Well, my 5 years are up and it's time for another colonoscopy.
I go and see the nurse on 10 July and will get my prep. Apparently they now give you an option of tablets (presumably Osmoprep or Visicol) or Fleet.
I can't remember what I had last time, but it was just a couple of very small bottles which I had to down with clear liquid. It was yucky, but not unbearable.
So, the question is: has anyone tried the tablets, and is there any reason not to go that way? They sound easier. They do warn of kidney problems, but I don't have any history there. They also talk about not having it if you have active colitis - mine is pretty much in remission these days. And of course, they warn it can cause an increase in IBS symptoms. It seems to be the same ingredients as Fleet, so the risks should be similar.
I figure the tablets shouldn't taste as bad.
I figure I will also take advantage of this to eat some dairy the day before I start the pre-diet. If I am going to have D anyway, I might as well enjoy it :-)
Lyn
OsmoPrep or Fleet?
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Lyn,
I believe all of those have similar risks, and they are known to cause inflammation/colitis, so it amounts to a process of "picking your poison"
I've used those, (and Golytely, also), and in each case, the results were so unpleasant that I believed the doctor or nurse when they recommended a different product the next time. Of course, to me, each one seemed worse than the last.
The worst problem with the Golytely was the sheer volume -- I was nauseated before I got halfway through that gallon.
Good luck, whatever you pick. IMO, they're all evil, so you mighty as well pick the one that you feel will minimize the misery.
Tex
I believe all of those have similar risks, and they are known to cause inflammation/colitis, so it amounts to a process of "picking your poison"
I've used those, (and Golytely, also), and in each case, the results were so unpleasant that I believed the doctor or nurse when they recommended a different product the next time. Of course, to me, each one seemed worse than the last.
The worst problem with the Golytely was the sheer volume -- I was nauseated before I got halfway through that gallon.
Good luck, whatever you pick. IMO, they're all evil, so you mighty as well pick the one that you feel will minimize the misery.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
I thought I would share a tip passed on to me by a friend who has UC. I have not tried it myself, since he didn't share it until after I had my colonoscopy. He has had several colonoscopies... and was complimented for being so clean. LOL. He used golytely prep. It calls for nothing but clear liquids the day before the procedure..and the golytely prep starting in the evening. He drank only clear liquids for 2 days before the procedure.. mostly chicken broth...and then in the evening had one glass of golytely prep. That was enough to do what needed to be done.
FWIW, when I used the Golytely, I ate nothing but clear gelatin and 7-UP or Sprite for two full weeks before the colonoscopy exam. IOW, I had cleaned out for a test just 2 weeks earlier, so I thought it would be easier to just stay clean, rather than to have to clean out again. So I ate nothing, thinking that they would allow me to skip the prep. They insisted that I drink a gallon of Golytely, anyway. When I started getting nauseated (about half-way through), I called the nurse and reminded her again that I had ingested nothing but gelatin and clear soda water for two weeks, and I asked her if I could stop at half a gallon, in order to avoid vomiting it up. She said to drink some more, but stop before vomiting.Gloria wrote:Marihabs,
Thanks for your suggestion! I wonder if anyone else has tried it. It sounds much, much easier on the gut.
Gloria
I got a total of almost 3 quarts down before the nausea became so bad that I was afraid to drink more.I was awake during the colonoscopy, and I watched the monitor screen with the doctor. Believe it or not, there were still a few gobs of crud floating around in places, that made it difficult to get a clear view -- nothing major, of course. FWIW, my symptoms were typically alternating D and C, but during those two weeks on a liquid diet, all my BMs were D, of course.
Anyway, the point is, if anyone decides to try that, whatever you do, don't tell your doctor, because if your doctor finds out that you only drank 8 or 10 ounces or so of the Golytely, my guess is that they will reschedule the exam, because that's what the nurse threatened me with, when I told her that I couldn't drink more than 2 quarts of it.
Remember, "common sense" is not the name of any of the courses taught in med school. And neither "logic" nor "compassion" are part of the curriculum for GI specialists.
Of course, they might be able to tell by looking, that someone skimped on the swamp water, because not everyone is going to end up "squeaky clean" if they only swig a glass full.Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Aww Tex...I wonder if it was the gelatin that was still floating around? I know my friend never discloses what he does to the nurses or doctor. LOL. They gave me all kinds of dire warnings about having to redo the colonoscopy as well because I left about an inch of the golytely prep in the gallon jug. I just couldn't drink anymore and my reasoning was that if my husband, who is twice my size and had his colonoscopy a year before me, had a gallon...I should be able to get by with less of the stuff..
Mary
Mary
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I have a golytely story too. I was in the hospital with a very large and very painful cyst that was causing some major problems in my body (that's why I was hospitalized). I was scheduled for surgery the next day but since they hadn't been able to figure out what the cyst was attached to, only that it needed to be removed, my system needed to be cleaned out. The nurse came to my room with a gallon of golytely and a glass and told me to drink a glass every 15 minutes or something like that. I was already very nauseous and there was simply no way I could do that. The nurse came back a while later and was very annoyed with me for not having done what I was told. I told her that I was simply too nauseous to be able to keep it down. She stomped out of the room and returned a while later with a lesser amount of something, after apparently having called the doctor to get his ok. I don't know what prep this was but I figured it would be best to try to get it down, which I managed to do. Turned out the cyst was attached to my ovary and not my intestine, so the prep was superfluous. This was one of those hospitals staffed by many unhappy people. This was in 1989 and I still get annoyed when I think of how unpleasant that whole hospital experience was, not because of my bodily troubles, but because, for the most part, the staff was very unpleasant.
Jean
Jean
Exactly! Everyone wants to go by the book, and use a one-size-fits-all approach. It's almost as if stopping to think for a second or two would hurt their brain. "lol"Mary wrote:my reasoning was that if my husband, who is twice my size and had his colonoscopy a year before me, had a gallon...I should be able to get by with less of the stuff
Jean,
The "hostile" environment you referred to really leaves a lasting impression on us, and something such as that is bound to have a major effect on our own attitude during a hospital stay. It probably even affects our recovery time. The last time I had surgery and spent almost a week in the hospital before they discharged me, I had some very nice nurses, for the most part. Out of a couple dozen in all, only three of them stuck in my memory:
One was too busy gabbing with anyone who would listen, so she didn't have time to take care of her patients
One was always in a bad mood, and repeatedly told me all the things that she was going to do to help make me more comfortable, but she never actually did anything.
On the other hand, one was so incredibly pleasant and worked so efficiently to make sure that everything was done right, and with a minimum amount of hassle, that she made all the rest of the nurses seem like the Wicked Witch of the West.
The doctors were all pleasant and efficient, but otherwise unremarkable (not that there's anything bad about that).
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
I took Moviprep and thought i was going to die. It was overkill on the clean out, in my opinion. Interesting that they say they are #1 most prescribed and best tolerated!
MOVIPREP is a well-tolerated, low-volume polyethylene glycol (PEG) bowel prep. MOVIPREP has been proven more tolerable than 4-L preparations, with less nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain, and 9 out of 10 patients would take MoviPrep again for their next procedure.
DO NOT USE NULYTELY!!!
I used this last fall and felt like I was going to die!! I have never been so sick in my life and had the worst chills and uncontrollable shakes ever, not to mention puking. It got so bad that just putting the liquid in my mouth made the previous glasses I drank come back up. What a waste! I didn't even come close to finishing the whole bottle and stressed that I wouldn't be able to have the procedure done the next morning. I did have the colonoscopy and the camera shots look clean but I did omit all the drama because I was not going to be turned away because I knew I simply would not do it again. It's a good thing it worked out because I had a polyp removed (pre-cancerous). A chill runs up my spine even thinking about it now and I get to do it again in 3 years.
The GI's do lack a sense of humor though- my then 16 yr old had a colonoscopy last summer, I had one in the fall, and I convinced my husband to have his first later that fall (all from the same GI)..... when I asked if we got the buy two get one free deal I barely even got a chuckle. I guess when you deal with as much SH** as we do, you have to have a sense of humor.
I used this last fall and felt like I was going to die!! I have never been so sick in my life and had the worst chills and uncontrollable shakes ever, not to mention puking. It got so bad that just putting the liquid in my mouth made the previous glasses I drank come back up. What a waste! I didn't even come close to finishing the whole bottle and stressed that I wouldn't be able to have the procedure done the next morning. I did have the colonoscopy and the camera shots look clean but I did omit all the drama because I was not going to be turned away because I knew I simply would not do it again. It's a good thing it worked out because I had a polyp removed (pre-cancerous). A chill runs up my spine even thinking about it now and I get to do it again in 3 years.
The GI's do lack a sense of humor though- my then 16 yr old had a colonoscopy last summer, I had one in the fall, and I convinced my husband to have his first later that fall (all from the same GI)..... when I asked if we got the buy two get one free deal I barely even got a chuckle. I guess when you deal with as much SH** as we do, you have to have a sense of humor.
Well, that's done.
I went with tablets - Diacol. 32 tablets all up.
The process is a low residue diet (chicken, dairy) on day1, then just clear liquids on day 2. Late arvo I started the pills.
You take 4 tablets with a big glass of water and repeat at 15 minute intervals for the first 20 tablets. The action started about 3 hours after the first tablet. Then about 2 hours later it had run it's course and I could go to bed. This morning I had to get up early to start the second round - 4 tablets x 3 times. This time they started acting before I'd even had the second set.
The doc reported no polyps or other signs of trouble, and took a number of biopsies. I'll have to wait to get those results. That was this morning, and I am still having just occasional watery D. Tired and listless - so I spent the arvo watching junk TV
I would definitely recommend the tablets. The nurse says she won't give them to oldies or anyone she suspects won't drink enough fluid, or with a history of kidney problems. Or with a phobia about tablets - they are big and four at a time is a lot. They taste incredibly salty, so I found it best to down them quickly without letting them linger on the tongue at all. Yes they give you watery D - that is the idea. But I honestly didn't find it much of a problem. No cramping - if anything I had to pay attention to make sure I raced to the loo as the urge wasn't strong. I did find I was feeling chilled - but it was a cold night here and I have hot/cold flushes anyway, so it wasn't a big deal.
Now to wait for the biopsy results.
BTW, the Doc agreed with me that LC would be found more often if they did more biopsies - he reckons 10%. But I'll bet he doesn't do it anyway.
Lyn
I went with tablets - Diacol. 32 tablets all up.
The process is a low residue diet (chicken, dairy) on day1, then just clear liquids on day 2. Late arvo I started the pills.
You take 4 tablets with a big glass of water and repeat at 15 minute intervals for the first 20 tablets. The action started about 3 hours after the first tablet. Then about 2 hours later it had run it's course and I could go to bed. This morning I had to get up early to start the second round - 4 tablets x 3 times. This time they started acting before I'd even had the second set.
The doc reported no polyps or other signs of trouble, and took a number of biopsies. I'll have to wait to get those results. That was this morning, and I am still having just occasional watery D. Tired and listless - so I spent the arvo watching junk TV
I would definitely recommend the tablets. The nurse says she won't give them to oldies or anyone she suspects won't drink enough fluid, or with a history of kidney problems. Or with a phobia about tablets - they are big and four at a time is a lot. They taste incredibly salty, so I found it best to down them quickly without letting them linger on the tongue at all. Yes they give you watery D - that is the idea. But I honestly didn't find it much of a problem. No cramping - if anything I had to pay attention to make sure I raced to the loo as the urge wasn't strong. I did find I was feeling chilled - but it was a cold night here and I have hot/cold flushes anyway, so it wasn't a big deal.
Now to wait for the biopsy results.
BTW, the Doc agreed with me that LC would be found more often if they did more biopsies - he reckons 10%. But I'll bet he doesn't do it anyway.
Lyn
Lyn,
It's good to see that everything went well. Thanks for the report on the prep. It appear to be one of the better options.
It will be interesting to see what the pathology report shows.
Tex
It's good to see that everything went well. Thanks for the report on the prep. It appear to be one of the better options.
It will be interesting to see what the pathology report shows.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.