Yeah, it sounds scarier than it actually is.

They give you a "bite block" to bite down on. If you don't know what that is, it looks like this:



Yeah, looks kinky. But obviously that's how they keep your mouth open to prevent you from biting down on the small scope (which, btw, is twice as thin as a pencil).

Now that I think of it, though... I think my throat *was* a little sore because the GI dr applied some pressure when she put the scope down my throat (causing it to stretch a little), but my throat wasn't scratched/cut at all. My stomach and large intestine didn't hurt one bit, either. And believe me, I've had a nasal endoscopy FOUR times, and my nose hurt like a b**** from getting scratched every time. I know what getting scratched from a scope feels like.

The soreness of my throat went away in about 30-40 mins, I'd say, so... not a very long lasting effect. It just feels like you've coughed a bunch of times and have a sore throat. You may actually cough, too. But it goes away so fast that you forget about it.