to be petrified about taking the bowel prep for my colonoscopy tomorrow....

[swarskicat]

I have to go into hospital for a colonoscopy tomorrow. Need to be at the hospital at 11.30am. I am pretty sure the doctor said to take the first prep at 11am, but the leaflet in the box says 'for a morning appointment take at 7am and again at 7pm'.

Am so worried that have been in denial until now and have realised that if I take at 11am then I will need to take the second at 11pm and I want to be asleep by then and not on the loo.....

Think my whole not planning properly is that I am so worried about the whole thing and what they may find. Been having dodgy guts for months and most recently bright red blood and mucus passing without stools. I am 46.

Any experiences or hand holding?

My DH is supportive, but would rather boil his head in gravy than talk about poo...

The taste is the worst part of the prep. It took me far longer than it should to drink it cos it was so nasty. Someone on here told me to make it up and chill it in the fridge as it tastes better but it was too late for me to try it.

I'm going to go slightly against what others have said and say make sure you get the sedation. I was talked out of it by them on the day and I really wished I'd had it because I found gas and air didn't cut it. I'm waiting to see if I need another one. Good luck!

It was horrendous. Coming out of both ends in an uncontrollable tsunami of vomit and shit. The actual colonoscopy and stomach biopsy was a breeze in comparison - no drugs/sedation needed.

At least it is only 250ml. I had to drink several litres of the the stuff I was given. And it tasted foul.

Dh had to do this in August, iirc he took the first lot (moviprep) at 4 and the other lot at 8.

It wasn't as bad as we expected it to be.

The actual procedure was fine, he doesn't recall it at all, he had mild sedation.

Nothing moving so far. Drinking it was fine. Did not taste great but downed it and then drank a large glass of water. However now feel v nauseous and worried I will throw it up before it has a chance to hit my bowel and get working!!!!

I've never had any sedation for any of my cameras up or down - it can be uncomfy but quite interesting seeing your insides on screen

My Mum had this done earlier in the year, and said that none of it was as bad as she was expecting. The prep bit wasn't pleasant, she just made sure she didn't have any plans to leave the house and stayed near the loo, she said it all went through her system fairly quickly. She had the procedure done with gas & air, not the sedation, and said that it was only a bit uncomfy really, and like tilliebob also quite liked seeing the screen (I think the gas and air may possibly have had something to do with this!).

Good luck with it tomorrow, I hope all goes well

Put vaseline on after each time you go to the loo. Other than that, make sure you stay hydrated. It's fine. Good luck

I've had two types of prep. The first I had to drink about two litres of unpleasant stuff and the second I had to take lots of senokot and had less to drink. Anyway, neither was really that bad as it was only for one day. Make your loo comfy in case you are in there a while. Something to read, or do. A bottle of water maybe and plenty of soft loo roll, vaseline and baby wipes if you have them. It might be better to dab rather than wipe.
I would always go for sedation, it can be uncomfy and you'll have been through enough with the prep. Good luck

Worse thing is not eating for 24 hours!!! I have a very fast metabolism, luckily don't put on weight but generally eat every 2 hours

Should have said that is the worse thing so far........nothing happening yet

Like you, I found being hungry the worst bit. When I had mine, I was also having an endoscopy due to vomiting. I told them I wouldn't be able to keep down the whole prep and I didn't. It still cleared my bowels out, so don't panic if you are sick.

Some people tell horror stories but I wasn't one of them. Surely, I was going a lot but it wasn't nearly as bad as some people told me.

Best of luck.

Recent Moviprep victim here! Dont know the 'science bit' but it feels like it's having your bowel lining release water (think water slide!) so no pain as you'd have with normal diarrhoea. Yes, stay near the loo, but the worst bit was the taste (it's affectionately named 'spunkonade' in our house!)

The actual procedure really isn't that bad. Like PP I theoretically had sedation and pain relief through a cannula, but really didn't feel dopey etc - I'm half convinced the nurse missed the vein ;) Best of luck and much hand holding - I was terrified before mine, but it was really not a big deal in the end.

Definitely demand sedative. Had mine done a few years ago at 18 and the doctor said we don't want to give you the sedative as we think you'll be fine.. Worst mistake ever. Possibly the worst pain I have ever had, the nurse did say people who aren't sedated compare it to labour pains when they are blowing the air through your bowels. It was awful!!

However everyone I know has had sedative and said they barely felt a thing or just a little uncomfortable so definitely have the sedative!

All started to work now. Fine, but told to drink lots of water. If I drink water it literally goes straight through me. Think I will stick to a glass every hour or so so that I can rest in between!

The procedure is painless and you'll either be out completely or you won't remember anything so you'll have no pain or awareness. As for the prep, well that really is the least pleasant part, from experience I highly recommend baby nappy rash cream! I personally found vaseline to sting but Aquaphor Baby Healing Ointment is magic, highly recommend!

Oh you poor thing! I found the prep more unpleasant than the procedure (although the procedure itself was a bit uncomfortable). Happy to hand hold if you need!

I used berts bees ointment for soothing purposes!

Why do so many people get sore after a bout of diarrhea? It doesn't happen to me.

All hospitals do it differently, swarski, please don't take anyone's "you won't feel a thing" or "you'll be unaware" or "it was really uncomfortable" to be the gospel truth.

Bunbaker, I personally found it much worse than a 'bout of diarrhoea'. Everyone is different though.

Me too bumbleymummy. Although it's not painful, it's comprehensive .

I've never had soreness after a bout of diarrhoea either.

TravellingLemon. Excellent description!

It's ok - drinking the minging stuff is worse than the actual experience on the loo. One piece of advice - if they offer you the option of having the colonoscopy without sedation DO NOT agree to this. I've had three and the two I had with sedation were absolutely fine (it's hard to be anything but relaxed under sedation as you would imagine), the one without was really really grim.
Best to get things checked out but try not to worry.

Ha, I see I'm not the first with my advice. Yep, I would rather go though my second labour again (maybe not the first) than have another unsedated colonoscopy.