Lose 5 pounds in a day? Colonoscopy time!

motown13
motown13 Posts: 688 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I just scheduled my 1st colonoscopy, now that I ma 50 years old. If you had one, how bad was it?
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Replies

  • HoneyPie99
    HoneyPie99 Posts: 72
    Well I will be having one soon, my 1st also. But my husband has had several and didn't seem to bad for him. I think the worst part is drinking the stuff and emptying the colon.
  • sheilatush
    sheilatush Posts: 58 Member
    I have not but Hubby Jon did last year...not as bad as he thought....wishing you all the best
  • RunWinterGarden
    RunWinterGarden Posts: 428 Member
    I hear they aren't as bad as you fear, here is a great account of it from Mark Cuban, every time I know someone who is going for their first I send them this blog entry.

    http://blogmaverick.com/2007/06/14/my-colonoscopy/
  • StrongAtLast
    StrongAtLast Posts: 137 Member
    The colonoscopy is ok..it's the "prep work" the night before. Just stay home that night :-)
  • traceywaananenstieb
    traceywaananenstieb Posts: 27 Member
    I had one at 35 (my dad died from colon cancer pretty young). The prep day is the worst part...you have an entire evening in the bathroom...make sure you have something good to read and really soft tissue!! haha. The procedure itself is pain free and you are up and back to normal within minutes of finishing. Good luck to all of you...and congrats on taking good care of yourself!
  • sugboog29
    sugboog29 Posts: 630 Member
    The worst part is the "prep" for it. The colonoscopy itself is a piece of cake! Be prepared for a bit of a sore bum though!! I've had three and am only 50. I do believe....it is almost time for another...oh goody! Good luck.
  • jsimler1
    jsimler1 Posts: 168 Member
    prep day...HORRIBLE. DO NOT GO ANYWHERE...stay home. Seriously. But the procedure itself isn't bad at all
  • gillz89
    gillz89 Posts: 81 Member
    I've had five. Yes, five. They aren't too bad. The worst part is the prep. Meaning drinking it. The amount they want you to drink is too much for me and my sister. We both end up getting sick (throwing it back up) and that's the worst part. Other than that it's not so bad. Just don't go overboard with eating afterwards or you'll regret it! If you have questions, I'm pretty sure I can answer them. Probably experienced most everything with them.
  • denezy
    denezy Posts: 573 Member
    I've mad many, had my first when I was 14 (I know right). It's not that bad. Don't plan to leave your house the day/night before. Clear Gatorade was my best friend. I find the sedation really knocks me out for 2 days.... Enjoy!
  • Denjo060
    Denjo060 Posts: 1,008
    I had my first when I was 50, 3 years ago think of it as a colon cleanse lol it wasnt bad and to be honest I did not mind the prep it was not as bad as they made it out to be they now have the flavors you can add to the drink . just stay by the bathroom when you start prepping and then when you get home you get to take a nap and you get a day off work. See there is a bright side to everything :bigsmile:
  • Danni3ll3
    Danni3ll3 Posts: 365 Member
    I did mine without sedation or pain relief. I can't stand being sedated and not in control. (Yes, I am a control freak). Sedation also makes me very nauseous and I am out of it for the rest of the day.

    Like people have previously said, stick close to a bathroom when doing the prep. Have bathroom wipes and Preparation H handy to soothe your bottom as toilet paper can be rough on tender tissues. I got that piece of advice from a website and really appreciated not having a sore bottom for the procedure.

    From the same website, I took the advice of letting the nurse put in a saline lock in case I needed pain relief but I was able to get through the entire colonoscopy without any meds. I was a 53 year old woman who had a hysterectomy and that apparently increases the difficulty of the procedure. All of the nurses were rather shocked that I was doing this without any meds. I was told that I had a high pain threshold. I don’t know about that since I was a total wuss during the birth of my daughter.

    Anyhow, back to the colonoscopy… I felt absolutely nothing until the first corner where the doctor had to pull back a few times to straighten out my bowel. That part was more uncomfortable than painful. I did have to take a few deep breaths but the sensation only lasted a second or two. The next corner was a lot easier and it was a piece of cake from there on. The bowel on the inside doesn't have any nerve endings so you feel more pressure than anything. It was very cool to watch the whole procedure on the screen.

    I went home immediately after the procedure with no issues. I did not have to stick around for the sedation to wear off. Would I do it again? Absolutely in a heart beat! Being lucid, not fuzzy and in control was worth the few twinges I got during the procedure. You might want to discuss this with your doctor if you don't care for being out of it during a medical procedure. Then again, if you aren't a control freak like me and don't want to know a thing, be sure to ask them to knock you out.
  • never124get
    never124get Posts: 163
    Someone I know had to have one at a younger age than normal. They said that the day before drinking all that stuff was the worst. The actual procedure wasn't bad because you aren't awake. Basically I wouldn't stress about it, sounds like the day before is just awful but that's where you lose those 5 lbs sometimes even more from what I've heard...haha :huh:
  • motown13
    motown13 Posts: 688 Member
    OK, so then not so bad..... thanks.
  • dmpizza
    dmpizza Posts: 3,321 Member
    The tough part is the prep.
    My doctor(and I assume all Drs) requires I eat nothing but dairy until noon the day before and then after noon, nothing except clear liquids.
    At 6PM, you have to take something to start the purge and then drink quarts and quarts of gatorade to purge you.
    Eventually what you drink looks exactly the same as what comes out 20 minutes later.
    Then the next morning you repeat with a lower dose.

    If your Dr knows anything, you will be given propefol, which is the stuff Michael Jackson was addicted to and I completely understand why. It is a memory drug and clears parts of your brain for you. You won't feel "high", but you won't have any memories of the negatives.

    When you wake up, you will feel bloated because they use air during the procedure.

    For some reason you can't leave until you urinate.
    Once you do that, someone has to drive you home.
    I tend to sleep for a few more hours then, I know some people that go back to work. They are crazy.
  • JoRumbles
    JoRumbles Posts: 262 Member
    They told me I didn't need sedation. THEY WERE WRONG!!! It was agony, but then my colon was covered in small ulcers.

    I would take the sedation.

    The prep was...interesting. Get some vaseline or similar for round your *kitten* as the stuff coming out burns.

    You will feel 10lb lighter after the colon cleanse!
  • KenosFeoh
    KenosFeoh Posts: 1,837 Member
    The prep was a nightmare, but as for the colonoscopy itself - de nada. They give you good drugs. I slept through mine both times.
  • gillz89
    gillz89 Posts: 81 Member
    The tough part is the prep.
    My doctor(and I assume all Drs) requires I eat nothing but dairy until noon the day before and then after noon, nothing except clear liquids.
    At 6PM, you have to take something to start the purge and then drink quarts and quarts of gatorade to purge you.
    Eventually what you drink looks exactly the same as what comes out 20 minutes later.
    Then the next morning you repeat with a lower dose.

    If your Dr knows anything, you will be given propefol, which is the stuff Michael Jackson was addicted to and I completely understand why. It is a memory drug and clears parts of your brain for you. You won't feel "high", but you won't have any memories of the negatives.

    When you wake up, you will feel bloated because they use air during the procedure.

    For some reason you can't leave until you urinate.
    Once you do that, someone has to drive you home.
    I tend to sleep for a few more hours then, I know some people that go back to work. They are crazy.

    I can eat nothing at all the day before so that depends on the doctor. Example, I normally have mine on Mondays, so Saturday at 11:59 pm (midnight) I have to stop eating and am not allowed to eat until after the procedure (on Monday). My prep also started before 6 pm and I had none to do the morning of. I was not allowed to drink anything (water included) the morning of. Though they made me so I could pee for a pregnancy test. Didn't have to wait to leave because of that though, they practically kicked me out. First time that had happened. (I had told them I was feeling faint, light headed, and dizzy....they didn't listen and made me get up and in a wheelchair...I promptly fainted...that's not normal though. I have a history of randomly fainting)
  • jadethief
    jadethief Posts: 266 Member
    The prep part was miserable but you will have the best nap of your life during the procedure.
  • Denjo060
    Denjo060 Posts: 1,008
    Oh and one more thing you have to Fart before you go home too lol I dont know why but you do Its kinda funny becasue when you are laying there getting prepped there are people behind curtins that are in the recovery stage of it and youcan hear everyone farting hahahah
  • whitnm76
    whitnm76 Posts: 47
    I just had one last Friday ( and I'm 26, but due to family history). Like everyone else said, the "prep" day was the most difficult. Having a liquid diet for a day was difficult, the bathroom part wasn't as bad. I thought I'd lose more weight last week due to the procedure, but I didn't lose anything lol

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