Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group my colonoscopy

Please keep us informed when it comes to the biopsies!!! Wishing you all the best!!! Those wet baby wipes are good to use for a prep too. They don't tear you up like regular paper!!

Craig

Sue

I hope everything is coming out o.k.

Where are the pictures!!!! I want pictures!!!

alinus,

sorry you didn't have the option of the sedation. i can't imagine doing it without

i've never woken up during any of my procedures, but then again, i respond very well to drugs.

told my parents about my colonoscopy. my stepfather has crohn's so has had his fair share of colonoscopies. they told me that if i couldn't drink the 3-4 liters of that PEG liquid that there are other ways of doing it. my stepfather took 2 small bottles of liquid, plus the dolcolax, which sounds like what i did the first time i had a colonoscopy. so could go that route if i really couldn't get it down. but have to admit, even though the drinking was worse, the cleaning out process was better. this PEG liquid really did work well. within just a few hours the process was over. so yes, the drinking got harder and harder, but the other part wasn't so bad.

thanks Dow,

i didn't think my story read that bad. didn't mean to scare people. i mean yes, the "evil juice" was pretty hard to get down after awhile, but it really did work, and i had no bloating or other real issues.

mostly i wanted to point out some things that would have scarred me if i hadn't known better, like bile being green, or blood afterwards being normal and not to panic. if i hadn't been reassured by doctors on those two things, i know they would have concerned me.

posting the link you sent to me regarding recommendations on how often people get colonoscopies: http://csn.cancer.org/node/166325

here's a quote from that: "In the 2009 update, the USPSTF now recommends that adults aged 50 to 74 years be screened in 1 of the following ways: every year with high-sensitivity fecal occult blood testing (FOBT); every 10 years with colonoscopy; or every 5 years with flexible sigmoidoscopy plus interval high-sensitivity FOBT.

The task force also recommended against routine screening of people aged 76 to 85 years, although individual patients might have considerations that support screening."

so for most people, some form of screening "for colon cancer" between the ages of 50 and 75.

but for anyone with IBD, reading that they recommend colonoscopies more often: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1819350-overview

regardless of how pleasant or unpleasant the experience, and honestly for me, it was just hard drinking that stuff, but that's really just mind over matter. the other unpleasant parts, the IV and that conversation with that nurse regarding drugs, really had nothing to do with the colonoscopy itself.

regardless, so glad i had this done, as they found 2 polyps, thank goodness they found and removed them now. so, regardless, thankful that i had it done.

yes, its important to do these things.....

thanks kat,

will keep you posted.

my husband was either awake or partially awake for some of his procedures, by choice, he wanted to watch.

me, just put me out and let me know when its over....

thanks donna,

8 scopes, that's a lot.

can i ask, were they upper endoscopies or colonoscopies or a mix of both?

can i ask why you needed them? and what they found?

if too personal, don't feel obligated to answer back.

yes, i'm the same way when it comes to the drugs.
i remember the oxygen tickling my nose, my wriggling my nose, and the doctor saying.........zzzzzzzzzzzzz

well, the beginning of his story, i was thinking, my story was so not scary in comparison, but then i kept reading, got to the end and this is what i read. and such a good message, i'm pasting it here. thanks for sharing this, not just funny, but an important message too. thanks dow!

"But my point is this: In addition to being a pathetic medical weenie, I was a complete moron. For more than a decade I avoided getting a procedure that was, essentially, nothing. There was no pain and, except for the MoviPrep, no discomfort. I was risking my life for nothing.

If my brother Sam had been as stupid as I was -- if, when he turned 50, he had ignored all the medical advice and avoided getting screened -- he still would have had cancer. He just wouldn't have known. And by the time he did know -- by the time he felt symptoms -- his situation would have been much, much more serious. But because he was a grown-up, the doctors caught the cancer early, and they operated and took it out. Sam is now recovering and eating what he describes as ''really, really boring food.'' His prognosis is good, and everybody is optimistic, fingers crossed, knock on wood, and all that.

Which brings us to you, Mr. or Mrs. or Miss or Ms. Over-50-And-Hasn't-Had-a-Colonoscopy. Here's the deal: You either have colo-rectal cancer, or you don't. If you do, a colonoscopy will enable doctors to find it and do something about it. And if you don't have cancer, believe me, it's very reassuring to know you don't. There is no sane reason for you not to have it done."

so i guess the message is, if you're over 50 and haven't had a colonoscopy yet, go get one.

after finding out that i had 2 polyps, i'm so glad i got mine done, and i'm only 47. glad in a way that i have IBS/IBD symptoms serious enough to have needed a colonoscopy now.

hi karen,

red and green, christmas, hadn't thought of that!

sorry to hear about your procedure, that sounds a lot worse than mine.
that liquid, "evil juice" as dow called it, was hard to swallow, but no bloating or anything. within an hour of drinking it, i started to go and go and go and.....and it just worked really well.

one thing i did that may have helped. my directions from the doctors office said no fiber for a week, no fruits or veggies, etc. i thought, that's nuts! i'll be so backed up, i'll have bigger problems than just needing a colonoscopy. instead i was doing the opposite, eating lots of fiber for a few days before to really clean myself out (truth is i didn't read the directions til a few days before), and then a semi liquid diet for a few days prior. on the day of, the directions said i could eat a light breakfast and even have things like custards, milkshakes for lunch. i decided to do as i did back in 1993 and have nothing but liquids on prep day. i did have egg custard for breakfast, but that's as solid as it got all day. the rest of the day it was orange jello, apricot jello, chicken broth, french onion broth, coconut water with passion fruit juice, pineapple juice, ginger herbal tea, peppermint herbal tea.

sorry you got dehydrated. maybe i didn't because i kept drinking other things in addition to the PEG solution. that may have helped. also they said to finish my liquid dinner by 4 pm, again, that was nuts, i would have ended up in a hypoglycemia comma, so i drank my liquids until pretty late.

so, except for PEG solution being hard to get down after awhile, things went pretty well. think drinking all those liquids helped a lot.

i'll be interested too in what the biopsies tell us.

thanks,

louise,

thanks for that information. as i was saying above, my stepfather took the two small green bottles of liquid and the dulcolax. hadn't heard about the pills.

here's some ideas from the emedicine article i linked above:

To maximize the thoroughness and safety of the procedure, the colon must be completely empty prior to colonoscopy. Several options are available for precolonoscopy bowel cleansing. The most commonly used preparations include (1) 1.5 ounces of Fleet Phospho-Soda liquid mixed into half a glass of water followed by a full glass of water at 3 pm and again at 7 pm on the day prior to examination or (2) 4 liters of polyethylene glycol (PEG) solution (eg, GoLYTELY, NuLYTELY, CoLyte) administered orally over a 1- to 3-hour period on the evening prior to colonoscopy.

A reduced volume lavage regimen comprised of 2 liters of PEG solution plus 4 tablets of delayed-release 5-mg bisacodyl tablets (HalfLytely) has been introduced in an effort to improve patient compliance. DiPalma et al showed an equally effective preparation as compared to a standard 4-liter PEG solution with fewer reported adverse effects.1

Visicol is a relatively new prescription laxative pill designed to cleanse the colon prior to colonoscopy. In a study by Aronchick et al, this tablet form of sodium phosphate was equally as effective and safe as the existing aqueous preparations.2 However, as with Fleet Phospho-soda, Visicol contains a high phosphate load that may not be safe for patients with kidney, heart, liver, or certain intestinal diseases.

Recent concern has been raised about the risk for developing renal insufficiency following the use of oral sodium phosphate solution (Fleet Phospho-soda) or Visicol in patients without a history of underlying renal disease or recognized contraindication to the usage of oral sodium phosphate preparation.

This came after a study by Markowitz et al that identified 31 cases of nephrocalcinosis among 7,349 native kidney biopsy samples processed during 2000-2004.3 Of these patients, 21 presented with acute renal failure and had a history of recent colonoscopy preceded by bowel cleansing with oral sodium phosphate solution (Fleets Phospho-Soda) or Visicol. The average baseline creatinine was 1.0 mg/dL prior to colonoscopy.

At follow-up, 4 patients went on to require permanent hemodialysis, and the remaining 17 all developed chronic renal insufficiency (mean serum creatinine, 2.4 mg/dL). The authors suggest potential etiologic factors include inadequate hydration during colon preparation, increased patient age, a history of hypertension, and concurrent use of an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker.

Regardless of the laxative method used, note that patients must drink at least fourteen 8-ounce glasses of water or clear beverages during the day prior to colonoscopy to prevent dehydration.

It is not uncommon for patients to report an inability to tolerate the colon-cleansing preparation often secondary to unpalatable taste and large volume of the preparation, nausea and vomiting, or abdominal cramping and bloating. If the patient reports already passing clear liquid stool, discontinuation of further preparation may be considered. The author frequently recommends placing the preparation in the refrigerator 1 day prior to using it or adding sugar-free flavor packets (eg, Crystal Light) in an effort to improve the taste of the polyethylene glycol solution. The rate of ingestion of the cleansing agent by patients is not as critical as determining that they have ingested the entire volume of the agent to ensure evacuation.

from what i am reading, sounds like a balance between compliance to the procedures, how well they work, and how safe they are.

i will admit, i read the procedures and it said if you are going clear, you can stop at 3 Liters, which is what i did.

it all worked ok, so guess i did a good job at following directions and using some common sense.