MR Enterography last night, felt awful for 12 hours after

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paddywack

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May 25, 2017
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Does MRE make most people feel horrible?

I've had a MRE once before, in 2019. That was an early morning appt, this was an evening slot.

I am proud of myself for keeping the Breeza down. Blech. Doc ordered the imaging because of nausea. Feeling nauseated? Here, chug 3 bottles of liquid. 🤢

I had to stop eating and drinking hours before the test, but I do that for scopes all the time with no trouble.
I don't know why I felt so awful but in hindsight I should not have driven home.
I was lightheaded, dizzy, bloated, and got a massive headache on the right side of my head.
I didn't sleep very well.

I've been awake for about an hour and the headache has finally quieted to headache level instead of drilling into my skull and eye. I have migraine meds, but I try to avoid taking them because I'm on antidepressants.

I'm so thankful I can work from home. Getting out of bed was tough. I thought about calling out sick, but I'm going to try and stick it out.

I hope the results are helpful, at least.
Calprotectin was normal, most blood work was normal, except lymph absolute, and that's always slightly elevated.

Happy Tuesday 🤪
 
Yep my kiddo does not do or feel well until the barium (breeza stuff) has left the building -it makes the stool white
That said he is allergic to something in the MRE cocktail -had anaphylaxis last time
It’s either gallulidium,barium iodine ,or or …
No more MRE for him
 
I get dreadfully ill from the Breeza. For me I think it is the artificial sweetener. I start getting diarrhea right after the first bottle and pretty much drink the other two as I un for the bathroom. The results are always the same, "not enough oral contrast to fully visualize". They keep asking me to do it again but I decline because it will only be the same result. I also get very nauseous and a headache etc. I usually perk up about 12 hours later.

So sorry it made you so ill. I hope they good a good read at least.
 
Ohhhhh they thought my daughter had that at one point. I hope they are right and the drugs work! The test for that is pretty easy. It’s a breath test. Could save you the trouble of taking meds if that’s not what it is.
 
crohnsinct said:
Ohhhhh they thought my daughter had that at one point. I hope they are right and the drugs work! The test for that is pretty easy. It’s a breath test. Could save you the trouble of taking meds if that’s not what it is.
Click to expand...

I've heard of it but I don't know much.
I found out my insurance covers the antibiotic. So that's good.
No strictures or active inflammation is good news.

Getting another test would probably be more trouble than taking the meds, honestly.

Off to search for threads about SIBO.
 
This is just what I needed to hear right now (kidding...kind of!).....I'm waiting for a call to schedule an MRE for myself as I've been having right side pain/discomfort for a few months now...bloods/stool all checked out ok.....saw the doc last week for a follow up and decided to schedule an MRE to look further.
 
I had an MRE yesterday. I have Crohn's and my first MRE was in 2014 and other than cramps from the drink for a few days I was fine. However, yesterday, after they finished the scan, my neck & arm where the cannula was inserted was covered in a red rash. The Radiologist wouldn't let me go home straight away, in case it was an allergic reaction to the contrast dye. That did settle down after taking an antihistamine.

But like you have all mentioned, my main problem was hours afterwards I had extremely loose water diarrhoea brought on by the "mild" laxative they ask you to drink. The after effects are anything but "mild". I could not eat for 10 hours.

Does anyone have any tips for prepping for a colonoscopy or a small bowel MRI that doesn't involve such powerful laxatives. Is there not a gentler alternative to cleaning out?
 
crohnsinct said:
I get dreadfully ill from the Breeza. For me I think it is the artificial sweetener. I start getting diarrhea right after the first bottle and pretty much drink the other two as I un for the bathroom. The results are always the same, "not enough oral contrast to fully visualize". They keep asking me to do it again but I decline because it will only be the same result. I also get very nauseous and a headache etc. I usually perk up about 12 hours later.

So sorry it made you so ill. I hope they good a good read at least.
Click to expand...
That stuff is explosive, I had to stop and use the bathroom no less than 11 times in less than an hour and a half after the last scan. Less than 10 minutes after the appointment, it would hit me hard. Once done I felt better in just a few hours.
 
CH1 said:
I had an MRE yesterday. I have Crohn's and my first MRE was in 2014 and other than cramps from the drink for a few days I was fine. However, yesterday, after they finished the scan, my neck & arm where the cannula was inserted was covered in a red rash. The Radiologist wouldn't let me go home straight away, in case it was an allergic reaction to the contrast dye. That did settle down after taking an antihistamine.

But like you have all mentioned, my main problem was hours afterwards I had extremely loose water diarrhoea brought on by the "mild" laxative they ask you to drink. The after effects are anything but "mild". I could not eat for 10 hours.

Does anyone have any tips for prepping for a colonoscopy or a small bowel MRI that doesn't involve such powerful laxatives. Is there not a gentler alternative to cleaning out?
Click to expand...
I don't have any experience with gentler methods, personally.
But I can't keep the miralax- Gatorade mix down.
I've tried using the sugar free Gatorade, and it makes no difference.

It also takes longer to work on me.

So I go on a low residue diet for a week before, and I stop eating a day earlier than recommended.
The less there is to come rocketing out, the easier the process, IMO.
I start the prep in the morning the day before the exam. I can't drink every 15 minutes or I lose it.

And I buy extra prep b/c when I do throw up halfway through the process, I'm not leaving to buy more.

I think the MRE prep is to help make the images clearer, not necessarily intended to clean us out.
That's just a bonus!
 
Lisa said:
This is just what I needed to hear right now (kidding...kind of!).....I'm waiting for a call to schedule an MRE for myself as I've been having right side pain/discomfort for a few months now...bloods/stool all checked out ok.....saw the doc last week for a follow up and decided to schedule an MRE to look further.
Click to expand...

My first MRE was much easier on me.
And they did find a stricture that time.

I hope it's easier than you expect.
 
crohnsinct said:
Ohhhhh they thought my daughter had that at one point. I hope they are right and the drugs work! The test for that is pretty easy. It’s a breath test. Could save you the trouble of taking meds if that’s not what it is.
Click to expand...

You said they thought your daughter had it?
Did she end up having it?

My insurance company won't cover the rifaximin unless it's prescribed for "IBS with diarrhea".

Their bright idea is to give me amoxicillin and Align.
That just sounds dumb to me.

Except for the nausea, I don't feel that bad.
Taking an antibiotic without knowing that I need it doesn't sit well with me.
There is a ton of info on the web, but so much of it is anecdotal and the people talking about it are often bloggers with no professional experience.

I found a group on social media, but many of them seem bonkers.
I haven't heard of some of the diets and treatments they're talking about and there are SO MANY.

I sent the doc a message with a list of questions.
He said there's a breath test for SIBO, but it can give false results.
He suggested that I make an appointment. So I called the clinic.

"Dr. So and so has no availability."

Oh. Okay then.

If he doesn't want to treat me, I would rather he just say that.
I'm probably overreacting. I'm not rude and I have decent insurance.

But I do ask a lot of questions. And my preference is always to document but ignore symptoms.

Like pain. I have Crohn's and fibromyalgia. I don't what my pain level is unless it hits 7.
 
Haha...you sound like my daughter!

IDK how she got the Rifaxin without any SIBO test but she did. It didn't help andthen she had a scope and ir showed massive inflammation so there went that theory. However, believe it or not her GI clings to his SIBO theory. Even with her flare now he is still saying that it is hard to figure out how much other symptoms are SIBO and how much are IBD.

I will have to look back at my daughter's thread (which I sort of use as a medical diary to keep track of everything). He did end up prescribing other things also...for the SIBO...because of the different types of bacteria.

I do remember researching about SIBO a lot at the time, before her doc even mentioned it, and she did fit the profile perfectly. There was an Md who is the authority on SIBO and he had another who studied with him or something like that and they are both super successful at treating SIBO. Let me see if I confined them again.
 
Last edited:
crohnsinct said:
Haha...you sound like my daughter!

IDK how she got the Rifaxin without any SIBO test but she did. It didn't help andthen she had a scope and ir showed massive inflammation so there went that theory. However, believe it or not her GI clings to his SIBO theory. Even with her flare now he is still saying that it is hard to figure out how much other symptoms are SIBO and how much are IBD.

I will have to look back at my daughter's thread (which I sort of use as a medical diary to keep track of everything). He did end up prescribing other things also...for the SIBO...because of the different types of bacteria.
Click to expand...

Your daughter sounds awesome 😆

Thanks for the website! There is a lot of info on the web, but so much of it each person's trial and error.

So your daughter got the meds, took the meds... and it didn't help. Ugh!

My doc ran labs and ordered the MRE to check for inflammation before moving on to the SIBO theory.

Of all the theories and treatments out there, I think I prefer the version with liquid nutrition and starving the bacteria outta there.

Except once again, couldn't that kill some of the large intestinal bacteria? And we want them there and working, I thought?

What a headache.
 
Honestly, Crohn's is a difficult dx but the IBS and SIBO has been the most frustrating. I think because there is so much science behind IBD and the docs know more what they are doing. IBS and SIBO is hard. First try to find a doctor who believes in it, then one who understands it, and then even one who knows how to treat it. It is awful.

Yeah, she took the drugs and they didn't help her BUT she was flaring so it is hard to suss out what was the SIO and what was the Crohns.

She is set to have a total colectomy at the end of this month so I guess going forward we will know for sure.
 
Glad I found this. My son is doing MRE in a few weeks and the place uses Breeza. (We are not doing a children's hospital because the one closest only sedates kids for the procedure. He's not a highly anxious teen so that sounds extreme.) I know everyone responds differently to different preps. Did anyone prefer Breeza over Volumen? Also, they told me he can take zofran with the breeza. He responded poorly to the scope prep, so we will do that. Did any of you find zofran helpful? Any other tips. We are going to watch some videos I found from children's hospitals so he knows what to expect. I'll also have him practice lying still and holding his breath now and then. He has high functioning autism so it helps to prepare him for things like this. He's excited to see photos of his small intestine which is good!
 
I would double check with your childrens hospital .
Their standard answer would be they sedate for MRi but they do consider age
So little kids are sedated
Older kids are not
They told us Ds would be sedated at age 6
We convinced them otherwise
Never had to be sedated for any mri
Unlike a scope
You do not see the mri images at all
 
That is so weird that they sedate all kids. I have never heard of that for GI scans, especially since they have to listen to instructions, breath holds etc..

My girls can't take Zofran but from what I understand, if you are going to get nauseous it is more from the volume than anything and IDK if Zofran helps with that.

My girls and I also have a really hard time with the contrast due to the artificial sweeteners and it gives us horrible diarrhea. IDK if Zofranhelps with that. We have had both types of contrast and both them have the artificial sweeteners so brand doesn't matter one bit for us.

Unfortunately, it is the type of thing you just have to try the first time and see what happens.
 
Unfortunately, our local Children's hospital just refers out if you don't want sedation and they said for most teens they go the referral route. The good news is one of the places they refer to is an imaging center that is surpringly close to us. So, we should be able to make it home afterwards without bathroom stops! I do suspect he has issue with fake sugars-even a small amount-long story, so this will be an adventure. I think I read on here some people do low residue before this (not just scopes). I may do that the day before since he currently eats such a high fiber diet. He would be happy to have things like pancakes and eggs with rice so not a big deal.

There is another children's hospital in the area, but it is far enough that it's just not worth it. It will be so nice to have a quick ride home for recovery. The scheduler was really honest with me. She said the people who work there are great with all ages and I can be in the room, but she also said they get a fair amount of people who throw up and there is a lot of running to the bathroom. So we are prepared to deal and our son understands this is a possibility, but it's worth it to get a look at everything. He will be bummed not to see the scans. Although, this place may be different. I could have sworn they told me they send us home with a CD.

I think at the ER zofran is what finally stopped him from vomiting during scope prep. Hope it helps with this.
 
They probably will send you home with a cd of the scans
But only a doctors office or medical facility has the software to “unlock” the images to view them from the CD
So no images that you or he can see

Most people do not vomit during an MRE
Nausea yes but not vomit
Mainly because you have so much to drink before
 
I have the software to unlock the scans….I'll be darned if I could tell what I am looking at though. Just look up terminal ileum MRE images and tell him it's his….he won't know the difference. Radiologists truly are one of the most brilliant docs out there! How they make sense of the clouds is beyond me…and or every condition known to man!
 
Breeza is really not so bad and generally doesn't cause nausea. It's kind of like flat sprite with a bit more of an artificial flavor. Pretty tolerable overall, but it does generally cause some loose stool later.
 

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