# Ask the Man Who Had a Colonoscopy - the Sequel **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 20, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-man-who-had-a-colonoscopy-the-sequel/550899 "2010-08-20T19:16:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-man-who-had-a-colonoscopy-the-sequel/550899/21 "2010-08-23T14:47:12Z")
Why does it have to be Gatorade that you drink along with the laxatives? Couldn’t you just take the laxatives? ---
**Author:** ![Mint\_Julep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc79bd/32.png) [@Mint\_Julep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mint_Julep)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-man-who-had-a-colonoscopy-the-sequel/550899/22 "2010-08-23T15:45:45Z")
My younger sis was diagnosed with Stage II Colon Cancer at age 29. Surgery to remove 8 inches of colon and Chemo with radiation for 6 months after. She is cancer free for almost 2 years now and even got selected to be a calender girl for the 2011[Colonder](http://www.colonclub.com/colondar.html). She has had a dozen colonoscopies and I as soon as my insurance kicks in I will be signing up at the ripe old age of 33 since she and my Dad have both had cancerous growths. It is worth a little discomfort I think, and should know about first hand soon. Fingers crossed for great results for all. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-man-who-had-a-colonoscopy-the-sequel/550899/23 "2010-08-23T17:24:20Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Why does it have to be Gatorade that you drink along with the laxatives? Couldn’t you just take the laxatives? You need to have lots of liquid to keep flushing through the digestive track. Without it, you’d leave a lot of poop in your colon’s little nooks and crannies and they couldn’t get a good look at what’s going on. Why Gatorade and not just water? They told me Gatorade helps replenish some of the electrolytes/salts that get washed out. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2010, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-man-who-had-a-colonoscopy-the-sequel/550899/24 "2010-08-23T17:26:20Z")
Ew! Nooks and crannies have never sounded so unappetizing. And Thomas’s English Muffins always made them sound so quaint and sweet. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-man-who-had-a-colonoscopy-the-sequel/550899/25 "2010-08-25T18:39:17Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Why does it have to be Gatorade that you drink along with the laxatives? Couldn’t you just take the laxatives? I didn’t get Gatorade, they just said “a liter of clear liquids in addition to the prep” (which was two liters on it’s own). I drank chicken broth for the most part, and a little lemon jello (you can’t have anything that has red dye in it, which is most flavors of jello). I don’t know that the replacing nutrients thing matters much; after all, it’s at most 36 hours or so that you won’t be eating normally, much of that asleep. The prep (“MoviPrep” in my case) doesn’t taste bad, per se, but it’s texture is oddly disconcerting. I found that if you drink it really cold and do each glass (one every fifteen minutes for an hour, repeated twice throughout the evening) as quickly as possible, that it’s no too bad. I’m pretty sure it’s basically thin liquid soap; it had that kind of “smooth gelatinous” texture to it. I have issues with light sedation (they make me nauseous and anxious) like dental Nitrous, and the procedure sedation was similar, so I had them stop. But even without full sedation (I remember the whole thing), it was painless except for a couple of very-mildly-uncomfortable “pokes” in my interior. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-man-who-had-a-colonoscopy-the-sequel/550899.md?page=1)