Dreading a proctoscopy :(

Hi All,

I'm suffering from piles which comes and goes. So far, home treatments like suppositories isn't really doing the trick so I am considering seeing a consultant and getting surgery (the piles are minor so some of the treatments on local anesthetic would work).

I had haemerhoids before and had a colonoscopy in the consultation which was PAINFUL! I'm not a stranger to pain, having dislocated knees which require morphine for pain management. But this was on another level! I thought I was going to faint or burst. Ok it was my first time having it so I didn't know what to expect and breathing slowly did help (but not enough).

Now if I have to have this consultation again (and it's an obvious must for diagnosis) it's scary :( I'm not fussed about surgery because last time I had surgery with entonox and sedatives, so I felt little pain (colonoscopy and sclerotherapy).

I don't get it. Videos of proctoscopies and other exams without sedation show the patient completely relaxed and not screaming. All the health sites say that it is uncomfortable but not painful, but the pain is something else. Uncomfortable is an exam with a finger as you feel pressure, but not painful.


Any advice - dreading this but if it's a must, it's a must :(

Hey
I had a colonoscopy with sedation as I had had a sigmoidoscopy 2yrs previous to it and it was dreadful (not painful but I felt I was going to pass out) - I felt nothing, just a sensation of them rummaging around in there. You should ask for sedation. x

When I had my actual colonoscopy in the surgery, it felt the same. Just a feeling of something in there, no pain. When I stopped the entonox for 30 seconds, the pain was slight.

Before that, in the consultation, there's usually no sedation, which is a nightmare.

I'm going for a consultation today and I'd imagine he would do some sort of exam (maybe a quick proctoscopy) and it will hurt. :( I will try to relax and not be tense as I know that makes it worse.

Funnily enough, the consultation scares me more than the op, lol.