Colonoscopy Prep, Experiences and Tips

Not changing the subject. I have enquired about a colonoscopy as my Dr. has nagged me repeatedly about getting it done, however I emailed my insurer asking Blue Cross Blue Shield of TX and they state they no longer cover it. I was very specific when I made the request to make sure I would not be left with a $3500 out of network, I would need to cover my deductible of $2000 any other 'out of network' issues. So It's another word of saying you aren't covered. Great excuse to give to my Dr. never been ken on the idea anyway.

Check again and speak to a supervisor. I would be very surprised a colonoscopy gets zero coverage.

Often you pay a percentage of the fee up to a certain amount (like maybe $3500) and after you have paid your deductible and the insurance company will cover all the rest.

To SwitchableSusie,

Then as far as I am concentered that means it isn't covered. If I was foolish to go through with one, I know it will be a serious financial hit. Minimum of $2000 and as always will never stop there.

If you are over 50 it will very likely be covered as preventative care provided you are in the U.S.

Do you like your ass? Do you like it working for you? Does someone else in your life like your ass or the person it is connected to? If so TAKE CARE OF IT. Colon cancer is not pretty, dying from colon cancer is not pretty, I know of no one who has had bowel surgery and has not had issues from it, and chemo is just nasty. Radiation is not much better.

There are plenty of screening options if something in colonoscopy is completely unacceptable to you and you can't find a doctor willing to work around it.

I used to be in the "NO WAY" camp, but then (a) a second person in my family died from a recurrence of colon cancer (after a second bout of chemo - none of it was pretty), (b) my dad had a close call and (c) I went through my objections and found ways around them. I haven't needed to have it done yet, but am accepting of the whole thing when it happens. Am I eagerly awaiting it? No. It might not even be a colonoscopy (no sedation is a non-negotiable - I like my brain even more than my ass so it might wind up being a virtual colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy or barium enema if I can't find a doc willing to do it unsedated), but it will be something. I happen to like my ass and have several people who care for the person attached to it. 😄

If you are over 50 it will very likely be covered as preventative care provided you are in the U.S.

Not changing the subject. I have enquired about a colonoscopy as my Dr. has nagged me repeatedly about getting it done, however I emailed my insurer asking Blue Cross Blue Shield of TX and they state they no longer cover it.

I think you got bad info. As far as I know, TX has not been exempted from federal law know as Affordable Care Act (ACA). Under the diktats of ACA, an American over the age of 50 with any ACA-approved insurance coverage will be covered 100% every 10 years for a cancer screening colonoscopy, sooner if family history and/or previous polyps found.

http://www.kff.org/health-costs/report/coverage-of-colonoscopies-under-the-affordable-care/

My uncle died a horrible death of it and my dad gets one every five years. So far I'm clean. I would advise calling them and/or calling your benefits person at work if you are covered by work insurance. I don't want to preach but this is an easy thing to correct if caught in the early stages.

Big Easy, if you think the costs for a colonoscopy are high, you should have seen my bills for chemo. and radiation. (Not to mention the bill from the surgeon that did my resection and the hospital stay costs).

My surgeon told me that ALL polyps in the large bowel WII EVENTUALLY BECOME MALIGNANT. I believe him!

Well its not definite but its true that a colon polyp may eventually turn into cancer.

Colorectal cancer usually begins as a "polyp," a nonspecific term to describe a growth on the inner surface of the colon. Polyps are often non-cancerous growths but some can develop into cancer.

The two most common types of polyps found in the colon and rectum include:

- Hyperplastic and inflammatory polyps. Usually these polyps do not carry a risk of developing into cancer. However, large hyperplastic polyps, especially on the right side of the colon, are of concern and should be completely removed.

- Adenomas or adenomatous polyps. Polyps, which, if left alone, could turn into colon cancer. These are considered pre-cancerous.

Although most colorectal polyps do not become cancer, virtually all colon and rectal cancers start from these growths. People may inherit diseases in which the risk of colon polyps and cancer is very high.

What Are the Risk Factors for Colorectal Cancer?

While anyone can get colorectal cancer, it is most common among people over age 50. Risk factors for colorectal cancer include:

- A personal or family history of colorectal cancer or polyps

- A diet high in red meats and processed meats

- Inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis)

- Inherited conditions such as familial adenomatous polyposis and hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer

- Obesity

- Smoking

- Physical inactivity

- Heavy alcohol use

- Type 2 diabetes

To botox,

I will use that link and send back to bcbx and see if this changes their decision. Thanks

There is a history of cancer on my father's side of the family so I'm on the 5-year plan. I'm scheduled for my second one later this week. Prep on wednsday night, roto-rooter on thursday morning. I still need to rig up a seat belt for the toilet.

There is a lot of good info in this thread. If it starts to fall off the first page, I would encourage the mods to sticky it.

I've had 3 colonoscopies so far. First 2 were textbook ones, the usual nasty prep and being drugged. My last one 4 years ago I used a colon therapist for 2 treatments and did several high enemas at home. I wasn't totally clean, Dr gave me a B- for prep but he was able to flush out remaining bits with warm water and suck them out.

I also opted to do it without sedation. I had had a sigmoidoscopy several years ago which wasn't even uncomfortable. So I thought it would be no big deal and the doctor had done several with out sedation. So I was surprised how painful it was. I think had he gone in slower especially at the sigmoid bend it would have been better. His approach was just get it over so he went in fast and I think it traumatized my colon. Anyway it was pretty fierce, though interesting to see what is going on inside me. Since I do a lot of large volume enemas, I wondered if I were doing any harm, so it was good to find out that everything was in good order. The pain after all is over quickly, though at the time it didn't seem so quick. Once I got home afterward, I had a nice surprise. I was so high on endorphins, that I did a sensual enema and it was the most exciting enema session I've ever had!

I recently had my first: two polyps removed, harmless. The prep wasn't as bad as I thought it would, actually I was thinking it wasn't cleaning me out on time, but it sure did. I was asleep the whole time, which I think is great since the thought of a 9 feet hose inside me is a little to long. No pain, but I was asleep during the process.

Next one in three years. One thing I noticed it took me three days to get my first stool. I was a bit nervous why I didn't go sooner, thinking something was wrong.

Anyway, it did waken my interest to try playing with a new toy, the anal snake from Doc. Johnson. Still can't get it past the sigmoid. 😢

The total cost charged to insurance was a little over $7000, but the negotiated insurance pay was around $1500. I paid $0. 😃

And yes, it did take me some time to make the appointment as I was a little afraid of the thought of having a large hose stuck up there. I love my butt, it's my playing field. 😃

I have had 5 colonoscopy's done and I think the best one was the first because I ask the doctor if I could see my appendix when he got to it. when he got to the end of the large intestine he woke me up and I got to see it on the monitor.

Think upon this fact: The best prevention against colon cancer will be the regular complete bowel cleansing - 100 years ago colon cancer has been unknown!

Think upon this fact: The best prevention against colon cancer will be the regular complete bowel cleansing - 100 years ago colon cancer has been unknown!

That's NOT a fact.

Unknown or UNDIAGNOSED ??? and people didn't live as long as today, so there was less of a chance to have it develop.

Enemas to prevent colon cancer has no evidence to support it.

People do it for the fun of it under the guise of health.

Unknown or UNDIAGNOSED ??? and people didn't live as long as today, so there was less of a chance to have it develop.

And many times cancer was actively hidden because it was not considered genteel.

Which prep is the "best"?

Miralax

MoviPrep

Prepopik

SuPrep

I have a colonoscopy scheduled in a few weeks and was given the choice of prep from the above.

Which would you recommend and why?

I have my second colonoscopy tomorrow. I have my box of Suprep for tonight. Today it’s clear liquid diet all day. Nobody uses enemas these days. You will be wearing a gown but yes everybody in the procedure room is going to see your bum. Compared to some urological procedures I’ve had done, the exposure factor is not that bad. It doesn’t hurt, and once the sedation wears off you can go do anything except drive and use power tools.

I have had three. The prep is the worst thing. Don’ t plan to go to Yoga after drinking the Go-Litely. The prep for sigmoidoscopy was a lot more fun, The 4-H Enema, or enemas til clear.

During the first two I asked for light anesthesia so I could watch the monitor. It was really so I could experience the long tube snaking up my colon. I found it hurt a lot, especially at the splenic flexure.

The last colonoscopy I was asleep. Carbon dioxide is used to inflate the colon & often large volumes are left in, which must be expelled in recovery - very musical.

So if you are over 50 get IT done. Colon Cancer is almost 100% curable if caught early. My Dad died from it and you do not want to go that way

I am in the middle (split-dose) of a colonoscopy prep. The procedure is schedule for 3:15 PM. The drink was a mixtures of 64 oz of Gatorade (Cool) and 8.3 oz of Miralax. The taste was not bad at all and not salty. What an extreme improvement over the Go-Litely prep used in previous prep procedures.

So if you have a choice of preps, I would suggest the Miralax/Gatorade prep.

Although not part of the prep instructions, I took a 4 quart SSE after the 1st quart did its job.

I will do a SSE before the 2nd quart of prep is consumed.

Suprep for me less to drink and does not seem to taste as bad as the other preps. The prep is the key to this procedure. Follow the instructions so that you are clear. As far as the actual colonoscopy goes they put you out and then you wake up craving a cheese burger. But go home and eat lightly at first. don't over do it. I am going to ask to be lightly sedated for my next one so I can watch the screen.

Can't remember where I heard this or why, but I do recall hearing DON'T DO SOAPSUDS ENEMAS before a colonoscopy because they can sometimes make the colon look like it is inflamed (makes sense, they cause an inflammatory response. Probably saw it somewhere researching safety of enemas).

Funnstrict, I'd recommend not taking any more or else they might tell you to come back soon... The enemas that cause the least inflammatory response in the colonic mucosa seem to be Mirlax and normal saline, followed by tap water. I'd stick to one of those myself, probably not the Mirliax (the only reason I saw that used was as a control or as a "marker", but it's expensive and they noted it tended to be retained).

FWIW I do now use soap for my enemas, though no one is looking around up there yet. While all the studies talked about irritation and inflammation, the only definite downside they said was that it could mess with diagnostic tests such as colonoscopy, and soap does work so much better.

A question for the medical people: I had my lst colonoscopy about 10 years ago. I should be due again this year, but I have heard of infections from failure to clean the 'scope properly. Ever encounter anything like this?

I have heard of that in articles, but not anywhere I worked.. The scopes are very well cleaned and disinfected and placed in sterilizing solutions.

There are articles stating bacteria have remained at times.

I have a very serious question for any of our medical professionals. My Gastro told me to take a large volume enema the morning before I come in for my next scoping in Oct. I know that the Amer. Coll. of Gastros. says to NOT use soap in enemas, as it can give a false positive for early U.C. Does anyone know if bisacodyl will do the same thing? If I can use bisacodyl I will dissolve 3-4 tabs and inject it before using 2 qts. of tap water to get that "extra" cleaning that it gives. If it's just like soap, I'll use plain tap water.

Any real input? Thanks

Does anyone know if bisacodyl will do the same thing? If I can use bisacodyl I will dissolve 3-4 tabs and inject it before using 2 qts. of tap water to get that "extra" cleaning that it gives. If it's just like soap, I'll use plain tap water.

Any real input? Thanks

@jimmyt44 Bisacodyl or Dulcolax is often used as bowel preparation before medical examinations, such as for a colonoscopy. So I don't envisage it would it would cause any false false positive as a result of it being used .

RN1993, thanks so much for your info.

I, too, am coming up on my second colonoscopy. 10 years ago it was Golightly, which should really be "shit your brains out." But rather than the repeated doses, which can lead to nausea and vomiting, I did the first dose and followed it with 2 tap water enemas, first one returned a small amount of fecal matter, the second was clear, and my colonoscopy went just fine, doctor was very happy with my clean colon.

A friend just used another prep, and had a very dirty colon, which I'm sure two enemas would have dealt with, however, this person can't pass a junk food drive-up window, so getting all that sludge out may have been the issues, compared to her I'm a very health eater.

I see porno vids of enemas and some of deep colon snake insertions, so I am assuming the models are well cleaned out in advance, the enema vids on several site show the expelled water looking as clear as tap water, I'd like to know what their prep procedure is, because they look "colostomy ready."

As I mentioned earlier, the Miralax/Gatorade prep

was ok to ingest, nothing like the Golightly prep. I still did a few enema, why not, I enjoy them.

I've had a colonoscopy, no big deal.. Go lightly is as described by others...

However, since I had 2 foot surgeries one with versed and one without I can tell you I hope to never have versed again. I complained that I felt terrible after the first surgery so the doctor said it was probably the versed, so he only used propofol and fentanyl. I woke up feeling fine, still needed a driver.

I've also had 3 endoscopies, one awake because I needed to drive... I don't recommend that, it feels like a train is being shoved downs your throat with the gagging sensation and the feeling like your drowning.

Ever since my first experience with versed I ask the doctors not to use it, and so far they all agree.

Have had two thus far without any issues.

Under IV sedation both times and don't remember a thing. No pain experienced at all. Worst part is the prep but the second one was better tasting. Lot of gas after - farting is mandatory.