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Dear Loop Friends,
THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the feedback regarding my colonosocopy prep
question. I received 48 responses! MANY people asked that I summarize to
the list so here it goes. First I will tell you what *I* did and then
follow with some of the list's responses to me.
EVERYONE told me to get whatever flavor I wanted, it really didn't make a
difference as they ALL taste bad. I asked my pharmacist what flavor people
order the most and he said, "lemon-lime." So that's what I went with. He
told me, as well as almost everyone else that wrote, to mix the drink the
night BEFORE you are to drink it so it will be VERY cold. On the NuLytely
label it recommends that, too.
And....make SURE you drink it with a straw. Put the straw as far BACK in
your throat as possible (so your taste buds up front don't taste it) and
drink it as quickly as possible. By golly, I was able to swig 8 ounces of
that stuff down in 15 seconds!
It took almost 2 hours for mine to begin working. But once it did....the
parade to the bathroom rarely stopped! I was okay if I sat still, but as
soon as I got up to walk around and take my next dose (which comes MUCH
faster than you can ever imagine) I was heading back to the bathroom.
I took a Reglan tablet (for nausea at 4:30PM) and really had NO problems
with nausea at all and I DID drink the entire gallon by 9:30PM! It was
after 11:30PM that the diahrrea finally stopped and I was able to get some
sleep :)
My procedure went smoothly except I was AWAKE the whole time! The doctor
put the meds in my IV, I remember him inserting the hose, watched the
monitor, could tell when he was using water to flush certain areas, heard
him tell the nurse he needed something or other to remove a polyp, and could
FEEL the pain and pressure! I told the nurse afterwards that I felt and
heard it ALL! Her remark, "Well, gee...we gave you quite a large dose of
medication!" Go figure!
He had a color print out of my colon to go over with Carl and I. He showed
us the polyp that was removed, the pockets of diverticulitis that he found,
and also a picture of my hemorroids. How cute :) NOT! He'd like to see me
in his office in about 2 months to discuss drawing blood for a blood test to
see if I truly AM a celiac. (I eat gluten-free because it helps with the
aching of my Fibromyalgia).
I was NOT asked to eat or drink anything afterwards before going home and
that was just fine with me.
I waited 'till I got home and had a few wheat-free pretzles and my VERY
missed morning cup of hot chocolate!
I DID have pretty severe cramping, probably due to the removal of the polyp.
But I'm a WOMAN, and they were not any worse than our usual severe monthly
cramping. I've had A LOT of gas today and my whole insides are rumbling!
Here are other comments:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some Preparation H was helpful the night before for soreness after all of
the diarrhea.
**YES! I NEEDED that!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My doctor gave me Fleet Phosphosoda - 1.5 ounces at 2 PM Thursday and
another 1.5 ounces at 8 PM Thursday. It works - very very well.
**I asked my doctor about that prep and according to him, the FDA has issued
a warning regarding the possibility of severe dehydration if you don't drink
enough water along with it. They really DISCOURAGED me into even trying it
and I didn't feel like putting up a fight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I would certainly advise getting the non-flavored......the flavors get very
sickening fast. Also, you usually do not have to drink the whole thing. Most
doctors will say to drink it only until you have clear water passing through
your colon. And I always start the preparations early in the day. If you
wait until evening, you will be on the pot all night. Very miserable way to
spend the night, believe me.
**I waited until the "assigned" 5 PM time to start mine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I used pills for my last colonoscopy. I had to take about 28 pills but it
wasn't bad at all. No problem at all getting them all down every 15
minutes - 4 pills each time. I will never have another test without using
the pills instead of Golytely and the other stuff.
**I questioned the pills, too, and they would NOT even consider giving them
to me. <sigh> Their reason? "Because it keeps you up all night."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I took my doctor's advice and mixed it with grapefruit juice and the smell
of that still makes me naseous. For some advice, DON'T mix it with a drink
you like.
**I ALSO asked the doctor about mixing it with another juice OR kool-aid OR
crystal light as some other people had suggested. They did NOT want me
mixing it with ANYTHING other than water!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And finally - MANY people wrote and told me you don't HAVE to drink the
entire gallon. ONLY to drink it until you are completely "cleaned out."
Well, I sure didn't want to have to do this a second time, so I drank it
ALL!
Other people wrote to say it helped them a lot to start on a clear liquid
fast TWO days before the procedure so you won't have so much stuff inside to
come out. I followed that advice AND took the advice of taking a mild
laxative before even starting the two day clear liquid diet. Believe me,
there wasn't much SOLID material in there at all which I think actually
helped me drink and secrete better.
I was very, VERY cold while drinking the NuLytely and I'm not the type to be
unusually cold! So make sure you have a blanket or sweater to wrap up in
while you're on the pot.
That's about it. THANKS for ALL the advice! What a wonderful resource you
all are.
Bonnie Ü in Michigan
*Support summarization of posts, reply to the SENDER not the Celiac List*
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