Pill cam anyone?

[xoxava]

pill cam anyone?

so i am scheduled for a pill cam to see what my next treatment option is. my dr isnt sure if he should increase remicade to every 4 weeks or try something different. i know i do a clear liquid diet the day before. what else should i prepapre for? is there certain clothing i should wear when i go? will you know if the pill cam comes out?

 

[kjw1112]

Wear a semi-baggy shirt. I wore normal jean shorts. They velcro strap a box that flashes every 15 seconds to your waist, so i would avoid airports and anywhere else that a flashing box around your waist would be suspicious. I didn't feel the camera come out, but I heard the clink in the toilet.

 

[kjw1112]

They also tell you you can eat a few hours after you swallow it, but I didn't eat for the full 6 hours I wore it, since things flush thru my system rapidly. I was afraid they wouldn't get the correct pictures if I had to go during the test. The prep and 2000 dollars isn't worth going thru again if you don't have to. Just something to think about if food goes thru your system rapidly.

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

When I had my pill cam, I had to do 1/2 prep the night before. You're lucky if you just have to do a liquids-only fast beforehand! Some people have to do full prep. It all depends on what your doctor/hospital prefers. Clothing-wise, wear comfortable pants (I wore sweatpants) and a fairly thin 100% cotton shirt. When they hooked me up to the belt for the pill cam, they said the signal can go through one layer of thin cotton, but no other fabric. The belt is a bit bulky and unwieldy, so don't plan on doing much while wearing it. I went home and napped and watched TV until it was time to return the belt to the hospital. They'll give you instructions as to when you can eat and drink after you've swallowed the capsule. I think I was allowed water 2 hours after I swallowed it, and a light lunch 2 hours after that.

Good luck with it! It's one of the easier tests to do, especially if you don't have to do prep.

 

[xJillx]

For my pill cam, I had to fast and do full prep. Like Cat said, you are lucky to just have to fast.

As stated above, wear a lose shirt so they can hook you up without a problem. Also, you look really small like me, so the belt might not even fit. I had to wear a monitor around my neck instead. Therefore, the type of pants I wore didn't matter. But I did have to be careful to keep the monitor close to my abdomen at all times.


As far as passing the pill cam, I saw it come out in the toilet. It took two days if I am remembering correctly. I was starting to get a little nervous, but then it appeared.

Good luck!

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

Jill, I never saw mine come out (xoxava, don't worry - you don't need to return the capsule afterwards!). I was pretty sure I must have passed it at some point, although I have no idea when. I didn't find out for sure that I had passed it until I was scheduled for an MRI and started to panic, afraid that a metallic thing was still inside of me and would wreak havoc with the magnets in the MRI. So I called and the nurse said, "You definitely passed it based on the images from it." Then I remembered that a couple of radiology techs I know told me that sometimes, the final images on the pill cam are of the person's face looking down in the toilet at the capsule! Eek! I think I must have been one of those for the nurse to know for sure that I had passed it!

 

[tobyjug]

Hi folks,

seems to be quite a large difference in what's done where. Mines was a while ago, but I'm sure I only had to fast from the night before. Definately no horrible prep beforehand, I would have remembered that. Although I was watching for it coming out, I never seen it, quite dissappointed really. Never mind, hopefully never need to do it again.

Only other thing I would add would be to take a good book (or Kindle) with you as it can be quite a boring day.

 

[stratford]

When i had pill cam i wore all my normal clothes & followed the light diet the hospital told me to eat.
This was THE test which finally showed the active Crohn's in my small bowel which no other test ever showed.
I got this test done (at my request) when i asked for a 3rd opinion from my two previous gastros.
The 1st one wanted to leave me on pentasa following resection.(I felt it did nothing to help me).
The 2nd one treated me with Methotrexate,Azathioprine etc.These drugs got the Crohn's under control but i was intolerant to these drugs.(both of these drugs gave me the worst side affects i've experienced).I found this Dr so unhelpful.He told me just to go back to Pentasa!
When i had pill cam it showed active Crohn's in my small bowel.
By pushing for another test i finally got the correct diagnosis.
For a long time i felt they were not listening to my complaints.Sometimes i was convinced they thought i made it all up.
The pill cam showed the Crohn's they said i didn't have.

Good luck with the test & i hope you get into remission.

 

[MCPayne]

This is a test that my GI wanted to do on me, however, now I'm not so sure he wants to do it. I had a colonoscopy done this past week, which unfortunately, could have gone better. They found scarring in the colon near the rectum, and want a barium enema to determine the size of the scar.

If it's a significant scar, then I'm not sure if they want the pill cam, since the camera could get stuck. If it's a significant scar, I may need surgery. I'll keep you updated. My barium enema test is in a couple weeks.