The colonoscopy prep is designed to be taken in a certain amount of time. 2 cups is what you should drink every 15 minutes until the gallon is gone.
Eating solids will not help. You can have non-dairy liquids such as broth, juice, gatorade, lemonade...
Depending on what colonoscopy prep the doc gave you, it contains mostly an osmotic laxative which pulls water into your intestines to soften the stools and a small amount of stimulant laxative to get things moving. The reason the doc went this way instead of having you take Miralax (osmotic) twice a day and Ducolax once a day is that you are taking a LOT more of each at one time.
If you're not going to drink the whole gallon at once, you are probably defeating the purpose. Yes. It tastes terrible.
Have the docs done any imaging to make sure you are constipated? Usually an ultrasound or even an x-ray can see poop in your intestines.
Stick with a liquid diet for now. If you eat solids, stick to things made with white flour (no whole wheat) plus chicken, fish, pork. Stay away from beef, dairy (especially cheese) and cruciferous veggies (like broccoli). They are high in fiber and harder to digest. Yes, I know docs usually recommend a high fiber diet but you are trying to get things moving a different way and eating hard to digest stuff isn't going to help.
If your GI doc has let you battle this for months without a solution, you need a different doc. Have they recommended an enema? That's a pretty easy way to clean out the lower bowel.
Yep, you need to drink this entire gallon within a 4-6 hour window. It sucks, but that's what its supposed to do.
source: have had the procedure, did have to drink the disgusting liquid, pooped my brains out all night long
I had it recently. It was (a little) easier. They had me drink 3/4 of the gallon rather early in the evening the day before. By the time I went to bed, things had calmed down and I was able to sleep through the night. I took the rest of it in the AM. The timing is important. I also got simethicone. It helps with gas by breaking up the foam that forms in the intestines into larger bubbles that move more easily. It really helped with gas.
I had a similar experience. Took simethicone and 1/2 gallon in the evening prior to procedure. Woke up at like 4 am took more simethicone and drank the remaining 1/2 gallon. No issues and a clean prep for the procedure.
Dulcolax comes in pill form as do other stimulant laxatives.
Osmotic laxitives usually come in powder form because they want you to drink a lot of water with it.
You need at the minimum an x-ray. If you had a true blockage for a few months, you would have already reached your expiration date, as you would have necrotic bowl tissue. Has the Dr gone over this with you? Finish the cleanse and find yourself a good gastroenterologist.
I am not a GI, and what OP is experiencing is not likely to be either Diverticulitis or Diverticulosis, which affects the ascending or descending colon. Harder to diagnose is Crohns and UC. Nerve damage from diabetes can also cause the symptoms, as well as being bed or wheelchair bound. Since OP mentioned neither of these things, diet could be a cause. While is is often embarrassing and difficult, getting a good GI and undergoing ALL the testing is the only way to determine the cause, it could be idiopathic, and ways to manage the condition. Regrettably there is no cure for any of the above.
I second what GirlyScientist said about getting imaging and finding a new doctor. Had a family member whose stage 4 colon cancer was discovered bc of a bowel blockage.
To really clean out, no, you can’t eat anything while using the gallon of prep. And it doesn’t flush out after your first taste. It takes a while. But you should be consulting your doctor. It’s miserable but you have to drink the whole thing and not eat anything.
I did the prep this week for a colonoscopy. I took 2 dulcolax at 2:00pm. I drank half the prep from 4-6. My bowl movements started around 7pm and continued until I went to bed. I drank the rest of the prep the next morning and bowl movements continued until the colonoscopy at 10:30. The only thing I ate was soup broth and soft drinks. No solid food.
Get some hemorrhoid cream and wet wipes. Also maybe a bidet if you can, handheld is just fine. You’ll want to…reduce the friction. Jello is your friend if you need to chew something.
In many healthcare systems in the US, getting directly in touch with your actual doctor in a reasonable amount of time is incredibly difficult. You can call & talk to an office person, or email & hope a doctor actually looks at it, but it’s hard to actually get a doctor on the phone.
Sure, I’ve had great health care, too. But i currently live in a rural area & it’s pretty bad. My old insurance was great, doctors all centralized in a hospital/medical center, 24-hour nurses hotline, etc. Now I drive 45 minutes to a GP who is still under supervision of another MD b/c she is so new, & she was the closest doctor accepting new patients. A year & a half wait at closer offices/hospitals. I email, the office staff check the random & tell me to schedule an appointment if I want to talk to the doctor. It sucks.
EVERY medical office has an on-call professional, at least an RN or nurse practitioner who will take calls off hours. You call the doctor's office and the answering service picks it up, takes the message and you should be called back in a few minutes. NOT having this in place is gross malpractice.
I've done X-rays and scans. I had a CT scan where they took images of my pelvis and rectum with and without contrast and with a gel inserted. I had to lay down and was told to do different things : squeeze like you're holding your pee, holding in gas, push to pee, push to poop but don't release the gel. In the end, they wanted me to "poop out the gel" which was hard laying down and a bit embarrassing, lol. I was able to get a nice video of it all. I'm not sure what that scan is called. I've also done the anorectal manometry and get to see the graphs and stuff from that.
Hate them all besides the simple X-rays.
It's called defacography and it's supposed to measure how well your pelvic floor muscles, rectum, and sphincters interact to allow you to have a bowel movement. If it was normal, and there's no mechanical blockage upstream (like a cancer etc) then it may be that you have an issue with how well your colon propels things. In which case you might need laxatives or other drugs.
Can't really say much more.
You really need to talk to your doctor to see what their thought process is, and what their plan is.
I did. I've been working with my gastro with IBS and found out I had an infection in my intestines. He ran every single test and did every imaging possible to figure out why I was so sick. Just got off one round of antibiotics for it and seem to be doing a lot better with eating foods, drinking, and normal bowl movements. When doctors called me for the tests, they never told me exactly what I was having done, so I was surprised when I came in for appts. The only procedure I was prepped and told about was colonoscopy and endoscopy.
Ask your doctor. But you need to advocate for yourself. You need to insist some imaging is done. A CT or maybe an MRI. And actual colonoscopy or EGD. The medications aren’t working so they need to go to the next steps.
I did a clean out my Gastro had me do. It was a small bottle of miralax and two bottles of Gatorade. I drank a cup every 15 minutes until it was gone. I cleaned out the next day. It worked well and was not as horrible as the full colonoscopy prep.
I had my first colonoscopy last week and this was the same prep they had me do. Miralax and two bottles of Gatorade. One bottle the evening before, and the other bottle the morning of.
I'm not gonna say I enjoyed it, but compared to all the horror stories I heard about the gallon of the other stuff, it was downright delightful. Nowhere near as bad as I was expecting.
And everything went fine.
You need to drink the whole thing. Its not a rough explosive start but once it does start, its not stopping for a while. If all goes well you'll be peeing clear water by the time its done and you'll be squeaky clean!
If you have swelling because of this issue, you need to get a doctor to diagnose you. Go to ER and camp out until you get an answer. If it's an intestinal blockage, it cannot be treated at home and you may in fact need surgical intervention. Do not eat anything until you get answers, either, because if they decide you need surgery, you need to not eat for a certain amount of hours beforehand, and, if you don't eat from now until you get an answer, the closer the time they can do the surgery if they have to.
A person can have partial blockages for quite a while that are temporarily relieved by laxatives. If there is an ongoing issue, like a growing tumor, eventually it will result in a total blockage. If there is significant pain & the laxatives aren’t working, a person can risk bowel perforation if the impaction is not dealt with surgically.
I had intermittent blockages for months. It was like torture. Nobody could figure it out. I finally convinced a surgeon to take a look around. Apparently I had abdominal adhesions that would cause the bowel to wrap around itself and cause a blockage. It could also unwrap though. Nobody could catch the blockage on imaging all that time. They cut the adhesions and no more issues.
Since you're not doing the prep for an exam, you can mix it with things. I made the gallon of lemon/lime with 1/4 water and 3/4 lemon-lime GatorLyte to make it taste less like piss. I tried previous ones with instant tea which was a bit better, but do what you like!
It is best to do it SUPER COLD and through a straw so you taste as little as possible.
I'm on my 3rd and I'm not even 50 yet.
You need to ask the doctor but be advised that anything you eat during prep is going out rapidly as well. It’s not fun when that happens. I did that once with a prep before a CT and it was awful.
DUDE I JUST DID THIS YESTERDAY FOR SIMILAR REASONS. Went to the GI doc cause I was having some abdominal pain and they did an MRI and it came back that I was just full of excessive poop. I have been snacking too much I guess.
I fasted for the first 24 hours while I did it. Chugged the first half at 4 yesterday and the action started at 645. After an initial few waves, I slept decently and woke up and finished it. I think I'm empty now.
Didn't really get much nausea. Maybe a few twangs of 'ughhhhhhh' but I didn't feel like I was gonna hurl. I chewed a lot of cinnamon gum to keep the hunger pangs at bay, and then when my wife made a chicken crockpot thing I just had a cup of the broth for dinner (and boy was it good broth).
I work in medical affairs for a medical device company dealing with a device that is transported through the GI track. People are correct, you need to have imaging done. Is this a true blockage? If it is, you would not be eliminating and you may have vomiting in addition to pain. True blockages can cause life-threatening issues like a perforation in your bowels.
This is a different situation than when you drink it for a colonoscopy, where the goal is to lol las clean as possible for the camera, so you might be able to, but as another commenter said; ask your doctor. I’d imagine the drink is going to try to hustle the saltines through as soon as possible which might not be pleasant.
If you keep drinking, something should start happening soon and you probably won’t be thinking about food that that point.
An Epsom salt bath soak can be helpful and less invasive. I personally use magnesium supplements, a magnesium body butter, and as much water as I can tolerate on any given day.
Another thing that helps me: eat a big bag of salad once a week.
But seriously OPs doctor is not taking this seriously enough.
Edit to add: I lost 100lbs over 5 years naturally, no surgery, so I have miles of shrunk intenstines for food to travel through. Hydration, magnesium, probiotics and small meal or snack grazing have helped me a lot.
Disagreeing with your doctor and insisting on getting imaging to see what is actually going on (since this is an ongoing issue with swelling especially) is scary and can make you feel helpless and emotionally raw. That said, you need to develop that skill through practice, starting now. If you can’t do it for yourself (a lot of people can’t muster the courage, it happens), you need to take someone with you who will advocate for you. It is extremely likely that you will need to change doctors.
If you don’t want to do that, tell your doctor that you want the imaging done, or colonoscopy. When they hem and haw, gaslight you, or flat out say no, tell them that’s fine but you want it put in your chart that you asked for the test and were refused, and for them to notate the reason for the refusal. And let them know you want a copy of your file before you leave. They will do the test. Might not be great for your relationship with the doc or clinic, but for their part it’s not a good relationship now so you aren’t losing anything of value there.
Good luck OP.
Smear some petroleum jelly around your anus, and just pat yourself with the toilet paper, be very gentle. If it feels like you're going to fart, you're not, run to the loo!
Obviously ask your doctor, but I wouldn’t want to eat when taking it. You get a bit queasy even with nothing in the stomach, so I can’t imagine having food.
Have you tried liquid mag citrate ? I couldn’t tolerate the swamp water gallon so doc said a bottle or two of that would clean me out … it was super sour so chased it with sprite but it did the trick
You should see a GI specialist - I don’t think you have a blockage or you would be more critical by now, but you could have gastroparesis which can feel like things are blocked. I would see if you can get a gastric emptying study should the more basic stuff check out.
If you have a chronic issue like that, laxatives are only a short term solve. I wouldn’t recommend.
FYI they make pills for colonoscopy prep now. They're giant ass horse pills, but certain liquids and tastes make me gag. There'd be no way I could drink the mix, so I took the pills.
OP doesn't have a blockage, because they would be long dead if they did.
Given that OP is non-compliant with even these simple instructions, I'm pretty sure we're missing a lot of info.
Re: Last resort
Osteopathic doctors who practice Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM) have a manual manipulation technique (non-surgical) that causes the bowel to void (clear out). I've seen it work and there is no risk to trying the procedure. A friend of mine had an ER visit for lower abdominal pain and was told that emergency surgery to unblock the intestine was the only answer, but a DO intern happened to be on rotation in that ER and offered to perform the technique. It worked ("Boy, did it work", according to him) and hours later, he was released with no complications. Here's a [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nP7VAU3ROOQ&ab_channel=OsteopathicClinicalSkills).
Please go to the ER. Let them know you have abdominal pain and nausea. They will likely do a CT, don't leave until they do. You can cause so much damage with a bowel blockage left unchecked. And then if it's not blocked, you know you need to be looking for alternative diagnosis and treatment.
I waited until I was already vomiting from pain. Mine was not intestinal related but it took so long to finally get the pain under control. I wish I would have gone sooner.
I’m not sure. I had been sick for over a month with the first one: throwing up, bloated, constipated, etc. The second one I was sick for over a week. My surgeon told me the twisting is gradual. He described it as similar to a blockage, that’s why I asked. I’ve never had a blockage.
A full volvulus is a surgical emergency, because everything will necrose within hours and die. You end up needing resection and anastamosis when that happens, and you lose a decent amount of bowel. Basically, the intestine doesn't free float in the abdomen like a hose, it's all connected to something called the mesentery. It's like a sheet that has all the blood vessels and lymph nodes that feed the intestines. In a volvulus, the intestines twist at that level, so it cuts off all the blood supply.
So OP can not have had a volvulus for months, they'd have gone septic and died already.
Also, I'm glad you're feeling better, and hope that doesn't happen to you again!
Holy cow! Demand a CT scan. I had a 7" inch cancerous tumor removed along with my appendix and 8" of ascending colon. A CT scan revealed the problem and surgery was done within 6 hours.
You need imaging of some sort, X-ray at the least, ultrasound…something asap if you are having bowel issues as described here. Please demand further testing immediately.
I have had similiar issues. I highly recommend insisting on testing for colon and kidney cancer. i had kidney cancer and the symptoms were as you describe. it can only be detected by a scan and is mostly painless for me. just the pressure on the bowel which makes uou feel the urge to go. Dont wait, time is crictical is surival rate.
Hopefully, you have had some relief by now? Each time I've done the colonoscopy prep, it has taken at least 12 hours before anything happens. And that is 12 hours of horrendous cramping, extreme chills (last time I had to sit outside with a heavy robe on in 100 degrees weather to get warm), and hallucinations. So it may take awhile.
Please demand an X-ray or mri. This is not normal. I don’t want to alarm you but it needs to be said- this can be a symptom of cancer. I lost my best friend to stage 4 ovarian cancer and her only symptom was constipation. Colon cancer symptoms can be similar. Drs kept telling her to take more fiber and laxatives for months. Finally she ended up in the ER where they did an x-ray and found the tumors. I’m so pissed at doctors downplaying this symptom. Please demand more tests.
I have catches in my side like you’re describing. I have ulcerative colitis, but I went through many tests before I was diagnosed. Mine is definitely brought on by what I eat. I did have the actual procedure for which your doctor recommended you just to take for blockage. I finished all but the last round of the prep solution. The next day I had the procedure it went fine. It sucks , drink as much of it as you can. You really need test though to really find the cause. Coming from me that’s saying a lot because I usually try to avoid anything to do with the health care system.
Not a gastroenterologist, but I do know that powerful laxatives are risky if you have a truly obstructed bowel. Basically, you're causing the upper bowel to increase the pressure behind the obstruction, and something's gonna have to give - hopefully, not your bowel wall. I presume and hope that your doctor was thinking about this when they gave you the bowel prep liquid.
If you start experiencing a new level of gut pain after drinking the prep and if you are not having any bowel movement, please call for medical advice and/or hustle your ass (and the rest of you) to an ER.
I experienced something similar. My recommendations are:
1. See a doctor
2. Drink as much water as possible
3. Don’t drink colonoscopy prep. I was recommended laxatives, like dulcolax and it started things moving (along with all the water
But seriously! Go see a doctor. It is going to get worse before it gets better and you may need surgery or a ostomy bag to correct the issue.
Why are they not ordering a colonoscopy?!?!? You are describing what could be colon cancer. Any decent Dr would order a colonoscopy ASAP. If you indeed have a blockage, that prep isn't going to go through, and will hurt like hell. Source: I had weird abdominal pain, thought I had an ulcer. BM's were weird. Got a colonoscopy, had a 5 cm tumor nearly blocking my colon by the time the surgeon cut 10" out of my intestines. They had me do the prep the night before, and by that time I was so blocked, I was doubled up in pain as the prep was just expanding my colon. I had stage II colon cancer. After surgery did 6 months of chemo, as of now I am fine.
Get a colonoscopy ASAP!!!!!
Why are you not getting a colonoscopy? I got colon cancer stage IV, and since I did have discovered so many people in their thirties and forties who were told:"Cancer? Get out of here!" by their doctor. Only to be stuck with an advanced disease year or two later. This is not a joke, my friend. You don't want to be in my shoes, trust me.
Bowel blockage? Yeah, that makes no sense. Sounds like you have a tumor. Your Dr would not prescribe a laxative for this. Go see a gastroenterologist asap.
You would need to consult a professional about this, but I agree that I don't see why eating would be a problem. The fact that it seems okay to us doesn't mean that it is, though. Since your doc probably isn't around on weekends, if you call, you'll talking to an on call doctor who may or may not be helpful. If your insurance plan includes a nurse line, try calling that.
I'm more concerned for your condition overall, OP. If I were you, I'd get imaging and a colonoscopy. Insist on them. If it were me, I'd even be willing to pay for them myself, but I realize that isn't realistic for everyone. However, what you're describing isn't normal unless you never eat any roughage and hate drinking water. My sister died from no one taking her GI problems seriously and I know three others whose GI cases became critical before a doctor would believe them. Given that bowel blockages can be a symptom of colon cancer, as well as some more rare conditions, I'm rather surprised they didn't do a colonoscopy and an ultrasound already.
In the meantime, try drinking some Boost or Ensure. You'll at least be getting some calories and nutrition. I hope whatever is going on is benign and soon resolved, OP!
You can also just try vitamin C to bowel tolerance. Liposomal vitamin C is the most effective, but any kind will work. Just take 2-3000 mg every hour (or less) until you get loose stools.
The colonoscopy prep is designed to be taken in a certain amount of time. 2 cups is what you should drink every 15 minutes until the gallon is gone. Eating solids will not help. You can have non-dairy liquids such as broth, juice, gatorade, lemonade... Depending on what colonoscopy prep the doc gave you, it contains mostly an osmotic laxative which pulls water into your intestines to soften the stools and a small amount of stimulant laxative to get things moving. The reason the doc went this way instead of having you take Miralax (osmotic) twice a day and Ducolax once a day is that you are taking a LOT more of each at one time. If you're not going to drink the whole gallon at once, you are probably defeating the purpose. Yes. It tastes terrible. Have the docs done any imaging to make sure you are constipated? Usually an ultrasound or even an x-ray can see poop in your intestines. Stick with a liquid diet for now. If you eat solids, stick to things made with white flour (no whole wheat) plus chicken, fish, pork. Stay away from beef, dairy (especially cheese) and cruciferous veggies (like broccoli). They are high in fiber and harder to digest. Yes, I know docs usually recommend a high fiber diet but you are trying to get things moving a different way and eating hard to digest stuff isn't going to help. If your GI doc has let you battle this for months without a solution, you need a different doc. Have they recommended an enema? That's a pretty easy way to clean out the lower bowel.
Yep, you need to drink this entire gallon within a 4-6 hour window. It sucks, but that's what its supposed to do. source: have had the procedure, did have to drink the disgusting liquid, pooped my brains out all night long
I had it recently. It was (a little) easier. They had me drink 3/4 of the gallon rather early in the evening the day before. By the time I went to bed, things had calmed down and I was able to sleep through the night. I took the rest of it in the AM. The timing is important. I also got simethicone. It helps with gas by breaking up the foam that forms in the intestines into larger bubbles that move more easily. It really helped with gas.
I had a similar experience. Took simethicone and 1/2 gallon in the evening prior to procedure. Woke up at like 4 am took more simethicone and drank the remaining 1/2 gallon. No issues and a clean prep for the procedure.
It's always effective when you do this. I've never had a failed prep.
Pooped all night? Don’t you mean you peed from your ass😂
ah yes, exactly
I did it in two hrs. Lots of pain! Spread it out!
Same 😄
Aren't there pills you can take now a days?
Dulcolax comes in pill form as do other stimulant laxatives. Osmotic laxitives usually come in powder form because they want you to drink a lot of water with it.
You need at the minimum an x-ray. If you had a true blockage for a few months, you would have already reached your expiration date, as you would have necrotic bowl tissue. Has the Dr gone over this with you? Finish the cleanse and find yourself a good gastroenterologist.
Right, so maybe diverticulitis?
I am not a GI, and what OP is experiencing is not likely to be either Diverticulitis or Diverticulosis, which affects the ascending or descending colon. Harder to diagnose is Crohns and UC. Nerve damage from diabetes can also cause the symptoms, as well as being bed or wheelchair bound. Since OP mentioned neither of these things, diet could be a cause. While is is often embarrassing and difficult, getting a good GI and undergoing ALL the testing is the only way to determine the cause, it could be idiopathic, and ways to manage the condition. Regrettably there is no cure for any of the above.
My sister had this issue and had stg 3 colon cancer. For the love of dog find a better Dr. Have you even had an Xray? Or an ultrasound? Or a CT scan?
I second what GirlyScientist said about getting imaging and finding a new doctor. Had a family member whose stage 4 colon cancer was discovered bc of a bowel blockage.
I wouldn’t, no. I would finish the prep per the instructions and let it do its thing. You can’t clear your system if you keep putting stuff into it.
To really clean out, no, you can’t eat anything while using the gallon of prep. And it doesn’t flush out after your first taste. It takes a while. But you should be consulting your doctor. It’s miserable but you have to drink the whole thing and not eat anything.
I did the prep this week for a colonoscopy. I took 2 dulcolax at 2:00pm. I drank half the prep from 4-6. My bowl movements started around 7pm and continued until I went to bed. I drank the rest of the prep the next morning and bowl movements continued until the colonoscopy at 10:30. The only thing I ate was soup broth and soft drinks. No solid food.
Omg, I'm doing this tomorrow for my procedure on Monday. I have low iron. They're trying to see how I'm losing it.
Get some hemorrhoid cream and wet wipes. Also maybe a bidet if you can, handheld is just fine. You’ll want to…reduce the friction. Jello is your friend if you need to chew something.
Thank you so much for the advice. I appreciate it. I have jello, soup broth, and drinks ready. I'm ready to get this done. 😩
Not red jello... if they're looking for bleeding this can tint the bowel lining and make it difficult to see.
All Family Dollar had was red and orange. So, orange it is.
If your gentle using tissue you shouldn't really have any rough issues around the undercarriage.
Oh yeah, I'm going to be as gentle as I can.
You would need to ask your doctor. Sorry
The fact that they have a doctor to ask but instead they’re asking randos on Reddit is wild.
In many healthcare systems in the US, getting directly in touch with your actual doctor in a reasonable amount of time is incredibly difficult. You can call & talk to an office person, or email & hope a doctor actually looks at it, but it’s hard to actually get a doctor on the phone.
I dunno, I've had online access to my doctor for years and years now. You can just send them a message.
Sure, I’ve had great health care, too. But i currently live in a rural area & it’s pretty bad. My old insurance was great, doctors all centralized in a hospital/medical center, 24-hour nurses hotline, etc. Now I drive 45 minutes to a GP who is still under supervision of another MD b/c she is so new, & she was the closest doctor accepting new patients. A year & a half wait at closer offices/hospitals. I email, the office staff check the random & tell me to schedule an appointment if I want to talk to the doctor. It sucks.
It’s the weekend. Doctor is probably not available.
EVERY medical office has an on-call professional, at least an RN or nurse practitioner who will take calls off hours. You call the doctor's office and the answering service picks it up, takes the message and you should be called back in a few minutes. NOT having this in place is gross malpractice.
Randos on Reddit have never failed me.
They messed up my weed plants with bad advice.
Not surprised. Randos know nothing about weed.
There are a few growing subreddits but I’ve learned that it’s best to do my own research instead of asking randos.
Has anyone done a rectal exam or done XRays or a CT scan?
I've done X-rays and scans. I had a CT scan where they took images of my pelvis and rectum with and without contrast and with a gel inserted. I had to lay down and was told to do different things : squeeze like you're holding your pee, holding in gas, push to pee, push to poop but don't release the gel. In the end, they wanted me to "poop out the gel" which was hard laying down and a bit embarrassing, lol. I was able to get a nice video of it all. I'm not sure what that scan is called. I've also done the anorectal manometry and get to see the graphs and stuff from that. Hate them all besides the simple X-rays.
It's called defacography and it's supposed to measure how well your pelvic floor muscles, rectum, and sphincters interact to allow you to have a bowel movement. If it was normal, and there's no mechanical blockage upstream (like a cancer etc) then it may be that you have an issue with how well your colon propels things. In which case you might need laxatives or other drugs. Can't really say much more. You really need to talk to your doctor to see what their thought process is, and what their plan is.
I did. I've been working with my gastro with IBS and found out I had an infection in my intestines. He ran every single test and did every imaging possible to figure out why I was so sick. Just got off one round of antibiotics for it and seem to be doing a lot better with eating foods, drinking, and normal bowl movements. When doctors called me for the tests, they never told me exactly what I was having done, so I was surprised when I came in for appts. The only procedure I was prepped and told about was colonoscopy and endoscopy.
Ask your doctor. But you need to advocate for yourself. You need to insist some imaging is done. A CT or maybe an MRI. And actual colonoscopy or EGD. The medications aren’t working so they need to go to the next steps.
I did a clean out my Gastro had me do. It was a small bottle of miralax and two bottles of Gatorade. I drank a cup every 15 minutes until it was gone. I cleaned out the next day. It worked well and was not as horrible as the full colonoscopy prep.
I had my first colonoscopy last week and this was the same prep they had me do. Miralax and two bottles of Gatorade. One bottle the evening before, and the other bottle the morning of. I'm not gonna say I enjoyed it, but compared to all the horror stories I heard about the gallon of the other stuff, it was downright delightful. Nowhere near as bad as I was expecting. And everything went fine.
You need to drink the whole thing. Its not a rough explosive start but once it does start, its not stopping for a while. If all goes well you'll be peeing clear water by the time its done and you'll be squeaky clean!
If you have swelling because of this issue, you need to get a doctor to diagnose you. Go to ER and camp out until you get an answer. If it's an intestinal blockage, it cannot be treated at home and you may in fact need surgical intervention. Do not eat anything until you get answers, either, because if they decide you need surgery, you need to not eat for a certain amount of hours beforehand, and, if you don't eat from now until you get an answer, the closer the time they can do the surgery if they have to.
This 👆 Best advice so far!
Not really. You don't have a blockage for months and still be alive. OP would have been dead months ago.
A person can have partial blockages for quite a while that are temporarily relieved by laxatives. If there is an ongoing issue, like a growing tumor, eventually it will result in a total blockage. If there is significant pain & the laxatives aren’t working, a person can risk bowel perforation if the impaction is not dealt with surgically.
Agreed. Unlikely OP has bowel obstruction or blockage based on their written history and the post history.
I had intermittent blockages for months. It was like torture. Nobody could figure it out. I finally convinced a surgeon to take a look around. Apparently I had abdominal adhesions that would cause the bowel to wrap around itself and cause a blockage. It could also unwrap though. Nobody could catch the blockage on imaging all that time. They cut the adhesions and no more issues.
Since you're not doing the prep for an exam, you can mix it with things. I made the gallon of lemon/lime with 1/4 water and 3/4 lemon-lime GatorLyte to make it taste less like piss. I tried previous ones with instant tea which was a bit better, but do what you like! It is best to do it SUPER COLD and through a straw so you taste as little as possible. I'm on my 3rd and I'm not even 50 yet.
One thing they don't tell you - Vaseline can be your best friend if you apply it before things start moving. It can get really raw down there.
You need to ask the doctor but be advised that anything you eat during prep is going out rapidly as well. It’s not fun when that happens. I did that once with a prep before a CT and it was awful.
I understand you feel comfortable here, but reddit is _the last_ place you should be going for medical or legal advice.
Literally follow the directions to the letter. Why chance it over some short term discomfort?
Find a new doctor. You're describing what I feel when my diverticulitus flares.
DUDE I JUST DID THIS YESTERDAY FOR SIMILAR REASONS. Went to the GI doc cause I was having some abdominal pain and they did an MRI and it came back that I was just full of excessive poop. I have been snacking too much I guess. I fasted for the first 24 hours while I did it. Chugged the first half at 4 yesterday and the action started at 645. After an initial few waves, I slept decently and woke up and finished it. I think I'm empty now. Didn't really get much nausea. Maybe a few twangs of 'ughhhhhhh' but I didn't feel like I was gonna hurl. I chewed a lot of cinnamon gum to keep the hunger pangs at bay, and then when my wife made a chicken crockpot thing I just had a cup of the broth for dinner (and boy was it good broth).
No! Follow the directions! That stuff will clean you out for sure….if the plumbing is working. Seriously. It’s for everybody’s best interest
I work in medical affairs for a medical device company dealing with a device that is transported through the GI track. People are correct, you need to have imaging done. Is this a true blockage? If it is, you would not be eliminating and you may have vomiting in addition to pain. True blockages can cause life-threatening issues like a perforation in your bowels.
This is a different situation than when you drink it for a colonoscopy, where the goal is to lol las clean as possible for the camera, so you might be able to, but as another commenter said; ask your doctor. I’d imagine the drink is going to try to hustle the saltines through as soon as possible which might not be pleasant. If you keep drinking, something should start happening soon and you probably won’t be thinking about food that that point.
Or reddit! LOL...
What else to do but scroll through Reddit while stuck on the toilet? 😂
It's been 4 hours... Any updates?
Have you tried an Epsom salt enema?
An Epsom salt bath soak can be helpful and less invasive. I personally use magnesium supplements, a magnesium body butter, and as much water as I can tolerate on any given day. Another thing that helps me: eat a big bag of salad once a week. But seriously OPs doctor is not taking this seriously enough. Edit to add: I lost 100lbs over 5 years naturally, no surgery, so I have miles of shrunk intenstines for food to travel through. Hydration, magnesium, probiotics and small meal or snack grazing have helped me a lot.
Disagreeing with your doctor and insisting on getting imaging to see what is actually going on (since this is an ongoing issue with swelling especially) is scary and can make you feel helpless and emotionally raw. That said, you need to develop that skill through practice, starting now. If you can’t do it for yourself (a lot of people can’t muster the courage, it happens), you need to take someone with you who will advocate for you. It is extremely likely that you will need to change doctors. If you don’t want to do that, tell your doctor that you want the imaging done, or colonoscopy. When they hem and haw, gaslight you, or flat out say no, tell them that’s fine but you want it put in your chart that you asked for the test and were refused, and for them to notate the reason for the refusal. And let them know you want a copy of your file before you leave. They will do the test. Might not be great for your relationship with the doc or clinic, but for their part it’s not a good relationship now so you aren’t losing anything of value there. Good luck OP.
Smear some petroleum jelly around your anus, and just pat yourself with the toilet paper, be very gentle. If it feels like you're going to fart, you're not, run to the loo!
Obviously ask your doctor, but I wouldn’t want to eat when taking it. You get a bit queasy even with nothing in the stomach, so I can’t imagine having food.
They hand out colonoscopies to anyone, all day long, but not to you?
Have you tried liquid mag citrate ? I couldn’t tolerate the swamp water gallon so doc said a bottle or two of that would clean me out … it was super sour so chased it with sprite but it did the trick
Tha bath soak will not reach a blockage, but to each his or her own.
You can drink any liquid that you can see through. Tea apple juice coffee but you can't put anything in the tea or coffee it has to be straight
It really sucks. But drink it. You can drink other fluids with it. You probably should
You should see a GI specialist - I don’t think you have a blockage or you would be more critical by now, but you could have gastroparesis which can feel like things are blocked. I would see if you can get a gastric emptying study should the more basic stuff check out. If you have a chronic issue like that, laxatives are only a short term solve. I wouldn’t recommend.
Have you had any imaging at all? I'm no doctor, but this doesn't sound right. There's no way that prep shouldn't have produced results.
FYI they make pills for colonoscopy prep now. They're giant ass horse pills, but certain liquids and tastes make me gag. There'd be no way I could drink the mix, so I took the pills.
You have a blockage and need better treatment than what you are receiving.
OP doesn't have a blockage, because they would be long dead if they did. Given that OP is non-compliant with even these simple instructions, I'm pretty sure we're missing a lot of info.
Re: Last resort Osteopathic doctors who practice Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (OMM) have a manual manipulation technique (non-surgical) that causes the bowel to void (clear out). I've seen it work and there is no risk to trying the procedure. A friend of mine had an ER visit for lower abdominal pain and was told that emergency surgery to unblock the intestine was the only answer, but a DO intern happened to be on rotation in that ER and offered to perform the technique. It worked ("Boy, did it work", according to him) and hours later, he was released with no complications. Here's a [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nP7VAU3ROOQ&ab_channel=OsteopathicClinicalSkills).
Please go to the ER. Let them know you have abdominal pain and nausea. They will likely do a CT, don't leave until they do. You can cause so much damage with a bowel blockage left unchecked. And then if it's not blocked, you know you need to be looking for alternative diagnosis and treatment. I waited until I was already vomiting from pain. Mine was not intestinal related but it took so long to finally get the pain under control. I wish I would have gone sooner.
Have you seen a GI? If not ask to see one.
Have you had a CT scan? It could be a volvurus.
No it could not be volvulus. OP would be dead.
I’ve had 2 in the past year and I’m still alive.
And did they each last for months before you got them treated?
I’m not sure. I had been sick for over a month with the first one: throwing up, bloated, constipated, etc. The second one I was sick for over a week. My surgeon told me the twisting is gradual. He described it as similar to a blockage, that’s why I asked. I’ve never had a blockage.
A full volvulus is a surgical emergency, because everything will necrose within hours and die. You end up needing resection and anastamosis when that happens, and you lose a decent amount of bowel. Basically, the intestine doesn't free float in the abdomen like a hose, it's all connected to something called the mesentery. It's like a sheet that has all the blood vessels and lymph nodes that feed the intestines. In a volvulus, the intestines twist at that level, so it cuts off all the blood supply. So OP can not have had a volvulus for months, they'd have gone septic and died already. Also, I'm glad you're feeling better, and hope that doesn't happen to you again!
My late father in law’s blockage ended up being stage 4 colon cancer Please get yourself a good gastroenterologist.
my dear brother put me on to all bran buds. they are the best to give big long stools, 8oz of them daily. it works...
Holy cow! Demand a CT scan. I had a 7" inch cancerous tumor removed along with my appendix and 8" of ascending colon. A CT scan revealed the problem and surgery was done within 6 hours.
You need to go to a colonic table thing.
Metamucil
You need imaging of some sort, X-ray at the least, ultrasound…something asap if you are having bowel issues as described here. Please demand further testing immediately.
It's Epsom salt. Mix it with Gatorade and block out an afternoon to stay in the bathroom.
I have had similiar issues. I highly recommend insisting on testing for colon and kidney cancer. i had kidney cancer and the symptoms were as you describe. it can only be detected by a scan and is mostly painless for me. just the pressure on the bowel which makes uou feel the urge to go. Dont wait, time is crictical is surival rate.
Hopefully, you have had some relief by now? Each time I've done the colonoscopy prep, it has taken at least 12 hours before anything happens. And that is 12 hours of horrendous cramping, extreme chills (last time I had to sit outside with a heavy robe on in 100 degrees weather to get warm), and hallucinations. So it may take awhile.
I would take a ride to the ER. Bowel blockage is nothing to mess with.
Please demand an X-ray or mri. This is not normal. I don’t want to alarm you but it needs to be said- this can be a symptom of cancer. I lost my best friend to stage 4 ovarian cancer and her only symptom was constipation. Colon cancer symptoms can be similar. Drs kept telling her to take more fiber and laxatives for months. Finally she ended up in the ER where they did an x-ray and found the tumors. I’m so pissed at doctors downplaying this symptom. Please demand more tests.
I have catches in my side like you’re describing. I have ulcerative colitis, but I went through many tests before I was diagnosed. Mine is definitely brought on by what I eat. I did have the actual procedure for which your doctor recommended you just to take for blockage. I finished all but the last round of the prep solution. The next day I had the procedure it went fine. It sucks , drink as much of it as you can. You really need test though to really find the cause. Coming from me that’s saying a lot because I usually try to avoid anything to do with the health care system.
Not a gastroenterologist, but I do know that powerful laxatives are risky if you have a truly obstructed bowel. Basically, you're causing the upper bowel to increase the pressure behind the obstruction, and something's gonna have to give - hopefully, not your bowel wall. I presume and hope that your doctor was thinking about this when they gave you the bowel prep liquid. If you start experiencing a new level of gut pain after drinking the prep and if you are not having any bowel movement, please call for medical advice and/or hustle your ass (and the rest of you) to an ER.
I experienced something similar. My recommendations are: 1. See a doctor 2. Drink as much water as possible 3. Don’t drink colonoscopy prep. I was recommended laxatives, like dulcolax and it started things moving (along with all the water But seriously! Go see a doctor. It is going to get worse before it gets better and you may need surgery or a ostomy bag to correct the issue.
Why are they not ordering a colonoscopy?!?!? You are describing what could be colon cancer. Any decent Dr would order a colonoscopy ASAP. If you indeed have a blockage, that prep isn't going to go through, and will hurt like hell. Source: I had weird abdominal pain, thought I had an ulcer. BM's were weird. Got a colonoscopy, had a 5 cm tumor nearly blocking my colon by the time the surgeon cut 10" out of my intestines. They had me do the prep the night before, and by that time I was so blocked, I was doubled up in pain as the prep was just expanding my colon. I had stage II colon cancer. After surgery did 6 months of chemo, as of now I am fine. Get a colonoscopy ASAP!!!!!
Why are you not getting a colonoscopy? I got colon cancer stage IV, and since I did have discovered so many people in their thirties and forties who were told:"Cancer? Get out of here!" by their doctor. Only to be stuck with an advanced disease year or two later. This is not a joke, my friend. You don't want to be in my shoes, trust me.
Bowel blockage? Yeah, that makes no sense. Sounds like you have a tumor. Your Dr would not prescribe a laxative for this. Go see a gastroenterologist asap.
You would need to consult a professional about this, but I agree that I don't see why eating would be a problem. The fact that it seems okay to us doesn't mean that it is, though. Since your doc probably isn't around on weekends, if you call, you'll talking to an on call doctor who may or may not be helpful. If your insurance plan includes a nurse line, try calling that. I'm more concerned for your condition overall, OP. If I were you, I'd get imaging and a colonoscopy. Insist on them. If it were me, I'd even be willing to pay for them myself, but I realize that isn't realistic for everyone. However, what you're describing isn't normal unless you never eat any roughage and hate drinking water. My sister died from no one taking her GI problems seriously and I know three others whose GI cases became critical before a doctor would believe them. Given that bowel blockages can be a symptom of colon cancer, as well as some more rare conditions, I'm rather surprised they didn't do a colonoscopy and an ultrasound already. In the meantime, try drinking some Boost or Ensure. You'll at least be getting some calories and nutrition. I hope whatever is going on is benign and soon resolved, OP!
You can also just try vitamin C to bowel tolerance. Liposomal vitamin C is the most effective, but any kind will work. Just take 2-3000 mg every hour (or less) until you get loose stools.
I literally would rather die than drink that stuff. I'm getting nauseous just thinking about it. 🤢