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Do any of your GIs let you eat the day before a colonoscopy? (Article & research study)

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Sara14
Veteran Member
Joined : Mar 2007
Posts : 7543
Posted 9/7/2022 10:25 PM (GMT -8)
My last couple GIs let me eat a light breakfast the day before my scopes. I'm getting a scope done Friday with a different doctor and the instructions say clear liquids all day, which I do terribly with so I'm going to eat a light breakfast anyway. I was Googling this and came across an article from 2016 about some studies done comparing people who were on the traditional all day long clear liquid diet versus a group who was allowed to eat a low-residue diet all day. The bowels of people eating the low residue diet actually looked cleaner than those on a clear liquids diet!

I was curious if anyone's doctors here let them eat the day prior. I really wish mine would.


https://www.forbes.com/sites/ritarubin/2016/05/24/mac-and-cheese-before-a-colonoscopy-yep-you-can-eat-solid-foods-the-day-before-getting-scoped/

Also, why are there so many different rules depending on where you go? Some places say nothing orange, blue, red or purple. My current doctor only says nothing red. I fully plan to drink orange Gatorade tomorrow.
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quincy
Elite Member
Joined : May 2003
Posts : 33484
Posted 9/8/2022 12:06 AM (GMT -8)
I use the gallon prep and eat breakfast on the morning that I start it.
I did fluids once and was sick the entire day. Never again!

q
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poopydoop
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Joined : Dec 2018
Posts : 1757
Posted 9/8/2022 3:14 AM (GMT -8)
I always eat the day before a colonoscopy. The way they do it here is you do one round of prep at 6pm the day before and a second round at 7am the morning before, then have the scope in the afternoon.
They give instructions about what not to eat for 4 days before (seeds etc), but one time i had an emergency colonoscopy at 24 hours notice and then obviously I couldn't control what I had eaten the previous 3 days (and thry didn't ask)
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Ms2011
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Joined : May 2020
Posts : 86
Posted 9/8/2022 5:25 AM (GMT -8)
My last scope was at 1pm on a Monday, the last thing I ate was 10:30am on Sunday.
I took 1 litre of prep at 1pm on Sunday, the second at 5pm. I was allowed to have clear liquids, black tea or coffee on Sunday and nothing at all on Monday before the scope.
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Michelejc
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Joined : Jan 2011
Posts : 2836
Posted 9/8/2022 7:16 AM (GMT -8)
I start eating very light two weeks before the colonoscopy. The day before the procedure, I usually have apple sauce, clear chicken broth and maybe lemon or lime ices.
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Sara14
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Joined : Mar 2007
Posts : 7543
Posted 9/8/2022 7:53 AM (GMT -8)
This place won't even allow me to drink water after midnight tonight, which is also unusual, I think. My scope is at 11 a.m. tomorrow.
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FlowersGal
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Joined : Feb 2017
Posts : 1593
Posted 9/8/2022 8:45 AM (GMT -8)
My dr won’t allow food the day before either. But some of the prep instructions say no food 24 hours before the procedure — not the whole day. So if your procedure is at 10 am, you can eat the day before at 9 am. I think I also learned that here.

So I now eat a light breakfast the day of my prep. I tell the nurses when I check in because they always ask. But I don’t tell my dr. I asked his nurse about it once and she said he wouldn’t allow it. I didn’t ask him directly tho.

I’m always cleaned out. But the preps all seem to be quite harsh on my system. I sit on the toilet for HOURS while prepping.
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Sara14
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Posted 9/8/2022 8:50 AM (GMT -8)
I ate breakfast. I'm not going to tell them. Lol. Yeah, I poop for hours too and Ive never had a doctor tell me I wasnt cleaned out enough. I also never drink the entire gallon... I remember prepping while in the hospital back in 2015 and the nurse kept coming in telling me to make sure I finish it all and when she left, I'd sneakily pour some out in the sink...lol. I don't need that much if I'm already pooping clear.

Good times! Ha.
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FlowersGal
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Joined : Feb 2017
Posts : 1593
Posted 9/8/2022 9:40 AM (GMT -8)
EXACTLY!!! 🤣
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Ms2011
Regular Member
Joined : May 2020
Posts : 86
Posted 9/8/2022 10:10 AM (GMT -8)
I always manage the first litre, rarely the second one though but that's always been enough.
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Serenity Now
Veteran Member
Joined : Jan 2009
Posts : 2567
Posted 9/8/2022 4:29 PM (GMT -8)
I'm not the right one to comment on this (yet here I am anyway, haha). I have a terrible time getting cleaned out. I failed the prep outright once and would have failed another time (was borderline) but I went into hysterics and my GI took pity on me and did as much as she could with the help of a couple nurses shifting me around this way and that. On other occasions I was "mostly" clear. So now I have to do a brutal 3-day prep. The day they invent a Star Trek version, I don't care how much it costs, sign me up!!
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Sara14
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Joined : Mar 2007
Posts : 7543
Posted 9/8/2022 5:20 PM (GMT -8)
That really sucks...I couldn't do 3 days. I think I'm maybe almost clear now, 3 hours in...ugh. I drank more of it than I usually do. I feel like I'm usually clear faster than this but I guess I'm also flaring most the time when I get scopes. Idk. I also ate a ton of kale and broccoli last night. Maybe not the smartest choice. Ha
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Serenity Now
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Joined : Jan 2009
Posts : 2567
Posted 9/8/2022 5:22 PM (GMT -8)
LOL! I could never do that. I have to eat low-fibre for the week before. But that's me and my messed up system.
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CCinPA
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Joined : Dec 2014
Posts : 2463
Posted 9/8/2022 5:47 PM (GMT -8)
I'm a little late to this party :p I usually eat lightly about 3 days before (little fiber, no heavy meals -- mostly soup, eggs and fruit) day of prep is liquids only including jello, popsicles, and broth. Mine always say nothing red, purple or blue. Orange, green and yellow are ok. I hate gatorade so I mix half of the miralax in water and the other half in just half the amount of gatorade. Then I alternate a glass of water and a glass of gatorade.

Good that you are clear already. Part 2 will be easier.
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Sara14
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Joined : Mar 2007
Posts : 7543
Posted 9/8/2022 5:51 PM (GMT -8)
Welcome to my prep party! Lol.

They didn't have me split it up into 2 parts this time but I have to confess I usually skip part 2 anyway and Ive always been fine. I'm doing GoLytely and Ive almost drank the whole gallon. Im pretty much clear/yellow now so i think im done drinking it.

Miralax prep made me super sick the one time I tried it. Like, lightheaded, lying on the bathroom floor feeling like I was going to pass out sick. Really scary and strange.

Can't wait to eat tomorrow afternoon.
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CCinPA
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Joined : Dec 2014
Posts : 2463
Posted 9/8/2022 6:10 PM (GMT -8)
That has happened to me before too ... laying on the bathroom floor feeling like I was going to pass out. Have gotten sick before too. Last time I was ok. I used to chug the prep to get it over with and I think that was the problem ... emptied too fast. Last time I set a timer and drank 8 oz every 15-20 minutes. Slowing down was definitely better for me. Gatorade/duclolax/miralax is the only prep I have ever done.
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Sara14
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Joined : Mar 2007
Posts : 7543
Posted 9/8/2022 6:22 PM (GMT -8)
I hadn't even had a BM yet when it happened to me if I'm remembering correctly. It was many years ago. Tomorrow will be my 10th scope! I feel like I should get a cookie or something.
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NiceCupOfTea
Elite Member
Joined : Jan 2010
Posts : 11145
Posted 9/8/2022 6:25 PM (GMT -8)
Depending on whether it's a morning or afternoon colonoscopy, I can eat up until midday or 5pm the day before. Can't drink anything red, purple or blue, but can drink yellow, green or orange. This sucks for somebody whose favourite flavours invariably come in shades of red, purple or blue - the more garishly coloured, the better >_>.

Feels a bit weird to think I can never have another colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy again. Not that I'll miss them!

(Also, the only time I was physically sick with a prep was with an MRI scan, not a colonoscopy. The nurse made me drink a litre of disgusting liquid in 15-20 minutes. For small bowel MRIs, you have to hold your breath repeatedly. You can imagine how much fun that was with severe nausea. I almost made it to the end of the scan. Almost. Eventually the tidal wave of nausea turned into a tsunami and I had to sound the buzzer and gesture wildly for a bowl. Fortunately some enterprising technician got my meaning and got a bowl to me in literally the nick of time.)
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Sara14
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Joined : Mar 2007
Posts : 7543
Posted 9/8/2022 7:27 PM (GMT -8)
NCPT, that sounds truly awful! I hope I never have to get one of those done.
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NiceCupOfTea
Elite Member
Joined : Jan 2010
Posts : 11145
Posted 9/8/2022 7:43 PM (GMT -8)
I should add, I've had several MRI scans where I've not thrown up! The prep doesn't usually make me sick - I think it was because I was quite ill at the time and the nurse made me really chug it down for some reason. Anyway, good luck with your scope tomorrow - hope it goes well.
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Sara14
Veteran Member
Joined : Mar 2007
Posts : 7543
Posted 9/8/2022 7:51 PM (GMT -8)
That makes sense. I still hope I never need to have one because I am extremely claustrophobic. I can't even do elevators anymore unless I take a Xanax (or two). Luckily, it doesn't really impact my life much, but I've always feared needing an MRI someday!

Thank you! smile
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Michelejc
Forum Moderator
Joined : Jan 2011
Posts : 2836
Posted 9/9/2022 6:21 AM (GMT -8)

CCinPA said...
I'm a little late to this party :p I usually eat lightly about 3 days before (little fiber, no heavy meals -- mostly soup, eggs and fruit) day of prep is liquids only including jello, popsicles, and broth. Mine always say nothing red, purple or blue. Orange, green and yellow are ok. I hate gatorade so I mix half of the miralax in water and the other half in just half the amount of gatorade. Then I alternate a glass of water and a glass of gatorade.

Good that you are clear already. Part 2 will be easier.

I hated the Gatorade too. I use white grape juice. What a difference!
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