COLONOSCOPY How hard is it on you?

Hope everything goes well for you @jym626 :grinning:

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I have an (irrational) anxiety about this whole thing and have been trying to psych myself up for a year, since I turned 50. I thought the prep and IV would be the worst, but now I have no idea what I will eat for five days.

What I normally eat: yogurt with granola, walnuts, oatmeal, blueberries, apple and peanut butter, salad, burritos, chili, lentil stew, popcorn, farro, veggies, quinoa, sunflower seedsā€¦I do eat tofu and eggsā€¦sometimes chicken.

I didnā€™t realize that you canā€™t have milk in your coffee for a whole day. Holy cow :cow2: ! I live for lattes with whole milk. What is it like to subsist on broth and sugar water for 24 hours? How do people not pass out? I will need to medicate to hopefully prevent severe migraine.

I know Iā€™m being a big baby. But it just sounds so long and miserable. My grandmother had colon cancer, but not until she was 93. Her experience was like @swimcatsmom 's mother :pensive:.

I need something to keep me honest about scheduling this. @CTTC are you still looking for a colonoscopy buddy?

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Thatā€™s my question - the broth I can get behind, but mine would be veggie, and itā€™s reddish - but sugar waterā€¦No can do - how do people not pass out?

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I was deathly afraid Iā€™d be starving. But look at my list I posted above. Thereā€™s more than just broth for calories. I usually eat ~2500 calories a day, but I also typically workout for 2 hours a day. I eat 6 time a day and get zero calories from liquids. I eat them all.

I skipped my workout to decrease the number of calories I needed. My caffeine beverage of choice is Diet Coke. I could still have that, but I did limit it to just the morning/lunch. I ate lots of jello cups and drank clear Gatorade and sprite for the remainder. I made sure to get calories at least every 2 hours.

I was shocked. I was not hungry AT ALL though I admit I was a bit tired of the jello cups.

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My instruction clearly said no broth, but yes to only bouillon. Honestly, I donā€™t know the difference so I avoid it.

@3SailAway - I usually have to eat every 2-3 hours. However, my fear of colon cancer (they found pre-cancerous polyps once, benign polyps another time) has gotten me through it.

Honestly, the food on your list is a no-no for colonoscopy prep except for smooth peanut butter (not crunchy).

Egg, rice, potatoes (no skin), chicken, some cooked veggies (not all cooked veggies allowed) will get you through the 5-6 days leading to the prep days.

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Itā€™s a couple of tough days, but it is so important to do it. I got diagnosed with stage 3 rectal cancer at age 48. It was before they changed the age to 45. I so wish I had a colonoscopy earlier. It was almost 16 years ago and honestly the the effects of the treatment have posed problems for me everyday of my life since then. I can see why the woman upthread never went out. Itā€™s almost impossible to live a normal life after treatment. Also, the cancer metastasized three times into my lungs so I deal with that too.

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I drink plenty of Gatorade to keep my electrolytes up. Thatā€™s key for not passing out. But honestly I havenā€™t passing out on anything ever.

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Iā€™m sorry, @ams5796 . Thank you. I just asked my husband for contact info on the office he went to for his colonoscopy, so, I am one step into the process.

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@3SailAway youā€™ve got this! I was so afraid of being hungry. I donā€™t do well with hunger and am a highly anxious person. I thought Iā€™d fixate on it all day and be a miserable heap of a person.

I mentioned earlier but H had 3 in 18 months. He didnā€™t look good the morning of and after his first. He did much better with the second two. He said the difference was making sure he took in calories. His first he tried to fast on mostly water.

If you get the suprep liquid, his advice is to suck on a piece of hard candy while drinking it through a straw (I think using room temp water, but Iā€™m not sure on that). He swears the hard candy makes it much easier.

If H hadnā€™t had his scare with his first - no symptoms. Just a regular old 50 year old visit and found a 2.5ā€ mass that the doctor said would likely have been cancer in 6 monthsā€¦. I most definitely would have put mine off for years.

Youā€™ve got this.

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@ClassicMom98 my scare was very similar to your husbandā€™s. SO THANKFUL for that inconvenient test!!

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This sounds a lot like me, only I was worried about feeling like this all week! Iā€™m going to transfer that into worry that a 2.5ā€ mass is growing in my colon to motivate me.

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A good college friend died of anal cancer at a young age, so I am willing to put up with this prep stuff. I forgot about hard candy but done feel like going back to the store. Food foray had been pb on white bread and a cup of vanilla pudding. When I do the official prep tomorrow (ugh) I will make the stuff very cold and then use a straw Tom drink it as far
Back in my throat as possible. Thatā€™s the only was I can get through it. Bummer that the finale of the voice is tomorrow and Iā€™ll be wellā€¦ you know.

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Believe it or not, most humans can go weeks without food without passing out as long as they are consuming water.

People who do intermittent fasting often go on fasts of 36 hours to 7 days or longer.

We are conditioned to think we need to eat 3 times a day or more, but for most of human existence, humans have not had access to such quantities of food that they could eat every single day, much less several times a day. Our genetic makeup has not altered in any significant way that we canā€™t get through a short fasting period without becoming unconscious.

Itā€™s uncomfortable, sure, but itā€™s doable. Usually youā€™ll notice that after becoming extremely hungry, just when you think you canā€™t take it anymore, the feeling passes. This is normal and is a protective feature of our species. Eventually the body begins to consume our body fat-it was designed to do this in order to get through periods of famine.

People who take insulin and/or have metabolic disorders may struggle more with fasting, but in general, most of us can handle the period of fasting required to prep for a colonoscopy or other surgical procedure. We donā€™t like it and may get cranky and miserable, but absolutely most will not be in any danger of passing out.

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I was allowed to eat two scrambled eggs and white toast the morning before. After 12 noon no more solid food. I had ginger ale which was a treat, Gatorade, white grape juice, lemon jello and chicken broth.

I donā€™t do well with hunger either but I never felt famished. I got plenty of calories from all that.

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Glad that I found this thread. First colonoscopy is coming up. :grimacing:

Soliciting opinions on these two combo preps (or, pls direct me to relevant posts upthread). More cramping with either? nausea? better clean out?:

Dulcolax + Miralax

VS.

Milk of Magnesia + Miralax

Thank you!

Personally, I hate Milk of Magnesia, so that would be my second choice. YMMV.

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My doc 's office mails me a combo of pills and some liquid stuff I have to mix later. Iā€™ll check on the name.

The pills are Bisacodyl (ducolax) and the stuff to mix with the powerade stuff is Polyethylene Glycol 3350.

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We just strictly follow the GIā€™s instructions and have never had any issues.

I just did the dulcolax and Miralax. Last time I did Prepopik and I thought that was slightly easier. It was less to drink.

I had no cramping either time and only had some nausea this time when I did the second Miralax dose and it was too much liquid for me (not all of it stayed down).

I think it is key to prep 4 or so days before by following a low residue diet. Itā€™s easier to clean everything out with the laxatives that way.

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