Colonoscopy prep and enema

That was not my experience but I was asked if I had clearly voided. I followed the prep instructions completely; it was no issue and all went smoothly. I did observe, however, another male patient being ordered to receive a bag enema. He was in the bay next to me and apparently tried to get away with an inadequate prep. I should also mention that a DRE was done prior to me be sedated after I had undressed, had my temp taken, bp taken, and then a DRE. They were not kidding about being empty.

I have a colonoscopy every year and have had 13 so far and do them with no drugs , there has never been a DRE or an enema done at the hospital prior to but i always hold out hope !

I have a colonoscopy every year

Why every year?

Every year @Annie2, WOW. Mine are every 5 years because my Mom died from complications from colon cancer. I read the paper work that the endo folks send me and it definitely says "...enemas may be given" but as you, I never have gotten one either. I hold out hope too, though. I have often thought about asking how and why they are given but never have. I am such a coward. Here's hope for you.

@TheBriannaYouCrave

you got high went the laxative kik or when you take the enema?

Guess I have been getting colonoscopies fr too long!!! Before my first one(in the early'80's) I had to take a strong laxative the night before The next morning I was given a soap-bisacodyl enema . Lately the routine seems to be that awful large volume laxative that keeps you going forever. I usually give myself a good soapsuds enema anyway. but then, I always enjoy a good enema!!!

My 80 year old parents just had colonoscopies. They' were told "Congratulations! No more colonoscopies needed after 80"

I had enema for flexible sigmoidoscopy only. For colonoscopy i made the cleansing of the large bowel with a salty PEG 3550 solution which was solved with 1 litre water and i took it the day before and the the morning of the examination. I had to drink 4 litre clear fluids like mineral water, apple juice, tea or coffee at the day before and 1 litre at the morning.

For sigmoidoscopy the enema was given in the surgery half an hour before endoscopy by a nurse in the examination room. I had to take off my pants and panties and to lay down on the table, draping the lower body with a big towel, the nurse came in and i should turn on the left side and bent the knees to the waist. She removed the towel , opended the cheek and lubricated the anus and pushed the enema into my rectum. She drapped me again with the towel and i had to lay on my left side for 20 minutes. Then i went to the toilet being at the examination room and emptied my rectum. Then i layed back on the examination table, draping with the towel, the nurse came in again with the doctor i had to turn around on the left side again, she moved the towel through my legs to drape my genitals and the examination began.

I was given a gallon cocktail to drink. It took a day and a half to finish, with frequent and painful toilet trips. That was the worst part. The colonoscopy was carefully done by an internist and his team. There was a small polyp removal which was sent to the lab and determined to be benign.

I've had a number of colonospies and had to drink the nasty stuff to start out with. Most of the time it was barely adequate and once I had to go home because I wasn't cleaned out at all. That time, the stuff I had to drink (I think it was Golytely). There came a point where I couldn't drink anymore and couldnt keep it down. The next time, I was given a bottle of castor oil. That was awful. I'm sure it cleaned me out, but didn't take any chances and took a 2qt soapsuds enema to be sure ( was not in the instrucyions). Dr was pleased and have done that every time since even though the castor oil twisted my guts inside out.

I am on a three-year cycle for colonoscopy since I have a history on both sides of my family, and I have had polyps removed during the last three procedures. Last Friday I had my most recent colonoscopy at the same endo facility as three years ago. Before that procedure, I was deemed to be inadequately prepped and after some discussion with the doctor and nurse supervisor I was administered two 1500ml saline enemas there in the facility. Then the procedure proceeded.

Because I am difficult to clean out and my 'inadequate prep' for previous procedures I have been told to take a tap-water enema after the last bowel movement and again two hours before leaving home. This year I did the Dulcolax/Miralax prep (wretched stuff) as well as the enemas and still was not very clear. They did the procedure, but since I do not take sedation I got to see a lot of poop still stuck in places in the colon.

The same nurse I had three years ago was my nurse again this year and she remembered me as the guy who 'wanted big enemas instead of Fleets.' After the procedure she asked if I followed the prep and took the enemas since I still had a bit of stool present. I told her I did and she said next time use some soapsuds instead of tap water since it washes your colon like soap in dishwater.

I have not had a medical person recommend soapsuds enemas since I was a teenager - many years ago! This nurse was 50-ish and maybe she trained when this was more common.

The best news was that I was polyp free for the first time in many years!

I have been having Colonoscopies every 5 years or so since I was in my early 40’s. The first was because of blood in my stool from an annual exam and I have a family history of colon disease.

The first one I had had three options for prep. The first was golytely, the second was enemas til clear, and the thord was called “the apple juice prep”. This was in the late 80’s.

My wife had tried the golytely prep years ago, and it made her sick, I tried a little and new I wouldn’t tolerate it. I opted for the enemas til-clear. It was simple and just consisted of a clear liquid diet, an enema before bed, and 3 enemas in the morning/ I got good grades for prep. I wasn’t a diebetic then so the clear liquids were easy.

The next one was with a different Dr. and the doctor and I came up with a custom prep which included Mag citrate, enemas, and a final enema just before the procedure. Once again I got good grades for being completely cleaned out.

The third one was at ha famous local hospital and I brought in a visiting nurse service to do the enemas. This Dr. had his nurse give me a final fleets just before the procedure. She had me bend over with my elbows resting on the sink for the administration. She wanted me to hold it for ten minutes while sitting on the toilet. I told her I probably could not do that and just stood next to the toilet.

By the time I ready for my next one I had settled a clinic and with the urging of my wife I accepted the oral prep. There were far more options then. I settled on fleet phosphosoda because of the low volume. It didn’t work and the morning of the exam I was calling the office and the nursing service for help. The only help my doctors office being cleaned was to take more phosphosoda or re-schedule which was not going to work. So I got out my old enema bag and went at it. I got average grades for being cleaned out.

So since that time I have tried two more oral preps, none of which have proved satisfactory. One hardly worked at all. I always defaulted to multiple enemas. The last time they chewed me out saying that the multiple enemas caused musous to form making visualization difficult.

I’m about to schedule my next one and I honestly don’t know what to do. I am now on Ozempic and my diabetes is well controlled, but I am constipated all the time. So I think I will have to work with the clinic to figure it out. When I arrived for my last procedure, there was a chart on the wall with all the commercial preps available. When I examined it I realized that I had tried all of them with dismal results. Oh well I still have my enema bag.

It is nothing complicated for me. Three days of nothing but clear gelatin to eat and no less than quantity of plain water to drink along with some tablets. No other type of food or drink. The day before the test there is a bottle of stuff to drink, The shitty gelatin and water pour out for hours.

It has been an every second year thing for me since I was thirteen so there have been a few.

No enemas are required or any fancy dramatics.

The test is straightforward. Lay on the table and be positioned however while a probe with a camera goes up my bum and records my insides.

I did have a couple before the camera where I had a honking great metal nozzle inserted. It stayed in for the whole test. I was filled with grey stuff that went all over me while I was upside down. I had a bath with the technician then was pumped full of air and had a long metal tube slowly put up me while I was upside down. It was more fun than the camera.

No sedation or anything like that has ever been offered or required. Just an in-and-out thing.

I had quite a few colonoscopies in past 10 year. The last one previous week. No enemas as prep ever. No solids diet and oral laxative only.

Had one last year. Oral laxative leaves nothing behind. Enema was never mentioned. The 50 gallons of water in the laxative I drank probably helped too. They also tried to stick a needle in my arm to give me some happy juice. I declined. Americans can be such pansies at times.

They also tried to stick a needle in my arm to give me some happy juice. I declined. Americans can be such pansies at times.

I've had two, from two different doctors at two different facilities and neither would perform the procedure without sedation.

They claim its more comfortable for the patient and there's no moving around during the procedure. Of course, the cynic in me says they can charge another thousand dollars for the anesthesia.

Either way, I think unsedated colonoscopies are an exceedingly rare thing in America.

The 80 and out program for coloniscopies certainly fits my bill. The copious amounts of the awful cool aid are now a thing in the past. it was impossible to get past it without gagging.