Best colonoscopy tips?

[Tap]

DD19 is having upper and lower Gi study in February.  I Really Really feel bad for her having to go thru this at her age.  (She has chronic health issues and this just adds insult to injury).   She has a hard time keeping her ferritin up and the dr suspects a bleed somewhere in her gi tract.  She also has some other Gi issues, so they are looking for causes of those along the way too. 

 

The dr performing the procedure is an expert and the only one dd's neurologist wants her to see for this issue. One thing that is odd, is that they want her to drink 1 1/2 gallons of prep, instead of the normal 1 gallon (not eligible for the lower volume suprep) within 24 hours of the procedure. She has to drink 1/2gal the morning of the day before, 1/2 gallon that evening, 1/2 gallon the morning of the appt (1pm check-in)  Ack!!!  The doctors says that sometimes, they have pts take 2 gallons.  I work in pharmacy and I have never seen this, but their reasoning makes sense knowing dd's history of slow motility. The brand of prep they want, only comes with the flavor pre added, so she can't add her own flavors like Crystal Light.

 

This is going to be an Extremely bad couple of days. LOL  Clear fluids only for 24 hours and extra laxatives for a week ahead of time, so that she has zero constipation going into the procedure.

 

What I know:

She will want a balm for her tush.  What kind is best for this?  AD, zinc oxide, ?

Good tissue or are baby wipes better?

 

 

What about clear liquids for eating?  

 

Homemade broth and jello? What else qualifies? She won't be hungry (with a gallon of fluid) but i know the instinct to eat will still be there. 

 

 

 

[Chris in VA]

I have heard that making the prep stuff VERY cold, to the point of being a bit slushy, can help get it down. I don't know if that is good advice or not. 

 

I have a good friend who (for other reasons) swears by Boudreau's Butt Paste. 

[TCB]

I had one last year and honestly it wasn't as bad as I expected. Definitely make the prep cold. I bought some kind of moist wipes which were good, I think they are usually used for hemorrhoid sufferers. I drank broth and ate jello and I felt ok with this, not hungry. Make sure you can stay home and near the bathroom. The actual procedure was absolutely fine and the prep wasn't as bad as I was dreading.

[Omma]

Ginger-Ale, 7-Up, Popsicles (no red or purple).  Nothing with red or purple dyes that would detract the doctor from recognizing any blood in the colon, but juices that are naturally red like cranberry pomegranate juice is okay.

 

I would not eat too heavy of meals prior to when she starts the clear liquid diet, so that she does not have as much to get rid of, if you know what I mean.

 

[Kassia]

Ginger-Ale, 7-Up, Popsicles (no red or purple).  Nothing with red or purple dyes that would detract the doctor from recognizing any blood in the colon, but juices that are naturally red like cranberry pomegranate juice is okay.

 

 

 

So does that mean nothing orange as well because it's red/yellow?  

[milovany]

Some things I wonder about:  Laxatives ahead of time?  I haven't heard of that but if that's your instruction, make SURE not to overdose at all.  I was in the ER recently for taking too many laxatives when I thought I could (due to a dietary issue), when really I shouldn't have.  If a man ever wants to see what it's like to be in labor, they should take too many herbal (senna) laxative pills.  It was bad and came in waves in the gut just like labor.  Also, can she have milk up to the day before the procedure?  All I "ate" the week of my Friday procedure was raw milk,  Beginning the day before the procedure, I switched to vegetarian broth.  Finally, if there's ANY way you can get the plain flavor -- in my experience -- I'd say try, try, try.  I had to do the gallon (1/2 gallon the night before, 1/2 gallon morning of) and I was able to chug the drink fine, but it was that last swallow, when the fake lemon flavor was tasted, that I would gag. 

 

[Chris in VA]

Oh, and I"ve also heard (but not direct experience) that if you do soda, make sure it's flat. The bubbles apparently aren't good in the process of clearing out. 

Just what I've heard. 

[Tap]

Some things I wonder about:  Laxatives ahead of time?  I haven't heard of that but if that's your instruction, make SURE not to overdose at all.  I was in the ER recently for taking too many laxatives when I thought I could (due to a dietary issue), when really I shouldn't have.  If a man ever wants to see what it's like to be in labor, they should take too many herbal (senna) laxative pills.  It was bad and came in waves in the gut just like labor.  Also, can she have milk up to the day before the procedure?  All I "ate" the week of my Friday procedure was raw milk,  Beginning the day before the procedure, I switched to vegetarian broth.  Finally, if there's ANY way you can get the plain flavor -- in my experience -- I'd say try, try, try.  I had to do the gallon (1/2 gallon the night before, 1/2 gallon morning of) and I was able to chug the drink fine, but it was that last swallow, when the fake lemon flavor was tasted, that I would gag. 

Yes, because she takes Miralax everyday anyways.  They just want her to up it a bit the week before so she is definitely not constipated before the procedure..  She is pretty used to watching her body and its response to laxatives so I am not worried there. 

[wintermom]

I just had a colonoscopy in Dec. and I'm having an endoscopy next week. The colonoscopy was so easy. The prep was not nearly as tough as it sounds. I've been in much more discomfort from eating pistachios than taking laxitives and purgodan. If she needs something for the bottom, vaseline or zinc oxide would probably work fine. She might not even need it, though. 

 

As for drinks, it's not like you sit there and suck back 1.5 gallons in 5 minutes. You have several hours to drink the liquids. I have a combo of sports drinks and soup broth. I like to aternate salt then sweet.  

 

I felt absolutely no need or desire to eat. If your dd loves jello then make it, but if she doesn't then don't bother. 

 

I hope the dr finds out some answers for your dd. All the best.

Edited January 18, 2018 by wintermom

[jen3kids]

When I had a colonoscopy in Nov, I used Desitin cream proactively.  As soon as I started the bathroom visits, I put on the cream.  I think it helped because I didn't have any discomfort at all from so many trips to the bathroom.  My dd had a colonoscopy at age 18 and she was so embarrassed (as most people are), but afterwards she said it was the best sleep she'd had in a long time!

 

I drank chicken broth and ate jello, and I was starving.  I recommend a light diet the week before too - no seeds, not too much fibre either.

[Tap]

I just had a colonoscopy in Dec. and I'm having an endoscopy next week. The colonoscopy was so easy. The prep was not nearly as tough as it sounds. I've been in much more discomfort from eating pistachios than taking laxitives and purgodan. If she needs something for the bottom, vaseline or zinc oxide would probably work fine. She might not even need it, though. 

 

As for drinks, it's not like you sit there and suck back 1.5 gallons in 5 minutes. You have several hours to drink the liquids. I have a combo of sports drinks and soup broth. I like to aternate salt then sweet.  

 

I felt absolutely no need or desire to eat. If your dd loves jello then make it, but if she doesn't then don't bother. 

 

I hope the dr finds out some answers for your dd. All the best.

She has chronic fatigue so she sleeps 10+ hours a day and won't be drinking it right before bed.. She will need to drink apx 16 ounces each hour between 1pm and 9pm.  

 

She is doing both upper and lower at the same procedure. At least she won't have to repeat it at a later date.

Edited January 18, 2018 by Tap

[wintermom]

She has chronic fatigue so she sleeps 10+ hours a day and won't be drinking it right before bed.. She will need to drink apx 16 ounces each hour between 1pm and 9pm.  

 

She is doing both upper and lower at the same procedure. At least she won't have to repeat it at a later date.

 

Ya, she'll be swimming in liquid. I liked having my drinks in bottles or large mugs so I had a visual of what I needed to drink. When they were gone, I was done. It wasn't like power drinking the gross sugar stuff during pregnancy for the gestational diabetes test. I was drinking stuff I liked. 

[Tap]

Ya, she'll be swimming in liquid. I liked having my drinks in bottles or large mugs so I had a visual of what I needed to drink. When they were gone, I was done. It wasn't like power drinking the gross sugar stuff during pregnancy for the gestational diabetes test. I was drinking stuff I liked. 

You liked the prep?

 

 

She can drink extra liquids if she wants (can't imagine that happening LOL)  but otherwise she has to drink the entire gallon of premixed prep solution one day and then 1/2 gallon the next day.  

[KatieJ]

I just had a colonoscopy on Monday. ( d and C today......want this week to be over!!)

 

I drank Powerade and it was manageable.

I made my own bone broth the day before and that really was satisfying. I really was not hungry. I had some jello but all that sugar made me nauseous.

 

If you have the option if assigning her a bathroom that’s off limits to everyone else, do it. She will not have the option of waiting for someone else to get done and out.

Charge an iPad and let her be.

 

Best of wishes. I hope you get some answers.

[Alicia64]

I had an unusual experience -- for example a tornado went through the town and wreaked havoc on the outpatient clinic I was in.

 

But that said, I still won't have another colonoscopy at an outpatient clinic. I'll do it in a hospital.

 

When they went to "put me under". . .  they didn't give me the pre-, relaxing injection (whatever you call that). Instead they just gave me the full dose of whatever -- and it felt traumatic as I was going out.

 

I'm not in the medical field so I'm not using the correct jargon.

 

The dr. had zero bedside manner and when I asked questions after, he was essentially heading out the door.

 

I know this may not be fair, but the clinic isn't what I'll use again.

 

Alley

[wintermom]

You liked the prep?

 

 

If she's already used to drinking laxative on a regular basis, the prep is not much different. It's not toxic or anything. What do you think it takes like? And the prep is only one little bit of all that liquid she'll be drinking. THAT is what I meant. She's not drinking 1.5 gallons of the prep.

Edited January 18, 2018 by wintermom

[Tap]

If she's already used to drinking laxative on a regular basis, the prep is not much different. It's not toxic or anything. What do you think it takes like? And the prep is only one little bit of all that liquid she'll be drinking. THAT is what I meant. She's not drinking 1.5 gallons of the prep.

Yep, she is!

 

It is Golytely and comes in a gallon jug.  She is getting 2 gallons of prep (the vast majority of people only have to drink one gallon).  Her instructions (I talked to them in person and I work in pharmacy so i know it isn't a misunderstanding) is to drink 1/2 gallon of prep in the morning the day before, 1/2 gallon of prep that night, and 1/2 gallon the morning before the procedure. If she is not running clear, before that, they may need to have her drink another 1/2 gallon.......or repeat the entire thing another day with the instructions to plan to drink the entire 2 gallons of prep before the appointment. 

 

 

The prep is a salty, chemicals, artificially sweetened prep (we don't drink artificial sugars so the taste is unpleasant to us). I know from patients telling me....it doesn't taste good to begin with and buy the end of the gallon, it tastes worse. LOL

 

 

Her everyday miralax is basically unflavored and she mixes it with a small amount of OJ and follows it with a glass of water. 

[Tap]

I had an unusual experience -- for example a tornado went through the town and wreaked havoc on the outpatient clinic I was in.

 

But that said, I still won't have another colonoscopy at an outpatient clinic. I'll do it in a hospital.

 

When they went to "put me under". . .  they didn't give me the pre-, relaxing injection (whatever you call that). Instead they just gave me the full dose of whatever -- and it felt traumatic as I was going out.

 

I'm not in the medical field so I'm not using the correct jargon.

 

The dr. had zero bedside manner and when I asked questions after, he was essentially heading out the door.

 

I know this may not be fair, but the clinic isn't what I'll use again.

 

Alley

Yep!!! She is getting it done at a hospital.  We already had an hour log appointment with the MD and she is super nice and very caring.She insists on doing the procedure herself.  My daughter has a few complicated conditions and I think the MD feels confident in taking good care of her. We are traveling 30-45 minutes each way,  just to see this specific doctor, even though there are probably 5 places to get it done in 10 minutes of our home.  I also feel very confident about her making my daughter fell cared for and her reputation is excellent on the clinical side too.   

 

 

One thing I have noticed, is that all of her staff is very nice and soft spoken.  I wonder if it is due to the nature of her field (GI) that people just respond better to a mild mannered staff. LOL 

[LifeLovePassion]

Can she do a miralax/Gatorade prep instead? It is way more palatable. It's a whole bottle of miralax if I am remembering correctly.

[Tap]

I just had a colonoscopy on Monday. ( d and C today......want this week to be over!!)

 

I drank Powerade and it was manageable.

I made my own bone broth the day before and that really was satisfying. I really was not hungry. I had some jello but all that sugar made me nauseous.

 

If you have the option if assigning her a bathroom that’s off limits to everyone else, do it. She will not have the option of waiting for someone else to get done and out.

Charge an iPad and let her be.

 

Best of wishes. I hope you get some answers.

All of dd's drinks will be prep meds.  I even asked if she could take just the one gallon of prep meds and finish with other liquids, but the doctor said no.  Is has to do with my daughters other issues.  The MD wants her to have 1.5 gallon of prep meds.  Ick.  :ack2:

 

She has a bathroom right off her room, so I figure will will set her up in there.  I am sure she will want to move around some though and that means coming downstairs a bit too.  

 

 

Thanks for the wishes!

[Tap]

Can she do a miralax/Gatorade prep instead? It is way more palatable. It's a whole bottle of miralax if I am remembering correctly.

Nope. I even asked if she could do Suprep which is another colonoscopy prep with less volume, or take one gallon of prep and add liquids to it. DR said nope.Unfortunately, it has to be what it is.  (It has to do with my daughter's other health issues. )  She wants her to be squeaky clean inside LOL 

[Tap]

Ya, she'll be swimming in liquid. I liked having my drinks in bottles or large mugs so I had a visual of what I needed to drink. When they were gone, I was done. It wasn't like power drinking the gross sugar stuff during pregnancy for the gestational diabetes test. I was drinking stuff I liked. 

She has been wanting a new Hydroflask, so I will probably get it for her as a prize for drinking all this prep. LOL

 

I don't know if she will want to use it for the prep, or she may get PTSD whenever she sees it.  :zombiechase:

 

I was doing the math earlier.  She has to drink 4 ounces every 15 minutes or 8 ounces every 30 minutes.  Maybe I will get her a plastic little kid glass to make it more fun...and then she can destroy it :smash: when she is done with it LOL 

[BarbecueMom]

I sipped warm tea while doing my last prep. It felt enough like self-care to sit alone with my tea and prep and watch stuff on the computer. Netflix and, well, not chill.

 

I made jello but didn't really eat it. Broth was okay for one "meal". I don't have an appetite anyway so it wasn't bad.

 

I had an upper and lower scope a couple months ago. Because of my health issues I felt so good during the prep, like I could run a marathon (with pit stops, of course)! I hope she feels that way and not worse that usual.

 

You'll get some discharge paperwork, but I've found that they don't always put everything I need to know on it, and I'm not alert enough to ask anything. Bring a pen and write down things like how long until any biopsies are in and when to schedule a follow up. Those are the two I always forget to ask, and they are always missing from the paperwork. Bring a snack for afterwards, too.

 

Hope everything goes well!

[StartingOver]

I have had 5 colonoscopies, colon cancer runs in the family, I always use Desitin before, during, after. I use baby wipes ( get the fragrance free ) and Charmin the softer the better. It is always horrible for me. Cold prep, colder the better. I never wanted anything else to drink.

[CAJinBE]

I had the prep pre-made and chilled in liter sized containers so I could see how much to drink. Then I set myself up in the bathroom with a laptop and videos to watch. I filled a tall, lidded cup with a straw and drank that every fifteen minutes until it was gone. The straw really helped as did having the amounts exactly figured out so I wouldn't stress about drinking it all. I don't usually drink a lot of liquids. It wasn't as bad as I imagined it would be.

 

Best wishes on your dd's procedure.

[ondreeuh]

Can you get her a peri-bottle to spray her bottom with warm water? Then she would just need to pat dry. Much better for a sore tush. Maybe just one of the pop-top water bottles would work.

 

I also had pre-flavored prep. I drank my prep with a straw - not sure if that really helped limit the contact with my mouth, but maybe. I split it up into bottles and worked through one bottle at a time while the others stayed in the fridge - that way it didn't get too warm. IIRC, the directions with mine were to drink extra fluids. I drank clear sugar-free soda between doses. Yep, that's a lot of fluid!

 

I would queue up something that is easy to watch & easy to pause. Maybe Once Upon a Time? Call the Midwife? Maybe something she can watch on her phone or iPad, so she can watch on the potty. 

 

 

[Omma]

First off, I must say that 'Golytely' does not make you 'go lightly'! :lol:

 

Second, orange and lemon/lime products are your best choices to avoid the dyes that make it difficult for doctors to see inside your colon.  So, orange jello, orange popsicles, orange gatorade are all fine choices as they are clear liquids (but of course no orange juice as that is NOT a clear liquid).

 

I used to work in a G.I. office for about 6 years, except that was about 20 years ago, so many things have changed, but it appears that 'Golytely' is not one of them!  But I can tell you that, even at that time, we had three doctors in the practice and they each had their own special prep, and certainly they would modify the prep if the individual was known to have a tougher time getting cleaned out.

 

I do wish you and your dd well as you navigate all the pre-procedure instructions, knowing the results should give clear guidance as to the best plan going forward.

[BarbecueMom]

Oh, and she should read the Dave Barry column posted a few weeks ago on the last colonoscopy thread (it's on my computer, can't link from the phone), preferably before the prep or after the procedure, not the middle of the clean out. I laughed so hard I was in tears.

 

ETA:  Here it is!

Edited January 18, 2018 by BarbecueMom

[Kassia]

 

 

Second, orange and lemon/lime products are your best choices to avoid the dyes that make it difficult for doctors to see inside your colon.  So, orange jello, orange popsicles, orange gatorade are all fine choices as they are clear liquids (but of course no orange juice as that is NOT a clear liquid).

 

 

 

I asked this earlier, but I don't think it was answered.  Is orange okay even though it's made up of red/yellow?  I need to schedule a colonoscopy and was planning on avoiding orange stuff but maybe I don't have to?  I don't like lemon/lime.  

[Omma]

I asked this earlier, but I don't think it was answered.  Is orange okay even though it's made up of red/yellow?  I need to schedule a colonoscopy and was planning on avoiding orange stuff but maybe I don't have to?  I don't like lemon/lime.  

 

Actually, I was responding to your earlier question when I said orange was okay.  It's one thing how we mix up paints in our art classes to make orange, but I do not think that is the way it works in the food industry.  All I know is that the only counsel given in the G.I. office I worked for was to avoid red and purple popsicles, jello, etc.  No problem with orange and lemon/lime.  BTW, I prefer orange to lemon/lime as well, especially when it comes to jello, and I have eaten orange jello before my own colonoscopy before.

 

You could always call and ask at your doctor's office if you still have any concerns.

 

Blessings,

 

Brenda

 

Edited January 18, 2018 by Omma

[Kassia]

Actually, I was responding to your earlier question when I said orange was okay.  

 

 

Oops!  Sorry about that!  Thank you so much!  :)  

[KatieJ]

I asked this earlier, but I don't think it was answered. Is orange okay even though it's made up of red/yellow? I need to schedule a colonoscopy and was planning on avoiding orange stuff but maybe I don't have to? I don't like lemon/lime.

I had one on Monday. Orange was fine.

I was to avoid red, purple and blue.

[LifeLovePassion]

Nope. I even asked if she could do Suprep which is another colonoscopy prep with less volume, or take one gallon of prep and add liquids to it. DR said nope.Unfortunately, it has to be what it is.  (It has to do with my daughter's other health issues. )  She wants her to be squeaky clean inside LOL 

 

Oh bummer. I had trouble with the volume of that type. Sucking hard candy helps in between/right after downing a glass. I found I got chills when doing prep at times, so having a warm blanket to curl up in when possible is good.