OT: Colonoscopy-UPDATE

robysue wrote:Part one of the prep (10 oz bottle of Magnesium Citrate) has started its work.

Part two starts in about an hour: I have to mix 255 ml of Miralax powder with 64 oz of Gatorade. And then drink the foul stuff 8 oz a time every 15-20 minutes until its gone. 64 oz of Gatorade in an hour and a half to two hours???

Even I am having a tough time contemplating wolfing down a half-gallon of liquid in two hours. And I'm someone who has no trouble drinking 24 oz of unsweetened decaffinated ice tea at lunch.

The headache is a killer one. It's a tension headache with a huge amount of TMJ pain thrown in for good measure. I bet I get no sleep tonight.

I was going to say holy sh-t but then I realized that was a poor choice of words

I just remembered I only drank the first half of the prep because it made me so sick. But the doctor was still able to do the colonoscopy successfully.

I think what they do is formulate the prep for a 200 plus pound male and don't take into consideration various sizes and weights. But I can't honestly think of a better way.

Hang in there. I know the words seem hollow now but it will be over before you know it.

49er

I thought they stopped using the Magnesium Citrate. My wife recently had the Endoscopy/Colonoscopy combo and took only the Miralax/Gatorade. It worked fine.

49er wrote: I was going to say holy sh-t but then I realized that was a poor choice of words

The humor is NOT lost on me. That's my reaction summed up pretty precisely.

I think what they do is formulate the prep for a 200 plus pound male and don't take into consideration various sizes and weights. But I can't honestly think of a better way.

As a small, 110 pound female, I think a lot of medicine tends to be geared towards making sure that the largest members of our species are sufficiently treated with little no consideration that size just might have some relevance. Every time I take a med, I can't help but wonder: There are 12 year olds that are bigger than I am, but the dose for 6-12 is half what I'm supposed to take????

Hang in there. I know the words seem hollow now but it will be over before you know it.

"Hollow" Yeah, that's where we're trying to get to---a big hollow hole in my middle

The prep is definitely the worst part. I had one last year and they put me out and did the colonoscopy and then they also went down my throat and checked my stomach, it had never been checked so at my age it was a good idea. The last time I had a barium x-ray he put the stuff in and then filled me up with the air,and then he got a phone call which he took and after about 2 minutes I yelled at him to get off the GD phone because the air was causing me a whole lot of pain. When it was over I put my military ass chewing on him and said I didn't appreciate it at all and had have a notion to file a complaint. He was very apologetic and I think he might have learned something, at least I hope he did. It hurt worst that aerophagia.

I've had five since I was 50 (my dad died of colon cancer) The first one was the worst. Had to drink Five quarts of whatever. Since then I prepped with less liquid. Frankly, I though my sleep test was worse than any of the colonoscopys. Strangly I remember more about the procedures than I remember the next half day after the colonoscopys. The worst thing for me is not being able to have a cup of coffee before the procedure so I alway try to schedule mine as early in the morning as possible. Got another on coming up in October.

My colonoscopy was very painful since the IV was not in the vein. Just be sure and speak up if you have any doubts. RobySue, you're assertive and will be fine. Some people can tolerate the procedure without any sedation, but I had a long,tortuous colon.

STL Mark wrote:I never understood why the stuff has to taste so nasty that is taken for prep. There are several jokes that could be mentioned, not sure if I should spare you or not. I will use myself as to spare you.

They don't all taste equally bad. I wish I had known that years ago because I have to get scoped more frequently than most. All of the preparations that require you to drink approximately a gallon are solutions of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and electrolytes. The original PEG laxatives (MiraLAX, Golytely) included sodium sulfate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium chloride, and potassium chloride. A group of newer solutions (Nulytely, TriLyte) leave out the sodium sulfate, and it turns out that this is what makes the stuff taste so bad. You still have to drink a gallon of salty water, but it doesn't taste like rotten eggs have been soaking in it, and there is a wide consensus now that they work equally well. Ask for a sulfate free (SF-PEG) prep if possible. It turns the night before from an ordeal to a bore (that could make a nice jingle).

kaiasgram wrote: Do you have some straws handy? If so drink the "stuff" through a straw, that allows you to bypass your taste buds some.

Thanks for this tip. It's making a big difference.

I'm cold, but hubby says that the shivers are par for the course.

I am 100% convinced that the prep has to be the worst part of this thing. Enough sedation and I know that I won't remember a thing. That's how it was with the finger surgery a year ago. And the wisdom teeth back in the 80s.

I just hope I'm awake enough to function by 2:00pm so I can cooperate with getting the wrist bracelet device for the next round of sleep testing put on.

I hear the Miralax/Gatorade is far less vile than the other prep that is often prescribed.

robysue wrote:

kaiasgram wrote: Do you have some straws handy? If so drink the "stuff" through a straw, that allows you to bypass your taste buds some.

Thanks for this tip. It's making a big difference.

Yay, glad it's helping. Good luck tomorrow.

The flushing out of your system part is by FAR the worst part of the procedure - at least it was for me, i had one done in May.

The other disaster was that even though my insurance fully covered the procedure -minus my co-pay, i've been fighting the hospital and the company that they sent the pathology to ever since. Literally hundreds of letters and phone calls since the procedure - I finally just dropped it on the state Attorney General.

I did the Miralax prep and it wasn't bad at all. Because I have insulin issues, I bought big bottles of electrolyte water and it tasted like --water. Not bad at all--had a slightly oily texture that was a little weird, though. No Gatorade. I drank lots of broth on the clear liquid day and loaded up on probiotics beforehand and after.

I did have a killer headache, but that was the worst part. They were very nice in the outpatient center, I don't remember a thing from the procedure, and they have these weird paper gowns that hook up to heating pipes (Ever see the movie Brazil? That's a bit what it reminded me of ) so when I woke up I was toasty warm and comfy.

The anticipation was way worse than the reality. My dad died of colon cancer so I couldn't avoid it, but the dread was way worse than the actual procedure--even the prep. And knowing I'm "clean as a whistle" in more ways than one is a good thing.

I assume your husband will be with you when you pick up the bracelet thingy. Make sure that he understands any instructions because you might not remember what gets told to you.

After I had mine (yep, the prep is the absolute worst part) my mom took me out to my favorite dining spot.
I got a phone call from my husband and talked to him and the next day I didn't remember it.
Also my mom put a check in my purse and 2 weeks later she says "are you ever going to cash that check"...I said "what check"...yep in my purse...totally forgot her putting it in my purse all the while enjoying my burger and fries from Steak and Shake.

I was totally awake but my memory had some big blank spots in it way after I was done with the procedure.
So that "forget stuff" part of the cocktail you get in the IV can make you forget stuff long after you have been awake.

I had an upper GI scope earlier this year before I was diagnosed with very severe apnea. In a heavy daze I was watching people in other beds wake up, hop out of bed & get dressed like nothing happened. Me, forget about it. I was in such an incredible fog -- I was a complete and total zombie. I could barely walk out to the car and I didn't feel alive until the next day.

I wonder if the combination of anesthesia, recovery, and severe undiagnosed OSA made things a little harder than they had to be?

I just wish we would have thought to do a lower at the same time. I haven't had one yet but I figure I'm about due..

THE PREP IS THE WORST PART! I remember nothing about the procedure. Went out for a yummy breakfast right after. Seriously not a big deal.