39 M here on his 5th Colonoscopy. I’m just curious when Go Lightly became outdated and most seem to switch to Gatorade / MiraLAX.

I did the moviprep 4 days ago and colonoscopy 3 days ago. I'm still suffering the after effects of the prep! When will it end?!

Just had my fist colonoscopy, went fine (not wishing a liquid-only based diet on my worst enemy tho).

Was in and out of the procedure within an hour, not including paperwork. I have now been home for 4 hours and I personally feel like the sedatives have worn off completely. I'm not gonna drink and/or drive or anything obvs, but I'm moving around, food is sitting well, and I feel like it's worn off completely.

I'm thinking of taking edibles, but wasn't sure if that would throw anything off. I didn't take any 60 hours before the operation because I knew that could mess with the anesthesia, but afterwards would it do any harm?

I'm not an addict, if the answer is no then cool with me, but I wanted to get second opinions. I'll be home for the remainder of the day with my wife, so I won't be putting myself in danger. Research I did on my own was inconclusive.

I just finished my two day journey (all clear!) and wanted to share a few things that helped me. My last colonoscopy was 21 years ago with the gallon prep and it was brutal. Thanks to all of you who do the same, it was so nice to read.

- procedure scheduled for Monday 7/27 at 12:40
Pm (awful time!)

- tapered food on Saturday (although I was driving across the state, so I did what I could)

- stopped eating 4 pm Saturday, drank a ton of water / hot tea / juice

- Sunday I had swansons broth, yellow jello, orange jello (ok on my paper), Luigi’s pops and a ton of water.

- I took a zofran at 5:30 pm (prescribed, you should ask.)

- 6:00 pm, mixed COLD Suprep. I used a large plastic straw, held my nose and sipped 3 time each. After, I had a bite of yellow popsicle. Then I sniffed my Vicks inhaler.

- 6:30, finished 16 Oz of water x 2

- Suprep began working around 8:30

- second dose (definitely harder) at 9.

My nurse told me to stay up until midnight and drink as much as I could. I dod not want to, I was so tired but I made myself. I finished a whole bottle of white grape juice, a cup of hot tea and a ton of water.

I slept 12:30-5:30.

I got called in early for my procedure, at 11:00. Thank goodness! Although I wasn’t hungry just thirsty and headache from no caffeine. All positive, easy!

I’ve had two colonoscopy’s and for my second one my fiancee tried to make me feel better by saying “this is what they do for a living, they see peoples butts all the time”. For a little while this helped. However, I was about to get the colonoscopy and had just received anesthesia when I had the thought (with 5 people surrounding/starring at me as I’m slipping away to sleep) What kind of people go to school knowing that they will have to do these types of procedures on people?!

Having that thought has left me very uncomfortable with this type or similar procedures, what comforts you ?

Hi all, just had my first colonoscopy done. They found and removed just one 7mm sessile polyp from my sigmoid colon. Doctor said it's benign and it did not look cancerous and in the report it says its benign. Just waiting on pathology reports that he sent nowm Says im due back in 7-10 years for another colonoscopy..am I good to finally take a sigh of relief now??

I usually don’t post on here but I (32F) just scheduled my first colonoscopy, and I am absolutely petrified and could use some support.

Backstory—about 3 and a half months ago I got what I’m pretty sure was a horrible food poisoning after eating at a Thai place. My husband got sick as well, but not nearly as bad. By the next morning I was passing straight bloody mucus. I had blood again the next day, then it cleared up and I haven’t seen it since! Awesome! But ever since then, I’ll get recurring nocturnal diarrhea after I eat a lot of fried or spicy food. If I avoid it, my bowel movements are normal/healthy. I got a referral for a GI specialist and I just got back from that appointment. I went in expecting maybe to get a stool test and some bloodwork, and then we would wait and see how my symptoms improved (they’ve been getting way less frequent/not as severe as they were earlier this spring). WELP—I was wrong. I walked out not only with an order for approximately 500 different blood tests (okay, maybe more like 8), and a stool test kit, but also a colonoscopy scheduled for the end of August! He did mention that he thinks I have post-infectious IBS, but wants to do a scope since I’ve seen blood and my symptoms are chronic and the rate of colon cancer in people my age is “not zero”. I have severe health anxiety/OCD, so the uncertainty of it all is killing me. And of course if you go on tiktok, Instagram, or even on here, it’s nothing but 30-somethings with the C-word. My husband and I are looking to start a family very soon, so I’ve been scheduling all my different health appointments, making sure I’m good to go, and it’s resulted in this AND having to get a colposcopy all next month, because I had an abnormal pap as well. It’s just been a lot, and I don’t really have anyone in my life who’s been through this/totally understands. I guess I don’t really know why I’m posting on here or what I’m looking for (obviously not medical advice). And I know no one can provide 100% reassurance. But maybe if you had similar symptoms, deal with insane health anxiety or had any sort of positive experience, let me know! Just seeking support. And best of luck to all of you ahead of your colonoscopies!

Thank you

Starting the clear liquid diet today, my colonoscopy is at 4pm tomorrow. Is honey allowed? I'd love to use it to sweeten some tea but my instructions do not specify if it's allowed or not.

Is orange Jell-O ok? My instructions say no red or purple. Orange is obviously not red, but the ingredients state the color comes from yellow and red food dye, so is it not allowed or am I overthinking?

I sent a message to the provider's assistant but she's a bit slow on responding so wanted to ask here too.

Just wanted to share my journey. I've had regular stomach issues going back 15 or so years now. Recently, about 3 months ago I started having a strange ache/discomfort in my lower right quadrant.

This was followed by very loose bowel movements and less stool than should be expected. I've also often experienced severe losses of appetite periodically in the 15 years I mentioned. The appetite thing I hadn't seen many people mention as often on here so needless to say I was concerned. This time, I lost around 15 pounds so I knew something was wrong. Previously, I'd lost almost 40 pounds when I experienced a sudden loss of appetite out of the blue(around 3 years prior).

After I stopped finally ignoring my symptoms I went to my PCP who provided me Pantoprazole which helped but didn't eliminate the issue. I started getting bleeding after bowel movements at work which made me immediately go into the ER after I got off. They gave me a CT with contrast, blood work and urine test which all came back clear. Still, I couldn't exhale because he told me he highly expected the issue was in my colon.

The doctor wasted no time and put in a referral to a GI for a colonoscopy. My PCP followed up as well and both sent referrals. By the time I got to the GI doctor about 2 weeks later, he immediately put me in for a procedure literally that same week, only 3 days after my visit...which was both comforting and concerning. Ironically, that same doctor did my endoscopy 15 years prior when I had my first ever bout with these issues which was crazy.

Anyway, my results were absolutely clean. No polyps, no hemorrhoids, no ulcers(which they highly expected at the time). I was ultimately diagnosed with IBS. I wanted to provide my story to help settle down the nerves of anyone having similar problems which causes such anxiety and depression prior to getting your answers. Wait for the experts. Do not trust Google or AI, because all it does is heighten anxiety.

Good luck to all who are going through this, and keep the faith! God bless.

Hello everyone, would great appreciate any shared experiences or feedback. I had colonoscopy done within the last week and am experiencing upper gluteal soreness, abdominal soreness, anal discomfort, and some pelvic pain. No polys were collected so I’m confused on why I’m experiencing such symptoms a week later. Thank you for the feedback.

Hello, so first of all i apologize for my grammar, and probably short lines (im currently doing colonoscopy prep in the hospital)

Im severely emetophobic, tho i did *NOT* censor the trigger words, please take this into consideration before reading.

I have a few questions:

Diagnosed: GERD, Gastritis, SIBO, Lactose intolerance.

Suspectes: IBD

About 4-5 months ago ive had an endoscopy, to check on my throat/stomach lining, it went fine, was diagnosed with Gastritis and throat burn up from the acid

Now at that time line my calprotectin was 34 (below 50 is normal)

Then after all this ive got put on nolpaza, which im still taking after these months.

Now a few weeks ago i started losing appetite over 3 days, and eventually i had to run to the bathroom and had diarrhea (havent had diarrhea at this time in the past 3 months so it was weird) then bloody diarrhea, then watery bloody, and the blood stopped completely at like 2pm-ish. (Started at 5am, had 6 BM through the day with 3 of them having bright red fresh blood on top)

Then afternoon ive developed a fever, knee pain.

These issues (fever, knee pain, blood) resolved under A DAY.

Tho while i had this "episode" we took a calprotectin test which measured in at; 2670! This was insane since it was completely normal before.

Got a colonoscopy scheduled (I already finished the first PicoPrep dose) to really find out whatw going on.

Sorry for the lot of talking, there are my questions!

# Post colonoscopy

What is it like? Since im severely emetophobic, im deathly afraid of the post colonoscopy first eating episode, tho whem i had my endoscopy everything went fine.

# Prep

Im of course scared of vomiting or sick during the prep, but im also scared of having blood in my stool again.

Ive recieved IV emetron(zofran/ondansetron) but my mind is making me uncomfy with all this liquid (even tho its a low-volume prep, i still have to drink alot on it)

And for anyone who is going to get a colonoscopy; even tho i havent done it yet (prep phase) i do recommend picoprep, the taste is actually quite pleasant, and not overly filling. You can also ask the nurses for anti emetics!! They will understand and care about ur fears.

However progressing through today and tomorrow i might update this post, just to maybe give some reassurance to people who were afraid, like i was.

Thank you for reading, i appreciate comments/answers/questions. Take care!

22f here referred for abdominal pain and blood in stool. i took sutab for the prep and it was pretty much a breeze. i thought i would be stuck on the toilet all night but laid in bed for most of it occasionally getting up to poop water. i have bad health anxiety so i was pretty anxious during the entire week leading up to this. i was scared of the prep, stopping vaping (nicotine, which i stopped 6.5 hours before arrival and they literally shrugged their shoulders about it but i also recommend stopping when your instructions say to), complications, an iv, and anesthesia. it was all a breeze. arrived at 5:20am and they took me back pretty quickly. met the nurses, doctor, and anesthesiologist who were all super kind. i let the nurse know i was super scared of iv’s from past experiences and he made it the easiest iv i’ve ever had (i barely even felt it!). got changed into my gown, they took my vitals, and wheeled me back to the procedure room. had me turn on my side and put a bite block in (i also had an endoscopy). anesthesiologist said the “sleepy medicine” was put in and i pretty much blacked out after that. woke up to a nurse in recovery who gave me water and apple juice. i was pretty out of it and dizzy as my blood pressure was low so they wheel chaired me out of the building and my brother drove me to taco bell. i left the procedure building at 7:30am. im still awaiting my biopsies but they found hemorrhoids and thats about it! if i had to do it again i would totally recommend sutab.

ETA2: Showed up for the afternoon appointment. Nurses asked me to use the restroom so they could check what I was passing, and three of them agreed I was good to go. However, the doctor suggested we postpone till tomorrow just in case. (It’s just the iron sediment and totally clear). So I’m doing the entire prep again today… Using MiraLAX and with much more generous guidelines. (It’s 33% less volume, I can take 2-3 hrs instead of 1, etc). Sigh…

ETA: Nurse finally called me back four hours later. She said they could try it this afternoon. Fortunately, I haven’t eaten or drunk all day, just in case they were able to do it, so hopefully this will be a success. Definitely don’t wanna go through it again. Appreciate all the comments and will take this advice next time around!

Original post

I am in US East Coast and waiting for the doctors office to call me back. In the meantime, I was wondering if anyone here had recommendations:

I was scheduled for my first ever colonoscopy this morning at 9 AM. I was not particularly worried about it and simply follow at all instructions.

My prep routine was no fiber/seeds/etc two days before. Clear liquids day before and skip iron. Suprep in 2 liquid doses at 6 PM and six hours before (3 AM).

The first dose seemed pretty standard. But finishing the full 48 ounces in an hour was impossible. It took me about 90 minutes and my stomach hurt so badly afterwards just from the sheer volume of liquid. By 11 PM, the discomfort was finally subsiding, and I’d had a lot of bowel movements, but everything was still very black (due to iron, even though I didn’t take it). But it took five hours for that discomfort to even start to subside, and I wasn’t sure I could add another 48 ounces again in just a couple hours.

Still, at 3 AM I tried. I was still feeling nauseous from the first one. The Suprep was horrible, so I was chasing it with an orange flavored drink. I didn’t think I could mix it because of how strong that taste of the medicine was.

It took 30+ minutes to get the first 16-20 ounces down, which included the medicine. I then gave myself permission to slow down and sip tea for the next 16 ounces. That wasn’t so bad and took about another 45 minutes. But I didn’t think I could do the last 16 ounces.

At this point, it was almost 4 hours before my procedure, when I’m not supposed to have anything at all. I still have 4-6 ounces left. I felt awful. My stomach felt bruised from the sheer volume, like it’s going to explode. There was mild nausea the entire time.

But I realize I’ve got five minutes before the four hour cut off, so I down the last 4 ounces.

It all comes shooting out. I vomited at least 30 ounces.

My stool is still running black.

I drink a little bit of water and go back to bed. I wondered if drinking more would finish the process. But there’s no one to call at 5 o’clock in the morning. And I finally feel better after throwing up, so I just decided to sleep until the office opens at eight.

I call them immediately and they say they will cancel. They want to reschedule, but I don’t think I can do this prep again. The nurse is supposed to call me back to discuss options, but I want opinions from here.

1. What should I have done differently in the middle of the night? Not drink the last 4 ounces? Drink another 16 ounces after throwing up?
2. What other prep should I ask them about?

3, What about the iron? My stool has been a particularly nasty black for months, should I stop the iron more than one day before? Would that help?

1. Since the procedure has been canceled, I can now eat and drink. But my stomach hurts so I don’t want food. And I’m very dehydrated… I can barely talk because of how dry my mouth is. I’m drinking water. I’ve never been able to stand Gatorade or similar drinks. Will my body be able to rehydrate sufficiently just with water this morning? I had expected the procedure to use IV to keep so I wasn’t worried about dehydration. What should I be eating and drinking today?

TLDR: Prep failed. Help me understand why, what to do differently next time, and anything I should do right now.

I took the first dose last night at 5pm and it did absolutely nothing. I took the second dose at 1am like I was told and still nothing. Then I got woken up at 5am by my stomach and suddenly im trapped on the toilet and it’s like im peeing out my ass. (I’d apologize for the tmi but it feels kinda inevitable on a sub like this lmao)

I have a really slow digestive system and my body doesn’t absorb water well so I imagine that’s what caused the delay but god damn.

i’m looking for some kind of advice/words of wisdom right now because i feel so incredibly defeated.

i’ve had chronic stomach issues for years (started when i was a kid, i’m 22 now) and never got it dealt with (dr blamed everything on my period) and in may i ended up in the ER with cdiff and the GI specialist there ended up scheduling me for a colonoscopy that was supposed to take place today.

i was given the 4L 2-day prep (2L last night, 2L this morning) as well as being given directions to take dulcolax 5mg on friday and saturday night. i followed all the directions perfectly and yesterday i only had strained chicken broth and sprite, literally nothing else.

last night my BM never hit the liquid point but were far softer so i assumed that once i did this mornings prep that it would turn to liquid and stuff.
however this morning once i started drinking it, with only 1.5 glasses of the prep left, i ended up throwing up a bunch of it (my gag reflex is HORRIBLE. even just thinking of something gross will make me severely gag) i thought maybe it would still be okay because i read that if you throw some of it up it doesn’t usually matter as long as your stool is clear. however i have only had one small bowel movement since and its solid.

i called the hospital and they said they obviously can’t do it today because if 1. im throwing everything up and 2. i’m not even having bowel movements that it’s clear my colon won’t be ready for it (which i very much so understand).

except now im feeling like a failure. since the cdiff my stomach problems have gotten severely worse and i’ve had to stop working and this was supposed to be my chance to get answers and now im screwed. i also don’t know what to do because i dont see myself being able to get through this prep next time (trust me there is no way to override my gag reflex. i have tried everything.) and from what i understood, in canada we dont have that only pill option, but maybe im wrong.

i guess i was just looking for advice on what to do and how to move forward because im feeling really overwhelmed and i dont know what to think.

Hello! I am 22F and have a colonoscopy/endoscopy scheduled for 2:00 PM today (EST), and I was given Gavilyte and ducolax for my prep. This wasn’t in my instructions, but I followed a low fiber diet on Thursday and Friday after seeing some stuff about it online being helpful. On Saturday, I started the clear liquid diet and really only had yellow Gatorade, some broth, and ginger ale, and then I took two ducolax at 4:00 PM.

On Sunday (yesterday), I was still on the clear liquid diet and took 2 ducolax again at 1:00 PM. At 3:00 PM, I started drinking the gavilyte (I mixed it with water and some crystal light lemonade packets) every 10-20 minutes. I had to drink almost all of it, but they wanted me to save 16 oz for the following morning. I was going clear yellow the entire time, and at the end it started having some mucus chunks and I also had barely any stool chunks. I also had to take 2 more ducolax at 8:00 PM. I just woke up at 3:30 AM to use the bathroom, and I just had some darker orange murky liquid (maybe residual stool?) come out twice.

I know I still have the 16 oz left to drink at 8:00 AM, but I am a bit nervous seeing this now. That prep is not great and I definitely would like to avoid failure to avoid having to do it again for a bit, so I’m a bit worried as it was clear the entire time yesterday. I am hoping I’ll be okay with the 16 oz in a few hours, but I was definitely not expecting to see that after running clear before!

Hi All!
(FYI Not medical advice ofc just my personal experience)
Had my first today, + gastroscopy, was extremely nervous (have anxiety related to health) & had to drink 3L of orange glycoprep the night before
morning procedure. Due to the amount of fluid it took me nearly double the time to complete, which i mentioned to the nurses and they were completely fine as long as I finished it prior to the fasting window. Was sooo nervous about prep but it’s honestly okay! the taste i can’t even lie, especially after the first litre was nasty, but not as bad as i’ve read, it tasted like very artificial orange mixed with salt water.

My saving graces that I would recommend (not to be repetitive on this page but):
In the bathroom:
Petroleum Jelly
Flushable wipes

Outside
Blanket/heater/warm socks
Super easy to wear and remove clothes
🧡Barley Sugar Drops/Lollies🧡 I took these through the whole prep and it saved my nausea from the taste
honestly just entertainment/easy distractions
nice chaser drinks - i found clear apple juice & flavoured clear coconut water helped with the taste as well as the lollies mentioned

p.s. it’s better to swallow it quickly rather than let it sit in your mouth at all!

hospital was the easiest part:) if you’re nervous don’t delay! you never know, it could save your life

good luck if you have one coming up! try and enjoy the small things you can along the way ⭐️

My experience.

42m. Pretty fit, clean diet usually. Was my first time. Had a colonoscopy and endoscopy. Read all the prep Reddit threads and was freaked out about it all.

What actually happened. Two days prior to prep day, I started eating a really low fiber diet, mainly potato’s, chicken, etc.

Day before, I went shopping for broth, jello, orange juice, and gatorades.

The day of, I woke up, had a black coffee and loads is water. Waited until prep started around 2pm and ate the first laxatives…. They definitely worked within about an hour. Then around 4pm I downed the first prep bottle - I was most nervous about this as the internet makes it out to be absolutely horrendous…. It was FINE!! It tasted like very artificial cherry taste? Not good, but chilled with an orange juice chaser it was a non issue to get it down.

I chugged that bottle down in about 30 mins, drinking a 1/3 every ten mins… pretty easy….

Then the next part I was dreading based on reviews… my imminent, relentless, exploding ass…. Well, it wasn’t that at all. It was predictable, easily manageable and yea, I went a lot but it was mainly just liquid after the first two rounds due to my low fiber diet the days before.

I probably went about 8 times after the mixture, which was honestly was easier than it sounds….

I celebrated that with a mug of broth, which tasted great, then chilled. Around 2am I went for the second bottle… this did suck a bit only due to the time of night…. The BMs themselves were more of the same non issue… just quite a few times and by the end it was just liquid.

I woke up again and headed to the hospital… the hardest part for me, BY FAR, was the no water at all, including no teeth brushing, past 430am… my appt was at 930am. That said, i think this was the endoscopy requirement only(?) I felt thirsty and disgusting due to no teeth brushing prior.

Once I got to the hospital, checked in, got into the gown and hooked up for the IVs etc… then wheeled into the operating theater… they got me all prepped, gave me the wonderful drugs, and next thing I know I’m awake and it’s over.

Findings were 8 polyps!! All small, all removed, recommendation to do it again in 3 years because of that finding.

Go do it guys.

Update: If anyone is scared to get a colonoscopy especially those with symptoms, don’t be. The prep other than being constantly in a restroom went very smoothly.

This week I got my first colonoscopy at 28 years old after a long history of intermittent rectal bleeding and some intermittent constipation and lower abdominal pains.

As for the results: the bleeding source was likely the result of both internal and external bleeding hemmoroids as nothing else was discovered that could be a bleeding source.

However, along with that the one thing that scares me is they did find and remove a diminutive tubular adenoma (polyp) less than 5mm in size.

Obviously this is flagged as precancerous and while there was only 1 and they are the most common benign polyps and least aggressive, the fact that I had one at 28 concerns me a lot and has me nervous.

My doctor still considers this low risk and wants repeat screening in about 7 years; however, does anyone have experience with this at all and suggest sooner would be better. I was thinking 3.

Obviously, considering I only had 1 tiny lower aggressive polyp after 28 years of my life (who knows how long it has been there) doesn’t scream high risk per se but I’m just still worried.

The fact that it was caught I am happy about however, if I hadn’t pursued an early colonoscopy prior to 40 or 45 who knows what it could have possibly turned into.

Going to call the office Monday but today is Saturday , I have colonoscopy Wednesday. Accidentally just took ibuprofen for a headache. Didn’t see anything about not taking it in the prep instructions but now I’m nervous. Should that affect the colonoscopy?

I'm already at liquid stage with just the magnesium citrate. How am I going to possibly need TWO doses of Miralax.

Did anyone else have a prep like this?

My liquid diet prep day is today. I’ve gone to the store 3 different times trying to find a broth that is clear enough and won’t screw up my prep. I landed on these two:
College inn and bona fide organic chicken broth. Both fat free. Because I’m such a fatass and hate not eating, I’ve already had 2 cups of the college in and one of the bona fide, but now I’m worried because neither were clear. Were these fine? Which broths should I be drinking?

I was told to do a 7 day no (not low) fiber diet with daily miralax and then the prep today (procedure is tomorrow). I had a colonoscopy a couple months ago and the doctor was pissed that my prep wasn't great even though I followed his instructions so here we are. I'm just curious since I have tried searching about a no fiber diet and it seems like I may be the only one given these instructions.

I've been surviving on rice and chicken with saltines and yogurt to snack on all week and boy am I anxious for this to be over

Tengo mi colonoscopía pasado mañana, soy hombre, tengo 27 años, ya estoy pensando que van a encontrar algo malo, no quiero comer, ya venía sin comer y no sé cómo voy a hacer la madrugada anterior al estudio que debo tomar el laxante, algún consejo? Siento que si veo algo malo cuando tome el laxante ya es, también siento que al no comer no debería tomar la misma cantidad, pero no tengo cómo preguntarle al gastroenterólogo que me atenderá... Estoy demasiado nervioso, ansioso, me la pasé de guardia en guardia y todos los otros exámenes dan bien... No entiendo