Conversation: The conversation between human and AI assistant.
[|Human|] I am a 24 year old female who has been diagnosed with diverticular disease after experiencing an acute episode of diverticulitis six weeks ago. I am getting a colonoscopy on Monday, but have had very negative experiences with being sedated, and have a history of agitation and severe anxiety when sedated. I have asked the doctor performing the procedure to provide me with an alternative to the Versed/Demerol combination, and he is very averse to the idea. Ideally, I would prefer no sedation at all and a pain reliever to take the edge off discomfort. How can I proceed?
[|AI|]  Hi, Welcome to Chat Doctor, There are a lot of studies done to compare sedative and conscious sedative (versed, Demerol combination). There are advantages and disadvantages for both. Advantages of Versed and Demerol combinations are, cost-effective, rapid recovery and safer, as compared to Sedatives. Disadvantages are difficulty to reach to cecum, specially in case of diverticulitis, and missing out some lesions. One of the reason for using sedation, is if patient is anxious, and surprisingly you want to avoid sedation to reduce your anxiety. For Versed and Demerol combination, it is important that patient should be well-informed, educated about the procedure, relaxed, and with high pain threshold. Is colonoscopy really indicated for you? Do you have family history of Colon cancer, Stomach cancer, breast cancer or ovarian cancer? Do you have any other risk factors for colon cancer? You may also go for yearly occult blood test for stool instead? I would like you to discuss with your doctor, the real need for the colonoscopy. For choice of Sedation, also both surgeon and patient should be comfortable. Usually Surgeons preference is to do the procedure without Sedation. Hope you got all relevant information. Take care. Chat Doctor.