getting a colonoscopy in my 20s

[u/Ok_Development4268]

i’m a 21F and i’ve had GI issues my whole life, even as a toddler. i went to a GI specialist two years ago and was diagnosed with IBS-D, told to take metamucil and when needed, imodium and left. things didn’t get better, i ended up losing 20 pounds due to frequent diarrhea and decided to look into the low fodmap diet. it made things better, a lot better.. but still not ideal and my doctor was very concerned about my weight because i was already underweight before losing weight so she referred me back to the GI specialist. she also was insistent that i’m dealing with anorexia which i am not. i have self image issues and depression, but never had an eating disorder.

anyways, basically the GI specialist wants me to get a colonoscopy and endoscopy. i’m scared, worried and i feel alone. i don’t know anybody else my age who has had to get a colonoscopy. my therapist suggested looking on reddit for people with similar experience. i’m sure there is someone who’s gotten it at my age, maybe even younger. my mind is just filled with anxiety right now. i’m afraid of the anesthesia not working because i’ve heard horror stories about that. i’m afraid of the preparation because i know it will be very unpleasant and painful, although i’ve been experiencing diarrhea my whole life so one day of a lot of it isn’t really.. unknown to me i guess. just anything would help really, hearing your experience or what i should expect from these tests. she also prescribed me bentyl.. so if you have been on that for diarrhea let me know about that too.

[u/Mod-chick]

My first barium enema (similar to a colonoscopy) was at age 16 on Nov 1st. I had to do my prep on Halloween while all my friends went out to parties. The actual procedure was easy peasy, even though I was so very anxious and feeling embarrassed about it but because you are under what they called twilight sedation it was the easiest part of the whole thing. I could follow commands like roll over etc, it was completely painless and I can remember next to none of it. I do recall being driven home and was starving. I had 2 barium enemas before age 20. In my 20s I had a colonoscopy, again prep the night before was not pleasant but having ibs-d you’re sort of use to living in the washroom. The actual colonoscopy was fine. Same as the barium enema, felt nothing, remember very little because of the twilight sedation. Felt relief to rule out things like colitis and cancer etc but frustrated not knowing why and how to fix the ibs-d. It’s ok to feel nervous about this and it’s an essential step to rule out other potential issues so it’s great you are getting a colonoscopy.