bowel prep and colonoscopy experience

Well that's fine in itself, given that nothing is found, but if polyps are found and removed it can be more painful. You have to be philosophical and try damned hard to relax, which of course is a self contridicting thing in itself.

I had colonoscopy in November but could not tolerate pain on right side (which is where I have pain they are investigating), going for this procedure on 17th March, the thought of it again is making me feel sick, the thought if the pain I went through is scaring me bit time!!

Hello guys,

I have my colonoscopy appointment tomorrow morning, i am not really worrying about the examination as it is my second time, but my concern is that i have been to the toilet only twice since i started drinking the klen prep and i have almost finish it and still not any bowel movement... should i be aware of it or is it gonna be fine with the doctor? coa i dont wanna go there and not be able to do it after all this preparation..

regards,

latino

I am having a colonoscopy tomorrow. Having read loads of stuff in various discussion forums I was expecting the preparation to be terrible. So far, it has been absolutely fine. The bland diet I started 2 days ago was easy. The Picolax tasted fine - one tip I read was to drink it through a straw, and that certainly worked for me. I had 4 senakot tablets at 2.00pm and a sachet of Picolax at 4.30pm. Things "got underway" around 7.00pm and now, just over an hour later, I've stopped going the loo ( of course it might start again later!) The biggest challenge for me has been drinking so much liquid over the last 3 days, but I have persevered and hopefully that really has helped with the prep. Other useful tips have been to have a supply of moist toilet wipes close at hand, and apply Sudocrem liberally!!! So far, so good. 

I have to say that Im glad that I bumped into this forum. It made me feel relaxed before my colonoscopy this morning. And I was relieved that my rectal bleeding is nothing but 'rrhoids. The bowel prep was also fine. The procedure itself was also uneventful. I was fully sedated. I was awoken by an uncomfortable activity in my bum. They were pulling out the last inch of colonoscope. Nonetheless, no pain at all. When I became conscious, I told the team "are we starting now?" to which they replied, "it's done and everything's fine except for your angry hemorrhoids." :D

I understand why we have to do this but drinking 2 litres in two hours is so hard for me.  I had a stomach by-pass last year and have difficulties having large amount of liquid, or food for that matter, and it is so uncomfortable.  I had a colonoscopy years ago and I had some small sachets of orange powder to take.  It was much better than having to drink copius amounts of liquid.  It was just 2 glasses.  I know it's my own fault for not asking but if I ever have to do this again I'm asking.

The anticipation of an impending colonoscopy can produce unnecessary anxiousness that is totally unwarrented. You will possibly feel a lttle silly after the procedure because of your earlier worrying. I recommend wearing an adult "Pamper" for the trip in and out of the hospital. For the test itself I have worn an athletic supporter (jock strap) which provides access to the "port of entry" but affords a great degree of male modesty. This step hides all the junk, someone on the medical team has no need to see. One could also modify a pair of undershorts by cutting a nice round hole in the seat that alligns with one's anus. I hope my tips will be of some help for patients.

       Joel A.

Hi, Can anyone help me... Sorry I know this post is from a year ago but I can't find any other accurate information... I have my first colonoscopy tomorrow morning and so after a day of liquid diet and eating little yesterday I started taking the laxative (8 disgusting sachets of 'bohm' powder in 2 litres of water) at 6pm and by 9pm all I was passing was clear water and only passed a very very small amount of poop at the very beginning... is this normal? Is it just because i had little food? and I don't know if I'm supposed to still take the second dose tomorrow morning...

If you have any advice I would really appreciate it since from everything I read I was expecting so much diarrhea etc and all i have is watery liquid coming out, it's making me worry...

Thank you 

I am terrified of the prep. I took a laxative a few years back and was bent over with horrible stomach cramps. That is what I dread. I have to take 2 laxatives at 2 different days and 5 8oz glasses of Miralax In 2 sittings. The test will be a piece of cake because they knock you out with Propofol so the prep is my worry. My system is also kinda slow because I have been a methadone patient for over 30 years and don't know how that will affect things. I am going though. I'm 61 and never had one.

^^^I hope it was all ok Rick.

My experience was good. Don't be alarmed. It's pretty uncomfortable, not painful, but it is doable!

Me: Male, 43

Prep-

Stopped eating Tuesday 6pm. Fluids only. I prepared by getting some cans of 7up for some sugary energy, vasoline (to keep my rear soothed), and wet wipes. Wednesday 11am, Picolax 1. It took effect about 2hrs later. I drank water, camomile tea and a couple of 7ups through the day. Had a headaches for most of the day, through the night and right up to the colonoscopy (be ready to be weak and grumpy). I passed water the rest of the day, in total about 5 times. Picolax 2 at 6pm, I then passed water another 5 times (inc 3am - watch out!!!). Thursday morning, glass of water at 7am then nothing else - then 2 times in the toilet (just passed water). Last pass at 9am.

Overall- I was grumpy, hungry, headachy and tired.

Colonoscopy- I was pretty anxious (although I had read this forum beforehand). My 'op' was at 11am. The nursing staff (St Mary's, Portsmouth) were VERY GOOD and made me feel a bit better although I was pretty stressed. I almost thought about backing out but I realised I'd done the hardest part and there was only 20 mins to go and it would be over. The nurse that took me into op was the best, she helped with gas and air. I opted for Entonox only. The Dr was brilliant, really calming manner and instantly made me feel at ease and any hint of embarrassment vanished on my part. A big smile and a handshake (which isn't as odd as it sounds even considering he's about to push something up your bum) and he briefly explained very clearly what was going to happen and introduced the other two nurses. Onto the bed, onto my left side, knees tucked up a little. Nurse 1 fed me the gas. Then they started.

The initial insertion was pretty uncomfortable (I've had a rectal exam by a GP twice so this was the third time anything had 'gone in' so I find this particularly uncomfortable) but over soon. I could see the screen but opted not to watch and in my anxiety sucked on the gas a bit to much. Dr calmly advised me to slow and save it for the more uncomfortable bits. I did and was glad. As it went further up I sucked on the entonox every 20-30 secs I reckon, but mainly just as he was going round the bends or inflating the passage a bit. I found it comforting to wiggle my feet/toes around. At one point there was a really uncomfortable bit that lasted 15-30 seconds at which point I was tense and breathing quicker, and making an uncomfortable moaning sound. At this point Nurse 1 came behind me and rested her hands on my waist and shoulder and this made me feel a lot calmer. Throughout, Dr was telling me how far up he was in % terms. I remember thinking at 50% "Ugh how much longer ?" But it was soon 70% and then he said he was reaching the end. He made some comments about how clear it all was and absolutely nothing to worry about and that set my mind at ease.

On the way out, he had a good second look all the way back out, I took a lot less Entonox as exiting was NOT as bad and I took the opportunity to look at the monitor and watch, which is really interesting, I recommend it. There were a couple of uncomfortable bits on the way out (round the bends) and I sucked the gas hard then it was all over. Total time with a tube in me was probably about 10 minutes.

What did it feel like: Hard to describe. It's like a cross between having stomach cramps, feeling like you have diarrhoea, feeling really full up, feeling like someone is trying to squash the air out your tummy, and .. well ... like someone is moving something around inside your body. It did NOT hurt. It's uncomfortable.

What's the Entonox like: it's not as strong as you might expect. It doesn't make you 'high'. It makes you feel a bit giddy, like when you stand up to quickly, or spin in circles. It's there to take the edge off, and it does just enough to do that. You can suck it when you want.

Afterwards: I was ok to stand after about 20 seconds and walked back to get changed. A bit giddy. NO pain. And a few minutes later I was fully dressed and ready to go and feeling a little silly that I was so anxious about it. There is residual air floating around in there which will need to come out. You can feel it squelching around for a few hours after. Probably make your way to a toilet within the next 30 mins as I did as there may be some fluid and a LOT of air to get out. Eating ... well, we went straight to McDonalds (and I never eat McDonalds) so anything goes, especially when you are starving. Headache mostly went after eating.

It's now 4 hours post 'op' and I feel fine. I've had some coffee and digestives and some water. Passed some more air. Far more relaxed.

I hope this helps. It's not the best of experiences and I was dreading it, but all in all, it's not that bad

Good luck.

Hi, I've been reading this and other threads and forums with great interest and curiousity over the course of the past week as I had my colonoscopy today and I was really very scared about the whole thing.  The general consensus on these threads seems to be that the prep was tiresome and unpleasant and the actual colonoscopy was a doddle.  However, there were some stories that would say otherwise.  I have come to the conclusion that having a colonoscopy is a bit like childbirth.  People will tell you what it is like and what their experiences are, but ultimately you will never really know until you have it done yourself.  However,  I can now impart my own personal experience, and I will start off by saying that the procedure itself was less uncomfortable than having a smear, and infinitely better than having dental treatment.  However, I do generally have a healthy bowel and my colonoscopy was scheduled as a result of possible 'rrhoids and because I have a history of bowel cancer in the family.  So there was unlikely to be any complications as a result of inflammation or scarring or polyps etc... I was so anxious and so worried about it - I really was and I thought about cancelling right up to the last second when the canula was inserted.  It honestly honestly is nowhere near as bad as you think it is going to be.  As for the prep.  My instructions were to follow  low fibre diet 2 days before.  I ate lots of white bread and butter, cheese, potato and eggs.  I drank more water than usual and black tea.  The following day I was advised to have breakfast in the morning (low fibre) and then clear fluids for the rest of the day.   I wasn't hungry at all in the morning and so didn't end up having breakfast, I just drank plenty of water and black tea instead.  I had to take my first Picolax sachet at 12.30pm and the second one at 4.30pm.  Again I was really not looking forward to this at all.  The first sachet fizzed but did not get hot.  It tasted lemony and it was ok to drink.  I drank it through a straw as some people have said it is more palatable that way.  First sign of any action was at 2.55pm.  A bit of diarrhoea and runny water.  I was on the loo a matter of minutes.  During that hour, I went maybe 3 or 4 times - each time for a matter of minutes and I was running pretty much clear water.  After that I was going maybe every 20 minutes or so and clear water - it was like going to the loo as normal.  At 4.30 I took the second sachet - this time it fizzed and did get warm but not hot.  I was expecting a deluge after this, as again forums say it kicked in after the second sachet.  In my experience it just carried on as before a quick trip every 15-20 minutes or so  - although by this stage I was burning so applied sudocreme.  I went reasonably regularly until about 7pm by which time the whole thing was pretty much over.  I didn't go again until around 9pm and then again before bed at around 11pm. In the meantime I just carried on as normal - made the kids tea - did housework, read the paper, watched TV. I woke up at about 6.30 am with a bit of cramping and think I had a bit more diarrhoeay type expulsion - this was actually the longest time I spent on the loo.  The whole experience was actually a bit of a non-event compared to stories that I have read, and I was really worried my bowel hadn't cleared, but everything was fine.  The 24 hour fasting again was less of an issue than I thought it was going to be - never have I gone that long without eating and I thought I would be starving - but it was fine.  I sucked a few sweets along the way and all was well.  So all in all my experience was very good - I think I was probably one of the lucky ones in terms of bowel prep, but I would concur with a lot of other people that say the colonoscopy itself is absolutely fine and I now would not fret at all about having it done again.

For those dreading this procedure I too would like to give reassurance. I had my colonoscopy yesterday.  I was dreading it as I had read so many horror stories. The bowel prep was nowhere near as bad as I feared. Took the potion and got into bed with a strategically placed towel and a hot water bottle. It took about an hour and a half to start working but I got to the loo in plenty of time. No accidents and no problems. Next morning I drank the potion again as directed. The procedure itself was straightforward. I had a little sedation and the nursing staff were so kind. It was over. before I knew it and was painless. Although I felt a little disorientated and washed out after an early night helped a lot. 

Good luck to anyone going through this. I hope your experience is as good as mine was