<p>jshain - Wow - If that happened to me I would have felt justified for turning into a B$@CH. That might be second only to messing with one of my kids!</p>
<p>Iâve had two and used the pills both time. I swear by them. You donât have to begin until 4 p.m. and the worst is over by 10. It went a lot easier the second time when I realized I had the whole time between the pills to finish the 8 oz. and didnât have to do it all in the first 5 mn. </p>
<p>The nurse at the hospital told me that colonoscopies are the one procedure people hardly ever cancel if thereâs bad weather. They donât want to have to redo the prep. </p>
<p>Has any had a virtual colonoscopy? Theyâre advertising those heavily around here now. Still have to do the prep, but you donât have to be out, and I assume are fully functional.</p>
<p>^^^^True, but if they find any polyps, you will have to go back and have a regular colonoscopy. At my facility (and we do around 50 to 60 cases a day), patients with no polyps are the minority. Iâd rather just get it over with-if no polyps, you wonât have to come back for 10 years, so itâs still all good.</p>
<p>Lots of good advice on this thread!</p>
<p>I had the type of prep where you have to dilute some powder into a gallon of water. My doctor said I could use Crystal Lite instead of the flavor powder provided, and that worked well. Just donât use cherry or brown (tea) varieties. Lemon lime is the best. </p>
<p>Also, eat lightly for a couple of days beforehand. Vegetables (especially raw ones) take long to digest, so this is the one time in your life you can pass on eating salad and not feel bad about it! :)</p>
<p>By the way, my doc said to avoid any colored drinks, especially red, as it makes it more difficult to see things on the inside.</p>
<p>Also, be choosy in what you are watching on t.v. while prepping. The stuff that I had seemed especially vile, and I nearly lost it when they started eating slugs on âFear Factorâ.</p>
<p>â-if no polyps, you wonât have to come back for 10 years, so itâs still all good.â</p>
<p>My insurance allows a colonoscopy once every 5 years, with no polyps, and one every 3 years if there are polyps. I would have the procedure done at least every 5 years IF your insurance allows you to.</p>
<p>Iâm going to keep reading these threads and waiting, until several people in a row and "the prep was great! I loved it! Canât wait to do it again!</p>
<p>My insurance sent me a mail in stool sample kit⊠I guess they are tired of waiting.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Iâd feel bad. I canât live without my salads.</p>
<p>I was told to eat low fiber foods for 2 days before the prep began. That was very difficult as I am a fiber-lover.</p>
<p>The prep was ducolax and a powder mixed with gatorade 4 hours later. It was not pleasant but not terrible.</p>
<p>During the procedure, I was given propofol, but no narcotic because of my tendency toward nausea. Afterward, the nurse told me that I woke up â4 or 5 timesâ and later numerous medical people came by to ask how I was doing. I must have made a scene or something. </p>
<p>So glad I had no memory of the procedure and interruptions. Went home and slept all afternoon. Had quite a headache for hours. And an unnatural yen for macaroni and cheese.</p>
<p>One small polyp found and I will be back in 5 years.</p>
<p>I second the âholding your nose while you swallowâ strategy. I think I followed each gulp of solution with a swig of root beer, as the carbonation seemed to help me. Mine was a few years ago, but I remember I had to drink something called âhalf-lytelyâ which was a lot less than my husbandâs âgo-lytelyâ!</p>
<p>I would strongly recommend trying to get an appt. as early in the day as possible. Mine wasnât until mid-afternoon, and it was hard to go the entire day without eating. I remember lying in the prep-room area before my procedure, listening to some of the staff talk about what they were going to eat before dinner and pleading with them to talk about something else! </p>
<p>For those who are concerned about anesthesia, as has already been recommended, just be sure to talk to the anesthesiologist if you have had problems with nausea in the past. Mine gave me just enough to put me under. I donât know exactly what he gave me, but I remember feeling really GREAT (totally happy and relaxed) for a few hours after the procedure!</p>
<p>Shrinkrap, I doubt that anyone is going to tell you itâs a fantastic experience. 
But it wasnât anywhere near as bad as I had anticipated, and now itâs done! I got the 10-year pass, and my doctor said I may never have to have another one, as researchers are trying to develop a blood test.</p>
<p>Regarding the prep, I also refrigerated the gunk which helped with the taste, but gave me brain freeze after a while since I was guzzling the stuff. Gatorade finally came to the rescue; Iâd take a swig of the gunk and then chase it with Gatorade, back and forth until Iâd taken my dose. </p>
<p>During the liquids-only phase, I got really sick of jello and tea until I remembered that we had some vegetable bouillion cubes which I dissolved in boiling water. It gave me a taste of savory and almost made me feel like I was having dinner, plus it provided hydration. </p>
<p>Speaking of which, my doctor really stressed being well-hydrated for the procedure. He said that if youâre not optimally hydrated, they canât give you as much anesthesia. That was enough to convince me!</p>
<p>The sedation was actually pleasant for me; I drifted under and then drifted out again when it was over. The only thing I remember was feeling cramping at one point, just for a second, and the next thing I knew they were wheeling me out. D took me home (I was required to provide the name and number of my ride before they checked me in), and she said I was giggly and loopy during the ride. I remember feeling very relaxed, and made her stop at Carls Jr to get me a burger.</p>
<p>Tucks were my best friend that day. :)</p>
<p>The Miralex in gatorade is tasteless which is a big point in its favor. All you taste is the gatorade.</p>
<p>Joining in this thread as I had my first colonoscopy done about a month ago. I was several years overdue, and my doc was getting really annoyed that I had put it off so long. Fortunately, the results were fine â no polyps or anything out of the ordinary. </p>
<p>Re: prep â mine was the same as idadâs; 4 Ducolax tablets + Miralax mixed with Crystal Lite Lemonade. It tasted fine, but after about the 3rd glass, I started feeling slightly nauseaus. Could have been a lot worse, I guess. I donât remember a thing, which was just fine with me. The intestinal gas took a little longer to get rid of, so I was in a fair amount of pain for a while when I woke up. But, as the saying goes, allâs well that ends well. Iâm glad I donât have to do it again for 10 years, though.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>It also makes getting the IV started a little harder if you are dehydrated. The problem is, when you have been âeliminatingâ all day, AND we donât let you have anything to eat or drink after midnight before the procedure, itâs difficult for many to get âoptimally hydrated.â</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Probably not. The propofol syringe is left attached to the IV tubing. You probably woke and begin to stir, so they just pushed a little more propofol and you would go right back to sleep. They donât give you enough time to âmake a scene.â :)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Iâve had ONE patient tell me âit wasnât bad at all!â The best I usually hear is that it wasnât as bad as they anticipated. </p>
<p>But Iâll be honest, most people say it sucked. I wish they would come up with a âkinder, gentlerâ way to do this. We can always hope.:)</p>
<p>10 years ago, I had the Sigmoidoscopy, I guess the prep is the same for both. I wish I had the Colon oneâs as its more comfortable and less stressful on the procedure.</p>
<p>^Sigmoidoscopy is not as thorough as a Colonoscopy and can not check the Colon at the uppermost region. The Kaiser health plan used to only do Sigmoids because they were less expensive. If you belong to Kaiser and have not had a Colonoscopy there, Iâd say colon cancer just appeared in the family. That may be the only way you get one approved at Kaiser. A close family friend developed Colon cancer that would have been detected early had they had routine Colonoscopy rather than just Sigmoidoscopy procedures.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Well, he doesnât post, but my husband would probably say that. Maybe not the canât wait part, but he swears that there is something nice about feeling totally cleaned out. Like some kind of physiological spring cleaning. Itâs weird.</p>
<p>Anesthesiologist here- long retired. Nrdsb4 giving excellent advice and information. A balancing act optimizing best procedure conditions and patient comfort/safety. Hydration helps. And everyone is a different mix of size and physiology. Do be honest about your alcohol consumption- that affects how much sedative is needed, as can any other dietary supplements and OTC stuff.</p>
<p>Boy folks- weâre starting to get old. Just wait until we hit the nursing home and spend even more of our time discussing our medical proceduresâŠ</p>
<p>^^^Dr. Wis, Can you explain the difference between anesthesia and a sedative? </p>
<p>During my first Colonoscopy I had an anesthesiologist put me under. It was perfect. I woke up toward the end of the procedure and watched the doctor remove some polyps. I was pain-free and immediately afterward went to Costco with my wife to do some shopping. The second and third times (same office on nos. two and three but with different doctors) the doctor administered a sedative. I donât remember a thing during these last two procedures and it took me two to three days for my head to feel normal once again, something that didnât occur during my first Colonoscopy. As I said in a previous post, I got a bad case of nausea on my third go-round just when they started the IV. They changed me to another sedative, but when I woke I still had the symptoms- only worse. The anti-nausea injection post-procedure didnât help either.</p>