Colonoscopy prep and travel to doctor appointment

[rena_isis13]

Hey all,
I have finally been sent to see a GI, who wants to do a colonoscopy himself before we talk about medication. The only problem is that I live in a small town, and to see anyone other than my GP i have to travel to my capital city. Its not really a problem to travel there, the flight only takes about 45mins, its just that I dont really want to have to do the prep while staying at a friends place :/ I can get a flight over in the morning before my appointment, but I cant remember what I was like in the morning last time I had one. Are the toilet visits usually over by then?? Do you think it would be safe enough to fly the morning after the preparation?? Or should I stop being such a woos and my friend would understand lol
Serena

 

[Mark63]

Hi Serena,

I understand and have faced similar problems, but for me it's an hour and a half on public transport into London. It's difficult to advise as the prep used varies considerably depending on who carries out the procedure. The last time I had a colonoscopy I had a low residue diet the day before and then had to give myself a phosphate enema two hours before the procedure, so things worked out ok. If they want you to take Picolax or something similar the day before, I find that I'm all cleared out by the morning and am not in need of the toilet.

I'm sure that you will work out what is best for you. Staying over would be the lower stress option and if they really are your friends, I'm sure that they will understand and accommodate your needs.

Hope it all goes well.


Mark

 

[Jenny06xx]

Well I think u can either do it at your friends which will definitely be embarrassing but if it has to be done it has to lol
From my last scope I did the prep in hospital the day before
Remember your only allowed clear liquids an u might worry about traveling after doing your prep clear or not !
If I was u I'd leave it till I got to my friends house she's bound to understand, there's nothing worse than traveling after your prep in my opinion lol !

 

[rena_isis13]

Thanks Mark and Jenny
Yea, your right, it would be best to fly over before I start the prep, it would be so much better to be at home, but these things happen, espesh with us lol
My prep is alot different to the last time I had one done. This time I have to go on a low residue diet 3 days before, then only clear fluids from 10am the day before, then I have 2 Picolax and 1 ColonLytely. Does this sound about right?
The GI also mentioned about having a look at the small intestine. What is involved in that preparation?

 

[Mark63]

Sounds like you should be pretty well cleaned out. I've never had anything quite that comprehensive.

I don't know about scoping the small bowel, I would have thought it could be difficult to get very far into whichever end you start from! Perhaps others will know? When they have looked at my small bowel, it's been by Barium follow through or MRI with contrast.

Mark

 

[hainman]

hi rena.im in for one in the morning and ive got 2 picolax to take,not sure what the other thing is but ive been rushing to the loo for about the past 3hrs non stop.its like im pissing out my backside lol.anyhoo i hope you get through the travelling ok,im quite fortunate that my trip to the hosp is only 15mins,generally you should be pretty well empty by the morning.hope you get through the scope ok

 

[dreamintwilight]

Yeah, from my own understanding, it is impossible to get a clear examination of the small bowel with a colonoscopy. Sometimes your doc can get high enough to see the ileocecal valve, but the scope usually does not pass through to the small intestine. You would have to get some sort of CT scan/MRI for that or have a pill cam endoscopy. If your doc is going the scan method for examining your small intestine, most of the time you do the prep the day of when you arrive at the facility. For a barium follow-through they give you the prep there and then you wait for several hours for the barium to reach the small intestine and they take a series of images. OR there is also the barium enema, which is on the uncomfortable side obviously because it's an enema. For that there is no prep you have to take, but you're on no liquids for like 12 hours prior, I believe.

I think that covers all the possible tests for small intestine.

 

[StarGirrrrl]

If your prep stops the day before then you should be fine. Try with the low res not to eat as much as you normally would which makes things easier.
If you're needing prep the morning of the procedure then it gets more complicated. The best thing to do in that case is get up an hour or so earlier than your instructions and have the last of the prep then. Fingers crossed you should be ok. My prep was no special diet, 2 litres over 4 hours day before and 1 litre 6-8am next day (appointment was @2). I managed half of the last litre and stopped going to the loo around 11:45 am but everyone is different.

 

[hainman]

hi again rena.im due in in 3hrs for my scope and finished my prep yesterday and havnt had any bm since early this morning so seems im empty now lol.looking good for travel so fingers crossed you'll be fine but like stargirrrl says if your scope is an afternoon one and you need to take more prep in the morning it may be more difficult,maybe you could do yer travel early on then take the picolax??worth a thought,