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Any good barium flavors?? Tips?

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 10/22/2010 4:58 PM (GMT 0)
I'm going in for a small bowel follow through early next week and I HATE barium.  The taste, the texture, the amount we have to drink for the tests...

Are there any flavors that make it more bearable?  Or any tips to making it easier to drink?  

I'm really, really dreading this test and feeling like a baby about it.  Any advice would be much appreciated!

Happy Friday everyone!!  turn

Posted 10/22/2010 5:06 PM (GMT 0)
only tips i can give is chug it down, and DONT plug your nose it will only heighten the gag reflex. Its the only way i have managed to get barium down.
Posted 10/22/2010 5:17 PM (GMT 0)
No real tips either, just get through it as fast as you can. For me, the swallowing is the easy part, it's the rock moving through my gut after that is worse!
Posted 10/22/2010 5:43 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the good chuckle! Had a SBFT last Friday. The tech told me they had a new barium product. It smelled yummy, strawberry! But it tasted like the same old crap! I agree with all above - chug it down as fast as possible.
Posted 10/22/2010 5:46 PM (GMT 0)
Good Luck!
There is no easy way of taking it, You can not flavor it in anyway. I got away with drinking just 1 and a half of the cups (the cups are the disposable ones you usually find with water bottle machines).
I gagged a few times when drinking it, but you eventually get used to the taste after the 1st cup!
The one thing I did find hard though was the going to the toilet afterwards, as the barium is like cement in the toilet, make sure you attend a good flushing loo afterwards for the first couple of days!!!
Posted 10/22/2010 8:04 PM (GMT 0)
its been a while for me, but i was doing them regularly for a while.  I calculated how long i would be waiting (i think they give you an hour) and would try to pace it for that time frame.  I would chug a dixie cup full every 10 minutes.  it gives your stomach/gag reflex time to relax in between.
Posted 10/22/2010 8:21 PM (GMT 0)
I've had it twice and both times I remember it tasting horrible, but you can close yr eyes and gulp it down. I think they should let you have a cup of water after that. It takes the aftertaste away. Not a lot though. :-) Take a good book with you. :-)
Posted 10/22/2010 8:27 PM (GMT 0)
rinsing your mouth out with water after each chug helps as it gets it off the taste buds and reduces the gag reflex :)
Posted 10/23/2010 3:04 AM (GMT 0)
I always tried to chug it as fast as I could, but always was nausiated and gaging by the end. The cement stools seemed to last forever! I will try the rinsing the mouth thing next time.
Posted 10/23/2010 3:30 AM (GMT 0)
my way of downing it is pinch my nose shut and chug it with a straw
Posted 10/23/2010 3:09 PM (GMT 0)
I have never had a flavor added to a SBFT, never heard you could. I chug it as fast as I can. After each chug I wipe my mouth with a wet washcloth to wipe off the residue. I tried it with a straw like Stephanie did, and that helps some too. But the wet washcloth really helps get the residual off so you aren't tasting that crap.
Posted 10/23/2010 7:03 PM (GMT 0)
I just drank it fast, through a straw. I don't remember it tasting bad, but it wasn't good either; was kinda like a foamy milk shake.
Posted 10/23/2010 8:53 PM (GMT 0)
Use a straw and get the straw nearer your back teeth rather than right in the middle of your tongue and just chug it.  It's a snap!  Good luck. 
Posted 10/28/2010 5:30 PM (GMT 0)

Just wanted to say a BIG THANK YOU to everyone for the tips!!  I had my SBFT today and it went really smoothly! 

The nurse didn't put out a straw, so I asked for one, pushed the straw as far back as possible in my mouth, closed my eyes and chugged!!  Before I knew it, the first cup was gone!  I rinsed out with some water, took a breath, and started on cup #2! 

It didn't taste great (and I don't know where I got the flavor idea from - but I swear in some GI test you get a choice of flavored contrast) but it was better than I remembered, and anytime it got rough I seriously thought of all of you here at the forum and thought - if they can go through this (and much, much worse!) I can do it! 

I'm so glad I found this site....it is so wonderful to have such great support and get such great info from fellow Crohnie's!

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy day!!

Posted 10/28/2010 5:51 PM (GMT 0)
Glad it went well for you.

I really tried to talk my GI out of this test simply because of the goo. It's horrible. I never can drink it all and usually end up puking.
Posted 10/28/2010 5:57 PM (GMT 0)

Mazelle - I am right there with you!!  I really hate this test!   And now I have to deal with the fun of getting the goo out tongue

I kept pushing back on getting this test done.  I've been feeling great and haven't had any symptoms, but my ERP and CSR have been really elevated for an extended period and I've been having low-grade fevers on and off for months....so I finally agreed to go in just to make sure there wasn't anything big building up. 

Fingers crossed nothing shows up on the x-rays, though then there is no explanation for the ERP and CSR elevation and fevers....my last colonoscopy looked great so I just don't know what's going on.

Posted 10/28/2010 6:03 PM (GMT 0)
Every time I've had to drink that stuff has been in the A.M. Why can't they make it taste like coffee?
Posted 10/28/2010 9:15 PM (GMT 0)
Last time I had to drink the stuff it had some sort of lemon flavor,,kinda like dish soap ,, but it was better than no flavor . Yes drink it as fast as you can , why prolong the bad times ?
Posted 10/29/2010 4:53 AM (GMT 0)
I like mine plain, straight up ;)
Posted 11/3/2010 5:22 AM (GMT 0)
Sorry I am too late, but I went to one clinic that had blueberry flavor in it, no idea how they did it but it helped. Although anything blueberry has never been the same since.

I know my hospital allows a packet of kool-aid to be added, one of the GI's who also works at the childrens hospital started allowing it. The techs told me next time I have to have one I just need to bring the packet of kool-aid with me. Lucky for me I have not had another recently so I can't speak to how it tastes. It might be worth asking about before you next one.

I do take mints or gum with me to get the flavor out of my mouth between gulps.
Posted 11/3/2010 12:02 PM (GMT 0)
The only way I found it a little more tolerable is to get loaded up on Zofran. It doesn't help the taste but it sure helps me make it thru without losing it. Glad it went smooth for you.
Posted 11/3/2010 12:53 PM (GMT 0)
Im late to but what they done for me last time was i would drink some and then suck on a dum dum sucker right away and then took more and had some more sucker and that helped me alot.
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