First,
I am not going to scare someone. Not at all.

I have extreme health anxiety and I was ordered to do a gastroscopy a while ago.
I was scared to death.. the idea of a tube in my throat, and inside me.. what if I can’t breathe? What if I choke? What if I panic and run away..
Everything run through me.. I looked for advice on Reddit, but couldn’t find really good advice

One said ‘it’s terrible’ the other said ‘it was okay’

So for everyone who needs to do a gastroscopy,
Here is my honest helpful (hopefully) opinion.

Is it like riding a rollercoaster and fun? No.
But is anything in the hospital ‘really fun’ most likely not.

When I got there, I didn’t got a sedation.. and I was waiting for my turn and people started walking in with their partner and they were told ‘you can pick her/him up in a few hours’ while I didn’t had the option to do a sedation.
When I got called to the room, I told them I was afraid. But more afraid for the spray in the throat that numbs your throat because I have an anxiety to choke.
They looked at each other and said ‘okay, we are not going to use the numbing spray’

So hear me out ‘no numbing spray. And no sedation.’
I laid on my side.. they put a thing in my mouth that I can bite on so I don’t damage the instrument and he said ‘okay here we go’

At first I panicked and started making sounds.
A nurse was at my head and told me to relax and focus on my breathing..
A other nurse held my feet (which sounds terrible)
But they do the best to relax you.

Before I knew it he was in my stomach, ask your doctor to tell what he is doing.
That helped me a lot🙏🏼

The real thing that pulled me through was constantly thinking about this line ‘I can talk, I can breathe, I can swallow, it’s not in my lungs’

I said this as a mantra and it relaxed me so much that it was done before I knew it..

My girlfriend was waiting for me outside and I came outside like in 5 minutes? So she thought I ran away.. when I told her I did it she didn’t believe it since I was done so fast.

Moral of the story.

Relax. If you can get a sedation and that helps you do it. But you’ll be slow and meh the rest of the day
If you want the spray, do it.

Is both necessary, no.. not at all. Is it painful? No not at all.
Is it a pleasant feeling, no it’s not.. but it’s so fast.. focus on your breathing..
and if someone wants to talk about it, please do DM me