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Finally having that colonoscopy

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Irritable Bowel Syndrome
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CathyA
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Joined : Mar 2005
Posts : 1597
Posted 5/11/2007 3:18 PM (GMT -7)
I'm 57 and have been putting having one off.   I'm pretty sure I don't have polyps, but I am very interested in just hearing what my colon looks like, after having IBS for about 10 years.  I especially am interested in seeing if they really do find a small animal in there!  That's what it always feels like.

   Do we get to talk to the doc ahead of time, and tell him our symptoms?

   I'm not really worried about it.  I know the clean-out isn't fun, but its better than a root canal.  Plus, I love being home when doing unpleasant things.  Plus.....I'm used to spending alot of time on the pot!

  I just hope I don't get a headache.

  Have any of you found that you had residual problems after such a drastic clean out?

   I have found that when I've had to be NPO for some procedure, and had to do a Fleets enema, I actually feel really good.  I suppose we would all feel better if we never had to eat!  I do the clean out on Monday and the test is Tuesday morning.  Wish me luck!

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dbab
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Joined : Jan 2004
Posts : 4151
Posted 5/11/2007 4:06 PM (GMT -7)
I hope all goes well with the scope. The doc who performed by colonoscopy is my GI doc so he knows all my symptoms already. I wonder why they are giving you a different doc for your scope.

Yeah, clean out isn't fun but my last couple weren't bad. Couldn't really do anything that would require time or concentration like a movie (some here say to watch movies but I really couldn't, too much running to the bathroom).

I wouldn't worry too much about headaches unless you are not replenishing your liquids which is so important. Musn't dehydrate which will definitely cause headache.

I haven't had any problems with my preps except that I'm extremely hungry the next day.

Let us know how it goes... Take Care
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dbab
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Posts : 4151
Posted 5/11/2007 4:08 PM (GMT -7)
Almost forgot... baby wipes (preferably aloe), magazines, the softest toilet tissue (I like Charmin Ultra for my preps). You also might want vaseline so you don't get chapped. I'm sure others will post their prep "kit". :-)
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CathyA
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Joined : Mar 2005
Posts : 1597
Posted 5/11/2007 6:49 PM (GMT -7)
Thanks for the tips Des,
I'm supposed to take 2 Ducolax and then 64 oz of a mixture of Miralax.
I used to have a GI doc. But I haven't seen him in about 10 years. I have an Internist who operates out of a different hospital, and I decided to just go with the group he uses. I hope I don't regret it. My first GI doc was nice, but it sort of bothered me that he never suggested calcium to control my diarrhea.......which is what I finally figured out would work for me.
I really like my Internist, so I'm going with the specialists that he likes.
Its just a big group of GI docs, and you set up a colonoscopy without even knowing the doc. I don't really care for that......but I'll do it. I'm jsut glad I could get in so quickly. I just made the appointment today for this Tuesday.
Too bad all that yummy food I'll have on Mother's day will have to be ushered out so quickly and so violently. lol!
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Sarita
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Posts : 2486
Posted 5/11/2007 7:25 PM (GMT -7)
I've had random strangers stick all sorts of things up my arse - don't worry, it's normal, at least in the hospital setting :-)

It'll be fun.  It'll be good for you.  Everyone needs to be humbled with a colonoscopy!  I've had three and I'm more humble than I've ever been!

Enjoy your Mother's Day!  Are the kids making you breakfast in bed!?  Do you have grandkids???

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CathyA
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Posted 5/11/2007 8:27 PM (GMT -7)
Thanks Sarita!
No breakfast in bed, but a nice dinner. No, I don't have grandkids. I have a 20 and 18year old! I got a late start.
People used to say that having kids later would keep you young, but actually, it makes you very, very old. lol!
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7Lil
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Joined : Apr 2005
Posts : 3269
Posted 5/14/2007 10:57 AM (GMT -7)
Cathy,
Good luck today with the prep!!! Drink plenty of fluids. :-)
Please let us know how the scope goes for you tomorrow.
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CathyA
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Joined : Mar 2005
Posts : 1597
Posted 5/14/2007 12:25 PM (GMT -7)
Thanks Lil,
How sweet of your to remember!
I just took the first 2 pills, then at 5pm the fun really begins with the gallon of "stuff"!
I'm so glad that I'm finally doing this.
Thanks for your well wishes, and I'll let you know how it goes.
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CathyA
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Joined : Mar 2005
Posts : 1597
Posted 5/15/2007 9:28 AM (GMT -7)
I'm back! Its over and its normal, except for a few small diverticula in my sigmoid area.
I'm really still sort of out of it from the sedative, which wasn't as nice as I'd hoped it would be.
Was totally out of it, so don't remember a thing about it.
I wish I could have talked to the doctor afterwards, but I was pretty slow to wake up. with my fibromyalgia, I don't seem to clear sedation very quickly. I warned him about finding a small animal in there, but I guess he didn't.
I'm so glad I had this done. Now I don't have to worry about things, at least not in that neck of the woods!
about the prep........I took 2 dulcolax at 3p.m. Then I starting drinking that stuff at 6 p.m. I mixed the miralax with 2 Liters of lemon-lime gatorade and water and had to drink it every 10-15 minutes for 2 hours.
I seemed to hardly have any stuff in me to come out. I had no cramping at all. So the absolute worse part for me was drinking that CRUD!!! I wasn't sure I could keep it down towards the end. I don't think I can ever drink lemon-lime Gatorade ever again! hahahaha
Now I keep coming off the floor a little because I have so much air in me!
Anyhow.......thanks for your help everyone. Its sure nice to have people like you all to turn to, when going through some of these things!
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dbab
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Joined : Jan 2004
Posts : 4151
Posted 5/15/2007 9:36 AM (GMT -7)
I'm glad it went okay for you. Yes, I guess we forgot to mention that they fill you up with air lol... you will be letting loose for a bit :-)

Did your doc talk about a follow up consulation, did he give you instructions for diet changes for your diverticular (fiber), did you get pictures?
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CathyA
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Joined : Mar 2005
Posts : 1597
Posted 5/15/2007 11:11 AM (GMT -7)
Hi Des,
No, the doc didn't talk about a follow-up. I sure wish I'd been awake to talk to him afterwards. DH said he just said everything was normal with a few tics. No, no pics. When I had my knee arthroscopy, the doc gave me a disc of the operation. I thought it would have been cool to get one of them here too. Maybe I still can?
I also meant to ask him if my curve from my transverse to my descending looked normal, but don't you think he'll include that in the report?
When I told him about my IBS he suggested trying probiotics. I already have and didn't get much relief, but I was encouraged that conventional docs are starting to tell people about the probiotics.
Also........I found it curious that I had no cramping with the clean out. I started wondering.........I'll bet "normal" people, and you folks with constipation probably have alot more cramping with that than those of us with diarrhea......since our stuff is probably already super soft anyhow.
I guess I still need to find out why I have that chronic achey pain in my left mid-section. But at least its not from colon cancer or something else bad!
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dbab
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Posted 5/15/2007 11:31 AM (GMT -7)
I suffer from prodominantly constipation and I had no cramping at all either. I think that it has to do with the prep as it doesn't cause spasming but instead liquifies your stool with salt, etc. Miralax is a osmotic laxative so it draws water into the bowel to clean you out, no stimulation like you have with other laxatives. The other preps are basically the same way also.

I'm sure he will include all abnormal findings in the report, he is supposed to. I'm glad no animals were found, if so I would really be worried about you :-)
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7Lil
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Joined : Apr 2005
Posts : 3269
Posted 5/15/2007 11:48 AM (GMT -7)
Woo Hoo, Cathy!!!!
Glad to read the good news. No animal news is good news. :-)
I didn't have any cramping with the prep either. The roughest part was getting the abundance of liquid down. Blah!
LOL about the wind. Before I went in for my procedure some woman got wheeled out and placed next to me in the holding tank. The whole time I was there getting IV prepped the woman was tooting uncontrollably. At first I couldn't help but giggle, but then I started to get worried... Was that going to be me in an hour’s time???? Thankfully, it wasn't as bad and the gas was just temporary.
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Keriamon
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Joined : Jun 2005
Posts : 2976
Posted 5/15/2007 1:26 PM (GMT -7)
My doctor mailed me pictures of my colonoscopy later, so maybe you'll get yours that way too. I never had a post-exam follow-up or anything like that. If my mother hadn't been a nurse and able to read the pictures herself, I guess I'd still be wondering if I had anything wrong with me. I guess doctors think that you will assume that no news is good news and that they needn't bother contacting you and telling you specifically that everything is all right (which is very, very wrong).

Sarita, you better do lots of follow-up! Lol.
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dbab
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Posts : 4151
Posted 5/15/2007 1:39 PM (GMT -7)
I didn't have a follow up exam but I did have issues (polyps, diverticula, and inflammation) so my doc did a follow up phone consult. I think its a good idea anyway because if they have to let you know about something, right after the scope is not the time to go over it. I guess it depends on the nature of the doctor.
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Sarita
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Joined : Mar 2005
Posts : 2486
Posted 5/15/2007 2:44 PM (GMT -7)

At the very least, docs should tell their patients that if they DON'T hear anything within a few days, everything looked normal...but there should always still be a follow-up appointment.  Drives me crazy when I hear down the line somewhere that this or that was abnormal but no one decided to pass that information along to me!

Cathy, glad to hear everything worked out okay!

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CathyA
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Joined : Mar 2005
Posts : 1597
Posted 5/15/2007 3:34 PM (GMT -7)
Well, he found no animals in my colon, but I have the sneaking suspicion that when they saw the light, they ran backward up through my small bowel! teehee
I'm glad to hear you all didn't have cramping either. I thought something was wrong with me! And it seemed like I hardly had anything to come out, even though I had eaten ALOT the day before. But it must be like you said, Des, and everything got liquified. I was worried there was still lots of stuff up there. In fact........and I hope this doesn't gross anyone out........last night I had a dream I was out somewhere, and a huge ball of poop fell out of me (after I had done the prep). I was trying to carry it home, without anyone seeing it, and it dropped right in front of my daughter and broke into a bunch of pieces. hahahahahaha
What a dream!
Lil........I felt the same way......the VERY worst part was getting that stuff down. I really had to do some big time mind control to keep from gagging. And your story about that woman tooting is sooooooooooo funny! Yes, what goes around, comes around! hahaha
I was soooooooooo sedated. I really outstayed my welcome in the recovery room, and they finally gave me Narcan. The nurse kept pushing on my stomach yelling something like "push that gas out.........really bear down".......and I was barely conscious. Then she had me lay in the knee chest position and I was still rather comatose! hahaha It finally all came out at home, after I had eaten. I sort of spun around the room like a balloon that is let loose.....hahahaha
Now I know why they make you leave out a different door than the waiting room. Can't you just see people walking through there, tooting with every step? hahahaha
Thanks everyone! :)
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Canyonbabe711
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Posts : 1451
Posted 5/15/2007 5:47 PM (GMT -7)
The Doctor should have gotten more gas out. It is not that difficult. I seldom have any gas after proceedure.
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SnowyLynne
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Posts : 1539
Posted 5/15/2007 11:51 PM (GMT -7)
I used Huggies baby wipes with Shea butter.Better than TP.
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CathyA
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Joined : Mar 2005
Posts : 1597
Posted 5/16/2007 5:31 AM (GMT -7)
I'm usually really sensitive in that area......but there was really so little that came out, soreness wasn't an issue. I found that really strange. Makes me wonder if my usual diarrhea has alot more bile in it, from the food triggers??
Another question for you (and I'm glad we can ask these kinds of questions here and not feel really wierd!).......towards the end of your cleaning out, was your fluid clear? Mine was cloudy and yellow, and I didn't know if that meant I wasn't as clear as I should be. Also.......was the yellow towards the end from all that digusting Lemon-Lime gatorade, or is that bile?? Thanks!
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7Lil
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Posts : 3269
Posted 5/16/2007 1:37 PM (GMT -7)
Hi Cathy,
I think the yellow was just the residual stool mixing in with the liquid. 1/2 way into my prep I started to see only yellow-ish liquid come out. By the end all I got was clear liquid, like I was urinating out the other hole. SUPER gross, not to mention weird at first. How many times would you say you made a trip to the bathroom? I'd have to say I went at least 30 times... Hence the sore bottom. I had to use baby wipes and then some medicated wipes my doc gave me (I think they were Tucks).
Nice topics we discuss here, huh?  tongue
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CathyA
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Joined : Mar 2005
Posts : 1597
Posted 5/16/2007 6:41 PM (GMT -7)
Hi Lil,
I forgot to count, but I'd say I went about 8 times after my stuff kicked in. I couldn't believe how little I went.
I have fibromyalgia and have constantly weird things happening to me, so I guess I'm just chaulking it up to another wierd thing! I took the 2 dulcolax at 3p.m., and then started drinking the stuff from 5-7, and I didn't even have to go until a little after 7. But I was still getting rid of the fluid when it was time to go to the exam.......around 6:30a.m......but that was only about 2 times after I went to bed.
Now peeing is something different.........I probably pee 12-15 times a day all the time!
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Sarita
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Posts : 2486
Posted 5/16/2007 8:05 PM (GMT -7)
Now THAT is the Full Garden Hose Experience.  The expulsion of copious amounts of yellow-to-clear waste, shooting out of the back door at a dizzying speed at LEAST every 10 minutes.  Booyah!

Sometimes, when I'm having a Very Bad Garden Hose Day, I will literally be excreting blue-green/red/orange fluids, depending on what flavor of Gatorade I ended up reviving myself with.  I am not kidding!  I am a big fan of the "Blue Crush," which produces the most profound effect in the toilet.

LOL, I love the fact that I can be this disgusting with y'all.  I love you guys!

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CathyA
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Posts : 1597
Posted 5/17/2007 5:44 AM (GMT -7)
I like the Blue Crush the best too! I don't think I can ever drink the lemon-lime again, EVER.
Hmmmmm.....Sarita........maybe you could create a new form of colorful artwork photography to pay your way through med school! :)
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Sarita
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Posts : 2486
Posted 5/17/2007 9:17 AM (GMT -7)
LOL, we could open the Garden Hose Gallery! 
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