Colonoscopy without sedation

Being old, I recently went in for my second colonoscopy (the recommended interval for those not of high risk is every 10 years, starting at age 50). The first time, I just went in without doing a lot of research, and got knocked out by whatever anesthetic they used, and came to later, woozy and sick, not remembering anything.

This time I asked for a sedation-free procedure. Everyone in the GI department at Somerville Hospital was accomodating--they clearly didn't think it was the best idea, b...