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Colonoscopy
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Anonymous
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I'm going in for one tomorrow. Any advice on what to expect (other than something in my butt). Do they put me to sleep? The doctor said they would but the paperwork says "lite sedative". Will I be in pain afterwards? I wasn't freaking out about it until this morning when I woke up and knew it was the day that I couldn't eat anything, which has made me unbelievably crabby.
Any tips or suggestions to get through this? How was your experience? |
Anonymous
Oh, the prep is the worst part by far. Different places may use different sedation, but they put me to "sleep" (or more specifically gave me something that made me not remember the procedure). Whatever it was, I liked it.  Usually I hate coming out of anesthesia, but this was fine. No pain, no nothing. Just some "lovely" pictures to put in your home file.
Have a variety of liquids to eat and drink for the prep. They get boring really quickly. |
Anonymous
I've already had black coffee, chicken broth, and apple juice  I'm starving and cranky now. I start the ducolax and noon, does it all go down hill from there? How bad will my trips to the bathroom be today? I'm terrified of drinking the crap I need to take this afternoon.
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Anonymous
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not the pp, but agree, the prep is by far the worst part. I was in no pain and dont remember a thing from the procedure. there are typically 2 types of sedation - either they'll put you under, under supervision of an anesthesiologist (using propofol), or if they dont have an anesthesiologist they'll use "conscious sedation," which is a painkiller and narcotic combination. The first you'll be totally out; the second, you'll be 'conscious,' but totally narced up and feeling groovy. Dont worry either way.
you can eat jello as long as it's not red, blue or purple, have popsicles and gumdrops (same color issues), and suck on lemon drops (the brachs kind), which I highly recommend for after drinking the nastiness. you will have many trips to the bathroom - have some good magazines in there, and use soft TP! - but I was pleasantly surprised that the BMs were not painful like they usually are with laxatives (the cramping, etc). Hang in there, it will be over tomorrow. |
Anonymous
Prep is far and away the worst part. The only pain you may have afterwards is eating too much, too fast. |
Anonymous
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I'm something of a colonoscopy EXPERT, having had 2 dozen of them over the last 20 years (Chron's Disease, if you must know why).
The prep is the worst part. I'm assuming that since they gave you the Dulcolax pills, that you either are doing the small bottle of liquid laxative or a half gallon (half-lightly)? Either way, it's better than Golightly, which is a full gallon of foul tasting liquid. My suggestions on prep: finish the bottle of whatever laxative it is as quickly as the instructions say, so you can start the poop process and have it be over with as soon as possible. Have either chicken broth (warm) in a mug or white cranberry juice nearby when drinking each glass of laxative to use as a chaser. (Helps immensely). Eat chicken broth, jello and popsicles throughout the day to stave off hunger (the mix of salty broth followed by sweet jello or popsicle mimics a meal, and helps a little with the hunger). Have lots of reading material in the bathroom to take your mind off of how long you're in there. KEEP HYDRATED. Even though you're drinking seemingly all day, the laxative is dehydrating. Test itself: Really, it's not a big deal. You'll be sedated enough that there will be absolutely no pain (you may be asleep, you may not, but there will be no pain). If you're at any time uncomfortable, say so and the anesthesiologist will give you more meds. Enjoy the nap. Oh, you may want to ask your doc whether they will leave in a tube (yeah, I know...gross) after the test (to leave in while you're in the recovery room) to help eliminate the air that they'll be pumping in (helps with gas/bloating later). They'll be impressed that a first-timer thought to ask. The tube easily gets pulled out when you're ready to get dressed to go home. After the test: take it easy. You'll feel fine, maybe drowsy. You'll be really hungry, but don't overdo it right away. You'll be sorry if you do. If you didn't get a tube left in during recovery, you may be pretty gassy/bloated, but that will subside in a few hours or overnight. Good luck, you'll be fine. |
Anonymous
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Be warned: you will be a giant fart bomb afterward! Seriously; uncontrollable.
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Anonymous
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The taste of the prep liquid was the worst part for me. The actual pooping wasn't crampy or painful in any way. Just "peeing" out my butt.
Just get a good show ready on your ipod or a book and prepare for lot's of bathroom time. |
Anonymous
| PP from 14:23: "fart bomb" is controllable if you get the tube like the PP from 11:02 suggested. |
Anonymous
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OP here, I had to eat a cracker. I feel like I'm going to vomit and I had to get something in my mouth that was solid. One cracker
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Anonymous
| Okay, now that my a$$ is RAW and on fire what do I do? I am still looking at another bottle of magnesium citrate that I'm probably not taking because I will throw up, I am still hitting the bathroom every 5 minutes and I am in pain down there, it feels like I am crapping acid. What the heck do I do? |
Anonymous
| Sorry, OP. My doc was clear that the goal wasn't to drink everything, but to make sure you were 'pooping' basically clear liquid with a few flecks in it. If you're doing that, you can stop. good luck. |
Anonymous
| OP - How'd it go? How's your a$$? |
Anonymous
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PP with a lot of info from before here:
I apologize that I missed that step, as I don't usually have the "taco butt" syndrome that's well documented. Vasaline or A&D or Balmex would have done the trick. |
Anonymous
Procedure went well, my a$$ is not doing so well. OUCH! |