# colonoscopy prep



## bates (Feb 26, 2004)

Is there one type of prep that is easier for IBS folks than others? Which is the least likely to cause IBS cramping? Thanks!


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## GRLRACER (Oct 20, 2003)

hey im not sure how many different kind of prep there is i know the kind i drank nylute (spelling?)i think this was the name of it did not taste good but my doctor said none of it does. and it really cleans you out you have to be very close to a bathroom at all times. and it really did not cause me to much cramping.just going to the bathroom so much was the worst part for me. hope this helps good luck!


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## lkemerson (Feb 7, 2002)

I cannot do the golytly. There is just too much of it. I do the phospho soda and enema prep. That phospho soda is not the best tasting, in fact, well, it's horrid...but I chill it, and drink it mixed in as little liquid as possible so I can just gulp it down, and then follow it with a 7-up mixer, and a swish and rinse of rootbeer. Sounds insane, I know, but it works for me.


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## bates (Feb 26, 2004)

But the prep didn't trigger a major flare up of IBS? No major cramps? That's my main concern. I can hold my nose and drink just about anything, and as for being in the bathroom a lot - hey that's pretty much my life anyway.


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## lkemerson (Feb 7, 2002)

I don't know that I would term it a flair up of IBS. I will say that whatever you take will cause a bit of cramping, it's the nature of the beast. To stimulate good elimination they will have to make the colon MOVE and to do that you often get cramping. I would call it more of an urgency to _*GET IN THERE AND GET RID OF IT*_. A little tip here...the less you have in the colon to move out...the less you have to eliminate, so try a very light diet two days before, and liquid diet the day before your prep.My husband recently had his first colonoscopy as part of his over 50 check up. He does not have IBS or Crohns, in other words, he has normal bowel activity. He did the phospho soda and enema prep [same gut doc-same prep] and I asked him about cramping. He said he felt mild cramping, but the urgency was he remembers most. That and the taste of that phospho soda.I don't see what you could take that would cause you no cramping. It's what happens when you are forcing the colon to clear out. The enema alone causes me mild cramping.If you find a way to do this with no cramping, I'd love to know what it is. I've tried three different ways to do this and find the phospho soda way to be about the most effective and the quickest means to an end.KarenIBS for 15 years, Crohns for 2 years.


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## bates (Feb 26, 2004)

Apparently my doc does the phospho, but no enema chaser. Thank God, since I wouldn't do an enema if they paid me. My sister did the gallon jug stuff, but said she never finishes it - just takes it till she clear or she starts puking it back up, then quits. She never tells the docs she didn't finish and it's never been a problem. However, she doesn't have IBS.I'm not about to take a gallon of anything - I will start puking, so if it's just the phospho (with no enema) I guess that's what I'll go with. I'm happy to hear neither the prep nor the procedure apparently trigger IBS. I would think the stress alone would do it, but I'm glad if that's not the case.


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## bkitepilot (Dec 7, 2003)

bates good luck with your testing. The sodium bicarb (phospho soda) tastes tart but tolerable. I can't however drink it or I get extremely sick with cramps, cold sweats and that sick-all-over feeling, inevitably I end up vomiting. 'gag' I can take the golytely since it hydrates you with needed electrolytes to stop the cramping and dehydration caused by explosive clean-outs. I take it slowly tho or I will urp it. 4 ounces every half hour until the gallon is almost gone. Phew you sure don't raise your rear off the potty for a few hours.Good luck with whatever prep you choose. Belinda (queen of golytely)


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## bates (Feb 26, 2004)

Zowie! I didn't realize phospho was that bad - I've talked with other folks who prefer it to the gallon jug stuff. I've never heard about your symptoms - I wonder if that is very common? I'll be sure to mention your situation to my GE's staff and see what they can suggest. I thought I could relax about the prep, but now I'm scared spitless again. But thanks for the heads up.


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## bates (Feb 26, 2004)

bkitepilot - I think you must have mistyped - if you only took 4 oz every half hour, it would take you most of a day to drink the full gallon. I thought it was 8 oz every 10 or 15 minutes, which is why people end up puking it up - they have too much liquid in their stomachs.


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## lkemerson (Feb 7, 2002)

The phospho soda is nasty, but there is so little to drink when compared to the golytely. I take what I consider to be the lesser of two evils. I still say no matter what prep you take you will have cramping and sweats, as well as that all over sick feeling. It again...is the nature of the beast. The reason you are doing this is to clean you out. To clean you out they must stimulate elimination, which will cause your colon to go into the processes it uses to produce elimination.Golytely is just so much to ingest that if you are a gaggy person [much like myself] the thought of the sheer amount of liquid to ingest is daunting. Phospho soda is NASTY. I hate it, but it is what I can get down, and keep down and get the effect needed for a good 'scoping.'There are also some tablets that you can take, and I have heard varying thoughts on an effective cleaning out with them. I just figure if I am going to do this thing, I only want to have to do it once. If I took all those pills and then went in only to be told I wasn't cleaned out enough, I would be devastated.I think you will do fine, if you already have a dread of the golytely, however, I say, if in doubt, don't. Let us know how it goes, and keep that phospho cold and break it down into small amounts in a bathroom dixie cup with 7-up. It is a psychological boost to know 'hey, that is only a couple gulps, I can do this." Get it down, take a sip or two of a rootbeer chaser, rest up a sec, mix the next little bit up and go for it again until it is gone.


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## Guest (Feb 29, 2004)

To me personally, the magnesium citrate is not nearly as bad as the phospho. You only drink a 10 oz bottle of mag cit with 8 oz of water. Then you take your 4 pills a few hours later and a suppository in the morning. You have to drink about 8 oz of water every hour but you don't have to drink a lot at one time.


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## Guest (Feb 29, 2004)

oh and I almost forgot... ask for the lemon flavor!!


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## shineon7 (Mar 19, 2004)

i had the phospho soda prep and i didn't think it was bad at all. I mixed one tablespoon of the 1.5 fl oz bottle with 8 oz of aple juice and it tasted fine. It was a little salty because the phospho has sodium in it but it really wasn't bad at all.


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## mporl77 (Mar 24, 2004)

I tried the orange colyte. Nasty in any flavor quite frankly. Just down as much as you can every 2 minutes. Even I couldn't finish the gallon, I was too full. It took longer than I expected to work, by then I was going very often. It still was working 2 days after my exam. So don't expect to hold down a big meal immediately.


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