# Tell me about your colonoscopy **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 10, 2018, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-colonoscopy/825914 "2018-12-10T21:09:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-colonoscopy/825914/61 "2018-12-13T19:27:03Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > I was told that they want to do a full colonoscopy for your first one, and if nothing unusual was found, you can do Cologuard the next time, and thereafter, unless they detect something. Now, if there is some disagreement on using Cologuard for the initial procedure, then that would be up for discussion. Perhaps one of our local docs here could offer an opinion? My doc is totally opposed to Cologuard for the initial screening. He said there have been false positives, which are fine because they are followed up with a colonoscopy to rule out cancer. However, there have also been false negatives, which can be a death sentence. So for the initial one, he recommends the gold standard- the colonoscopy, then if I get a clean bill of health, he was ok with using cologuard from there on. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-colonoscopy/825914/62 "2018-12-13T21:29:48Z")
> [@DummyGladHands](#): > > I vomited like crazy. Called the 24-hr. nurse line on my ins. card. She said slow down and suck a lifesaver or chew some gum between glasses of poo juice. Your stories are part of why I’m utterly _baffled_ that they still give the gallon-o-glurge varieties. My reaction to that is summed up in my writeup as “are you out of your fucking MIND???”. If I remember correctly, SuPrep is something like 8-10 ounces and you mix it with something else to make 32 ounces. Never had it, so I may have the details wrong. Supposedly it _can_ make you vomit - my doc said if I went that route he could give me some Zofran (antinausea). I’m not a barfer in general (every couple of decades) but I go for the even-lower-volume sorts. I’m, well, “delighted” isn’t quite the right word, but “happy to have the best possible option under the circumstances”, that there are more humane options. You just have to push the medicos to prescribe them. I used the word “cruel” to describe anyone who prescribes those out of habit. I don’t rule out that there might be circumstances where the gallon-of-skunkwater truly is the best option… but it should not be the default. Backing up a _little_ on that: If you get prescribed GoLytely or whatever, the “advantage” there is it’s utterly simple. You add water to the jug, shake it up, put it in the fridge, and drink it. No complicated “add this specific amount of water”, “take pills with Gatorade”, “get Miralax and pour it into the Gatorade - but not RED Gatorade”, “take 2 Dulcolax yesterday” or anything like that. They know you’re getting an appropriate amount of electrolytes. Etc, etc, etc, But as I wrote a few years back “some are too stupid to follow any other directions, but you are not one of them”. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-colonoscopy/825914/63 "2018-12-13T21:38:06Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > They won’t do the procedure. I imagine a non-sedated procedure is a rarity here in the US (it’s more common in other countries, perhaps). Me, I’m all about the good drugs - I don’t indulge otherwise, so I get to get a legal (and medically supervised) high for about 15 seconds every 3 years :D. But if a place WILL do it w/o sedation, they might let you come solo. It’s not necessarily a good idea in any case: what if you get home and start to bleed or something. And I’ll put it right out here: Anyone in the DC metro area, if you need a scope and can’t find a driver, I WILL TAKE YOU THERE AND BACK. I’m quite serious about that. I know I come off as a bit shrill about the procedure, and I preach it at every opportunity… but I WOULD NOT BE HERE if I hadn’t had mine at age 50. So anyone within 30ish miles of Washington DC: if you need someone, PM me. I’ll make it happen. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-colonoscopy/825914/64 "2018-12-13T22:06:19Z")
> [@Enola\_Gay](#): > > So I’ve turned 50 & need to schedule this, but I’m dreading it and procrastinating. A friend told me that the colonoscopy itself is no big deal, but the PREP is horrid. He said that the day prior to my procedure, I should not leave the house At All. Not even for 5 minutes. Was this your experience? Please lmk, with as much graphic detail as possible. TIA Not reading other folks’ posts because I don’t _want_ to read as much graphic detail as possible **nauseated smiley goes here** Yes the prep is horrid. The worst part of the prep is drinking the godawful disgusting stuff that you’re expected to drink. Here’s my guide on how to do it with less misery than if you followed the instructions, although your mileage may vary. a) Don’t dilute the concentrated disgusting stuff. When you dilute it, you end up with enormous fluid quantities of still-really-disgusting stuff you have to swallow. Your body needs all that fluid, but it doesn’t need all that fluid to be premixed with the disgusting stuff. b) Take a bottle of strongly flavored spirts with you to your table of misery. I recommend rye whiskey but jack daniels will do, and although I myself am not a gin drinker I suspect gin would work. You’re already thinking “but alcohol is a dessicant”, aren’t you? Yes it is. You’ll be drinking more water than prescribed to make up for it. c) Drink several glugs of the concentrated disgusting stuff. It’s less pleasant than trying to glug down a mouthful of Dawn dishwashing liquid. Now toss a couple shot glasses full of rye (or equiv), it does a marvelous job of getting that _TASTE_ out of your mouth. That was awful, wasn’t it? Fortunately you only have to do this four or five times and the bottle from hell will be empty. Repeat until complete. d) You should now be having a bit of problem focusing so I’ll make this line bigger. Drink all the water you were supposed to dilute the disgusting stuff with. Add 15-20% more to compensate for those shots. Since you’re drinking water and not diluted awful-hideous-sweet disgusting stuff, you may as well make it ice water and stick a slice of lemon or lime in it if you’re so inclined. Think of it as an outsized chaser. ---
**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:** [December 13, 2018, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-colonoscopy/825914/65 "2018-12-13T22:17:17Z")
> [@Capn\_Carl](#): > > An acquaintance who works in the medical industry told me that Cologuard is just as effective for detecting colon cancers as colonoscopies. She said colonoscopies have been oversold to the public. I ran that past my doctor, and he agreed, provided that any unusual result from the Cologuard test be followed by a colonoscopy. So that’s what I’ve been doing. No fasting, no diarrhea, no dehydration, no anesthetic, no pain. Given that my mother died from colon cancer, and that my first colonoscopy found a polyp, my doctor would like to take your doctor out behind the woodshed. I was shocked when my last colonoscopy came out clean and the doctor said I could wait **FIVE YEARS** before having another one.😃 I even asked him, “You remember my family history, right?”:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-colonoscopy/825914/66 "2018-12-13T22:30:10Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > If I remember correctly, SuPrep is something like 8-10 ounces and you mix it with something else to make 32 ounces. Never had it, so I may have the details wrong. Supposedly it _can_ make you vomit - my doc said if I went that route he could give me some Zofran (antinausea). I’m not a barfer in general (every couple of decades) but I go for the even-lower-volume sorts. I just did this, so I can tell you. SuPrep was six ounces plus ten ounces of either water or lemon-lime Gatorade (which is what my doctor recommended), followed by two 16-oz glasses of water within the next hour. I downed the SuPrep/Gatorade cocktail in one go and did OK. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-colonoscopy/825914/67 "2018-12-14T03:50:01Z")
Mine was easy peasy, even the prep was no big deal. I went about halfway to the special diet a day early, so I think that helped. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-colonoscopy/825914/68 "2018-12-14T04:34:25Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Given that my mother died from colon cancer, and that my first colonoscopy found a polyp, my doctor would like to take your doctor out behind the woodshed. > > I was shocked when my last colonoscopy came out clean and the doctor said I could wait **FIVE YEARS** before having another one.😃 I even asked him, “You remember my family history, right?”:dubious: Can’t speak to the current guidelines re Cologard as the first line of defense - but you personally would probably not be a candidate for it precisely because of your family history. I sure as hell am not :D. It’s quite possible my brothers would not either, because of being related to me. I let them all know after my first came up with “welp, it’s a good thing you’re here now” and my oldest brother told his doc - who said “7 years not 10”. “Thanks, Sis, sez he”. Just reading this thread, of course, makes it clear that an awful lot of people are skipping that procedure because of the logstics. Cologard may not be the gold standard but it’s a hell of a lot easier - and that is sure to catch some people who would otherwise have delayed. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-colonoscopy/825914/69 "2018-12-14T04:48:35Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > … > b) Take a bottle of strongly flavored spirts with you to your table of misery. …\ How has this regimen worked for you? I imagine if someone tried this, something else very strongly flavored - but not alcoholic - might serve the same purpose. Tonic water… Unsweetened cranberry juice… Lemonade… > [@AHunter3](#): > > …c) Drink several glugs of the concentrated disgusting stuff. It’s less pleasant than trying to glug down a mouthful of Dawn dishwashing liquid. … I’m afraid to ask just how you might know this last fact :D. But in all seriousness, please don’t do this. You’re consuming purging chemicals at a much higher concentration than normal, and I’d be worried about this causing physical damage to your stomach or something. Using everyday kitchen items: You might consume a teaspoon of salt in a couple of bowls of soup - but dumping that salt into your mouth without dissolving it in soup is going to cause some pain before you’re able to dilute it with water. Even if you mixed it in, say, a half cup of water, that will be bad enough to make you quite nauseous. Adding alcohol to the potion is a horrible choice if you try it. Alcohol can directly irritate the gut - and adding a high amount of undiluted Shit-B-Gone to the mix is not going to make life any better. I’m reasonably sure this is tongue-in-cheek - but just in case someone takes it seriously and tries to implement, I figured I’d better speak up. Your lawyer (the one you will have to hire when someone tries this, blows up his stomach, and sues you) will thank me. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-colonoscopy/825914/70 "2018-12-14T04:56:12Z")
When people say they’re doing a cleanse, drinking Dawn (or eating Tide Pods) is probably NOT what most of them had in mind. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-colonoscopy/825914/71 "2018-12-15T16:51:15Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I just did this, so I can tell you. SuPrep was six ounces plus ten ounces of either water or lemon-lime Gatorade (which is what my doctor recommended), followed by two 16-oz glasses of water within the next hour. I downed the SuPrep/Gatorade cocktail in one go and did OK. My GI doctor apparently gave me SuPrep as well. When I went in for my pre-exam consult with him last month, he said there were a few choices, depending on what my insurance would approve. SuPrep was his first choice. His comment was, “You must have good insurance!” (Which is a bit of an indictment of the health care system in the U.S., if you ask me.) SuPrep must be relatively new for him to prescribe. My wife had the same doctor three years ago (and the same insurance), and her prep consisted of two bottles of over-the-counter MiraLAX. Anyway, I just picked it up from the pharmacy a few days ago. I start on clear liquids tomorrow morning, and take the first dose tomorrow evening between 6-7 p.m. The second dose is taken on Monday morning, and my procedure is Monday afternoon. BTW, they’re doing an upper endoscopy on me as well (from the other end), due to a history of reflux (now controlled with Prilosec). Hopefully they’ll use a different camera, or at least wash it off first. 🙂 > [@zoid](#): > > What do you do if you don’t have anyone to accompany you? > [@CookingWithGas](#): > > They won’t do the procedure. Exactly. When the clinic called me yesterday to confirm my arrival time on Monday, their first question was, “Who is driving you home?” They also won’t allow you to use a taxi or Uber. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-colonoscopy/825914/72 "2018-12-15T20:57:03Z")
> [@robby](#): > > My GI doctor apparently gave me SuPrep as well. When I went in for my pre-exam consult with him last month, he said there were a few choices, depending on what my insurance would approve. SuPrep was his first choice. His comment was, “You must have good insurance!” (Which is a bit of an indictment of the health care system in the U.S., if you ask me.) That suggests that SuPrep is expensive. If so, that’s ridiculous. The literature that comes with it say it’s just “sodium sulfate 17.5 grams, potassium sulfate 3.13 grams, and magnesium sulfate 1.6 grams.” That sounds straightforward enough that an undergraduate chemistry student ought to be able to mix it up from what’s in the lab. No reason for it to be expensive. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-colonoscopy/825914/73 "2018-12-15T21:54:35Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > That suggests that SuPrep is expensive. If so, that’s ridiculous. The literature that comes with it say it’s just “sodium sulfate 17.5 grams, potassium sulfate 3.13 grams, and magnesium sulfate 1.6 grams.” That sounds straightforward enough that an undergraduate chemistry student ought to be able to mix it up from what’s in the lab. No reason for it to be expensive. Looks like it’s about $100. See [here](https://www.wellrx.com/prescriptions/suprep). ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-colonoscopy/825914/74 "2018-12-15T23:48:04Z")
> [@robby](#): > > My GI doctor apparently gave me SuPrep as well. When I went in for my pre-exam consult with him last month, he said there were a few choices, depending on what my insurance would approve. SuPrep was his first choice. His comment was, “You must have good insurance!” (Which is a bit of an indictment of the health care system in the U.S., if you ask me.) > > SuPrep must be relatively new for him to prescribe. My wife had the same doctor three years ago (and the same insurance), and her prep consisted of two bottles of over-the-counter MiraLAX. > > Anyway, I just picked it up from the pharmacy a few days ago. I start on clear liquids tomorrow morning, and take the first dose tomorrow evening between 6-7 p.m. The second dose is taken on Monday morning, and my procedure is Monday afternoon. > > BTW, they’re doing an upper endoscopy on me as well (from the other end), due to a history of reflux (now controlled with Prilosec). Hopefully they’ll use a different camera, or at least wash it off first. 🙂 > Exactly. When the clinic called me yesterday to confirm my arrival time on Monday, their first question was, “Who is driving you home?” > > They also won’t allow you to use a taxi or Uber. SuPrep isn’t all that new - pretty sure it was an option when I had my first in 2010. It was certainly available by 2013 when a friend’s daughter had it. Gatorade/Miralax is something used pretty widely, actually; a friend who was a GI nurse said a lot of docs used it. Typically prefaced with a couple doses of Dulcolax, I think. Mine just doesn’t happen to use it. The advantage of it is that it’s relatively cheap and doesn’t require a prescription, though of course you have to remember to use the doctor’s instructions. The prescription products have their mixing / dosing instructions included. They’ll let you take a cab etc. _ **if you have someone to ride with you** _. That’s what we did last spring when a friend had a procedure, and I was her “responsible adult”, but could not drive due to my own recent surgery. It’s a liability thing; a stranger driving a cab isn’t going to know what to do if you lose consciousness etc. There’s also the concern over a cabbie misbehaving in some way if you’re impaired. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2018, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-colonoscopy/825914/75 "2018-12-16T00:27:31Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > SuPrep isn’t all that new - pretty sure it was an option when I had my first in 2010. It was certainly available by 2013 when a friend’s daughter had it. I don’t doubt that it has been around for a while, just that my doctor must have decided it was his preferred prep since my wife had her colonoscopy with the same doctor three years ago. Sorry if I was unclear. T minus 23 hours to my first dose of colon blow. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2018, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-colonoscopy/825914/76 "2018-12-16T07:35:55Z")
[Super Colon Blow](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku42Iszh9KM) ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2018, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-colonoscopy/825914/77 "2018-12-16T08:15:34Z")
A number of people are saying that the prep means a whole day at home, but for us the home part of the prep started at 4 PM and was over in 4-5 hours or so. This was my experience when I had mine a few years ago and also when hubby has had his, at least 8 times (he needs to be checked every few years for colitis) Of course, we didn’t feel like going anywhere in the evening, just lay on the couch and went to bed early, ready to get to the doctor’s office first thing–they start taking colonoscopy patients at 6:30 AM. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2018, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-colonoscopy/825914/78 "2018-12-16T12:50:33Z")
> [@Enola\_Gay](#): > > […] with as much graphic detail as possible. TIA I take you at your word. 6 years ago I had my most recent colonoscopy, and they tore my colon and gave me peritonitis, which took 28 hours to diagnose. I needed emergency surgery and a 7 day hospital stay, and now I look like a football, with a huge centerline scar. They told me the surgery risk included death, of course, and also the significant possibility that I would need a colostomy, which might be permanent. But when I asked about the risk of not having surgery they said “Oh. Uh… you can’t survive without the surgery.” They told my family that living and dying were about equally likely and they would do all they could, but he’s very sick, etc etc. I’m fine now, and never got the colostomy, though I get funny looks on the beach and have to wear my belt buckle over to one side because the scar is so big and uncomfortable. I’m due for another colonoscopy now, and I will get it, as there’s lots of cancer in my family and my grandfather died of colon cancer. But the risk is there, something like 1 in 800 procedures, apparently pretty randomly. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2018, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-colonoscopy/825914/79 "2018-12-16T22:00:16Z")
Where’d everybody go? Was it something I said? ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2018, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-colonoscopy/825914/80 "2018-12-16T23:51:04Z")
Just took my first dose of the prep about ten minutes ago. Nothing yet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-colonoscopy/825914.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-your-colonoscopy/825914.md?page=5)