# How soon does Dulcolax work? Requesting TMI pre-colonoscopy. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 27, 2012, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-soon-does-dulcolax-work-requesting-tmi-pre-colonoscopy/632806 "2012-08-27T11:10:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-soon-does-dulcolax-work-requesting-tmi-pre-colonoscopy/632806/21 "2012-08-29T02:38:40Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > Thanks for all the great advice. I went to the grocery store and bought various clear liquid foodstuffs, and a big box of baby wipes. Plus, we have a lot of cats, and I never miss the opportunity to buy out the store’s stock of unscented kitty litter in ten pound bags. It dawned on me while in the checkout line that my cart contents might arouse suspicion, but by that time I had enough of worrying about it and determined to let them wonder. Good luck. You should have added a few random items just to confuse the clerks more..like an eye dropper and a jug of vegetable oil. And then make a show of checking everything off a list. -D/a ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-soon-does-dulcolax-work-requesting-tmi-pre-colonoscopy/632806/22 "2012-08-29T03:52:55Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > Thanks for all the great advice. I went to the grocery store and bought various clear liquid foodstuffs, and a big box of baby wipes. Plus, we have a lot of cats, and I never miss the opportunity to buy out the store’s stock of unscented kitty litter in ten pound bags. It dawned on me while in the checkout line that my cart contents might arouse suspicion, but by that time I had enough of worrying about it and determined to let them wonder. If they didn’t bat an eye at my cart with nothing but razor blades and apples on Halloween day… ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-soon-does-dulcolax-work-requesting-tmi-pre-colonoscopy/632806/23 "2012-08-29T05:16:23Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > It dawned on me while in the checkout line that my cart contents might arouse suspicion, but by that time I had enough of worrying about it and determined to let them wonder. Actually, grocery checkout is a mind-deadening, soul-killingly boring job. Checkout clerks soon learn to do it (and appear friendly to customers) while their attention is elsewhere. They hardly notice what is in your cart, much less speculate about what you will do with your purchases. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2012, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-soon-does-dulcolax-work-requesting-tmi-pre-colonoscopy/632806/24 "2012-08-29T20:54:48Z")
If you want to amuse your inner ten year old; after the procedure is over and you can eat again, have a banana and a peeled apple or other white food. For your next meal, have a big spinach salad. Then have beets for dinner. You can watch your poop go from pale to greenish to purple. It’s fun! ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-soon-does-dulcolax-work-requesting-tmi-pre-colonoscopy/632806/25 "2014-03-25T21:37:52Z")
Oh dear! IMO, Ducolax was very very disappointing. It is supposedly a stool softener. Unfortunately, at the time I took Ducolax, I really did not understand the diff between Ducolax and Bisocadyl. Even worse, I did not understand the diff between a stool softener and the kind of medication that flushes out one’s digestive tract. I would advise anyone who is about to undergo a colonoscopy to read about the kind of medications that softens your stools and that flushes out your digestive tract - specifically Bisocadyl. Bisocadyl is a very tiny orange tablet and it is incredibly powerful. It flushes out the digestive tract (specifically the large intestine) and it works amazingly well. The best approach is to use Bisocadyl for a 2 or 3 days before the procedure and then to use the digestive tract flushing meds for a day or two before the procedure. That worked out just super for me. There are very few kinds of medical procedures where I would recommend people really read and try to understand the nature of the medication that they should take before they go through the procedure. But, when it comes to colonoscopies, I truly believe that it is in your best interest to learn and study the medications used and to learn as much as you can about them. Good luck to you. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-soon-does-dulcolax-work-requesting-tmi-pre-colonoscopy/632806/26 "2014-03-25T21:57:34Z")
Consider, **Charlie Wayne,** that the OP’s colonoscopy was 18 months ago. We’re talking about zombie stools, at this point. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-soon-does-dulcolax-work-requesting-tmi-pre-colonoscopy/632806/27 "2014-03-25T22:04:04Z")
> [@Charlie\_Wayne](#): > > IMO, Ducolax was very very disappointing. It is supposedly a stool softener. Unfortunately, at the time I took Ducolax, I really did not understand the diff between Ducolax and Bisocadyl. I think you [still don’t](https://www.dulcolax.com/constipation-and-gas-relief.html). ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-soon-does-dulcolax-work-requesting-tmi-pre-colonoscopy/632806/28 "2014-03-25T22:23:20Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > I think you [still don’t](https://www.dulcolax.com/constipation-and-gas-relief.html). For the curious, s/he means the difference between bisacodyl and docusate. Bisacodyl is a stimulant laxative. It makes you go. Docusate is a stool softener. It (forgive me for quoting the ad, but it’s an excellent way to describe it) doesn’t make you go, but it makes it easier to go. Bisacodyl stimulates the nerves in your intestine, making them contract and forcing the stool out. Docusate helps your body mix fat and water in with the poop stream, making it heavier and slipperier, so it’s easier to push out. Dulcolax makes both under their brand name. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-soon-does-dulcolax-work-requesting-tmi-pre-colonoscopy/632806/29 "2014-03-26T04:26:03Z")
Hmm, how about lactulose? Which is it? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-soon-does-dulcolax-work-requesting-tmi-pre-colonoscopy/632806/30 "2014-03-26T12:27:37Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > Hmm, how about lactulose? Which is it? Lactulose is an \*osmotic \*laxative. It’s a synthetic sugar, and it attracts water into the intestine, which soaks the feces and makes the stool heavier and slipperier and easier to push out. It also pulls ammonia out of the bloodstream and into the colon so it can be excreted, so it’s used in liver disease when your body has trouble getting rid of ammonia. (Wow…let me check my work here, I haven’t run into lactulose since school…yep, osmotic laxative, ammonia binder, liver disease and/or chronic constipation, but it’s not usually the first choice for constipation.) With all of these, but especially with lactulose and other osmotic laxatives, you want to be sure you’re drinking a lot of water so that you don’t end up dehydrated. A dirt cheap osmotic laxative is already in your kitchen: salt. 2 teaspoons of salt in a big glass of water will have you running for the toilet. Don’t do this often, and don’t do it if you have a cardiac condition, kidney disease or other wonky thing going on with your electrolyte levels, but in a pinch saltwater is a great osmotic laxative. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-soon-does-dulcolax-work-requesting-tmi-pre-colonoscopy/632806/31 "2014-03-26T14:53:07Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > The Versed they commonly give to make you not care that someone is ramming a garden hose up your rear is an amnesiac - it makes you not remember that someone is ramming a garden hose up your rear. If they give you enough, it is the damnedest thing to experience. From your perspective, one moment you’re in one place, and the next you’re somewhere else, since your brain just didn’t record what happened in between. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-soon-does-dulcolax-work-requesting-tmi-pre-colonoscopy/632806/32 "2014-03-26T15:07:56Z")
Medical advice is best suited to IMHO. Please note that the original thread was started in 2012. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![DirkGntly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DirkGntly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirkGntly)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-soon-does-dulcolax-work-requesting-tmi-pre-colonoscopy/632806/33 "2014-03-26T15:15:08Z")
It’s my understanding from conversations I’ve had with nurses prior to my own procedures, that they’ve basically eliminated the standard Demerol/Versed combo in favor of Propafal (sp?). Similar effect to Versed during use, but clears the system faster and fewer after-effects. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-soon-does-dulcolax-work-requesting-tmi-pre-colonoscopy/632806/34 "2014-03-26T16:21:27Z")
Known colloquially as “Jacksoning.” ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-soon-does-dulcolax-work-requesting-tmi-pre-colonoscopy/632806/35 "2014-03-26T16:35:21Z")
Had a colonoscopy just last week, in honor (?) of my recent round-number birthday, so I opened the thread figuring I could give the OP the benefit of my experience, since Dulcolax was part of my prep. Then I saw the date of the OP. Besides, it looks like **racer72** told the OP what he needed to know in post #2. Anyone else with the same question should take that advice. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-soon-does-dulcolax-work-requesting-tmi-pre-colonoscopy/632806/36 "2014-03-26T19:25:06Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Consider, **Charlie Wayne,** that the OP’s colonoscopy was 18 months ago. We’re talking about zombie stools, at this point. 😉 _Tuuurrrrdddddsssss!_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-soon-does-dulcolax-work-requesting-tmi-pre-colonoscopy/632806.md?page=1)