“Orally administered sodium picosulfate is generally used for thorough evacuation of the bowel, usually for patients who are preparing to undergo a colonoscopy. It works very quickly, so access to a toilet at all times is recommended. It starts off by making bowel movements looser and more frequent, but within an hour or so of taking it the patient should experience diarrhea.”
That sounds pretty nasty to me!
I think Dave Barry said the prep made him feel like seat belts should be attached to the toilet.
~VOW
“Nasty” is how people frequently describe the taste and texture of bowel preps. While the Pico-Salax salesmen like to talk about how their product is better tolerated than Go-Lightly, neither one is going to win any Iron Chef competitions.
Both products work (very generally speaking) by having so many salts in them (not table salt, magnesium and other salts) that they suck all the liquid out of your gut like a slug in the garden you sprinkle with salt. This abrupt increase in liquid in the intestine means you get sudden watery stools. The excretion of all these fluids is why you have to drink more fluids - so you don’t end up dehydrated or with electrolyte imbalances.
To get the high concentration of salts in you, you drink the stuff dissolved in water - which tastes something like flavored watery snot, and has a consistency to match.
Honestly, it’s not the worst stuff in the world. I’d rather drink it than barium, as mentioned, or even the dextrose drink they make you drink to test for gestational diabetes. It’s better cold, so keep it in the fridge and/or put it over ice. Some people prefer to drink it through a straw so it’s not on their tongue very much.
When I said “nasty”, I was indeed referring to the taste. And I’m going to agree with WhyNot, I’d rather drink GoLytely or HalfLytely rather than the barium solution. But that’s not much of a choice, given my druthers I’d rather not drink either. And I’m willing to give Pico Salax a try the next time I absolutely, positively MUST have my bowels cleaned out overnight. And the discharge from the bowel prep solutions that I had didn’t even qualify as diarrhea, IMO. They were simply liquid discharges, no chunks at all.
I’ve had one colonoscopy and there’s one great thing about it: DEMEROL!
That stuff is awesome. I have a high tolerance to drugs (I can’t imagine why), so it didn’t knock me out. I just felt pleasantly loopy and the procedure didn’t hurt a bit-- it was just mildly uncomfortable. I remember watching the TV screen, thinking “so that’s what the inside of my guts look like…cool!”
IMHO, the prep is ***far ***worse than the procedure.
There are lots of other colonoscopy threads out there, definitely worth searching.
Day before the procedure, when you’re on a liquid diet, you might want to reduce your activity level since you won’t be getting decent nutrition. My two (so far… up for at least one more this year) have always been on Mondays, so Sunday is indeed a day of rest.
I’m surprised they’d let you go home in a cab - the practice I go to is VERY explicit that this is only allowed if you have someone with you.
Ooh - I’ve done Osmo-prep. It’s better (I think!) than the gallon-o-slime I’ve heard of, the only downside is my doc insists it be drunk with Gatorade. Any flavor I like as long as it’s lemon-lime. I hate the stuff. It works quite thoroughly. First time, I had a 2-day liquid diet, and a Dulcolax on the evening of the first non-food day. The evening prep took perhaps 3 hours from the time things started “happening”. Similarly the next morning. 20 pills in the evening, 12 in the morning. The squirts stopped JUST in time to leave for the doctor (phew - had fantasies of having to put trash cans down on the car seat).
The second time, I only had to do one day of liquid diet and that may have been a mistake. First off, after 2 days of low-fiber, I had a regular BM that morning and, well, I think I qualified as a stonemason. And the evening prep took 6 hours start to finish. The morning prep… things were still happening while I was in the waiting room and I had to RUN, several times (didn’t quite make it once :()> And even after the procedure, I had one sudden OH SHIT after I got home. So, I don’t know what I’ll do next time. Start eerlier in the evening, obviously, maybe eat much lighter the day before the liquid prep, AND add a little regular Miralax to avoid Bricklayer’s Syndrome.
Um - do YOU want to have the “fallout” of drinking that stuff and being sedated when it hits?
My husband loves me. He would do nearly anything for me.
I’m pretty sure he’d divorce me rather than clean THAT mess up :D.
Oh - one other grumble. They give Propofol (milk of amnesia, stuff that killed Michael Jackson) for sedation at my place. That stuff hurts like a sumbitch going in. Yes, even when they inject a local anesthetic first.
A hint on clear liquids: you can have broth among other stuff. Canned broth is nasty. This time around I got a container of broth from the local pho (vietnamese noodle soup) restaurant. Best idea ever! I got pretty chilled during the prep - either because I was half nekkid for 4 hours in January, or because of the prep itself, but it was nice to have something hot to drink.
Huh. If I need to get this done again (and I probably will, sooner or later), I’m gonna ask for the tortilla soup broth from one of my favorite Mexican places. Man, that is absolutely the best broth for me…the only hard part will be straining the solids out and putting them aside for later.
Depending on how they do the soup, they might even have the broth separate and add the veggies etc in closer to serving time (like the Pho places do). Couldn’t hurt to phone them on off hours and ask that very question.
If you do have to strain it, I suspect any little fragments that get missed will be adequately handled by the rest of the unpleasantness.
Just to add that the prep is not bad if you use the right stuff - I did an entire bottle of Miralax which is basically tasteless and the ensuing clean-out is no big deal.
Any feelings of disquiet as my next colonoscopy approaches (in a couple of weeks) are dispelled by thoughts of the possible alternative (I’ve had a parent and grandparent die of colon cancer).
Well, the propofol only hurts for a few seconds, at least. I think the problem THIS time was - like so many things, they inject the local and DONT GIVE IT TIME TO WORK :mad:.
32? Yowza. I do hope they find something that’s treatable that’s causing your symptoms, whatever they are.
Oh - and Vow - so was I (joking… mostly…). I do wish there was a way to make that part happen faster at least… I mean, you’re on the pot, things have happened, they WILL happen again, but they never DO until you’ve given up and gotten away from the toilet. I think my colon just likes messing with my mood.
I’m currently going through my prep today for the procedure tomorrow. I had my last meal this morning at 8AM, a piece of toast with peanut butter. It had to be light or I would of broken out the pancakes, bacon, sausage and eggs. Not many visits to the washroom yet, only 3 so far. My second dose of pico salax is coming up. The stuff has an orange flavour so it’s not that bad.
I’m freakn’ starving though, I hate opening the fridge to get more water and see all this food and not be able to touch it. TV commercials about food is making my mouth water. I think after the procedure I’m going to make myself two huge hamburgers, with lettuce, tomatoes, mustard, onions and pickles.
It depends on the clinic, I suppose. No one’s ever not been able to find someone, in my experience. I’m not sure what I’d do, except find a supervisor. I mean, we always went a few rounds of, “But there’s nobody!” and “I’m sorry, it’s not safe, we’re not allowed to do it” and then they’d come up with somebody.
If there weren’t insurance and liability to consider, I’d tell the person they could sit in the waiting room for a few hours. But to be honest, I’m not willing to risk my nursing license that something bad might happen to you when I’m not watching you because I’m busy doing my job.
I hear there are some clinics that do allocate the staff to the recovery area to allow longer post-procedure stays. I guess I’d try to recommend one of them to you, if I could find one in the area.
I had one two years ago, can’t remember the name of the prep stuff but I had to mix up four litres and then drink 1/4L every 15 minutes until it was done. Tasted like seawater.
I found it a lot easier to drink chilled and it apparently cleaned me out nicely according to the report.
Coming out of the drugs was fine, I got given a sandwich & a cup of tea but wasn’t allowed to leave until I had done a few farts. Making sure everything was working OK I guess.
A bit windy that night (much to my sons’ amusement). Back at work the next day no worries.
Another vote for making your bathroom experience as pleasant as possible, because you’re going to spend quite a lot of time in there. You will not believe what’s gonna come out - basically, everything you’ve eaten in the last month; your kneecaps; the G. I. Joe toy you lost when you were 6, etc.
Be sure to drink lots of water. The laxative will have electrolytes in it, but some Gatorade sure won’t hurt. And light a candle in the john. You’ll be very glad you did.
