Prepping for a colonoscopy..

Tomorrow is my prep day for a colonoscopy on Thursday. No food no beer going to be a long day. Only clear liquids plus coffee and jello is all I get tomorrow. Thankfully my daughters car needs work and that will keep my mind off my stomach. 1/2 gallon of Gavilyte tomorrow then I wake up at 4:00am and drink another 1/2 gallon. I should loose several lbs. since my wife is always telling my I'm full of $hit. Wish me luck..........

been there and done that - you can, too. I did cheat and had a shot of whiskey the night before...no problem-o...

good luck!

My dad had a foot of his colon removed - a fact that not only landed me in the "high risk bin" which means I get 'scoped every 5 years, but also provides the perspective to get through the *&%#$@! prep.

So, bt/dt, four times now.
It's a *****, plain and simple, but it's better than the alternative...

Cheers! (that first beer when you get home is the bestest everest! )

This is going to sound weird & I don't mean to pry, but let us know how it goes. I've never had one, but I know I'm going to need to get one in the next couple of years & I do NOT want one. Just wanting to hear what others have had to deal with to sorta get myself psyched into getting it done.
Regards, GF.

Good luck brother, sending positive thoughts.

Hey when I did mine The dr. said I could mix a clear liquor with the lovely salt shake crap they give you to drink . So I pour a cup of tequila in it and S----ing your guts out was bearable.

My father had colon cancer, so I've been through 5 myself.
Things I've learned.

Schedule the colonoscopy for the first thing in the morning. That way you're not going through the day hungry.

The salt in chicken broth helps with the hunger.

Do not question why your butt hurts and there is $100 bill in your pocket that wasn't there before.

......and never ever trust a fart while preping

Not nearly as bad as you would think.

I really do not like anesthesia or drugs and even asked the doctor if I could do without. He convinced me that it was not a good idea. Propofol is magic. 9...8...7...out - wake up, fart and go home.

Dixon9717 said:

Tomorrow is my prep day for a colonoscopy on Thursday. No food no beer going to be a long day. Only clear liquids plus coffee and jello is all I get tomorrow. Thankfully my daughters car needs work and that will keep my mind off my stomach. 1/2 gallon of Gavilyte tomorrow then I wake up at 4:00am and drink another 1/2 gallon. I should loose several lbs. since my wife is always telling my I'm full of $hit. Wish me luck..........

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I'm due for one myself. Looking forward to the report. I assume you're reading this on the toilet now.

I always thought it would be funny to put something up there for the doc to find, sorta make his day. Like a fortune cookie or something. Your call.

gratus fermentatio said:

I've never had one, but I know I'm going to need to get one in the next couple of years & I do NOT want one. Just wanting to hear what others have had to deal with to sorta get myself psyched into getting it done.
Regards, GF.

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Had 5 over 20 years. Yeah, the prep, but even that isn't that bad. The procedure itself is nothing. Go for it.

I had my first one at 50 and now I am more than half way to the next one. I don't dread the procedure as much as again having to force down that gallon of Gavilyte. Things I learned: no matter how good you feel afterwards they do not let you drive yourself home.

I'm overdue for my one at 50

one at 40, I think the prep was worse than the procedure. had to drink 4 gallons of this crap, 12 oz at a time, every 15 minutes. last couple I had to choke down. wasn't afraid I was going to die, was afraid I was going to live

The same as everyone else. Drinking that stuff was awful! And going without food when you're not sick is harder than I thought it would be.

I had fun other than that, and according to everyone I was quite amusing in the hospital. I don't remember much of it at all.

This was still more better than the endoscopy procedure.

If you think you're gonna fart ... you're probably not gonna fart! Take a seat.

Never had one myself, but I do medical appointments for my work. I've taken people probably 20+ times for theirs (including 2 last week). The prep is the worst part of it. Several people told me they didn't even have the procedure done despite the doctor giving me the full report including pictures

Swmbo's aunt was on vacation and realized she scheduled her colonoscopy for the next day. Doctor called in the script, she filled it, chugged the solution, then promptly got on a plane to fly home. BAD IDEA. I feel sorry for anyone who was on that plane...

For those looking for a humorous (yet accurate) account, I got a kick out of David Barry's account of his experience.

Had my first one when I was 21.. diagnosed with IBD (colitis) - the worst part is definitely not eating and the prep.. the procedure itself is a cake walk, never as bad as you're expecting..

To expand on some of the already solid advice (never trust a fart..) I highly recommend applying some Vaseline on your exit port.. helps alleviate the burning and soreness.. didn't do it on my first but definitely on the 2nd and 3rd scope I had and boy could I tell a big difference.

Also, a little bathroom entertainment is nice as well, tv, books, etc...

Good luck!

Inkleg said:

Do not question why your butt hurts and there is $100 bill in your pocket that wasn't there before.

......and never ever trust a fart while preping

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Not a confidence boosting post... ipe:

rmarshall100 said:

Not a confidence boosting post... ipe:

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Imagine how upset your gonna be when you don't find any money.

Did mine about 6 years ago. It was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. But I was lucky in being able to use the 1-pint prep liquid and not the gallon version. The worst part was having my legs go asleep due to spending so much time on the pot. The procedure was not uncomfortable at all (they give an IV sedative). I laid on my side on the table and watched the whole process in real time on a video monitor. Like Fantastic Voyage up my butt.

Good luck tomorrow!

Well here goes my second glass of Golytely. The anticipation has been killing me. Cheers everyone.....

I have had 2 in the last 10 or so years. have it done, i had 3 pollups (sp) the first round, removed, 1 the second round, removed. i'm 62 and don't need this pain
inna ars ... :beard:

Dixon9717 said:

Well here goes my second glass of Golytely. The anticipation has been killing me. Cheers everyone.....

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Good luck man!
Regards, GF.

Hope everything came out ok. ipe:

Done last year, first time, 8 years "past due date." Passed the exam with a clean bill of colon health. I don't remember anything of the actual exam, totally painless.

But those prepping kits are the real racket. $100 (e.g., MoviPrep) and many insurances don't cover them. Before I'm going to spend that kind of mullah on something like that... I'm old fashioned, don't buy gimmicky things or those with fancy names, even more suspicious when connected to medical society, I'm a scientist!

Called the outfit asking for alternatives. They phoned in the second one and nope, that wasn't covered either, but CVS would sell it to me with a coupon for about half price, ~$50. No way!

Called a third time, for a "real alternative," and well and behold they send me to some hidden page on their website with instructions how to do it without a kit: 2 bottles of Magnesium Citrate, one pill of Dulcolax. On to the Dollar Tree: $3 done! $47-97 saved for good beer, later.

I fasted for 2 days before prep day, only had homemade soup (broth) and water. Then on prep day I felt I was "prepared" and amazed how much stuff still came out after drinking those 2 bottles. That was the most unpleasant part of the whole procedure.

Other unpleasantries were filling out and signing a dozen or so electronic forms when checking in while nauseous. Speaking of high-pressured sales tactics!
Then again later when receiving a letter from the insurance company telling me they were NOT going to pay an additional claim put in by the anesthesiologist. And again, another letter stating the same, as the insurance could not find any evidence anything special was done to warrant such a claim. Greedy doctors! See you again in 10 years, hopefully.

kombat said:

For those looking for a humorous (yet accurate) account, I got a kick out of David Barry's account of his experience.

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that is so funny!

I had it done about 7 years ago.
I surely don't care for the memory I have of the never ending brown waterfall.

Colonoscopy went ok. Didn't know a thing during the procedure but laying there naked being treated by 4 pretty women was kinda cool. Drinking the Golytely didn't taste as bad as I expected. It just sucked trying to sleep and hoping I'd wake up in time to use the toilet. Luckily I did. Waking up at 4:00am to do it all over wasn't much fun. Not eating for 30 hrs also sucked but the worst part of the whole thing is peeing out of my butt. Found one polyp at the upper end of my colon. It's headed to the lab.
Thanks for the support...

My swmbo has worked in the GI lab many times. She refers to the Golytely as go-harshly as there's nothing light about it.

Glad to hear everything went well. :beer:

I've had the joys of cleaning after clients didn't heed my advice to sit on the crapper after drinking the jug. No fun for any involved parties...:banghead:

passedpawn said:

I'm due for one myself. Looking forward to the report. I assume you're reading this on the toilet now.

I always thought it would be funny to put something up there for the doc to find, sorta make his day. Like a fortune cookie or something. Your call.

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I told my wife I was going to hide my insurance card and bank card up there and tell the Dr. to go on a treasure hunt. She didn't find it as funny as I did...

SupervisingChildren said:

My swmbo has worked in the GI lab many times. She refers to the Golytely as go-harshly as there's nothing light about it.

Glad to hear everything went well. :beer:

I've had the joys of cleaning after clients didn't heed my advice to sit on the crapper after drinking the jug. No fun for any involved parties...:banghead:

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Didn't want to put anyone through that nightmare so I was a good little boy and did as I was told.....

As the nearly 53 year old son of a father that died of colon cancer at age 58, let me tell you that the alternative for you and your family FAR outweighs the short term annoyance of the procedure. I'm obviously on the high risk list and have a standing appointment every 5 years. It's coming up in the next couple of months...... Add to this that I also had a Nissan Fundoplication of my stomach (a permanent fix for reflux that wraps your stomach around the base of the esophagus to mechanically squeeze it shut) as I was showing symptoms of pre- Barrett's esophagus - a cancerous condition, and I get double the fun on these visits! He scopes both ends while I'm under. We have a standing deal that he does the throat first..............

Drink the potion as quickly as you can, some of the non colored drink mix is allowed and helps, get some good reading materials and suck it up buttercup. The day of the procedure, go early, enjoy the drugs, flirt with the nurses and make their day! Go home (don't drive) and make sure the first thing back in your system is your best homebrew!!

Did my third last year. Same as everyone else: prep sucked, procedure was no big deal. First time, ran into my boss, both of us wearing the backless gowns. Little awkward. Had half a chuckle the next day at work. Agreed that the drugs were f'ing AWSOME though.

Glad to hear it went well. I've got one scheduled early next year.

Dixon9717 said:

Only clear liquids plus coffee and jello is all I get tomorrow.

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Clear liquids you say? Looks like my next batch will need some irish moss, a high-focculating yeast and a good cold crash.

Had it done about 2 months ago. Only 40 but high risk as my dad had a ruptured colon that about killed him. Did everything correctly. Prep was terrible. Procedure was supposed to be done at 8:00 am but didn't get me until almost noon. Biggest surprise was my nurse was my neighbors daughter in law. Needless to saw I was more than embarrassed. Don't remember the procedure but made quite the mess as I was so late getting in the stomach bile built up and out it came. Nothing for ten years now except for turning red when I see the neighbor's daughter in law.

I had one 2 years ago. The prep was the worst part. I **** for hours.

They found 7 large pre-cancerous polyps. They were all removed and biopsied.

Based on the size and shape I had a 50/50 chance of one being malignant. Luckily I beat the odds. Now I'm on the 3-year plan. Lucky me. Still - it beats the alternative.

Get it done!

My parents explained to me that after they finished their prep, and after the colonoscopy procedure itself, they each felt so clean, that they didn't want to spoil the moment by eating.

They told me this, while we were eating chili.

Dammit I am six years overdue for mine.....had to remind me didn't you.

I had my first one at 50 like many of you. No medical history of cancer but just to get a base line.
THe prep was hard and the procedure is nothing. My hardest part was having to get up at 3:30am to take my list big gulp of the poop med. I am one that has spent most of my life working evenings and as an empty nester, still stay up till 11:30-2:00am just about every night.
Guys, get checked out. It's not a pleasant thing but I bet you still go to the dentist to get your teeth cleaned at times. Come on, make sure your OK for your family.
Like I say, the hardest part (for me) was waking up sooo early.

SupervisingChildren said:

I've had the joys of cleaning after clients didn't heed my advice to sit on the crapper after drinking the jug. No fun for any involved parties...:banghead:

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Hah! If I see a colonoscopy appointment on the work calendar, I make sure to take off work the night before! Most of my people do not toilet independently, and many don't even communicate the need.