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Hi everyone.

Well, I (barely) got through the upper GI series. Although I got some good
info from various list members, I'll quickly summarize what I learned and
what it was like:

1) The "milk shake" is gluten free and dairy free. According to the
radiology dept., so is the flavoirng, although I asked for mine without
flavoring. I can't tell if they added any or not.
2) Here's the procedure, from start to finish:
    a) You drink some of the thick barium mixture. Then, they seem to test
to make sure they're getting pictures on the big monitor.
    b) You drink more, then they give you crystals and water which you mix
quickly by swishing it around in the cup. You drink the fizzy mixture
(there's not much), then quickly take about 4 gulps of the thick "shake."
(yuck!)
    c) They take some x-rays and watch the monitor.
    d) After a few minutes of drinking and watching, they tip the table
with you on it so that you go from a standing position to lying down. Then
they take some more pictures. And they made me (maybe they don't do this
with everyone?) sort of spin around on the table, quickly going from lying
on my stomach to lying on my back, a few times. I couldn't help but think
that this was the 'shake' part because I felt like a human soda fountain.
    e) They give you a thinner "shake" mixture and you can drink that
through a straw. [editorial comment: this is where things got pretty
uncomfortable for me. I began to feel like I'd swallowed a lead balloon
that was expanding... Not everyone will mind this as much as I did.)
    f) You continue to drink the thin shake for 15 minutes or until you
finish it, if you can do so in less than 15 minutes. Then, every 15 minutes
after that, they take another x-ray. The whole process can take anywhere
from an hour to several hours.

All in all, I'd recommend bringing someone with you. If nothing else, it
will probably help to have moral support.

Good luck to anyone else on the list that has to go through this test.

Anne in Cambridge