I looked for advice, what to expect and found lots of negatives or positives, but nothing really objective, so I decided to diarise my experience of taking Plenvu as a pre-colonoscopy prep. I followed a low fibre diet for 5 days prior to this, which I’m sure made it all easier. I hope this helps someone.
The evening before my colonoscopy:
6pm: I weighed in at 152lbs. Started to drink dose 1.
6:40pm: Oh well, I am almost glad that I didn’t see these reviews before my first dose! I can’t believe how thick the mixture is and added another 100mls of water. I managed to drink it without a straw and just gulped down a whole glass at 6pm, sat down, timed 10 mins, then downed another. 10 mins later I downed the last glass and am now waiting for it to work. It’s only 20 mins since I finished dose 1 and I have no symptoms yet. So far, so good. It tasted awful, almost gagged, but I kept it all down. Not pleasant, but I didn’t expect anything else.
6:50pm: It has started to work, a lot of gas and a bit of diarrhoea, but nothing major. All prepped, with a bowl for sick (after reading other reviews), a glass of water (I know it’s not healthy to drink in the bathroom, but others said that they struggled to get away for a drink), my phone (just in case), my iPad for amusement and soft water wipes to clean after each movement!
7:10pm: I feel fine. It has started to work, but no cramps or nausea, just a gentle feeling of needing to go. I’m sure it will get worse, but hopefully I am prepared.
7:20-7:40: Back on the loo again. It’s working well, no cramping and keep cleaning as I go. It’s just like water, so the restricted diet obviously worked well.
7:50-8:10pm: Back on the loo after another 10 min break. Still no discomfort like normal diarrhoea, so just playing on the iPad to reduce boredom. Surely there can’t be anything left inside me. It’s like water pouring from my backside. It just feels like I’m doing a constant wee!
8:50pm: A good half hour break, so trying to get some serious fluids back in, as it was difficult to manage between toilet trips. I feel like maybe that’s it for tonight, but as I’ve had no discomfort at all, it’s hard to tell. Hopefully dose 2 will be no worse, but I’ll wait to post until tomorrow.
4:50am (day of procedure): I weighed in at 152lbs, so obvs replaced all the lost fluid. The 2nd dose tastes worse to me, more salty and too sweet! I was determined to not throw up, but it was hard.
5:00-5:10am: I managed to drink the last of it and have kept it all down so far, but I’m struggling.
5:22: It has started working already, which means I can stop worrying about it coming up the wrong way. A lot of gas, but no cramps as yet.
5:42: Been struggling with feeling of nausea, but managed to hold off being sick. Dose 2 is doing its thing and going through me very well. No cramping or discomfort at all, just this horrible feeling of nausea and a bit dizzy. Struggling to drink, as I don’t feel well, but forcing it down.
5:55: Nausea is worse, but hanging in there. The Plenvu is still going strong and the liquid being passed is getting clearer, (I was worried as up to now it has been very dark). Only one hour into dose 2, so it’s looking good. Even if I throw up now, I think the solution has gone past my stomach, so it should still work.
6:10-6:15: Unfortunately the nausea didn’t subside and I threw up big style. Vomited for 5 mins solid and it tasted the same coming up as it did going down! I feel a bit better now, but am worried that I’ve brought up some of the solution.
7:15: An hour since my last update. Many, many trips to the toilet while holding a sick bowl! Too many to get any writing done on the iPad. My bottom is now very sore, as I didn’t have any barrier cream. I tried, from the start, to be very gentle, wash after every motion etc, but it hasn’t prevented that soreness. This solution should come with a small tub of cream, or at least the advice to buy some, as I wasn’t prepared. I’m sure it can’t last much longer though, as it’s 2 hours since I finished dose 2. That said, I’m off to the loo again!
7:45: Is there no end to this? I am still up and down to the loo, although not so often and I have stopped vomiting. I’m tired now and hoping it all subsides, so that I can get a rest before the procedure. Weighed in at 149lbs, so need to drink more.
9am: I think it is finally over. I haven’t been to the loo for around half an hour and everything feels settled. I think that is it. The second dose was much harder for me, in terms of nausea, vomiting and it took longer to go through me, but I got there and I’m sure that following the prep to the letter will have helped. Not sure I’d do this again for simple cleansing though. It’s too hard. Weighed in at 149.5lbs, so still need to drink a bit more to replace the fluids.
I really hope this helps some of you.
Jo