Colonoscopy what do I need to know? tmi likely

I have not had a colonoscopy, but I did drink magnesium citrate for another procedure. The only thing I have to say is that I don't remember having any pain or cramps, and it took a while longer than I expected for it to take effect.

Yeah, it doesn't taste so good, but is is not horrible. I think it took like 3 chugs for me to drink the whole bottle.

I did stay home from work that day, but I did not really feel chained to the bathroom.


ETA: Just noticed the schedule they put you on.  Mine was more spread out throughout the whole day. Your mileage may differ. 

I had no pain/cramping at all.  I wouldn't say "chained" to the bathroom but it was a good day to stay home and not be hunting a bathroom when I needed one or standing in line at a public bathroom. Because once I felt the urge to go I knew I wouldn't be able to hold it too long.

I just stayed home and did some chores around the house that never seemed to get done.

When bowels started moving the first was a normal movement then it just got more and more liquid as the day passed.  Once everything had cleared through my system it stopped. 

Getting my prep drunk was the hard part. 

It tastes nasty, drink it cold. I didn't have cramps either. I did end up fainting the morning of while I was taking a shower. The ER doctor said it was due to not eating, being dehydrated and the hot shower. I drank exactly as much water as recommended the day before while I was drinking the Rx, and was well hydrated before that as I live on water. Also don't take very hot showers at all. But you can bet next year (I get them annually, yay me) I will drink even more and take a very tepid shower. It didn't end up being a big deal, had an EKG and chest X-ray just in case (had chest pains and was dizzy) and a full bag of IV fluid then they sent me on my way.

I don't know.. the prep made me gag and almost throw up and cry. it was horrible to me.
but I drank sips of martinelli's apple juice in between and that helped.

Are you taking other prep as well as the magnesium citrate? That's sort of like a fizzy lemonaide....

Mine wasn't bad at all, I had the stuff you mix with water. Tasted bad but I managed without even a thought of throwing up. Stayed close to a bathroom, read Harry Potter, used some gentle wipes and Vaseline and had a relatively easy time with the entire process. I ate lightly the day before the liquid diet day, which made the prep easier, as mentioned above.

Good luck, you'll get through it, and will be happy when it's over with.

Oh, and something no one ever told me that I wish I had known....you will wake up full of air. They'll be checking on you, and you're blushing because you'll have so much air from them using it during the procedure. I wasn't expecting that.

I had the stuff you mix in a jug with water both times. I found that cold was better. The only way I managed to gag it down was to drink through a straw that I positioned pretty far back in my mouth so I wouldn't have to taste the drink.

I set up camp in our downstairs bathroom and watched a movie on my laptop. Not the most pleasant experience, but not the end of the world. Necessary evil.

The procedure itself is a breeze. Before you know it, you are under, the colonoscopy is done, and you are back in recovery. I'm always tired after. Don't be surprised if your bowels are a little off for a while too.

Because you most certainly do not go lightly.

Hi miranda. My colonoscopy was 7 years ago.   I'm going to tell you this because I was very grateful that a pea had told me about it. Otherwise I truly would have been upset and concerned during the prep.

There was a LARGE volume of stuff I had to drink on a very strict schedule.  I think I had to start around 6 pm.  Possibly a bit earlier.  Our family room had a comfy recliner just steps from the powder room, and once things started happening I could not be further from the toilet than that chair.  I actually lined it with a thick plastic trash bag and an old towel on top of that, and had some really easy to lower sweatpants on.  For about an hour and a half I sat on the toilet with a TV tray in front of me.  Miserable. Trying to read or maybe do a crossword to distract myself.  

The thing that would have shocked me was the volume of liquid stool that came out over and over and over again, as well as the speed with which it did so.  The pea who shared with me likened it to a power sprayer, and that is exactly what the experience was like for me. After a few episodes of that I was very very sore.  Gauze with coconut oil on it helped somewhat.  

The colonoscopy itself was easy.  But the prep was truly difficult, at least for me and one other pea.  I hope you have a much gentler experience. And maybe the stuff they have you drink now is better.  I do remember that I was told to drink it very cold (chilled in fridge and poured over ice) and with a straw. I did that and don't remember it being all that hard to get down.  It was a large volume though.  Good luck!

I had my first Colonoscopy last fall. I had the giant gallon jug of GoLytely to drink down. A few times it made me gag. I drank mine cold as mentioned by the Peas. After every gulp I bit into a lemon. It really helped to mask the taste. I think I read about the lemon trick here on this board.

As far being tied to the bathroom. My prep worked fast after each glass, but I wasn't tied to the bathroom all day.

My last tip, get a jar of Tucks. You'll be sore from all wiping or blotting, Tucks work wonders to sooth the discomfort.

The day of the procedure, I actually watched the whole thing on the monitor. I was fine as soon as it was over. DH took me out for breakfast and I came home and slept for a couple of hours. After that I was back to normal.

For my last dose early in the morning, it came back up again. That was a horrible experience, and the same thing happened to a friend.

Yep, you'll feel better once you know and can tackle it head on. That needs a fairly restrictive diet doesn't it? One of our cookbooks (maybe for Paleo) had some that were considered FM friendly. I'd check for you, but I cut up my books to recipes we like or want to try and throw the rest away. I bet you'll feel tons better once you've found a program that works for you!

I was one of the lucky ones to get to do the two day prep because I have a history of constipation. Yay, me. So I had to mix up TWO of the giant jugs of Miralax with a gallon (or two?) of Gatorade and drink them over the course of two days. It was awful simply because of the quantity of liquid. I maybe, MAYBE drink 24-30 ounces of water or anything TOTAL in a normal day, so having to chug down that much liquid of any kind that fast was torture for me especially on top of having to be on a liquid diet those two days.

DH went somewhere while I was doing the prep and I ended up having to risk going to the store myself to get a different flavor of Gatorade the next morning because there was NO WAY after drinking a whole pitcher of one flavor that I would be able to drink any more of that flavor. It was so gross. And the citrate stuff you drink early the morning of your procedure HAS to be very, very cold. It’s disgusting. Drink it as fast as possible with a straw so you won’t have to taste it as much. 

The procedure wasn’t as bad as I imagined, but that was because I told them up front that I have white coat phobia and that I absolutely wanted to be totally knocked out for it, so that’s what they did. I was dehydrated and had to have a bag of fluid before going in because I was so light headed. My reward for surviving it was that DH took me to a bakery afterward and bought me a box of donut holes.   The man knows me so well! The best part was that I was given a clean bill of health and I don’t need to have another one for ten years. Hopefully by then they’ll have something better and less invasive for diagnosing colon cancer.