Yup. Congratulations for having it done, and be sure to have the follow ups done according to schedule.
The part I never understand is in the middle of the night, I have no more waste to go out the bottom but yet that crap we all drink, has me sitting there half the night…my waste is usually gone within a few hours of ingesting, after that just liquid and a few small, small chunks.
Ah. My instructions have been “5 hours before” or something like that. I usually schedule mine for 10:30 or 11 AM - which means getting up at 5:30, and that’s not too bad. A 9 am slot would be just cruel!
It’s both of them.
Napier reported it upthread (and possibly in early threads). DavidM is the one you’re thinking of, whose health was well and truly destroyed :(.
Exactly! My wife usually schedules her colonoscopies for first thing in the morning, but last time she used an older one-dose prep taken the night before.
The instructions for SuPrep dictate a second dose 5-6 hours before the procedure, even if it’s the middle of the night or very early morning.
The FAQs that my doctor provided state that: “The first dose of the prep does a fairly good job clearing solid stool from the colon, but overnight a lot of secretions pass from the small intestine down into the colon and can obscure the view.” It goes on to say that the second dose is to clear out these secretions (which is why it’s mainly liquid at that point).
I am having my first ever colonoscopy January 10th, a week before my 58th birthday. 
Mine is scheduled for tomorrow at noon. I’ve been on a liquid diet all day (broth, clear juices, gatorade, sprite, etc) & just took my first dose of dolcolax. Take another 2 at 6am, then start drinking the gruel.
thanks…makes sense I guess. but all night long??? :eek::smack:
The effects of each of my doses of the prep lasted 2-3 hours (once it started), but not everyone has the exact same reaction to it (from what I’ve read). YMMV.
Thanks. Got the pathology results. Thankfully, all polyps were benign. One was the potentially precancerous tissue type (tubular adenoma).
According to this, less than 10% of all adenomas will turn into cancer, but more than 95% of colon cancers develop from adenomas.
A follow-up colonoscopy is recommended in 5 years, based on my family history.
I’ve had one, due for another in three years. The prep wasn’t half as bad as food poisoning, even of the middling sort. It’s more annoying and uncomfortable than painful. Also, the good new is that they’re making preps better.
The doctor told me mine was fine and I was clean as a whistle inside but I just like I hadn’t eaten, didn’t feel “empty” even before procedure. No pain whatsoever or even really gross discomfort. They give you a sedative, maybe Valium, via tube, plus something else. Aside from farting afterwards no major discomfort or post-procedure symptoms worth mentioning.
By far the worst part is emotional, or psych, depending on the point of view. Prior to first time, it felt like facing death. Major surgery for cancer was a day at the beach compared to the col/scopy, and I felt that one would probably kill me (twenty years ago). But facing the colonoscopy felt to me like Armageddon was approaching, but that’s me. My advice: don’t brood, go with the flow. It doesn’t last long and side effect after are minimal.
I’ve now had 4 of them and the prep doesn’t improve. However as I’ve had them in different hospitals with different specialists the prepping was longer in one of the states.
I would stay inside and close to your toilet for the final 24 hours. I have been sitting on the throne drinking that dreadful preparation with fluid drive at the other end.
However (pun intended) light at the end of the tunnel. The specialist last time wrote on my results “no further colonoscopies required”.
This has to be the place for this…
What do you do with a dead Gastroenterologist?
Barium. 
I’ve been hanging on to that gem for a long time.
I’m glad you were finally able to unload that, icantdraw. Very appropriate 
I’ve heard that joke about radiologists as well. LOL!
They don’t do barium enemas much any more, but once in a while, they will be warranted and ordered. Barium swallows are still quite common.
My dad was recently prescribed a jug of Golytely, but not for a scope. He was having some vague abdominal discomfort and an x-ray revealed he was very constipated, so this was ordered “until clear.” IIRC, he just drank a few glasses of it, and that did the job.
Snicker
Yes, I’m glad it came out well in the end.
Mine were some sort of adenoma or adenomatous polyp. I had a shorter followup time because mine were the sessile (flat) type which is evidently riskier than the pedunculated sort (on a stalk).
Typo Knig has his “north-and-south” in a couple weeks. He’s nervous about it because he’s had some low blood iron results. I’m wondering why his primary care doc didn’t suggest he get checked sooner! He’s nominally not high-risk for colon cancer, and this is over 8 years since his first scope. Back then, he was told “10 years” but then he recently mentioned to the docs that his mother had had a digestive polyp. He thought it was lower GI; it was actually upper GI (at the top of the small intestine; it was bleeding a lot meaning she was hospitalized while they figured it out). But I’m not unhappy he got “promoted” by a couple of years especially given the low iron issues!!
He also gets an upper GI; he gets those every few years because he has Barrett’s esophagitis, which is precancerous.
Nope. You don’t feel a thing.
I’ve done 2, both stone cold sober.
The first was by an old, grey haired Doctor. It was completely lacking in dignity, and the pain was about like the worst gas I ever had. Bad, but breaking a leg was worse. When it was over, I jumped off the bed, went to the restroom to clean up a bit, and got in the car. I left thinking that anyone who has drugs is a total wimp, and, golly, I want a cheeseburger. As I was driving, I pulled into the first place that wasn’t McD’s. I could have eaten the ass from a dead rhino, but I wasn’t hungry enough for that. This was when the polyp was removed, and as the scope wasn’t moving in any direction, it was a good time to “relax”. If it wasn’t for the screen, I wouldn’t have known what they were doing.
For the second, the old doc was gone, and I had a much less experienced Doctor. What a difference. About double or triple the pain. I came close a couple of times to calling a forfeit. They said my heart rate and BP spiked to almost danger zone. The results were clear, just an exam, no add-ons. I spent 30 to 45 minuets in recovery, trying to get over feeling faint. I drove myself home, no cheeseburger, and put myself to bed for an hour or so until I decided I needed to eat something. It wasn’t a joyous meal.
If you decide to go sober, make sure you get an old doctor. Let the young ones practice on the drugged patients.
You probably put your glasses on yourself. The drugs mess with your memory, and you typically “wake up” a while before you are able to store new memories.
I dunno, I’ve only had one colonoscopy (by an old guy who was really good) but I’ve had several upper endoscopies, two drugged, and maybe four sober. The most recent was done drugged, and was done by an old guy with plenty of experience, but judging from how much my esophagus, uvula, and jaw hurt afterwards, this was physically the roughest I’ve ever had. I mean, my throat is always a little sore, but my uvula was completely raw. And my jaw muscles were so sore I couldn’t lie down on the side of my face that night – I assume I was in pain and clenching my teeth under sedation. I’ve only once before had a slightly sore jaw – the jaw pain was a completely unexpected symptom.
The one before that was done by a young guy who was literally being trained. The physician on the report isn’t the guy who did it (and he only signed that he was present and paying attention, not that he did it.) And it was fine. That was a thinner scope, and I believe it was the first time the resident had used that scope at all. But the thinner scope more than outweighed his inexperience. That was the least unpleasant endoscopy I’ve ever had.