Colonoscopy Prep, Experiences and Tips

I have read articles that note that doctors opt out of drugs for the procedure. I've also seen more than one article that shows it saves the facility money because a drugged patient takes longer to recover and free up a bed than does a non-drugged patient. Saves an average of 30-60 minutes per patient.

But money is the least of my concerns. I'm a knowledge working. I learn something new every day and if I have trouble retaining it, nobody dies but, it frustrates me and can avoid it.

My family has no history of colon cancer. No history of mental degeneration. Most of my relatives that lived beyond accidents and self-inflicted problems, live to be upper 80s with sharp minds to the end. I wish to continue the trend and better it if possible.

I've also read that many doctors do not take Versed. Imagine loosing the 2nd year of med school.

Time? They can let you recover on a gurney in the hallway. The money is in the procedure room, both for the facility and especially the doctor. I don't know what a doctor earns per procedure, but I'm sure it's substantial. One or two less a day because they have to work slower on someone who's awake and aware is a chunk of change.

I have a question: Other than the obvious prep, what else has anyone done? Did anyone (males mostly) shave their bums and groom the boys?

I did have my consultation last week. Got an appointment toward the end of June and the doc agreed to do it without drugs due to my previous experience with versed and propofol.

No, there is no other preparation needed and doctors and staff just don't give a shit (pun intended). You're a slab of meat to them. That's why they like the drugs, then you act like a slab of meat.

Has anyone had a physical exam of any kind during an initial pre-colonoscopy appointment with the gastro doctor? When I made the initial appointment recently to see the doctor before the colonoscopy is scheduled, the clinic website said that the doctor would do a history and physical exam during the initial appointment. This is a gastro clinic only so it was unexpected to have a physical exam mentioned. Until I read that, I assumed that this initial appointment was just a short meet and greet with the doctor to go over my medical history. The big concern I would think would be whether the patient had any prior anesthesia problems. A doctor can also get a general idea of whether a patient is healthy or not just by looking at them.

I had a colonoscopy at a different clinic years ago and I don't even remember an initial appointment with a doctor before the colonoscopy. I might have met with a nurse a few weeks before the colonoscopy because I received instructions on the prep somehow although I could have received the prep instructions in the mail and never had any initial appointment. I met the doctor only as I was being wheeled into the colonoscopy and he said very little.

Anyone had an actual physical exam by the gastro doctor during the initial pre-colonscopy appointment? If so, what was involved?

Yes, for my last one. They didn't even demand an appointment before the procedure, but I did. I want to meet a doctor before they perform an elective procedure on me. The exam was less than 30 seconds of abdominal palpation through my clothes.

For previous colonoscopies, the first was the result of problems, so I had a more extensive exam including DRE. The next two were routine screening exams, so it was only a meet and greet with the new doctor, no physical beyond vitals by the nurse.

At each colonoscopy, the procedure starts with a DRE just to make sure there's no obstruction and to introduce some lube.

After the two preps I went through there would never be an obstruction. If I stood in front of a bright window with my mouth open, sunlight would be shining out my ass. 😁

Have had three or four so far. The prep is the worst part. Have never taken any anesthesia as for me it is a piece of cake. Love watching the procedure on the screen. Have had a few polyps removed with no pain. Very quick procedure around five minutes long. Nothing to fear very uneventful.

Yes, I had my consult a few weeks ago. It was vitals and listening to my guts along with any surgical history and why I didn't want drugs.

Tueday I can not take any blood thinners or NSAIDS. I don't take them normally and Tylenol is OK. Then next Saturday I can't eat anything with skins or seeds. I'll probably continue my usual Saturday enema routine which should prime the pump for a good flush with the nasty stuff on Monday.

The following Monday is a light breakfast then only liquids that are not red or purple. No juices with pulp. At noon is the first dose of prep. Second at 6PM. Procedure the following day, Tuesday at 10 without drugs.

@botox Do yourself a favor and eat a low residue diet next weekend. As we age, things slow down. Make your gut have less to do. For the clear liquids part of the process, I went to my favorite Vietnamese restaurant and got Pho broth only and brought it home. It was a MUCH better choice than usual Gatorade (although I drank that, too)

They actually called last evening and reminded me of the rules, no NSAIDS starting today.

I'm still go for no drugs!

Today starts the no seeds and no skinned foods portion. I don't eat a lot of anything with skins, maybe an apple slice here and there but I'm not going to have any. We'll see how it goes. Also eating lighter starting today and drinking no red, purple fluids.

I've got my prep all laid out and bought green jello, chicken broth, and green & clear gatorade to help wash it all down and out.

I'm going to take my enemas this morning to flush out anything I can ahead of time. May not make a difference but I can't see where it will hurt either.

72 hours and counting!

Botox some tips for a colonscopy without sedation .

The most uncomfortable/painful part of the procedure occurs when the need to pass the colonoscope around the bends in the large intestine , as the colonoscope gets coiled and is not straight . These areas are the sigmoid colon, the splenic flexure and hepatic flexure. In addition as the pump the CO2 in to dilate the bowel for passage of the colonoscope it can result in abdominal cramping .

Changing position from LT sided lying to lying on your back ( sunbathing position ) can help aid the passage of the colonoscope as well as sigmod, splenic and hepatic pressure. A good endoscopist with use all of the above to help ease the passage of the scope and alliviate the discomfort caused.

In addition use of a scope guide will help the endoscopist navigate throught the large bowel until they reach the ileocecal valve and possible intubation into the TI ( Terminal Ileum ).

You will also be instructed to pass the air out ( for terms of a better expression pass gas ) this also helps to alliviate the discomfort .It is a good idea to try and use the loo post procedure to help pass the gas out .

Afterwards some peppermint tea will help dissipate the gas trapped in the bowel.

I know I should avoid this thread, but I keep getting sucked back...

RN1993 - would this be something I should "file away" and practice before a colonoscopy so that I would remember it even if the Dr. doesn't?

I know I should avoid this thread, but I keep getting sucked back...

RN1993 - would this be something I should "file away" and practice before a colonoscopy so that I would remember it even if the Dr. doesn't?

Which part? The farting? Just give up on being polite and let it rip. You're not in control of anything else.

Which part? The farting? Just give up on being polite and let it rip. You're not in control of anything else.

No - the moving around and swapping positions. Not so much because they'd be hard to get into but so that I would remember it as an option if the doctor didn't bring it up.

It would be a bad choice for you to move without direction. Movement is a tool for the doctor, not for you - except minor changes to arm and leg position. If necessary, they may ask you to move. Remember that most of the time, they're working on sedated people who may or may not be able to follow directions. In those cases, the nurses will assist in repositioning.

I had something called pre-opik (or something along that line. I packet the night before mixed with 8 ounces of water. Stir for 3 minutes. The nurse was adamant in stressing 3 minutes so it would be totally resolved and mixed. Tasted like diet orange soda with no fizz. No after taste and not bad at all. Then drink 4, if I remember correctly, 12 ounces of water within 2 hrs. I didn't have to run to the crapper and camp in there. Which kind of scared me, you know how the mind plays tricks! lol because I then thought I had some sort of blockage. Went to be and had to get up 4 hrs before the procedure. Again mix the stuff and drink 2 12 ounce glasses of water and within about an hr did I make a dash and had a hell of a "blow out!" that was pretty much it. Couple of times went back (never trust a fart) and had a couple of wet farts and that was it. Procedure is a piece of cake. All was clean and clear and I don't have to go back for 10 years. Don't sweat the procedure. It was a piece of cake. My Dr. Was GREAT! and for God sakes don't be an ass and want to be awake. That's what drugs are for! Left the hospital and stopped for breakfast. Came home and continued for basically a normal day. Although the "Warden" left for work and took my truck keys (your not supposed to drive) but hell I was out cutting grass and cleaning up leaves and stuff. Piece of cake! Just do it, IT MIGHT SAVE YOUR LIFE!

@musicman5360 "for God sakes don't be an ass and want to be awake. That's what drugs are for!"

You may want to review the thread before making ignorant comments about the sedation. Some of us have had awful reactions to the sedation. That's why we are talking about going drug free. I've done 4 without drugs, no problems until the last one due to lack of physician skill.

It would be a bad choice for you to move without direction. Movement is a tool for the doctor, not for you - except minor changes to arm and leg position. If necessary, they may ask you to move. Remember that most of the time, they're working on sedated people who may or may not be able to follow directions. In those cases, the nurses will assist in repositioning.

I guess the takeaway would be "remember to ask about changing positions if it gets uncomfortable."

That and "don't expect that the doctor will be malevolent" (something I do have a problem with for medical staff I don't know. I expect them to be a sort of agglomeration of all the bad experiences I've had or have heard of for some reason), and most of all "don't worry about it for the next 5-8 years because it shouldn't be an issue".

and for God sakes don't be an ass and want to be awake. That's what drugs are for!

Second JDS4med's comments. Last time I had something done I was given some Versed - probably so I "wouldn't worry" or something similar, but no one bothered to explain exactly why. That was closer to dementia then I ever want to be again (for DAYS), there may have been permanent issues (but, of course, I can't prove it was the Versed), I could have been seriously injured or killed, and there's no damn way I'm letting it happen again, ever.

Actually, no. Your comfort is secondary to the safety and efficiency (safety involved here, too) of the procedure. Repositioning is to move internal organs out of the way or adjust the bends in the colon to assist the doctor in navigation.

For example, you'll start on your left side. This means that gravity is pulling your liver to your left, changing the shape of the hipatic flexure. The doctor may want you on your back or right to change this situation. He'll ask you to move if he thinks it'll help. He needs to maintain situational awareness in relation to the orientation of the scope in your colon. IOW, don't move without direction.

The prep is worse than the test. Everyone makes this test out to be something unexplainable. I have never taken any of the anesthesia as the procedure is nothing. Like I said the preparation is more discomforting than the test. Anesthesia is for worse for you than any discomfort one might experience during the test. No pain or discomfort for me but maybe that is me.

JDS4med - just remembered that you recently went through the process, set up no-sedation, and it didn't work out but it seemed to be an OK experience and the doctor didn't "take it out on you" somehow, so again it probably isn't worth worrying about, especially now.

I would be very interested in finding out details of your method to find and interview doctors to choose one. I'm probably not going to be using it for a colonoscopy for a while, but I do have something coming up with a urologist that I think will probably wind up as a "you can live with it, or you can have surgery" thing. Since they'll probably be expecting surgery to be either sedated or under general I might need strategies to find someone decent as neither of those will be happening, and your procedure might be a good place to start.

I know parts are sort of spread out over several threads (and the discussion of the eye surgery), but a unified posting would be nice (especially for the lazy ones such as myself).

Let's start with the colonoscopy because it was with a doctor that I didn't have any relationship with (actually, same for the last two as well).

My process is to ask friends of similar age, research the doctor with healthgrades.com and finally, have a consultation that's more of an interview opportunity for me. The last two before the recent one were in NJ. The reason for two was a failed prep, not the doctor's fault. Her answer to me when asked about drugs was simple and direct - sure, I'll use a pediatric scope because it's more flexible.

Jump forward to TN. Doctor was recommended by a friend who had a colonoscopy by him with no issues. No bad reviews online. He seemed confident about going drug free, but in hindsight, maybe not convincingly. I didn't ask about the scope. I just felt like I was being beat up from the inside. He never made it past my hepatic flexure. His excuse was that my sigmoid didn't have enough of a bend.

Lesson learned. Next time I'll be more direct and complete with my interview.

I've had 3 colonoscopies. Each one involved a "drug cocktail" I was told would not put me out but would allow me to not feel any pain/discomfort while still being awake for the procedure. I believe this is the same drug cocktail I've been given for 2 heart caths and a prostate biopsy. Regardless, every one of them puts me out. They don't put my BIL out. About 2 hours after the last colonoscopy the nurse asked my wife when I would wake us. Her reply, "When you wake him up." The same thing happened about 2 1/2 hours after my last heart cath. Anyway, there has never been any soreness.

With regard to prepping, the first 2 colonoscopies I drank the crap they want you to drink and then sat on the toilet almost forever as I cleaned out. The last colonoscopy saw me getting smart. IIRC I was instructed to start drinking the prep drink about 2 or 3 p.m. What I did was a set of 4 enemas (2 - 3 qts. each) in the morning. When I drank the prep juice there simply wasn't much left to come out. I was told to drink pulp free OJ to get rid of the nasty aftertaste of the prep juice. For my next and final colonoscopy I will do the same thing with two exceptions. First, I'll give myself 4 or 5 enemas up to 4 qts. and then I'll mix the prep juice with the pulp free OJ.

Regardless, this is a piece of cake and can be a life saving procedure. My youngest BIL (64 yrs. old) just had one 2 weeks ago. They found/removed 9 polyps. Doc asked why he had the colposcopy and he told doc his wife wanted him to do so. Doc told BIL his wife saved his life. Just do it!

Just to add some information about polyps . Bowel (colonic) polyps are small non-cancerous (benign) growths on the inside lining of the colon or back passage (rectum). They are common in older people. They usually cause no symptoms or problems. However, if a polyp is found, it is usually removed. This is because there is a small risk of a bowel polyp developing into a bowel cancer after several years.

Some people develop just one bowel polyp but it is not uncommon to develop two or more. However, it is uncommon to have more than five. A bowel polyp may have a stalk and a head which looks like a small mushroom growing from the lining of the bowel. Some are flatter and just look like a lump on the lining of the bowel.

Most bowel polyps develop in the part of the colon called the descending colon, but they can occur anywhere in the colon or rectum.

Most bowel polyps develop in older people. About 1 in 4 people over the age of 50 years develop at least one colonic polyp. So, they are very common. The cause is not clear. The polyp is like a local fleshy overgrowth of tissue that lines the bowel. What causes this overgrowth to happen is not clear.

Http://hbmag.com/colon-hydrotherapy-new-method-of-colonoscopy-prep/

In case anyone was wondering. You can avoid the nasty laxatives all together. They are hoping that more people will get colonoscopies done more regularly if they don't have a full day of torture prior to the test.

Polyp question - What would the deal be with a "precancerous polyp"? My dad seems to usually have several polyps taken out (several meaning 2-6, not 10+), and the whole precancerous thing leaked out a couple times. I've been very quiet about this (and my grandfather's death from colon cancer) because the questions have been about actual cancer in first-degree relatives and it seemed imprudent to bring it up. My read is that it's not cancer, won't change my risk, and I should just ignore it, right? Of course a bit of my subconscious might not agree.

Polyp question - What would the deal be with a "precancerous polyp"? My dad seems to usually have several polyps taken out (several meaning 2-6, not 10+), and the whole precancerous thing leaked out a couple times. I've been very quiet about this (and my grandfather's death from colon cancer) because the questions have been about actual cancer in first-degree relatives and it seemed imprudent to bring it up. My read is that it's not cancer, won't change my risk, and I should just ignore it, right? Of course a bit of my subconscious might not agree.

My understanding is that most polyps are 'precancerous.' All that means is that the polyp has a propensity to develop into cancer, not a guarantee.

Http://hbmag.com/colon-hydrotherapy-new-method-of-colonoscopy-prep/

In case anyone was wondering. You can avoid the nasty laxatives all together. They are hoping that more people will get colonoscopies done more regularly if they don't have a full day of torture prior to the test.

We've discussed this ad nauseum. Anything but a top down prep is going to be inadequate. You MUST clear the small intestine or else it's contents will enter the colon.

My understanding is that most polyps are 'precancerous.' All that means is that the polyp has a propensity to develop into cancer, not a guarantee.

Aah - I guess the doctors saw something concerning, then the "precancerous" was the "sigh of relief" on the biopsy report. I can live with it being nothing of concern for either his future or mine. I guess I just picked up on the added tension at the time and didn't know what it all meant - especially as I'd had enough people I knew die for quite a while already.