bowel prep and colonoscopy experience

I had both these done today and after feeling terrified all yesterday, the positive experiences on here made me feel better. However, I'm going to give an honest account how mine went as it appears everyone's experience is different.

i had to take 9 senna tablets at midday yesterday followed by Citramag drink at 4pm and another at 7pm. My last meal was yesterday morning at 8am. By around 6.30pm i was running to the toilet. I had no stomach pain, just felt like i needed to go. Then after the last drink it was all systems go! This continued throughout the night and i was still going this morning. By this point I'd quite frankly had enough! I was starving and felt pretty weak and dizzy.

So i get to the hospital ( i had this done privately so can't fault the staff) and told to get into one of those awful hospital gowns that everyone hates and then told i have to have an enema!! That was the final thing that pushed me over the edge and i burst out into uncontrollable crying. I didn't think there could actually be anything left inside me after the amount of times I'd been. Apparently its to make sure u really are clear. That is an experience i NEVER want to have again!

Once in theatre, i am pumped some drugs which make me drowsy so i cant remember the Endoscopy at all but they must have been wearing off for the colonoscopy because i felt most of that which i can only describe as bad period cramping. The whole process took around half hour.

I feel ok now I'm home, although i do have some wind in my stomach and my back side is obviously sore. Its a procedure that saves lives so it needs to be done without a doubt. Its just that my experience was not as good as others on here.

I fail to see why hospitals differ so much in the laxative given. You are the first that I have read of on this forum to have had an enema in addition to the laxatives.

Hi Derek, i don't know why they differ either, i read up beforehand on here so i knew what to expect but no-one on here mentioned enemas hence why i was distraught when the nurse said i had to have one!! Hopefully no-one else will have to go through that.

Yes it does seem strange that different hospitals differ. I found the last time the easiest, with picolax and just the one day prep. Seemed to work fine for the procedure. It's really the prep that's a pain not the procedure, for me, as long as they give me enough sedative so I'm not anxious or embarrassed.

I learnt after my first one never to schedule anything for the following day, just to plan to stay in bed or on sofa if you can. The whole experience literally drained me and left me feeling completely wiped. But once I knew that I kind of enjoyed mollycoddling myself and having finally eating the following day.

I am looking for some advice please. I had a colonoscopy as a hospital in-patient 10 days ago, having beendosed with Picolax the day before. 8 days ago I was discharged to await a CT scan as an out-patient.

When I Ieft hospital I was still 'empty' from the Picolax. Since then I have tried to eat normally but for a week I have been producing mainly a light brown, jelly like substance. This happens between six and three times a day sometimes controlably but more often un-controlably. Usually I am better at night when gravity is on my side.

I had a colonoscopy 10 months ago in connection with another issue, but I don't recall this lasting side effect. Does anyone have any observations please?

Thank you very much for the excellent, and well written, discription of your procedure. This is my first time and you completely anticipated every question which I had prior to, during and what will come after.  Now I can go into it much more relaxed at noon today. 

A good discussion - it is hard to find reliable information about the 'cleaning'.

I am having a sigmoidoscopy this afternoon and am on the Picolax.

Firstly, the conflicting information.

Using Google I can find loads of different PDFs from different hospitals giving different procedures and advice.

This just illustrates that the NHS is not a national service - it is just a loose affiliate if independant services all of whom constantly reinvent the wheel.

The Royal Marsden is usually taken as the benchmark for procedures, so worth a Google as their PDFs are quite good, and the differences from the brochure I was sent were 'interesting'.

I am in Suffolk and the main thing that the Royal Marsden has and my local hospital doesn't provide is a realistic timeline for the day before the procedure.

You have to balance eating/drinking with taking the laxative and the various restrictions make this complex.

For instance the brochure I got told me not to eat less than two hours before taking the Picolax, and to take the first Picolax at 08:00 - which implies breakfast before 06:00!

It also tells me not to eat anything after 12:00 but doesn't tell me if the effects of the first dose would have worn off by then.

Anyway, brief timeline for me and a bit of background.

I have piles, and the sigmoidoscopy is because I have been bleeding a littl and they need to check that it is only the piles which are bleeding.

I take Lactulose as a stool softener if I am having problems with hard stools (which don't help piles!) so this is an addition to the mix.

I am Type 2 Diabetic and am on a low carbohydrate diet so my eating during the run in has been eggs and cheese and I don't expect to have any problems with the fasting because my body is already adapted to using fat as a fuel (I hope).

Anyway, Day-2

Should have taken Picolax at 08:00 but on the drag.

Normal morning bowel movement, scrambled eggs in butter for breakfast, took first Picolax at about 10:15. Mmm...like forbidden treats. Just like a kids sugary lemon drink.

Nothing for an hour, then another bowel movement which was ..umm.. a bit runny round the edges but otherwise normal.

Waiting...boring this.....made a cheese omelette for lunch around 12:00....what's all the fuss about? Drinking loads of water.

Around 14:00-14:30 (that is four hours after the dose) the real effects started, soon developing into 'liquid squirting' so it sounding as if I was weeing. Unusual but not painful.

Several trips to and from the loo for the next hour or so but then it all settled down.

Second Picloax at 17:00 instead of 16:00 (as my first dose was late).

Nothing for about 3 hours, then the squirting started and carried on intermittently untill after midnight.

Sleep, then woke up at around 06:00, rolled over in bed and thought "Ooops!" and nipped to the loo.

More squirting and some wind.

IIt is now 10:30 and everythng seems to have calmed down but I do worry a little that there is still some residual effect.

I will continue to drink plenty of water to hopefully flush anything else out before I have to set off about 13:30 for my 14:00 appointment.

No hunger or faintness so the fasting seems to be a doddle (touch wood).

Checked my blood glucose a short while back and it is 7.6 mmol/L which is clearly diabetic but also clearly nowhere near a hypo. Hospital was woried that I might have problems but I think they don't really understand diabetics on diet only.

Top tip - there is no fibre in beer and it is a clear liquid ;-)

I will try and update after I have had the procedure - and best of luck to everyone going through this.

Well, the sigmoidoscopy went surprisingly well.

Having a tube searching around in your insides is wierd but not painful.

The amount of air they pumped in to inflate the bowel meant that I started sounding like a motorbike.

I had to 'grip harder' to allow them to inflate the bowel properly.

Fascinating to watch what your insides look like.

The tasteful denim blue boxer shorts with a hole cut in the arse were also interesting.

I was complemented on how clean my insides were so this underlines how important it is to follow the procedure you are given.

Not much point in turning up and being told they can't see anything because you haven't cleared your insides out.

So I would say that it is nothing to be scared about - but the preparation is literally a pain in the bum and takes up your life for a day.

Anyway, I have lost some weight and will try to keep it off :-)

I am really stressing, I am just taking the prep now which is so bad tasting I want to vomit.  I rung the hospital up and told them like yourself how anxious I am etc, and they showed very little concern.  I wanted my son to be with me obviously until I go in and they have flatly refused, so feel very alone with this.  I'm terrified of it hurting as I have read some horror stories I must admit.

 

I am really stressing, I am just taking the prep now which is so bad tasting I want to vomit.  I rung the hospital up and told them like yourself how anxious I am etc, and they showed very little concern.  I wanted my son to be with me obviously until I go in and they have flatly refused, so feel very alone with this.  I'm terrified of it hurting as I have read some horror stories I must admit.