New Colonoscopy Instructions

[soupdragon69]

Hi Everyone,

I got my "pack" in the post today for my colonoscopy prep next Tues 1st July. Have just opened it and got a shock. Last year I had Fleet and the year before too.

BIG changes this year! Ready?

7 days prior to appointment stop taking immodium, codeine phosphate, lomotil, iron tablets or fybogel.

2 days prior commence low residue diet of which they have provided a very specific list.

Day before appointment. Have good breakfast of allowed foods and after this do not eat any more solid food although clear jelly and icecream are allowed as well as clear fluids including carbonated drinks, tea and coffee.

At TEN AM take FOUR senna tablets supplied.

At TWO PM dissolve full sachet of Picolax in 500mls water and drink over 10 -20mins

Try to drink at least 1000mls of clear fluid before SIX PM

At SIX PM dissolve full sachet of Kleen Prep in 1000mls water and drink over the next hour.

THEN try and drink a further 1000mls clear fluids before bed.

Morning of appointment fluids only.

I am getting the impression they have had problems with guts not being clear enough but I am feeling this is a bit on the heavy side for a clear out!!

Am stunned.

 

[Isla]

I have had to go through something very similar when I get my tests done. But have had to avoid any quick acting laxatives as I end up in the ER with horrible pain. But my prep involes more prep days, a lot less eating, and little to no laxatives. Hope your test goes well!

 

[soupdragon69]

Isla in the past all I have had has been 2 doses of fleet, fluids, no solid food once taking it and thats it. None of this 7 day run up - thats why I was stunned.

 

[ITSMEAGAIN]

that sounds close, but the last prep i had included the 7day step, but the liquid was the worst. 4 litres (Gallon for the Yanks .lol) and drink this all the day before the procedure with in some impossible time frame of 4hrs? something like that. It took me 12 and 1/2 to finish. That was because my GI didn't like the two small bottles of phosa soda. Poor into Kool Aid and drink, easy to chug and fast reacting. The only problem with it is.. kidney failure can sometimes happen. And my GI had a patient that happened to. Soooo he no longer gives the good stuff.
I feel for ya Soup, i can honestly say Preping for the Colonscopy is all most as bad as the procedure it self.
Best of luck!!

 

[BWS1982]

Prepping is WORSE than the procedure, most of the procedure is a blur, the memories consist of prep for the most part for me.

 

[Creepy Lurker]

Picolax AND kleenprep?

Oh god. *gag*

 

[soupdragon69]

Creepy thats what I thought on top of the senna tablets too!

Overkill as far as I am concerned HELP!!

 

[saidinstouch]

I get to start my prep for thursday tomorrow. I get to take 2 fleet phosphosoda doses...hooray >.<. I'm trying the lemon ginger flavor in sprite and seeing how that works. Keeping my fingers crossed I can choke two doses of the stuff down!

 

[Guest]

omg! i wish they would invent something to replace that dreaded picolax - it's like drinking poison

Jan - is this a standard prep letter, or is it specifically geared to you, do you think? i'm just wondering if they suspect a slow digestive action in you, so are over-doing the prep thing.

 

[coachvee]

Prepping is WORSE than the procedure, most of the procedure is a blur, the memories consist of prep for the most part for me.

Completely agree with this!

That's weird though - my last colonoscopy was in March, not THAT long ago, and all I did was 3 litres of kleen prep. That new 'schedule' is a heck of a lot more complicated!

Has ANYONE found that taking kleen prep with a "clear cordial" helps?! (they suggest this in the instruction leaflet) I tried it with blackcurrant and I was almost sick - it tasted even more glutinous and disgusting than the basic mixture! it's actually ruined blackcurrant cordial for me now

 

[soupdragon69]

Saidinstouch the 2 doses of fleet were all I had until this lot arrived in the post this time! Was all psyched up to take it and had the feet taken from under me instead ;-)

DB my gut action is actually on the fast side and use meds to slow it down! This is a completely new set up by the endoscopy team as its printed out on 2 sides of A4 with instructions on each depending on whether you are AM or PM scope. So everyone is going through it it seems.

I just cant get over the combo of clear out stuff - thats what has thrown me. I mean do they want my gut so shiney and sparkly that they have to wear shades or sommat? lol I am going to ask my consultant beforehand what sadistic twerp thought it up!

 

[Creepy Lurker]

I'd just do what you know works. They'll never know.

 

[Isla]

Actually now that I think about it, that is usually the type of prep they give people before they have surgery. That is weird. A friend of mine had to go through a very similar prep for a gyne surgery.

 

[saidinstouch]

Well the good news I found was that if you dilute the stuff in a cup of sprite it goes down easy. The bad news was five minutes after downing my second dose I threw up. Luckily it wasn't a lot so I'll get the desired effect and I'm already getting really close to clear from the first dose (hooray upping my normal laxative a couple days early to help out after my last cleanout being slow). At least the worst part is done and now I get to be chained to the toilet on and off for the next few hours.

 

[BWS1982]

I get to be chained to the toilet on and off for the next few hours.

I need no prep for such torture, the disease does a sufficient job of this.

 

[saidinstouch]

I go the other way typically and if I forget my laxative I can go 3-4 days without the urge or thought to go and then I have a big rock that wants out magically. I'd definitely take my symptoms since I can control them more easily, but it hurts when you have an open incision while trying to force something so big out. I can only imagine how much harder a baby would be.

On a brighter note, my scope is done and they are upping my humira to 2 pens every other week instead of 1 but they didn't seem to find anything overly concerning. Now I just gotta deal with the cramps and gas for the day .

 

[soupdragon69]

Glad your scope went well Saidinstouch. I am hoping my gastro team change me over to Humira as the research I have done with my Crohns and Rheumatoid connection shows that Humira and Methotrexate work well together and I know Rheums are thinking double therapy with Metho being the mainstay.

How are you finding the Humira? How long have you been on it?

 

[saidinstouch]

Its been about nine months (minus the last month of not being on it due to insurance issues from an insurance change). I find it to work almost as well as the remicade did, but not quite as well. This could be because I was on 10mg/kg of remicade every 4 weeks as compared to the standard dose of humira, so it was something like 2-3x the normal dose twice as often of remicade so its hard to compare. My doctor wants to put me on 2 pens every other week instead of 1 pen every other week so I should have a better basis of comparison, but I think it works well.

My doctor is considering also trying humira + MTX if this doesn't work, but MTX is fairly nasty stuff so I'd like to wait on it. Hopefully my research project will enter phase I clinical trials soon then I can talk about it more and how it relates to us!

 

[ITSMEAGAIN]

sounds like everyone has had relativley easy scopes? I can honestly say both of mine were painful. I woke up during both trying to scream and only was able to wimper like a cat. Is that abnormal?

 

[soupdragon69]

Hi ItsMeAgain,

You are not alone on the painful scope situation. My last one was so painful I couldnt verbalise the pain and felt virtually every biopsy they took which I was later told was around 20.

I am off this morning in about 30mins for my next scope and yes I am very twitched about it but my own consultant is doing it this time rather than the reg from another team like last time. He knows how I feel and I trust him to look after me. All the same will be glad when its over!!

Hi Saidinstouch,

Methotrexate is a drug that must be tried before others like Humira and Remicade can be used on the Rheumatoid front so I wont have alot of choice in that clinic.

Will see what my consultant thinks this morning after my scope - he may leave me on Remicade for now. If he stops it I will have nothing for my Chrons meds wise at all and that concerns me. Oh well time will tell eh?

 

[saidinstouch]

I'm sorry to hear that soupdragon. MTX is a nasty, nasty drug and its a shame they make you jump through that hoop to get to the good stuff! This is especially true since MTX in combo with the biologics has been shown to have greater effect than just the MTX alone. By the end of the year I'm hoping I can share my research for the last 1.5 years with you guys, otherwise I'm bound by nda till I'm given freedom to discuss the research .

Good luck with the scope soupdragon and hopefully they give you some options for your meds other than MTX!

 

[Guest]

good luck Jan, thinking of you!! it's 9.45am here, i hope the worst of it is over by now xx

 

[soupdragon69]

Hey folks,

Well am home and off to lie down for a little while after I post this..

Consultant said my gut is healing well and looks vastly better to the original scope. I told him about the Rheumatoid diagnosis and my GP's thoughts previously about my having an ongoing inflammatory problem that triggers everything else.

My gastro cons said he agrees with my GP that the inflammation in my gut may be resurfacing 4wks after my remicade infusion even though the ulceration is healed. He said that if Rheums put me on MTx it would help my gut also. He is going to keep me on my remicade iv's as a maintenance but hasnt said how long for. He will mail the gastro nurse and get her to sort out my next app!

Am so relieved the remicade is staying and that he isnt going to commence MTx himself. Would have liked Humira so I dont have to trek to the hospital but it seems as Pen says not everyone does so well with the Humira in comparison with the Remicade.

I agree saidinstouch about the 2 drugs working well together because that is what the Rheumatologist told me last week. Think she was hoping the Remicade would continue too!

Thanks for the thoughts. The scope had its moments pain wise but it was nothing like last time! DB I was just out at 0945 from the scope so well timed!!

Also should say the prep stuff I posted at the start was quite a good combo and wasnt too sore on me. I didnt head to the loo til 5pm and was stopped by 10pm even though I took 4 senna tablets at 10am and Picolax at 2pm.

Just hope what I have said makes sense after the sedation I have had!! ;-)

 

[Isla]

Ya it makes sense Glad it went well, thanks for updating us!

 

[BWS1982]

I remember brief intervals of lucid alertness, but they were fleeting and I was out after I heard the doc say more Versed....happened only a couple times, and when it did, it was horrible pain, I felt like I was awaking in a dream only to zonk out within a few seconds.

Sounds like improvement to me Jan, good news.

 

[ITSMEAGAIN]

glad you made it through fine and let's hope for better days.

 

[soupdragon69]

Benson,

I laughed last night when I thought about my sedation as my cons came in during the scope being done by his reg and when I thought about it last night I remember thinking to myself how different my consultant looked. Could hear his voice and knew it was him but he looked very different. I felt perfectly fine but he just "looked" so different and I remember thinking he must have changed his hairstyle, yet when he came to see me after he was exactly the same as he has always been!! Shows how the meds impact eh? ;-)

Yes it does sound like improvement and its not before time. It really puzzled him why I deteriorate though 10-14 days before my next iv every time and agreed it couldnt be IBS with a pattern like that. The more he thought about it the more he agreed with my GP's theory about ongoing inflammation triggering my different health probs. So I feel much better about things myself now as one of the gastro nurses (funnily enough who I dont get on with) was so insistent it was IBS etc and her whole attitude left me feeling it was all my fault and pretty down. Now I just have to sort out the rheumatology side!!

I have to say with all the health problems I have its been like peeling back the layers of an onion these last 10yrs and I feel like I am finally getting to the core reason now. In a way its a relief.

Thanks folks for your support it means alot!

 

[Jeff D.]

Yeah Jan the last time I was put to sleep I thought that al the doctors around me were like 10 feet tall and my Colorectal guy was like 12 feet tall. Then when I woke up everyone was normal size. Yeah that stuff does crazy things to your mind.

 

[soupdragon69]

Good to know I am not alone on that front Jeff. I felt such a dope and actually had a red face last night thinking about it!

 

[Guest]

hey Jan - well done on getting through it so well hun. how lovely to hear your gut has improved since the last scope, that's great news indeed! let's hope this is the beginning of everything improving for you, including getting those meds you need to sort out all the issues you've been coping so admirably with. & i'm glad to hear all that prep didn't get to you too badly.