Endoscopy?

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Our son is 18 years old and has been complaining about a lot of discomfort in his throat as of late and has a very difficult time articulating what the problem is exactly. He has a learning disability, so he has trouble finding the correct words to describe the pain. We took him to a urgent care center and they seemed to think it was heartburn or acid reflux. He started with some typical acid reflux meds, but it didn't help. They put him on some prescription strength Prilosec w/o any affect as well.

We scheduled him to see an Ear Nose and Throat specialist, but when they discussed doing an endoscopy (camera in the nose to look down his throat), he absolutely lost his mind and and began banging on the walls and doors. They threatened to call security, so we had to take him from the building. He did the same thing when we brought him to another urgent care center to get looked at. This time, he melted down before we even made it back to the exam room. We asked if there was a way to sedate him for the endoscopy, but they said they need him awake for the procedure.

So question: Should be be asking for special accommodations given his autism diagnoses. I have a hard time believing they don't experience these disruptions frequently when they're trying to put a camera up a persons nose that has autism. Is there another less invasive way to do the exam, but potentially more expensive, that they're not offering, like an MRI where he could be sedated?

Thanks for any help.

When I had an endoscopy the camera was inserted through my mouth, down the oesophogus into the stomach.
The test was to examine the upper digestive system. Colonoscopy being the test for the lower.

My test was done by a Gastro-enterologist for acid reflux.

My little grandson was given general anaesthetic for a tooth extraction because he wouldn't/ couldn't cooperate. Some doctors would agree to general anaesthetic I believe depending on the urgency.
Good luck

Things like this terrify me too (if that is what he is feeling). The thought of foreign objects being inserted in me really fills me with fear and I just cannot go through with it, even knowing the fact that these procedures are necessary and could save my life. I'd have to be put out whilst they do that, otherwise it won't be done at all.

When my mum had an endoscopy, she said she couldn't stop heaving as the camera was going down, even though they had numbed her throat. They also fill up your stomach with air before they do it, so if you start heaving you'd probably be burping all the air out as well, which I'd find not only embarrassing but also unpleasant, being so I never burp normally.

I've always been sedated for endoscopy. It's not a full general, but it's enough that I don't remember it happening.

Addendum: I had one procedure with a tube down my nose into my stomach and I had to keep it for 24 hours. I had to go home and sleep with it, and even attempt to eat. I forget what it was called. That wasn't fun, but it was tolerable if I didn't think about it too much. The regular endoscopies (nose or mouth) are sedated enough that I don't remember them.

When I had a colonoscopy, I was fully sedated with general anaesthesia.

They don't need him to be awake for the procedure that is total baloney. If someone tried to preform a scope down my throat while I was awake I would become violent as well no matter how necessary it was, I wouldn't be able to tolerate it.

My GI tried to play dumb with me when I asked to be unconscious/general anesthesia for the procedure. He tried to act like he didn't understand what I was asking for and said that I would be conscious and they only gave Ativan. I eventually learned that the medical definition for conscious is the exact opposite of the common definition of conscious. Medically you can be "conscious" and be out cold so long as you are breathing on your own. The common definition of conscious simply means you are awake and aware of your surroundings. When someone gets hit on the head, and they get knocked unconscious, obviously they are still breathing because otherwise they would be considered dead if they weren't.

Of course my doctor should not expect that his patients use the medical definition of conscious and pretend like he didn't know I wanted to be asleep during the procedure. Simply stating he used Ativan was misleading as well as you can take a small dose of Ativan and be awake(absolutely wouldn't cut it for me for a scope down my throat) or take a large dose and be asleep(unconscious). How they managed to make me unconscious whether it was through the use of anesthesia like Propofol or Ativan is merely semantics from the point of view of the patient. Your son's doctor can absolutely knock your son out with a large dose of Ativan as they eventually did for me. I was awake for all of 3 seconds after they injected a large enough dose and they had NO PROBLEM performing the procedure without me awake. The procedure was done in a hospital with oxygen on and a heart rate monitor and reversing agents to cancel out Ativan readily on hand in a hospital with no risk to the patient.

It is just that these doctors don't take autism or anxiety seriously and try to play dumb when they know exactly what you are asking for and what they can actually offer but can't be bothered. Had my doctor been upfront and honest I wouldn't have put off having a scope done for nearly 8 years. Don't accept your son's doctor's bs story/ambivalence that he can't put your son to sleep for the procedure.

Not that I know. When I had one, they wouldn't even sedate me. Not the most pleasurable experience.