colonoscopy prep

JMulkey · Post by **JMulkey** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 4:20 pm

All I can say is "YUCK". I'm doing dulcolax, then an entire bottle of miralax, then dulcolax again and last but not least, some yucky tasting liquid "if needed"....needless to say, with the daily D, I don't think I'll get as far as the liquid tonight. I can't even imagine using an entire bottle of miralax, in fact, that just downright scares the daylights out of me. I've already used the first dulcolax, and it doesnt' take any two or three hours for me, in fact, I already feel like I'm cleaned out...I HATE this!

I know I need this test done, but gosh, I have a headache and everything else is to come, along with nausea, which I've gotten before with these kinds of preps, I'm scared I'll start throwing up when I do the 64 oz. of gatorade with the Miralax...I hate gatorade :(

Sorry, just had to vent :(

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 4:29 pm

Vent away.....

i would put colonscopy prep (when you already have Chronic D) up there in the top 5 worst things (noting that NG Tubes are number one...)

i have only done it once (dec 09), the memories are still there, i remember sitting in bathroom wondering if the GI specialist had ever had to do it.

HANG IN THERE..... you have another couple of hours of shite (pun intended) and then it will settle down
when i got to the day theatre for the colonscopy they put me straight into a bed and straight on a IV drop cause i looked 'awful'
in 24 hours it will all be over

barbaranoela · Post by **barbaranoela** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 4:33 pm

and this is one thing that U can VENT your mouth off over and over!!!

I know we all would prefer a better way to check out our inners!!!!

Have posted this before --a friend of mine passes out from doing this clean out--I do believe that they are going to try something different----
She seems to build up many *pollups* thus she has to go more often than we do--

Barbara

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 4:42 pm

my specialist got me to use Picoprep. the taste was not tooo bad.
from what i have read it is better than the protocol you are enduring....

Gayle · Post by **Gayle** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 5:23 pm

Venting is considered GOOD here.

This IS definitely a ventable situation!

Vent away, everyone here understands!

Been there, done that -- and it is so difficult to understand the need for that full prep when we already have D. (at least I've never figured it out.) And on the other hand, we do want to be fully cleaned out so that there - heaven forbid - will not be a need to repeat.

By this routine you describe you are sounding as though you are at the same GI group office that I use when in Minnesota!

If you can do (i.e. swallow) the Gator-aide -- fine. Personally I have found G2 much easier to tolerate. And G2 can be used in exactly the same manner as Gator-aide for mixing Miralax. I stongly recommend NOT refrigerating the liquid as they always recommend, because, consuming that amount of cold fluid, as quickly as the directions tell you, will leave you very chilled, needing a heating pad and piles of blankets. Just increases the misery

--- IMHO.

I halved the Dulcolox.

And you can stop the large fluid push with the Miralax when the stool is running pretty clear. (They never tell you that until after the fact -- and then say incredulously

"Didn't someone tell you that?")

I did take the Mag Sulfate that I think you are talking about, and never expelled it!! So we made 20" car trip to colonoscopy center in a panic thinking that I would have an accident on the way. (That didn't happen) I probably would not take the Mag Sulfate again after that much prior prep.

Let us know ....

Gayle

JMulkey · Post by **JMulkey** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 6:41 pm

I asked the lady at my docs office if I could stop if the liquid was clear and she said no, I needed to drink all of it and take the two dulcolax at the end :( Yuck..I'm on my third cup and I'm sick to my stomach, have a headache and am already freezing.

Post by **tex** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 7:19 pm

I question the logic behind all that cold liquid, also. When I was in the hospital with my recent "incident", they gave me ice cold Go-lytely, as a cleanout solution, (they actually had the cup full of ice, to make sure that it stayed cold.

) I didn't even get half of it down, before two GI docs showed up to do the scope work. I pointed out to the ICU nurse that I would have been able to drink a lot more of it, if it had been at room temp. It might be true that it's more palatable when cold, (or rather, less unpalatable), but that made it much more of a challenge, for me, especially since I was still short on blood, at the time. I was still shivering several hours later, when they rolled me into the OR, even though they had covered me with warm blankets.

J, you have to use your best judgment, and do the best you can, because the stuff doesn't do any good, if you vomit it up.

The Gatorade is supposed to make it more palatable, but if water works better, I would use water, instead. Of course, gatorade does contain electrolyes, but I suspect that you are not going to get much benefit from them anyway, if it goes straight through.

Tex

JMulkey · Post by **JMulkey** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 7:22 pm

thanks, Tex. I'm going to try my hardest to keep all of this down. I've done four glasses so far, four more to go.

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 7:24 pm

woo hoo

hang in there.... we have all been there
hope you manage to get some sleep and all goes well tomorrow

JLH · Post by **JLH** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 7:38 pm

Good luck.

You can have all the hissy fits you want. We understand.

Gayle · Post by **Gayle** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 8:19 pm

I asked the lady at my docs office if I could stop if the liquid was clear and she said no,

That "lady" was probably a secretarial or administrative type, or possibly a Nurse -- or possibly a PA. That is who works in these offices, and does most of the talking via the phone.

They are all well advised (mandated) to tell you to follow that prep recipe exactly as written. That is their job --- as they understand it!! Personally speaking, after 22 years with one Gastro practice, I have come to view some of those individuals as basically sadistic.

And I AM genuinely sorry to have to say that.

It is not until you are whining about this to the Dr. tomorrow that you will hear the "didn't they tell you" routine.

And that won't really make any differance anyway, as the office help will continue to stick to their routine advise.

Yes, refrigerating the liquid is S.O.P. as they do think that it makes it less un-appealing. (?barely so?) I've come to believe that it makes a bad situation that much worse.

I do believe that is it basically advisable to always use some type of electrolyte based liquid as the diluent for the Miralax prep. Altho it is mostly elimated for sure, some electrolyts will be absorbed in the process. Good protection for important organs.

Good luck tomorrow, the prep is always the worst part. It's all downhill from there.

Gayle

JMulkey · Post by **JMulkey** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 8:22 pm

Thanks to everybody. I am SOOO sick. I have one glass to go and I'm really not sure it's going to go down. I was supposed to do all 64 oz. in two hours, and I haven't finished it yet. And then take two dulcolax at 9....I'm not going to get this last glass down until about 8:30 if then. And I have no color at all, its' all water now. Man I hate this!!

Gabes-Apg · Post by **Gabes-Apg** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 8:29 pm

have you visited the jokes room - there is a great article about colonscopy prep

if you dont see the humour in it today... i am sure you will in a few days

JMulkey · Post by **JMulkey** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 9:32 pm

Ok, I talked to my doc, he said don't drink any more, but right afterward, I lost everything in my stomach, I figure I ended up getting down three or four glasses, which would have been about 32 oz. My stools are clear, mostly yellow, with some mucus that has color, but nothing else. I'm not drinking any more. He said it was probably more important to take the other two pills than it was to get any more of that down and I know if I drink any more, its not going to stay down. Any advice?

Post by **tex** » Mon Mar 01, 2010 10:33 pm

That stuff is not likely to remain in your stomach for long, (your body will recognize it as something that it needs to get rid of, ASAP, so you may not have lost as much of it as you think, through vomiting. IOW, the stomach is designed to allow liquids to pass on through, while retaining anything else that needs more digestive action. You probably vomited up mostly the undigested remnants of your supper/dinner.

I always managed to stop without vomiting, but I suspect that if you try drinking more of that stuff at this point, just the thought of it would be enough to cause more vomiting, so I believe that if I were in your shoes, I would do the two pills, as per your doctors most recent advice.

I'm not sure if they use them for routine exams, but the scopes that the used on me, a few weeks ago, were capable of flushing out residue, if necessary, (IOW, they had their own rinse water system). Of course, the less of that they have to do, the faster and easier the exam will go, so I'm sure they'd rather not have to rely on that feature, if at all possible.

Tex