Do people doing colonoscopy prep ever fast simultaneously?

[Ginevra]

I have not been through the prep before, but I wondered if that would be a good time for, say, a 2-day fast. Or does the prep liquid make that ill advised? 
 

 

[catz]

My spouse just did one this week.  I don't know exactly what you mean by "fasting simultaneously".  You do a liquid diet the day before and then nothing day of until your procedure is over.  He had a late day colonoscopy scheduled which was annoying and just dragged the whole drama out.  (so on that note, if you're doing it, try to schedule early in the day).   And the prep you take really cleans you out.  

But no, I would not add any complexity onto that or stretch it out.  Because plenty of people feel not great doing it as written.  Another day of nothing in your system could throw things off further IMO.  

[bookbard]

38 minutes ago, catz said:

But no, I would not add any complexity onto that or stretch it out.  Because plenty of people feel not great doing it as written.  Another day of nothing in your system could throw things off further IMO.  

I agree. My procedure was a Saturday, so I ate very lightly on the Thursday (had meals but nothing heavy), then on the Friday had the day of doom with just clear liquids, and then nothing until the procedure which was mid Saturday. We don't get a choice of when to schedule, you just get given a time and hope they're not running late, so you can be sitting there hungry for ages (you can't drink either for four hours in advance). In our case there was a flood and landslide blocking the main road so it took me hours to get to the hospital, luckily they were cool about it and put me in as soon as I arrived. 

[Kassia]

I have complicated intestines and my prep would sometimes be days before my procedure.  But that was doctor ordered and certainly not something I chose to do. I think the longest was 3 1/2 days for me.  My doctor actually wanted to do longer, but thought it would be too hard on me.  

[regentrude]

You're fasting anyway the day of the prep. The day before you have to eat light and bland foods, so you could skip those. Otoh, it may be easier to fast the day of the procedure- you can't have anything in the morning,  and I was so queasy from the sedation meds that not eating would have been easy.

Not sure what that would accomplish,  though. What's the point?

Edited April 18 by regentrude

[SKL]

You could ask whether there's a non-sugary alternative to the Gatorade part of the prep.

I would definitely ask a knowledgeable health care professional whether this is advisable.  You don't want to do anything that would cause a delay of your colonoscopy after all of that.

[SHP]

Yes, I have to follow specific dietary restrictions for 4-5 days before hand, but that is because I have health issues that require it.

[Catwoman]

3 hours ago, Ginevra said:

I have not been through the prep before, but I wondered if that would be a good time for, say, a 2-day fast. Or does the prep liquid make that ill advised? 
 

 

I'm not sure what the benefit of fasting would be, because anything you ate would be long gone once you did the prep, anyway.

If anything, I would think it would make you even hungrier than you would have been if you'd eaten (and possibly pretty nauseated, as well,) and in my own personal case, I would be worried about triggering a migraine from the combination of fasting and then moving right along to colonoscopy prep.

Good luck with your colonoscopy! 

[Ginevra]

2 hours ago, regentrude said:

You're fasting anyway the day of the prep. The day before you have to eat light and bland foods, so you could skip those. Otoh, it may be easier to fast the day of the procedure- you can't have anything in the morning,  and I was so queasy from the sedation meds that not eating would have been easy.

Not sure what that would accomplish,  though. What's the point?

I was thinking have less food/waste in the system already so you’re not having to get as much to exit, to put it as PG as possible. 

[Ginevra]

2 hours ago, SKL said:

You could ask whether there's a non-sugary alternative to the Gatorade part of the prep.

I would definitely ask a knowledgeable health care professional whether this is advisable.  You don't want to do anything that would cause a delay of your colonoscopy after all of that.

Well, I know a friend of mine who was going through chemotherapy rejected the guidance of drinking Gatorade because she did not want sugar at all. I know her cancer team was pretty eye-rolley about that, but I gotta believe her diet helped her get through chemo in way better condition that almost every cancer fighter I have personally known. 
 

I know coconut water has electrolytes and no sugar or anything weird like dyes. Or pickle juice. I wonder if those would be acceptable. 

[dirty ethel rackham]

2 hours ago, SKL said:

You could ask whether there's a non-sugary alternative to the Gatorade part of the prep.

I would definitely ask a knowledgeable health care professional whether this is advisable.  You don't want to do anything that would cause a delay of your colonoscopy after all of that.

I didn't have a sugary prep.  Mine was a powder that I mixed with water.  For flavor, they said I could have lemon Crystal Light added to it.  They didn't recommend anything with sugar.  

 

ETA:  Fake lemonade is not something I regularly drink.  But I was thankful for it for the prep.

Edited April 19 by dirty ethel rackham

[Ginevra]

44 minutes ago, Catwoman said:

Good luck with your colonoscopy! 

It’s actually for dh, but I need one too. He already has his referral but I am still waiting eternally for my doctor appointment. 
 

Dh was meant to get one when Covid happened. Finally got around to going back to his doctor. 🙄

[dirty ethel rackham]

6 minutes ago, Ginevra said:

I was thinking have less food/waste in the system already so you’re not having to get as much to exit, to put it as PG as possible. 

I don't think it would matter.  Doing the prep as directed, including avoiding food that are harder to get rid of (foods with seeds, nuts, etc.) would take care of everything.  Depriving your body of needed energy for that long would not be helpful.  

[Spryte]

For this, I’d follow the doc’s instructions, and I wouldn’t try to add anything to it.

I’d do the fast when not having a scheduled medical procedure with whatever type of anesthesia/sedative.

I have a 5 day prep for mine, anyway, and it’s never a great experience — certainly it seems easier for some people. But even if it was an easy experience, I’d want my body as strong as possible for the procedure and any surprises that might happen. 

[Catwoman]

22 minutes ago, Ginevra said:

I was thinking have less food/waste in the system already so you’re not having to get as much to exit, to put it as PG as possible. 

I think that, for me at least, it's better to have something to "exit," but that might vary from one person to another. Also, I would have been so hungry and queasy if I went that long without eating. Between fasting and the actual prep, I would be worried that I might start feeling kind of faint.

I have had several colonoscopies, and the only thing I strongly recommend is using Suprep (pretty sure that's what it's called) because it works very quickly and efficiently, and I never got a lot of cramping with it. With other preps, I was rushing to the bathroom for hours. (Sorry if that's TMI!)

The prep that includes Dulcolax as part of the regimen is miserable, IMHO, and the cramping can be terrible.

[Sharpie]

8 minutes ago, Catwoman said:

The prep that includes Dulcolax as part of the regimen is miserable, IMHO, and the cramping can be terrible.

I had the Dulcolax prep and you described it very accurately!  I literally got maaaybe 45 minutes of sleep the entire night because I was running to the bathroom every 10 to 15 minutes all night long.  I was completely exhausted by the time it was over with.  I also will not drink Gatorade anytime soon.  Super sicky sweet.  Thankfully I kept it down and knew to brush my teeth immediately after finishing each round of it. 

I'd love to know the prep you took, because I will request it. 

[bookbard]

12 minutes ago, Catwoman said:

The prep that includes Dulcolax as part of the regimen is miserable, IMHO, and the cramping can be terrible.

Yes, I refused to take the ducolax this time. I just did Plenvu. No cramping, the only downside was the taste - I'm not picky, but it was like choosing to drink poison, my body just rebelled at every mouthful. Definitely better with a straw and washing it down immediately with water. 

I remember last time being absolutely starving and desperate for the post-op sandwiches. This time I wasn't, probably due to the adrenalin of 'will I make it to the hospital' because of the floods. 

[KSera]

I did the Sutab tablet prep. You can take them just with water if you want. No weird stuff to drink.  It was so much easier than any other prep I read about, and no cramping at all. it's definitely what I will request again next time. 

[Catwoman]

3 hours ago, Sharpie said:

I had the Dulcolax prep and you described it very accurately!  I literally got maaaybe 45 minutes of sleep the entire night because I was running to the bathroom every 10 to 15 minutes all night long.  I was completely exhausted by the time it was over with.  I also will not drink Gatorade anytime soon.  Super sicky sweet.  Thankfully I kept it down and knew to brush my teeth immediately after finishing each round of it. 

I'd love to know the prep you took, because I will request it. 

I just checked to be sure, and the prep was called Suprep. It was great because it worked so quickly, and the whole process was over within a few hours, so I could get some sleep before I had to take the second dose of it, instead of having to do those constant bathroom runs all night long. After the second dose, I was cleaned out even faster than with the first dose. The Suprep isn’t exactly tasty, but you don’t have to drink a ton of it, and it works so well that I can’t really complain too much about anything. I found that it’s really important to drink the specified amount of water or other liquids along with it, because I think that helps it work so efficiently.

I can’t stand the taste of Gatorade, so I drank a lot of water, plus some ginger ale and clear salty chicken broth, and I ate lemon and lime Jell-O.

[catz]

My husband must of had what Cat had.  It didn't seem too bad on that end this time around for him.  He slept a normal night sleep prior.  

You do get recommendations for diet in the days prior to fast and prep to avoid nausea.  I think stopping sooner really wouldn't help or be better.  The prep is what cleans you out and fasting gets you there so you aren't filling up the pipes after.  If you just fast, you don't get cleaned out.  Your digistive system takes a break, you will still have stuff in your system.  

[stephanier.1765]

To all you Suprep people, thank you for that information. I'm definitely requesting that next time because my last time I spent a full week following my colonoscopy sick. I don't even know how they managed my colonoscopy because I was still running to the bathroom while I in the waiting room. At that point, it was just water but still...yuck.

[Sharpie]

31 minutes ago, stephanier.1765 said:

I don't even know how they managed my colonoscopy because I was still running to the bathroom while I in the waiting room. At that point, it was just water but still...yuck.

Me too!  Getting there was a nightmare because I was still going every 10 to 15 minutes, during the drive to the appointment.  I was running to the bathroom in the waiting room.  I couldn't even get through the paperwork before I had to go.  I said I'd never do this again. 

[marbel]

12 hours ago, KSera said:

I did the Sutab tablet prep. You can take them just with water if you want. No weird stuff to drink.  It was so much easier than any other prep I read about, and no cramping at all. it's definitely what I will request again next time. 

This is what I did for my last one. It was by far the best prep I've ever had.  Assuming I have another of these (I'm on the 10 year plan and I'll be 77 then), I'll do this again (or maybe there will be something better by then). 

[73349]

Another fan of Sutabs here. Nothing yucky to drink.

Following the directions (low-residue foods then clear liquid diet) worked perfectly for me. Not only was I not trying to fast, I added unflavored gelatin to my vegetable broth to increase calories and reduce hunger.

I was fine afterwards.

[gardenmom5]

Did they give you instructions?   we've (dh and I) been put on soft food/liquid diet in the 48 hours before the colonoscopy.