So… yeah. Great. The Suprep is in my kitchen right now, waiting to work its magic on me. The procedure is in exactly two weeks; I’ve taken the day off for recovery.
So here’s what I’m wondering, besides the usual general “what will it be like” anticipatory stuff:
Just how the fuck am I going to drink 48 ounces of liquid? Twice?
I tend to get up late on weekends. How long before I go to bed on Sunday should I be starting this thing?
Similarly, I know I have to drink the 48th ounce of liquid on Monday at least two hours before the procedure. Doesn’t that mean I’ll be wanting to use the bathroom right up until the procedure? Or will I have emptied myself out by then?
Just how the fuck am I going to drink 48 ounces of liquid? Twice?
Make sure they sedate you enough. I’ve had two colonoscopies done before and during one of them I wasn’t knocked out enough and as a result I could feel the tube poking and prodding about in my colon, very painfully, but there wasn’t a thing I could say or do to inform the technicians. I was silently going “ouch, ouch, ouch!” for a long time.
You drink the liquid in small doses, not all at once or twice. Separate it into small drinkings here and there. And you will probably not be feeling like using the bathroom a while before the procedure, that won’t be as much of a worry.
Nothing helps that stuff go down, not so mucha bad taste it’s more a chalky texture that binds up your taste buds. I ended using a straw to help bypass most of my tongue. That helped, but I couldn’t finish all the prep, but by that time it was all clear coming out so I didn’t mention it to the nurse. My DR had me on a progressively bland diet starting a week in advance. In the end it went as expected, see ya in 10 years!
The colonoscopy was a piece of cake for me. The prep, yeah, not so much. You’ll read things about drinking something like Ginger Ale to help with the aftertaste. I’ll just say that whatever you use, it might be permanently tainted, so avoid things that you actually enjoy. I won’t go near a bottle of Ginger Ale even a few years alter.
The other thing is to get your own bathroom (you won’t always have time to wait for someone to finish their business) and set it up to spend a large portion of time in there, whether that means a TV, books, or whatever else you use to entertain yourself.
You should be shitting clear water (for those who are unfamiliar, this is not an exaggeration) well before the procedure. If not, your doctor probably won’t like you very much and might make you do it all over again.
I used Suprep for my colonoscopy prep last year. Here’s what I recall.
The Suprep, while not nice, was not as horrible as I was expecting. Keep it super cold and use a straw.
I had no problem drinking the rest of the required water. Maybe because I naturally drink a lot, but there was no challenge there.
I had some problems with hunger, and found that I did not like the broths that I bought to sip too late to go out and get anything else. And I found the grape juice to be unbearable after drinking the grape Suprep. Plan better than I did in that regard.
The actual ‘clear out’ was not all that bad, although I agree with other comments that you need to keep close to a bathroom and make sure you can’t get blocked out. Other than that, I thought it was mildly entertaining learning just what volume of material my body could produce.
By far the worst part, BY FAR, was the burning and rawness when trying to wipe. Even wet wipes were painful. Later I saw a recommendation to apply Desitin or Vaseline to the area well before the first trip to the bathroom. Applying it after things start to burn is helpful, but mostly too late.
It’s been a few years since I had mine, and like @DMC, the colonoscopy itself was a piece of cake. They told me they were going to put me out and when I woke up I’ll feel like I had the best nap of my life. Which was true-- I felt great afterward, well rested and relaxed. Propofol is a hell of a drug. No lingering pain from the procedure at all.
Even the prep, contrary to others, I don’t remember it being that terrible, other than spending a lot of time sitting and shitting.
I think I anticipated this and got around it by hopping in the shower and gently spraying the area, like a do-it-yourself bidet.
Had 3 of these so far. The worst part is drinking the prep. The first two times, the prep tasted like stale margaritas. The 3rd time, they added a cherry flavor to it. It did not improve the taste. You won’t have to make any effort on the john however. It takes 1-2 hours to empty your tank.
I’ve never had to drink the 48th ounce separately. I took my 2nd prep early the day of the procedure.
Bring a list of the meds you take, because they’ll ask you about them. They want to make sure whatever they give you won’t react with your meds.
All the times I was sedated, I could tell each time I was being taken to the operating room. I could see the clock and hear the machine that goes bing. Then I woke up back in the change area. I had no sense that 20 minutes had gone by. It wasn’t like waking up from sleep.
Not much to add to what is being stated already, other than follow the prep instructions and the Dr instructions to the letter. As mentioned, you do not want to get to the Dr and be rejected for some reason and have to reschedule and do it all over again.
To clarify (heh) “clear” does not necessarily mean “colorless” — it means that there should not be any solids in the output. For my last* colonoscopy a couple of months ago there was a slight cloudiness the last time I used the toilet at the clinic, but my paperwork still got the coveted “Bowel prep: Good.”
As for the 48 ounces, my prep instructions said an 8 oz glass every fifteen minutes. I didn’t have any problems with it, possibly because I mixed the whole batch in advance and kept it in the coldest part of the refrigerator.
* Literally: since I’m over 65 and the last two were polyp-free, I’m done. Whether that means anything that crops up will be unlikely to cause problems before I croak from other causes, or they don’t think I’ll live to the next one, is anybody’s guess.
Definitely use a straw, and have the end be towards the back of your mouth so it bypasses most of your tongue. I was told to keep the stuff in the fridge because it goes down easier cold, but I got a massive ice cream headache early on, so you may want to let each glass warm up a bit before you drink it.
As stated above, make sure you have a dedicated bathroom and plan to spend some time in there.
FWIW, I had written instructions as well to drink half the night before, half 2 hours before the procedure. But because my colonoscopy was at 8 AM, they just told me to drink the whole thing the night before.
Every doctor/surgicenter seems to have different prep instructions. Be sure to follow the instructions from your doctor, not anything that comes with the Suprep package and definitely not anything that anyone tells you in this thread that’s different from your doctor’s instructions. My last colonoscopy was early in the morning. When I asked how to reconcile that with the instruction to drink the last dose 4 hours before the procedure, they told me I needed to wake up at 4am and take it then. That wasn’t much fun. Choking down that much liquid was hard but I just made myself do it. I absolutely did not want to go through all that and end up being rescheduled due to improper prep. I would call your doctor’s office and ask them exactly how they want you to take the Suprep if you have a morning procedure.
As for using the bathroom right up to the procedure, yep. Last time I had to stop and use the hospital bathroom before I checked in. I still felt like I needed to go while in the waiting room. The nurse said not to worry about it; they suction out any remaining fluid from your bowel before they start (ew). However in previous colonoscopies (I’ve had 4), that wasn’t an issue and I felt completely emptied out before I left home. So each time is a new and wonderful adventure.
For me, “recovery” has always been just getting over the effects of the sedative. I’ve never had any pain or discomfort after the procedure. The sedative is quite an interesting experience. Last time they gave me an IV dose of propofol, then a few minutes later the team walked in and started getting ready. I said “hey, I’m not really feeling much from this sedative yet”. The nurse said, “ok, let me give you some more”. Literally the next thing I remember was I was sitting in the recovery room, fully clothed. I not only have no memory of the procedure, I have no memory of getting myself dressed.
I did Cologuard the last time, too (about five months ago). It was easy-peasy.
When I had a colonoscopy ten years ago, I needed some food right afterwards. Or at least right after the double espresso my husband brought me to drink while I was still in the post-procedure wheelchair. So we drove to a pho joint and I had chicken pho. It was just what my insulted digestive system needed at that point - clear chicken broth, mild rice noodles, and plain chicken white meat. To this day, that’s what I want when I’m feeling under the weather.
Five here. Afterward is nothing at all. I just got something to eat, since I was hungry. It’s the 24 hours before you’re cooked.
They should be giving you instructions for when to start, and for the rest of the day. If not, ask in advance.
I wanted to use the bathroom right up until the last moment, but I have IBS and that makes the procedure far worse. Still, you never know when the urge will strike.
Ditto pretty much what everyone is saying. The prep was hard, the procedure was easy, but I wake up quickly from going under.
Especially about the 48 oz. tainting other things. The first couple of times the prep liquid was like GatorAde, which is not something I ever used. But a friend brought back Pocari Sweat from Japan, something I saw when I was there and was fascinated by, but never got a chance to buy from the vending machine. It was just like GatorAde, and I couldn’t get the can brought all the way from Japan down.
Take it easy eating afterwards. Soft foods, easily digestible, like scrambled eggs. Expect to have a loose bowel movement or two, or three or four, until your system returns to normal.
Don’t be surprised if you have to go just before the exam. Sometimes the cleanout can extend almost to the last minute.
I went through several different exams and several different preps. The “OTC Senecot pills and mix OTC Metamucil powder with Gatorade” prep was the most comfortable.
It sounds like this won’t be a problem for you, but the morning I showed up for the exam I was told that I had to have someone who knew me, friend, neighbor, or family, standing by to drive me home. (The instructions just said I could not drive myself home.) No - a taxi ride would not be acceptable.
There is one colonoscopy joke worth remembering: The “Two and a Half Men” episode where the father is preparing to go through the exam. He asks the son if there are any questions, and the son responds “no”, he looked it up on line. Short pause and the son asks (squeaky voice): “DO PEOPLE REALLY DO THIS?”
I had to reschedule mine because my household got Covid when my appointment was about 10 days away.
The quoted bit is what had me the most worried. Like, it’s a 15 minute drive from my house to the gastroenterology clinic. Is there a chance I don’t make it?
Also, my mom mentioned that the prep made her vomit. Anyone have experience with that?
