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tiloah

tiloah

Joined
Jun 24, 2010
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Tips, tricks, distractions. We've all been there. We will all be there again.

I start my bowel prep in 3.5 hours. Not excited.

This site has some silly flash games: http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/

My favorite stress reliever is called "Fish Ball." You push a ball under the surface of water and pick up fish. You have to avoid the pufferfish which can pop your ball. Your points aren't tallied until you breach the surface (they increase exponentially per fish), so you have to balance how long to stay under water before getting the points versus how in danger you are of getting popped. Most of the time it's very soothing and a good time waster.
 
Sorry to hear you're doing prep, Nic. That's never fun. Which one are you doing? I know Tamesis is doing prep today too so at least you're not alone.

Tips, tricks & distractions for me are:
Sudoku puzzles (I always keep a sudoku book and a pen in the bathroom even if I'm feeling fine - you never know when you'll need to have a long sit-down in there!)
Nintendo DS - I prefer puzzle games like Brain age (again, sudoku!) or Zoo Keeper (very similar to Bejeweled)
Kindle or tablet - I just got a Kindle Fire so I can read e-books, watch Netflix, play Angry Birds or check Facebook or the forum while on the can :)
Portable DVD player or laptop - in a bad flare or during prep, I'll sometimes watch DVDs in the bathroom. Comedy is preferred, I especially like bringing my Mr. Bean DVDs in there with me.
Tub toys - I got this idea from a thread a long time ago, someone said one of their favorite methods of passing the time in the bathroom was to fill up the sink with water and play with wind-up tub toys (assuming your sink is right next to your toilet). I have a few tub toys and have resorted to playing with them when I am too ill to focus on sudoku or anything else.
Paint my toenails - I have a large nail polish collection, and what better time/place to paint my toenails?
Think about remodeling the bathroom - I have a very ugly bathroom (the color scheme is pink and brown with some yellow - I always think of poo, pee, and pepto when I look at those colors). Sometimes I'll write lists of what I want or sketch ideas about what I want. (Jacuzzi tub, bidet, heated toilet seat, small flat-screen TV on a swivel mount so that I can watch TV from the toilet or tub, the list goes on!)
 
Awesome tips. I am doing... Moviprep I think. I think this is a new one for me, or it's the one I did for my surgery but in a different container.

The first prep I ever did was in pill form, but I guess they don't do that anymore on account of kidney damage.
 
Oh geez you guys I am drinking salt.

I am such a baby. Not even close to finishing the first glass. And I have to do this again tomorrow morning!
 
You guys I just confused which glass I was drinking. I chugged my Powerade with my nose covered and thought "Wow, that wasn't so bad... Oh." >_<
 
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Aw, I wish I had seen this thread earlier!! I started mine at 11am....It's 5pm now, and I have a second sachet at six. I'm already peeing out my bum, pretty well straight gatorade, so I don't even want to do #2!!

I did the Pico Salex prep, not pleasant, but the first ever colonoscopy I had I drank a 4l jug of "fruit flavored" nastiness.....so a large chug wasn't too bad. The pico tastes like salty, fizzy McDonalds orange drink.
 
And my 1 year old tends to follow me in when I'm home with her during the day, so she keeps me busy. LOL. She crawls through the cupboards, tries to fish in the toilet while i'm using it, etc. :) It occupies me at least, annoying as it is. :p
 
My husband gets to do his first prep tomorrow! It is in 2 parts - tomorrow evening then Friday morning- with his appointment at 11 am I think.....He has the miralax/gatorage prep...hehehe.....
 
Haha, I was about to give you advice, thinking you were new at this...Then I see you know what you're doing! :) I wouldn't do a prep without flushable wipes, calmoseptine, and slurpees. :)
 
Sorry you guys are having to do preps today/tonight...they are just never, ever fun at all...hang in there!
 
Thanks Suzanne. :)

Uuugghgh. I was supposed to finish in an hour (half an hour ago) but I still have 1/4 to go... I am so bad at this.
 
Maybe put on "Animal House" and go to one of the frat house scenes and imagine a bunch of people yelling "Chug, chug, chug...." LOL!
 
Haha that's awesome!

I think I'm done for tonight. I have a couple gulps left but I figure it's more important that I keep down what I've already ingested. Hopefully I do better tomorrow. My cookies are lookin' good though.
 
Prep should be done once you're running clear. Mixing the prep with another drink and having a chaser makes it less nasty as well. Hope you're running clear and don't have to drink it in the morning.
 
Best advice I ever received was this: When you're pooping nothing but clear water, you're done. I usually use half of what is recommended and the docs always say I was clean.

It seems odd that they give the same prep for a 350 pound guy and a 90 pound teenager.
 
Yeah, I'm wishing I hadn't taken that second dose....but i'd rather overdo it than not do it right.
 
Nic ~ This thread is a fab idea! I hope you're surviving tonight. :hug: You too, Tamesis. Hang in there!
 
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I wish they told you that before you did the whole thing though. I feel like I can be clear at night but by the time I get up in the morning things have "condensed" if you know what I mean, so I have to do more.
 
Oh Cat. I need tub toys. Now. The wind-up kind. I already have a rubber duckie collection (the sheepdog duck is my favourite. Don't ask). This is fabulous.

My 2 cents: a cup (preferably not see-through) with a lid and a hole and a straw. Don't expect to use this cup ever again for anything but drinking prep - it will bring back bad memories. But you'll love it for prep. Can't see or smell the stuff. I load it with fake iced tea now (one of the approved brands) and that makes it a hundred times easier, too -- wish the first GI had allowed this!
 
Kelly, I have a rubber duckie collection too! My favorite one is the Sherlock Holmes duck (he's wearing a detective-style hat and has a magnifying glass). I even have ducky-shaped candles and a ducky planter that one of my aloe plants is currently inhabiting. :)

Oh, and I'd like to second what Tamesis said - calmoseptine (or bum cream of your choice) and moist flushable wipes are a necessity for prep! I like to light some scented candles in the bathroom too, both to make it a nice atmosphere and to cover up any smell.
 
moviprep is by far the best and i find it does not cause any tummy pain unlike fleet and pico. in the last four mths i have had six packets of the stuff. They come in two flvaours, lemon and lime nasty like drinking sea water makes you feel sick and ornage by far the best and you dont need anything with it good luck and remeber to use caster and zinc cream to stop getting sore!
 
I can't stand prep! I literally can't keep it down. However, the Miralax/Gatorade prep has been an absolute blessing! You can't taste a thing. It sure does work, though. I suggest anyone who hates prep to ask if the Miralax/Gatorade prep is an option. You won't be sorry!


@diesanduhr & tamesis- How did your scopes go, guys???
 
xJillx said:
I can't stand prep! I literally can't keep it down. However, the Miralax/Gatorade prep has been an absolute blessing! You can't taste a thing. It sure does work, though. I suggest anyone who hates prep to ask if the Miralax/Gatorade prep is an option. You won't be sorry!
Click to expand...

I agree. Even though it is a lot of fluid, I stop once there is nothing but clear water coming out. The salty stuff is horrid - makes me gag.
 
We have a devil duck collection. OH used to keep them in his car until someone broke in and stole them and now the door doesn't lock! WHO STEALS DUCKS!? There are some good ones at http://mcphee.com Or there used to be anyway, before the stupid lead testing legislation went through.

Well I finished half of the prep this morning. 3/4 of the prep total. Hope it's good enough. Still feeling on the verge of puking. Scope itself is in three hours.
 
Well it's finally over. Getting out of recovery was an ordeal (probably took 1.5 hours). Ugh. Before the procedure I said whatever they gave me last time to combat the nausea didn't do anything and the lady said, "We'll give you Zofran," and I thought, "Doubt that's gonna cut it." I also had a migraine going in. They told me the drugs I would get during the procedure would get rid of the migraine and they totally didn't. :p So I ended up in recovery for that long trying to get to a point where I didn't feel like I was going to vomit. They gave me more Zofran. Then they had to give me a new IV to give me Phenergan. The lady said "When I asked if she wanted us to give her a new IV or not take the Phenergan, I knew it was serious." Haha.

The scope itself was good. The report says "No convincing evidence of for post-operative recurrence of Crohn's." My doc says he thinks I look good, but there is a small "erosion" "about the size of a pimple" of the hepatic flexure. He says he's not worried about it, but I think it's concerning (especially given the location). Follow up is in a month. Now I've got to crash because the Phenergan is just about knocking me out.
 
I have finally found that if I have Zofran 30-60 minutes prior to the sedation meds, I am fine, although groggy when I come out of it. If they give it at the same time as the sedation, it doesn't work AT ALL and am very nauseous and sometimes vomit.

Get some sleep.
 
Diesanduhr - Such a bummer to deal with the nausea and migraine along with having a colonoscopy...glad they finally got it under control for you. I don't blame you for being concerned about the spot they found, I am sure I would be as well...at the same time, I'm happy for you that the rest looked good!
 
Ugh, I am sorry you felt so awful coming out of the procedure.

I hope your doctor is right with not needing to be concerned about the small erosion. Will you be discussing possible maintence drugs in your follow up appointment or did you already do this after the procedure.
 
We will discuss treatment. I was leaning towards maintenance drugs anyway, and now I really am... but I think my doc is opposed to it. Will definitely be getting a second opinion if he says no.
 
HELP - Doing prep now but not getting clear

Well, I did the 4 Dulcolax at two this afternoon and then one quart Gatorade with 14 doses/238gram bottle of Miralax at 5 pm finished it before 6pm...what an easy, zeros in prep so far...

One problem....it's now 11:37pm and the "going" has stopped...I even drank an additional 45ozs of water after finishing the Gatorade. It has been just water coming out for hours now but IS NOT CLEAR....what do I do??????? The colonoscopy is at 8am....I am so tired,and really need to sleep but I have never had a prep end like this w/o running clear or at least really close to it....

HELP!!!!
 
If you've done the full prep you should be fine. Try not to worry about it. I hope your scope goes well tomorrow!
 
Oh no I missed it! Well I'm glad it went well at least. I'm so happy to hear it showed remission!
 
No worries on missing it!

I am down to 10mg for two more days then down to 5mg for five days and then off. Feeling a lot of the irritability now...just trying to hang in there and remember it is almost over.

The the long road back to life before the flare...glad to be on that road!

Thanks to all for all the support on the Prednisone...not a fun drug but it finally did the trick...along with the Humira!
 

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