas before going gluten/dairy free I had it every day. I get a pain in my abdomen from time to time which is excruiating where no position helps. My doctor couldn't find anything during the colonoscopy so determined I have IBS, lol.

[Brit]

Yeah! Thanks everybody for your responses it has helped a lot! But I have pains in my knees constantly! And I am big on extreme water sports so that doesn't help at all! But I do get pain in my abdomen from time to time also and there really is no posistion! I'll ask my doctor about IBS! Thanks everybody...gotta run and go babysit!

[Guest Robbin]

Britany, joint pain is very common. Many of us on here suffer from it. I get worse when glutened. Take care that you stay gluten-free so it doesn't turn into fibromyalgia. I firmly believe it is caused by long term undiagnosed celiac. I also had the rash, it was itchy as all get out. My dr. said it was an allergy too. WRONG!! There are a lot of informative rash threads on the dh site. I know a lot of people get rashes that don't seem to be dh, but are related to gluten. It went totally away when I was gluten free for about a month and a half. You will notice a difference once you are gluten free for awhile.

[kabowman]

I have had 2 and made sure I told the nurse and the doc that I wanted to be put out - no problems, afterwards, of course I was starved and went home to EAT. No problem.

I also have problems with sore joints when my food gets off - not nearly so bad now though.

[taz sharratt]

OK so I am new on here and to start off my name is Brittany. I have my endoscopy on August 1st and I am really nervous. My brother had one and he said it wasn't bad but then I talked to my friends and they all said that it hurt a lot and they like couldnt eat at all. So I was just wanting some feedback on what its like!

Other stuff is I haven't had any symptoms so far but on Sunday I was really sick and I tried throwing up and that didn't work. The pain was so bad I couldn't find any posistion that was comfortable. Like it hurt to stand up, sit down, and lay down. Has anyone ever had symptoms like that before? Is joint pain a symptom for celiac disease?

I also have a rash on my stomach and not sure if it is DH. Does anyone have DH? If they do what does it look like? The doctors say it is an allergy to nickel but I haven't been wearing any jeans or anything that has metal on it and it is getting worse and they doctors keep telling me that it is an allergy to nickel and I don't believe them. Does anyone have DH??

hey brittany, welcome, i have my endoscopy on the 1st august as well, im nervouse too. the way i look at it is thateveryone has different pain levels ( ok, mine is zero- im a baby) and you may have a hight threshhold for pain a lot more than others you know who have has the procedure done. i have a friend who said it was just uncomfortable so im going with that, i dont wanna think too much about it as i think you can make yourself ill over worrying about it. you will deff find lots of info on this sitthat will help with all your ?s. good luch for 1st august.

[Sierra]

I had my endoscopy just last week (July 25). I was very nervous going into it, but really, it was a breeze. Mine was scheduled for 4pm, so my last meal was breakfast before 8am, then only clear fluids until noon, then nothing at all after that. I was mostly hungry leading up to the endoscopy, but also nervous. It didn't help that my doc was over an hour late, so it didn't even start until about 5:20 when I got taken into the room and they started giving me some meds. They gave me 3 shots into my IV. I don't know what they were, but i know was was to kill pain and one was to relax me. They also said they did the spray in my throat, but frankly I don't remember that. I don't remember anything after they said they were putting in the third shot. I woke up later in the recovery room. I was wheeled out to the car by 6:30pm, so at the most I was out of it for about an hour. Went home and ate and watched a movie and ate popcorn. Felt fine - nothing at all. The next morning I had a slightly sore throat but that was basically gone by about 1:00pm. Oh, and the only info I got from the doctor immediately after the endoscopy was that I had "mild scalloping" of my intestine. I have my real follow-up appointment next week so I expect to get real info then when he'll have the biopsy info.

FYI, I went gluten-free the day after my endoscopy and I feel so much better now! It's only been a week, but it's made a difference.

Sierra in Tigard OR

[Rachel--24]

Hi Britanny,

Welcome to the board!

Just an echo of whats already been posted...the endoscopy was a breeze for me. Totally dont remember any of it....it felt like a really great nap. Nothing painful about it whatsoever. Some people do get a sore throat afterwards but I didnt experience that. I was just a little "loopy" from the drugs....talking alot and making no sense.

I'm betting the rash, whether its DH or not, will go away once you're off gluten. Also the joint pain ( a very common symptom) should improve as well. Good luck to you!! Dont worry about the Endoscopy...it really is a piece of cake.