Bowel Prep

2 replies
125 subscribers
453 views

Hi. Following diagnosis last June, I had bowel surgery in August, then chemo which finished at the end of December. Scheduled for a colonoscopy last week which was cancelled as I had problems with bowel prep. This is not the first time I've had problems - I think it's the sheer volume of liquid that defeats me. I take a hour to swallow it all, only to vomit it all up shortly afterwards - apologies for the graphic nature of this post! I've used picolax and plenvu, both with the same results. Does anyone have better luck with a different prep product? Or advice re taking the pesky stuff? I feel I'm now in a situation where the idea of the prep as much as the prep itself is causing me problems. Thank you kindly.

Kareno62 over 3 years ago

Hi SFUC. I had a colonoscopy last Friday and I had to take moviprep the day before although, by the sounds of it, I’m not sure you’d fare any better with it? It is 2 sachets of powder mixed with a litre of water (!) and drunk over 1-1.5 hours. You then have a 2 hour break (mostly spent on the toilet) then drink another litre of it over 1-1.5 hours! It has a very strong lemon flavour and is best drunk cold from the fridge. I drink it through a wide straw, 3 big slurps then a swig of tonic water with lemon. To be honest I was gipping a bit towards the end. Some people add a splash of cordial but I found it didn’t help!

I think there’s such a thing as a CT colonoscopy but I don’t know what circumstances they’d give it under? Perhaps you could ask your Support Nurse for advice and see if there’s any other sort of laxative they can prescribe?

Hope it’s all clear

Take care

Karen x

Macmillan Support Line - 0808 808 00 00, 7 days a week between 8am-8pm

SFUC over 3 years ago in reply to Kareno62

Thanks Karen. I have a CT scheduled for the end of next week but will need another colonoscopy as I've been advised that a polyp needs to be removed. I think asking the Nurse is on my to-do list, was just hoping that there was an option that doesn't involve feeling like I'm drowning!

SFUC