My first colonoscopy is coming up… woo… what to expect?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

You may have different results, but 15 minutes was never a concern. For me, once the purge ran its course there weren’t any overwhelming urges.

I could have stated that better - although there were no overwhelming urges, I usually had to make one last pit stop just before starting the exam.

I’ve known people who could not swallow the full prep. After swallowing most of it, there rest would come right back up. A quick call to the doctor - who said it was OK to stop, as long as you were getting a clear return. But don’t take my word for it - your doctor did leave a contact number?

22

I went for the low volume picosalax prep. You just drink two 8 oz glasses of the crap about 5 hours apart. You also need to drink ginger ale, Gatorade or water to add volume.

23

Lots of good advise in the comments here. A few to add.

Make a schedule. Put down the time of your appointment, and then work backwards. Write this down so can keep things straight. I just setup calendar reminders.

  • 9am arrive at clinic
  • 5am (4 hours prior) second round of prep
  • 9pm (12 hours prior) first prep
  • 9pm prior day, last solid food

Or whatever times are appropriate for your prep. This makes it so much easier to keep track of things, particularly if you have a complicated prep with several medications.

Split the 48oz into several smaller containers so you can keep the rest cold while working in one. Chugging probably won’t help, so just continuous sips. My problem is that if I drink too much too quickly my stomach is too full and I can’t drink more. As long as I stuck to 8oz every 15 minutes, or whatever, I was fine.

As said, the actual procedure is easy (the doctor is doing all the hard work). Some drugs will knock you out (propofol maybe), but others just relax you (fentanyl and versed?). I preferred being awake and very relaxed, so I could watch the screen.

24

If you chug the prep solution, you will immediately puke it up.

Don’t chug.

You can have jello, as long as it is not orange, red, or purple.

The first colonoscopy I had, back when Lincoln was president, my instructions said NO COFFEE and NO COLA. I had a gigantic caffeine withdrawal headache and that was the worst part of the whole deal. Heavenly angels must have provided the colonoscopy gods with insight, because every one I have had since the first allowed both coffee and cola drinks.

If you are Diabetic, follow all instructions about taking medication/insulin, testing your blood sugar, and what to have on hand for a bg crash.

Cortisone ointment will protect your nether region from getting sore. It’s available over-the-counter.

~VOW

25

Just what I came to post. I tend to have a sensitive stomach. A lot of the prep I managed to swallow came out the wrong orifice. It was really nauseating to me. Fortunately, they said I was clean enough to proceed with the actual colonoscopy.

The first time I had it done I wasn’t totally “out.” I had a kind of twilight sleep. I didn’t feel anything from the actual procedure, but it was weird. If you have the choice, make sure to get knocked out. And for me the anesthesia makes me nauseous, too, so I always – now – request an anti-nausea add-in.

26

You did get the seatbelt installed on the toilet, right?

27

That’s correct, because the colon does produce mucus even if it isn’t doing anything else.

28

I was aware for mine too. It didn’t feel good. I didn’t have a problem when I had my Upper GI some years prior but I definitely felt my colonoscopy.

Unfortunately for the OP I have no idea how you can make sure you’re well under. By the time I realized, it was too late.

My prep was so easy compared to what others are saying here. I had to mix miralax with gatorade…so it just tasted like gatorade.

My advice? HAVE FUN! :slight_smile:

29

I guess everyone’s MMV. I just chugged the stuff, and thus got it down in a hurry.

Another suggestion: Get Lemonade flavored Crystal Light. It comes in little single-serving size packs (like the little sweetener packs on the table at restaurants). Pour it in, and it turns your beverage into lemonade.

We’ve had umpteen prior colonoscopy threads, this being everyone’s favorite topic on these boards. Once upon a time, I compiled a post with a compendium of links to them all. I’ll post it again if I can find it.

30

Okay, here’s a version of it, not necessarily up-to-date, from seven years ago. No guarantee which of these links are still alive:

31

Okay, serious question: how much can I expect any changes from the first linked threads? The last? I’m not keeping track of the rate of medical advancement lately. All I’ve heard is that there was a time when I could’ve drunk just one small bottle and been done with the fucking prep.

32

I guess you’ll just have to do your own research to figure that out, and in any case just follow your doctor’s prep instructions. One change is they don’t use phospho-soda any more (which worked just fine for me) but instead they usually have you chug a truckload of polyethylene glycol (PEG), which goes by various brand-names (and which also worked fine for me). Sometimes they might have you take another laxative in addition to the PEG, like maybe Ex-Lax or similar (which is just a little pill). And I suppose you can presume that any changes over the years are probably improvements.

I didn’t find anything too terribly unpleasant about the prep, really, except that it takes about a day or two and you really can’t do much of anything else during that time other than chug the stuff and sit on the toilet.

33

Flippant answer: Now days during the ride home you can log into Mychart on your phone and look at the pictures of your colon.

The prep does change. I once had three colonoscopies by the same doctor in a year, with a different prep for each. I asked the doctor why that was, and I think she said just changing ideas of what’s best, but they all work fine. One had less volume to drink, and I preferred that one, but I don’t remember what it was to ask for next time.

34

They discontinued phospho-soda because of the rare incidences where it caused total kidney failure.

35

As it happens I’m having my first one in the morning, and I’m at home prepping right now.

The prep (a ludicrous amount of OTC Miralax mixed with Gatorade, plus a lot of Dulcolax) has not been that bad. My soul is leaving my body via the ass, definitely, but at least it’s a little at a time. The trick, I think, is to aggressively plan not to do anything else on prep day.

Mine is being done by a neighbor and dear friend; I’d rather have it done by someone I never had to see again, but I know all the people in the hospital who do them, so I went with the one who I thought would be most fun. A brilliant young colorectal surgeon, she drives a yellow Jeep with the vanity plate “AZZWMN”. I asked if she’d still respect me after I let her get to, like, ninth base, and she said she’d have to think about it.

36

As I said, I’ve had five, the first one more than 20 years ago. The last one a year or so ago was with the same prep as DoctorJ’s. They’ve gotten progressively easier over time.

37

I think I threw up more than I pooped. I was so nauseated that just before the procedure I asked about it. The nice nurse said that it was ok to wait a half hour in between vs the usual 15 minutes. Which is good to know for the next time I get that done.

The procedure itself went fine as did recovery. What was killing me was I was starving and getting low blood sugar shakes. We stopped at McDonald’s and I got some fries and a burger. I managed to eat about 10 fries, felt queasy so waited until got home 30 minutes later to nibble on my burger. Next time I plan on having a granola bar in my purse.

38

The first time, I had to mix Miralax with water. The second time, they recommended Gatorade instead of water, and it was ok to refrigerate. That was much, much more palatable.

Remember the old trick: if you don’t like the taste, plug your nose when you drink it.

The procedure itself is nothing at all, because you’re unconscious. Last time, the nurse was telling me that if I had problems to let them know or something like that, and I said, “So now I just have to talk to the doc before I leave?” She laughed and said, “You already did…three minutes ago.” Um, the drugs are really good at deleting short term memories.

My bro told me a couple years ago that he’s always “stepping on ducks” (farting) after a colonoscopy but I’ve never had that problem.

39

I didn’t find the prep difficult. I asked for twilight sleep rather than total sedation and found the video ride up my innards very Lemmiwinks-ish.

40

First of all, let me say that my first colonoscopy was pretty much a non-event – no big deal at all – despite the fact that I’m normally hypersensitive to having medical care inflicted on me. Much of it has to do with the right medication, and the right amount of it.

One thing that bugs me about stories like the OP’s is the apparently antiquated prep that is still being used. There’s no reason to have to drink 48 ounces or whatever of horrible crap as a purgative. The stuff that my doctor recommended was Pico-Salax.* It comes in a small box smaller than a cigarette pack and contains two sachets about the size of sugar packets. You dissolve one in a cup of water, and while it boils and froths rather evilly, its taste is not much different than lemon tea that happens to be not very good. After some period of time you have to take a second dose, which is kind of scary because at that point you feel pretty much purged of everything including part of your intestines, but that’s the procedure. Anyway, with Pico-Salax the only bad part of the prep was spending so much time on the toilet, but not the drink itself.

As for medication, my information may now be dated, but to my understanding there have been two procedures in common use, one supposedly allowing the patient to remain conscious but sedated, and the other a complete knock-out. The first is generally accomplished with a combination of fentanyl and midazolam. That’s what I had. I say “supposedly” allows the patient to remain conscious as I have no recollection of anything except waking up in a recovery room and not having any idea at all how long I’d been there. But judging from its effects right from the start, I must have received a pretty good dose. This is really important because I’ve heard stories from other folks having received the same medication and enduring a good deal of discomfort during the procedure.

The other medication option is usually propofol (Diprivan), which really does knock you out. I asked about that and was told that, by law, an anesthesiologist must be present and administer the propofol, and since none were present, they were going with the first option. Anyway, it didn’t matter, because I got enough of the good drugs that I was completely unaware of anything.

Best of luck. It really is a pretty minor procedure, and as many others have said over and over again, the worst part is the prep where you life seems confined to the toilet and you can only consume clear soups. And it’s important to have it done. There’s an alternative test that can be performed called the fecal immunochemical test (FIT), but it’s not nearly as informative as a colonoscopy. It’s a good way to do periodic checks for bowel cancer, but doesn’t obviate the need for a colonoscopy.

Disclaimer: IANAD, I’m way overdue for another colonoscopy, and I have a FIT test kit that’s been sitting unused for months now. Did I mention that I greatly dislike medical “care”? :wink:

* - ETA: It may vary by jurisdiction, but around here, Pico-Salax is available without a prescription but you have to ask for it at the prescription drug counter. IOW, it’s semi-regulated.