Do you feel the tube going down your throat in an endoscopy?

Question

as long as you have meds.. do you feel it? and how is it to breathe with it inside you? i'm scheduled for one tommorow:[

Answer 1

not if your doctor is doing his/her job properly as a pain med & amnestic (causes amnesia) is administered prior to the scope.  you can breathe thru entire airway.  discuss all of your concerns with the GI doc before the procedure.

Answer 2

my brother had it done and he found it very, very uncomfortable...he said it felt like a garden hose in his throat and the reaction to gag was overpowering, they gave him a spray in his throat to numb it but it had no effect....get a general anaesthetic if possible.

Answer 3

You will be sedated so you won't feel it and you will be able to breath just fine.  You won't be able to drive yourself home after being sedated, so make sure someone goes with you.  It's not bad.

Answer 4

I've had 2 and there is nothing to it. An IV is started, your throat is sprayed with a topical anesthetic, Versed, or some other medication is injected into your IV for sedation, and the tube is inserted as the procedure begins. They can do biopsies and photograph anything unusual. When you wake up your throat is a little scratchy, and you think the procedure hasn't even started. Best of luck to you.

Answer 5

For an endoscopy, you will get to the hospital, or doctors office, and an IV will be inserted.  They get you sitting comfortably in the position they need you in, and will swab the back of your throat with a topical anesthetic.  They will give you a drug that produces a very sleepy affect, but you will still be somewhat "with it." Usually, Versed is the drug of choice.  By putting you into this twilight sleep, the doctor can still ask you to do various things, such as move slightly or cough if he finds it necessary.  Once you are "out", the doctor places a device in your mouth to keep you from biting down on the tube, and the tube is inserted into your esophagus and down into the stomach.  You are able to breath, because the tube does not occlude your entire throat, and your trachea is not occluded at all. While the doctor uses the scope to look at your guts, he may find different areas of tissue that he chooses to biopsy. There are different gadgets that can be used with the scope in order to pull tiny pieces of tissue off.  When the doctor is done, he'll pull the tube out, and you will be monitored until you wake up.  They will probably keep you there for 30 minutes to 2 hours after you wake up to monitor you.  Throughout the endoscopy, you will probably have on a heart monitor as well as an automatic blood pressure cuff and an oxygen saturation monitor so that the doctor and nurses can monitor your vital signs.  

Answer 6

I had one two years ago and thought I'd only been out three minutes! I even argued with the nurses about it. I felt nothing. You go black and then you wake up. You might have a sore throat but I did not. At least, that was my experience.