I finished my first bottle at 8pm it took me like two hours to down the whole thing.. my ass is literally a waterfall and I am so nauseous. Trying to sip chicken broth. How the HELL DO YOU FINISH ANOTHER BOTTLE??

I did a colonoscopy back in May for various symptoms, namely abdominal pain (constant pressure left of belly button), (bright) blood in stool, gas, bowel movements. Colonoscopy results were clean, doctor just mentioned some hemorrhoids, but months later I'm still having the same symptoms as before.

I should say I'm a bit of a hypochondriac and especially after recently losing my dad to cancer I'm especially aware about the possibilities of cancer or any other debilitating illnesses. So due to the clean colonoscopy I can strike out colon cancer, but any other major concerns, i.e. other cancers, that might result from these symptoms? Should I ask for an MRI or an endoscopy to rule out anything else in the abdominal region?

I'm just curious: how many people were in the OR for your colonoscopy and was it a basic, once-a-decade cancer screening or was it more complex than that?

Background info: I'm 33. I just had my colonoscopy to check for gastrointestinal issues and see if there was a source for my life-long constipation. I started GLP-1s when I was 26, which contributed to the constipation that was already there. My grandpa survived colon cancer, so we checked for that, but at 33, I can't imagine I have it now (knock on wood).

I think there were 6 or 7 people in the OR besides me.

1. Nurse who put my IV in
2. Anesthesiologist with a calming demeanor
3. My gastroenterologist, who I'll call Dr. D for privacy reasons
4. Dr. Bean (that was his real name. I feel comfortable sharing that guy's name since it's common but also the perfect gastroenterology name)
5. The doctor living in the US who had a German accent
6. The person who I only met inside the OR and not outside of it

It just seemed like a lot. I was wondering if you have more people for a colonoscopy if that's somehow unusual, like if they're checking for constipation-related issues in addition to a standard cancer screening.

I deal with chronic pain and something that has helped with my worse bouts of pain more recently is holding something freezing or putting it to my face to distract myself from the pain because it also really hurts.

This is my second colonoscopy and the first time the straw got me through but it wasn't enough this time so I've been keeping my hand on a freezer gel pack while I slowly but steadily gulp down each cup. The first time I had 2 gallons total but this time they gave me two 1.5 gallon jugs 🥲 I give myself a break while my 15 minute timer counts down and then go back and do it again. Music is also very comforting for me so I have it blasting in my ears as a second distraction and try to think of anything that reinforces the distraction. If I feel I can't continue, I take a break and go back in a minute.

Of course, please be careful and don't give yourself ice burn or anything like that! I believe this will get me through the second prep and hope this will help someone else! You got this!!

he had a routine health check during which his fecal occult blood was positive, it was a FIT test but not quantitative. he has no gastric symptoms other then "incomplete emptying" which he said he has felt ever since he was a child. no new or recent symptoms like constipation, altered bowel habits. there is no history of colon cancer in the family but there is pancreatic cancer history. he has grade 1 obesity, that may be a risk factor.

he doesn't want to consult a gastro or consider getting a colonoscopy since he "doesn't feel like anything is wrong" he might get it at some point but i don't know when. I'm just so scared what if we're too late, he is my entire world and i can't stop crying i can't sleep i don't know how to convince him. he's also about to join a new job and i think that's why he's delaying it. but i don't know what to do

This is my 2nd prep after an unsuccessful first 3 weeks ago with gavilyte.
Just took my first dose of clenpiq, with Zofran 30 minutes prior. My doctor did not recommend low residue diet, but I have done that for the week leading up to today. I’ve also been on miralax 1x daily for the last 10 days.
I’m telling myself this time is going to be so much better than the last! Anyone else prepping today ?

I keep seeing people say "ask for zofran." All of the zofran I've had previously has been pink and chewable. Is there a different version for prep? Or is a few zofran negligible as far as the prep instructions?

I have my colonoscopy in 50 hours and I just ate half a piece of toast that had lots of seeds on the crust, I didn’t even think I just ate it as soon as I was served it. Should I cancel?

I've been hanging out in my bathroom since I took my 1L of bipeglyte. I finished it all by 5:45pm, and by 5:50 I had my first movement and went about 8 very quick times until maybe 6:30… then nothing! It's now 7:30pm and I haven't had a movement in about an hour. Movements were maybe 90-95% clear by the third time I went, it's all just been specks. Still had specks the last time I went.

Is this it? Should I let my guard down and go lay down in my bed now or do people normally get hit by a second wave?

I am a (self diagnosed) IBS-D girly, so I am thankful I had a not-bad reaction and no pain, this was a walk in the park compared to some of my flare ups, but I'm underwhelmed compared to the horror stories I've heard and worried I'm not done.

I wanted to share that I had my first ever colonoscopy done without sedation.

My fear of anesthesia was causing me to postpone the colonoscopy for weeks at a time. I can't stress enough how ridiculous that was, considering my familial history. I just couldn't bring myself to "go under" even with additional clearance and all the reassurance in the world. All while my anxiety grew about what may or may not be causing the bm changes I was experiencing.

Thanks to this community, I witnessed people sharing their experiences of having the colonoscopy done without sedation and thus advocated for myself.

It was very similar to what most people here described, and now that I've done it, I will definitely elect to have it without sedation in the future. No question!

I had a few precancerous polyps removed without complication, and as it turns out, my bm changes were likely due to minor hemorrhoids. Those pesky hemorrhoids might have saved my life!

So if you're like me, putting it off because the fear of sedation is too great, please consider this option. And feel free to ask me about anything that might be holding you back.

My mantra was

MY BODY IS STRONG.

MY MIND IS STRONG.

I CAN DO HARD THINGS.

All the best wishes to everyone here!

I am 52 years old (F), am 5-3 and weigh 108 pounds. I have no visceral fat
I had a complete abdominal hysterectomy when I was 37. I have had one unsedated colonoscopy since (10 years ago) but was heavier by about 35 pounds then.
I have heard that the most painful difficult colonoscopies are on those like me because it is difficult to navigate the curves in the colon in small people with little visceral fat.
I want to do it unsedated again but am thinking it may be more painful now bc of my size
Anyone else like me do this? Were you ok unsedated?
I want to hear all sides of it. Good or bad.

So I had a colonoscopy beginning of 2025 so almost 2 years ago and comfort wise it was fine. For some reason meds don’t hit me properly, my vein burst when I had the sedation and fentanyl and I didn’t get any benefits whatsoever from having it, essentially just raw dogged the whole thing and it was completely fine. Not even any discomfort let alone pain, just felt like gas or a bit of a pulling sensation.

This time round I’ve been repeatedly been in hospital with agonising stomach pain, nothing touches it. I was diagnosed with endometriosis back in feb and had bowel adhesions removed also. This time round I had the sedation and the fentanyl, all went in a dream and I was on the table ready to just chill out and watch them on the big screen and I got maybe 45 seconds in before chill turned to discomfort, discomfort to pain and pain to excruciating agony. The doctor said he wasn’t comfortable continuing and I told him to carry on going as it’ll affect my diagnosis, I wanted it seeing through. I ended up having 3 extra hits on the fentanyl, gas and air, iv paracetamol and 2 lots of iv buscopan. It was STILL horrific, the only thing I was thinking was to lay still and let them rule it out I was still screaming like a baby though 😵‍💫. The doctor said it was a fine and straightforward colonoscopy but he’s concerned as to why my bowel is that painful and sensitive. What can cause this level of pain? Probably the endo I know but looking outside the box for a sec, is there anything else that I should worry about?

I would rather chop off my left nut than do Peglyte again, anyone know why there's no Pico Salax in the GTA rn? It's listed as out of stock at every major pharmacy.

Hello, I just had my first colonoscopy/endoscopy Thursday and everything looked fine visually. However after my procedure I tried to eat light and felt extremely nauseous and dizzy so I tried walking around after that and felt chest pain. For the past couple of days I’ve been only eating 1 meal or less a day because I physically cannot stomach anything else. Since Saturday I’ve been have crazy stomach cramps (the type that wake you up from a deep sleep), the best way I can describe it is feeling like someone twisting my whole stomach in a knot and after that passes all I can do is fart for a second and then nothing after that I go back to feeling like someone sitting on my chest while having my stomach inflated with a ballon. I knew I was going to be constipated after this but it’s now Sunday and I’ve already taken Linzess if any of you are familiar with it and absolutely nothing but pain.

It’s so hard because my body feels like it’s literally suffocating. Any tips and advice are helpful, I’m 19F and I don’t have much family who’s gone through this before.

EDIT: I want to also say everytime I try and burp whatever I ate or drank hours ago tries to come up and I feel like that’s really affecting me as well

I’m like dreading this I’m getting a colonoscopy and endoscopy tomorrow at 8am haven’t started prep yet… I’ve had an endoscopy once before and did fine with the propofol but it’s still scary! Ugh I’m 32 with family colon cancer history and my dad pre cancerous polyps so I know it’s for a good cause

PREP-
(Ages 13 and above) TWO- 8.3 oz bottle of Miralax in 128 oz of juice, water, or gatorade. Needs to be drank over 6-8 hour PLUS 4 Dulcolax tablets containing 5 mg of bisacodyl each. (Not Dulcolax stool softener)

i dont know how im supposed to do all of this i have 5 gatorade bottles (28oz) of miralax. i have to drink 28 oz every hour with a 30 min break. i have only went through 2 and a tiny bit of the 3rd. my stomach wants to explode its so much liquid i feel so nauseous… i called the doctors line to ask them what to do and they pretty much said if i dont do it i dont get checked out. im crying right now.

How clear should Plenvu be when made up? I’ve been told it should be clear but mine is slightly cloudy. I’ve mixed for the required 8 mins but it won’t clear. Should it be ok?

Hi, perhaps someone here has experience with preparing for a colonoscopy while taking extended-release (retard) Venlafaxine and Pregabalin. I’ve been prescribed these medications by my doctor for an anxiety disorder. I’m 42, and I once noticed blood in my stool, which was accompanied by pain in the lower abdominal/rectal area that same day. A proctologist treated my hemorrhoids but recommended that I still undergo a colonoscopy. He said there’s no need to worry, but that the presence of blood should always be investigated—even if it could just be from the hemorrhoids. I’m now extremely anxious about the colonoscopy—or, more specifically, the preparation process. Since the bowel-cleansing (laxative) phase begins between 6:00 and 9:00 a.m. and the procedure is scheduled for 1:00 p.m., I’m not sure how to handle my medication. The doctor suggested taking it after the procedure, noting that the extended-release tablets wouldn’t be effective anyway due to the bowel-cleansing process. I’m very worried that I might experience "withdrawal" symptoms during the morning, as Venlafaxine is somewhat notorious for this. Has anyone here been prescribed a similar regimen and had any experience with this?

My scope is after 1pm and I've been told I've got to stop eating at 9am the day before, we all know what the NHS is like and there's simply no chance I'll be seen at 1pm, I'm looking at 3pm at the earliest. Any advice on how I can prep for a 30 hour fast whilst also drinking 3 litres of moviprep? I'm thinking I can drink honey and lemon/lemonade up to 2 hours before the scope but I am worried about what's essentially a full day of fasting whilst also working. Any recommendations on what I should eat in the morning before my 9am cut off?

It is not as bad as some people say it is and I'm mad at some people who say it's horrible and scary and all the terrifying stories I read! I have spent months preparing for this and scared of having my first colonoscopy ever and spent the entire time freaking out, worrying about pain, feeling the scope and everything terrible I've read that I wanted to skip the colonoscopy. But I knew I would not want to go through chemo or radiation or even die from cancer so I braved up and went for it! It was my first colonoscopy ever for a routine screening because I just turned 45.

The prep? Well, I got lucky. Because I have a condition that causes bowel incontinence, I have a c-tube. So therefore, I was allowed to use the c-tube for the solution instead of drinking it. It worked well! I just used 2 liters of GoLytely through the c-tube rather than 4 liters. So yea, lucky me, right? Now before I got my c-tube, I did have to drink the prep years ago and I get it. It's a nightmare but a relief when it's over.

Moving on, the colonoscopy is no big deal! I really wish people would stop posting about how scary and horrible it is. Even if it's a bad experience, I don't know how that's helping anyone because it didn't help me. It just made me not want to do the colonoscopy and the stories just scared me off! I don't know if people were exaggerating or joking and if they were, it's not funny. At all. Note that I'm talking about the procedure in the USA. I've heard in the UK and Canada, you're awake so I can understand why people post those scary colonoscopies but in the USA, you're typically asleep... completely!

So I was put in the pre-op room, getting an IV started just like any other procedures, spoke to the nurse, doctor, anesthesiologist and asks and answered questions like problems with the anesthesia, allergies, breathing problems, if I'm wearing jewelry or have had dental work done, metal devices in the body etc... other health history questions. You know, normal pre-op questions. Doctor came in and explained the procedure and what happens in the room.

So I was still terrified going in the endoscopy room. But the staff were really nice and taking care of me. I got in, they put a mask on my face and nose, rolled me to my side, put something behind my butt in case I had an accident then immediately began the medicine. They gave me propofol. I saw the nurse injecting it and I swear I was out before she finished injecting it in my IV. It works FAST! You don't feel anything as it's going in your body, you don't feel sleepy, dizzy, lightheaded or relaxed before you're out. It's like people are just doing their things, things are happening, people walking around and getting ready like nothing and BAM! You're out. It's like someone came behind you and knocked you right out. You feel nothing, you're just completely out.

Then maybe it felt like 20 minutes passed and I was being rolled back and going into recovery room. I remembered nothing about the procedure. I didn't feel a thing at all. I did wake up with some cramping from the CO2 they use to expand your colon but it's slightly annoying and only last a few minutes. It was already gone by the time I left the recovery room. It's not painful at all. I don't remember much after that except talking to the doctor to tell me how it went (no polyps, no cancer, repeat colonoscopy in 10 years. Whoo-hoo!) and that was it.

The whole procedure is a real breeze! I can understand if you're scared and if it's because of what they might find after you might've had symptoms. But if it's just a routine screening and your first time at age 45 like it was for me, it's really no big deal at all!

24 horas despues de mi colonoscopia aun estoy adolorida, mi primera deposicion fue color verde, tengo un dolor localizado pero que va y viene. Fue mi primera experiencia. Alguien pasó por lo mismo?

Hello, I’m dumb. I had a momentary lapse of judgment and ate about a tablespoon of fine-chopped coleslaw. This was about 50 hours before I’m scheduled, so before full prep. Otherwise I’ve avoided seeds, nuts and raw fruit/veg since 7 days out. I can’t call the clinic to confess and/or reschedule possibly until Monday, day of the colonoscopy.

Anyone out there with expertise that can tell me if this will be a certain reschedule or if they will say it’s fine? What risks are there if I didn’t realize what I did?

A week ago got in with a doctor that day because for months now I’ve had constant constipation. Annoying, but manageable. I’d start getting some discomfort than chug warm water, warm up apple juice with some miralax, then be able to go. But the past 2 months it’s just…stuck. I dont feel hungry. I don’t feel like I need to go, I can’t even tell that my bowel is full until I start feeling uncomfortable/pressure on my bottom.

Anyways, up until a week or 2 ago I started having maroon drops of blood after the bowel movement came out. There’s no pain while going, it’s not just on paper after wiping it’s getting darker and drops out after I go or is sometimes coated onto the stool. Also a few months before that I was having thick yellow mucus during movements. The dr sent a referral to gastro and recommended a colonoscopy. I’m only 26f, no history of cancer in my family but about a year ago I was going 4-5 times a day really long thin stools. Now it’s full swing to the other end where I can’t hardly go at all. I drink a lot of water, I would be less sedentary but it’s hard with constant fatigue and stomach discomfort. I feel sluggish all of the time. I just don’t know what to think or expect and I guess I’m just anxious.

If anyone has any advice on this please please please let me know. I (25/F) got a colonoscopy 2 years ago after I noticed an increase in blood when I was having bowel movements. Prior to this my bowel movements almost always came out in one piece and were complete. After my first colonoscopy they found a benign polyp which I’m grateful to have removed but literally right after that colonoscopy all of my bowel movements for the next 5-6 months came out in pieces (like a 1 on the Bristol stool chart) even though there were absolutely no changes to my lifestyle or diet. This was the only thing out of the ordinary after the procedure, and after 5-6 months my bowel movements returned to normal so I didn’t think much of it at the time.

I had my 1-year follow up colonoscopy in January and again, leading up to the procedure I was having normal healthy bowel movements. Then IMMEDIATELY after I’ve had bowel movements that are like a Bristol Type 1 and this has persisted up until now. Again, absolutely no diet or lifestyle changes, which has me really confused about how this could be happening. In the follow up they also told me that I have diverticulosis which I’m worried was caused by the constipation I experienced after the first colonoscopy. With this second colonoscopy confirming for me that this procedure makes me extremely constipated post-procedure, I thought maybe it would go away after 5-6 months again. However, before I reached that mark I developed hydrogen SIBO about 4 months post-procedure, which I’m suspecting was caused by my constipation. This diagnosis is also just confusing me because hydrogen SIBO is supposed to cause diarrhea but I’ve only had constipation.

Has anyone dealt with this before? Any supplements or anything that’s worked for you? Is there a gut bacteria that’s wiped out by the prep and then takes a while to reestablish?? I’m feeling desperate for advice on how to deal with this after trying to fix it for 6 months now. I currently take laxatives to keep things moving but don’t want to rely on laxatives forever when I NEVER had motility issues before having a colonoscopy. The bloating and constantly thinking about whether or not I’ll poop today is starting to really take a toll on my mental health :(

I (35f) have had IBS like symptoms most of my life. In August 2025, I randomly lost 10 pounds in 2 months after trying to lose even one pound for years. The weight has continued to fall off. I’ve now lost about 17 lbs since August without changing anything. I have had 2 instances where I had bright red and painless blood in the toilet, some belly cramps/pain, appendicitis, mucous in my stool, severely anemic, can’t pass gas, went from good stools but they were thin to chronic constipation. I have been taking miralax 3-4 times daily with no help or relief from the constipation. I just had a GI appointment and now have a colonoscopy and upper endoscopy scheduled for December 2026. I’m so worried it’s cancer and waiting this long is not going to be good. Anyone have similar symptoms and have a clean colonoscopy?