Cramps from the prep, or after the procedure?
A somewhat recent advance is to use CO2 instead of air to inflate the colon during the procedure. Apparently, your tissue can absorb that stuff and pass it without it needing to exit via the rectum, which makes for a much less gassy and crampy afterwards.
Once again, I have to point out that “all that liquid” suggests an archaic purgative. There are modern ones that are nothing more than a packet of lemon-flavoured powder mixed in a cup of water, so it’s much like drinking a cup of tea that happens to be not very good. After a few hours you have to mix another packet and drink another cup, and that’s the end of it. It’s really the purgative side effects that are the biggest problem, along with not being allowed to eat, or to drink anything other than clear fluids.
The not eating was my problem. I got low glucose, nauseous and very ill. Ended up in the hospital. And yes there were cramps. It was just horrible. Drinking the drinky stuff was the least of my problems.
I had an upper and lower GI a few years ago when I was in the hospital being treated for anemia - they wanted to see if I had any bleeding that might be causing it. Fortunately, no intestinal bleeding, and I’m not due for another colonoscopy until IIRC 2027. Unfortunately I’ve got stomach bleeding, so I keep having to have endoscopies. But at least the prep for those is minimal.
I had the upper GI too. That’s what found my belly ache problem. Thankfully it’s fixed.
I have ulcerative colitis, so I’ve had lots of colonoscopies.
I definitely was pleased when after the last one the doctor said I could go two years before my next, but as said, they aren’t too terrible.
Just the simple volume of what I have to drink is the problem. I can usually down a good portion quickly. but then it’s like my stomach locks up, and just won’t pass it on. After that I can barely drink anything. I’ve found I really have to pace myself, and only drink a small amount at the beginning, and just go slow and steady.
Tell my gastro guy! It’s been almost two years since the last one. Hopefully they’ve moved onto some other prep solutions.
A set of related colonoscopy anecdotes:
Normally my gastro guy does the colonoscopy, and he uses propofol, so I sleep through the whole thing. For reasons he couldn’t do it when it came due, so they just assigned the procedure to whatever doctor was available. The new doctor used a mix of fentanyl and versed, which kept me awake, but very relaxed.
I related in the pit opiod thread that when I took a Vicadin (or something) I really enjoyed the Battleship movie. Well, the IV fentanyl made me think that this was the hottest doctor I’d ever seen, not to mention the nurse anesthesiologist and nurse assistant were extremely pleasant to look at. I remember finding the irony hilarious that I had three attractive women all interested in my down there, but I’m not at all into butt stuff.
I’m pretty sure I was awake the whole time, and I don’t recall saying anything, because I know those are the kind of thoughts that have to stay inside one’s head. I liked the doctor so much she convinced me to get a tattoo and come back to see her again in a month.
It didn’t exactly work like that… There was one region she was concerned with, so she removed a polyp and marked its location with a tattoo. The biopsy was rip it out and the edges weren’t clean, so they had to go in and get more out. I scheduled to have her do it, because she was familiar with the issues.
I’m in for the second colonoscopy, and before putting me under the doctor asks if I have any questions. I said it was my third colonoscopy in about a year, and each time I got different preps. Why different preps a month apart? She explained that what they use as their standard prep will change for any number of reasons. She was curious as to which was least bad, and I recall having an opinion at the time, but I don’t remember which prep it was. Certainly whichever had the smallest volume.
Oh. I heard, somewhere, for prep, there is a course of pills only. Of course you have to drink water or Pedialyte type stuff.
Update: Office visit/consult scheduled, with the main event to be scheduled following. This will be number 2 for me. Heh-heh.
If you had a clear colonoscopy 3 years ago, and you have no reason for another one or symptoms, like blood in your stool, you do not need another colonoscopy.
Remember that health care in the US is ruled by two things; money as in your insurance will pay for it, and fear. They like to keep you living in fear, because most people do not want to die so they will do whatever they are told to do. And insurance will pay for it.
If you had a clear colonoscopy 3 years ago, without an indication of a problem, it is highly unlikely that you need another.
With the newer, ‘lighter’ flushes, prep is observed to be inadequate in up to 25% of cases or more, requiring a repeat more intense prep and repeat procedure.
Way to be!!
I don’t mind the “drinky stuff” or spending the evening in the bathroom with a good book. It’s the not eating that I can’t stand. The salty water (broth), icy water er (popsicles) and jiggly water (Jello) aren’t enough to prevent a headache, plus I feel starving and deprived. And the diet my doc prescribed allowed for zero fiber for 5 days before the colonoscopy. No, thanks.
I do Colo-guard.
How would you feel if it was a surprise colonoscopy?
I just got a referral for my first colonoscopy. I get hangry without eating for too long. I hope I can schedule this thing at 6:00AM. Ugh.
This is the only part i really dislike. I do a total fast every year for Yom Kippur. That’s 25 hours with no food and no drink. A day when I can drink as much as i want, and even eat jello and drink soda if I’m hungry is a minor annoyance. And the prep isn’t fun, but it’s only a few hours. But five days with no real food is a hardship.
This my opinion only. Not meant to persuade any one how to conduct their health care screenings.
I believe they do way too many colonoscopy screenings. I was in a emergency (slight, but still) need of upper and lower GI. I had to wait til the gastro surgeons calendar had a vacancy. 12 days. Puking repeatedly wasn’t fun or safe for me.
My Daddy started getting them in the early 90s. Back when you spent the night in the hospital for it. They removed some polyps a couple of times. Never any cancer detected. I bet he had 20 or 25 before he died of something completely unrelated. I think it’s too much. I know Colon cancer is very bad. But wouldn’t you have some other symptoms that warranted the need do them so much? I like the Cologuard test for people with out symptoms or family history for that reason.
My opinion only.
I admire your fortitude!
Remember those old commercials: “There’s always room for Jello”? That’s because it’s essentially thickened sugar water that dissolves in your mouth. It isn’t filling. It has sugar (unless sugar-free); a little salt; artificial agents for flavoring, etc.; a little gelatin; and that’s it: no nutrients of any kind, no fiber, no protein.
I like Jello. I just consider it drink, not food. This attitude might explain my pre-colonoscopy crankiness. 
Seems we have a colonoscopy dread thread almost monthly here.
I’ve had 3. Never had any qualms about the prep. Drink a large, but not unreasonable, quantity of totally ordinary-tasting fluids & have an evening of diarrhea. Big deal. After the first 2 or 3 sittings you’re just spraying colored water anyhow. Just don’t be using old dry terry cloth or fresh sandpaper for TP and you’ll be fine.
Go to the clinic the next morning, take a nap, go home, and chillax until tomorrow. They’ll even arrange two-way transportation for you if you can’t / don’t want to.
One thing we have learned from all these threads is that some clinics have (had?) truly insane prep rituals and other clinics are far more sane = gentle.
If the OP is having issues w the prep in the past, maybe try finding out the prep ritual at other nearby gastro clinics. You might be surprised.
You can. With a little luck, you’ll live to a ripe old age and die of something other than colon cancer. If you’re unlucky, you’ll get colon cancer and won’t know it until it’s so advanced that it’s untreatable.
A relative who eschewed colonoscopies recently died from colon cancer. Their final four months were spent in a hospital and were quite miserable. Apart from the suffering inflicted by the cancer itself, the blockage meant that for most of this time they subsisted on total parenteral nutrition, which basically means they feed you exclusively through an IV. One side effect of this treatment is that since you’re not actually processing any food with your digestive system, you experience perpetual and extreme hunger. So they spent several months feeling like they were literally starving, along with all the other psychological and physical agonies that a terminal cancer and hospital existence inflicted on them.
If you’ve been prescribed a colonoscopy just three years after your previous one, then your doc thinks you are at higher-than-average risk for cancer. Getting several colonoscopies in your lifetime isn’t pleasant, but it’s far less unpleasant than even a fraction of a death-by-colon-cancer. I don’t blame you for not looking forward to the procedure, but it’s in your best interests to follow through with it.
I think colonoscopies are one of the medical tests with the highest cost/benefit.
Colon cancer is really nasty. The treatment is nasty and often fails. But with regular colonoscopies you can literally remove the tumor with a little snip, before it does anything bad. If they are done in a timely manner, you can have precancerous polyps removed with little pain and little risk, and that’s it, all done. You just need to monitor for new polyps and remove them before they become cancerous.