Endoscopy Tomorrow-What To Expect?

[Mom-of-Two]

My endoscopy with biopsy is tomorrow morning, I was just feeling nervous and wondered what I should expect, since so many of you have been through it! I went through major abdominal surgery in 2007 with a ruptured appendix and resulting septic shock, 7 day hospital stay and ICU-- needless to say, I think I am a bit scarred about the whole anesthesia and any kind of surgery experience!

Just nervous!

Thank you!

[Avalon451]

Hi, as you probably saw from the post right beneath yours, I just had my endoscopy today. It was not a big deal at all. I can see why you'd be anxious after the ruptured appendix, yikes!

Are they putting you completely under, or just sedating you? They gave me a choice, but it was going to be quite a bit longer wait to schedule the one with general anesthesia, so I went for the sedation, even though I was worried about gagging and all. It was fine, though.

So it was pretty painless for me; they just brought me back to a changing room and had me just remove my shirt; I even kept my shoes on. In pre-op, a room full of curtained-off cubicles, they had me sit in a recliner-type chair and lay back, and they put warm blankets on me and chatted cheerfully while they got an i.v. in my hand, and started a saline drip. They did all the usual stuff like check blood pressure, temp and pulse, asked the usual questions to make sure they were talking to the right patient, etc. Then they walked me back to the room for the procedure and had me lay on my left side (more warm blankets on me), and the doctor asked if I had any questions. I asked him how many samples he would take, and he said usually six, sometimes more. They told me everything they were doing before they did it. They put the meds into the i.v., and it took about a minute for me to get pretty dopey. After that I don't recall much at all, except kinda gagging when they took it back out, but it wasn't distressing at all. Then they wheeled me back to the recovery area, where my husband was waiting. I was pretty awake, but you tend to be hazy on the details. Like, I know the doctor came in, and I know I was making a big effort to seem lucid, and I asked him if I should be getting some bloodwork to see if I'm vitamin deficient or anything, and he said something about how we'd work on that during the follow up, after the biopsy came back. But I had to confirm with my husband that this did indeed happen!

Afterward, I just felt very relaxed, kinda a little drunk. Hubby drove us home and I took a nap. I woke with a bit of a headache, and took some tylenol. I still feel kinda stiff and groggy, but really fine. I also think I can feel where he took all those biopsies, even though they say you can't because you have no nerve endings there-- it feels like I have a little stitch in my side from running.

All in all, pretty laid-back and easy procedure. I much preferred it to the colonoscopy I had 7 years ago, when all this GI stuff started and they didn't figure out what it was!

Good luck with your procedure; I'm sure it will be fine. You'll do great.

[heidi g.]

This might sound wrong but I enjoyed the anesthesia. It knocked me out and I went to sleep peacefully without having to worry about my stomach hurting. Woke up feeling relaxed and a little tired. Even though it was only a 30 minute sleep, if even, it felt great!

[basilicious]

I had my endoscopy last Monday, so it is nice and fresh in my mind. I, too, was quite anxious. I think the stress of the gluten uncertainty made me feel more unlucky/superstitious, so I was afraid that the risks would somehow become reality for me. And then I was beating myself up for being scared - I hate feeling wussy.

Anyway, that tells you that I was very nervous, so hopefully it will be a relief to hear that it was not a big deal at all. I did get faint when they put in the IV -- low blood pressure is in my family -- so they had to monitor that for a few minutes before administering the anesthesia, but that was the only mildly irregular aspect. My experience was very similar to that of Avalon. However, I was asleep for the entire thing and did not feel anything. When it was done, I woke up in a recovery room with the sectioned off beds, and then it was just a few minutes before I was up to get on my dopey way...

After what you've gone through, this will be a breeze. Good luck! You will be fine!!

[Mom-of-Two]

Thanks!

It went fine- although I was worthless the whole day and evening yesterday, thankfully my hubby took charge of the kids and dinner, I felt woozy whenever I stood up and didn't eat at all, I went to bed at 8pm though and feel worlds better today, just a mild sore throat from the tube I suppose.

I believe she took 6-8 biopsies, the stomach and everything she saw was normal.

She sees me in a month to follow up and see how I feel with the diet, and then a repeat blood panel in 3 months to see that the numbers are down.

[Mom-of-Two]

I know that my GI doc said she would be filling me up with air- to see, so is it normal to have some diarrhea, pressure in the belly today?

The nurse will be calling later to check on me, so I was going to ask her as well. I do not feel nauseous today just icky in my belly, and have had a few bouts of diarrhea which I assume is all normal??

[Avalon451]

I would guess it would be pretty normal-- I didn't have any unusual bouts of D (at least, unusual for me), though I did feel a bit sore, like muscle soreness, in my belly, the day afterward.

By the way, "looks normal" pretty much means nothing-- with advanced celiac they might see some inflammation or scalloping, or "cobblestone" appearance of the surface, but that's not what really indicates celiac-- it's the microscopic examination of the villi. If they're blunted or flattened, and if you have an increased level of intraepithelial lymphocytes (greater than 30/100) that's what indicates celiac. I guess those lymphocytes normally hang out in the spaces down between your villi, but if the villi are blunted, they get pushed to the surface, and that shows up as a high concentration of them on the surface.

You will probably want to call in a week, if they don't call you, to ask about the results of the microscopic exam of your biopsies.

Glad it all went ok for you and hope you are feeling up to par again soon. I feel fine today, two days post.

[Mom-of-Two]

Thanks!

I figure if I still have any issues tomorrow, I will call back- I feel fine otherwise, so I think it's pretty normal due to the sedation, air in the intestines, and lack of eating yesterday- it started after I ate something this morning, and again after I ate something this afternoon.

My doc doesn't care what the biopsy says, because my blood panel numbers say I have celiac, she said my two tests specifically state that I have the disease, there is no false positive with that antibody, and the biopsy just confirms what she already knows. If it's negative and I respond to the diet, problem solved. If I am stull struggling, she actually wants to check my gallbladder further through blood tests- I had an u/s which showed no stones however she says blood tests for gallbladder FUNCTION are different- however insurance is not going to cover said tests, with a Celiac diagnosis.....only after I change the diet and IF I didn't have positive results, would I be able to check into other causes--- I would still eat gluten free for life, since I do in fact have the disease, however some of my symptoms (back pain between the shoulders) makes her wonder if what I am feeling is the gallbladder and the diagnosis of Celiac was a fluke accident! (aka maybe it is latent celiac)

I will update!

[Blue-eyed bandit]

I did mine without any meds at all because I was so worried about side effects. If I could do it again- I'd probably use meds!