HalfLytely vs Suprep

Well, its been two years. *sigh* Unfortunately, it is THAT time again. *mumble* *grumble*

First scope years ago was w/NuLytely ... I swore I would KILL before I would swallow even one sip of that sewer water again.

For several years I did very well using Magnesium Citrate or PhosphoSoda. Then some sadist somewhere decided that they weren't "safe" enough. So two years ago I begrudgingly used (I think) HalfLytely and didn't do too bad tolerating it. I stretched it out taking twice as long each time to get it down.

HalfLytely requires you to down about 2000 millileters. (I wish they would use American measurements instead of Continental measurements - *sigh*). Suprep only requires something like 30 millileters or 300 millieters, I forget which. Either way one heck of a whole lot less than the HalfLytely. Even "I" understand the difference between 2000, 300 and 30!!!!

So - has anyone used the Suprep as well as the bisacodyl delayed-release tablets?

Has anyone used the HalfLytley and bisacodyl delayed-release tablets for another prep?

Which did you prefer? Well, that is poorly worded. Which prep was worse?

It isn't the cleaning out that does me in so badly as it is the volume and the cold temperature. I do better drinking even the HalfLytely at room temperature. Large volumes of cold chills me to the bone for hours afterwards AND makes me NAUSEOUS!!! Large volumes of liquid make me NAUSEOUS.

Suprep uses sodium sulfate, potassium sulfate and magnesium sulfate.

HalfLytely uses sodium chloride, sodium bicarbonate and postassium chloride.

Chloride makes me think of chlorine altho you usually think of bicarbonate as soothing an upset tummy or heartburn.

Which is the lesser of two evils in YOUR opinion??

 

I'm caught off guard again! We've been told no change in our health benefits - except despite that claim our copays have gone up, some meds are now off limits - and HalfLytely AND Suprep are both a $30 copay!!! Two years ago HalfLytely cost me ... next to nothing. And plain jane ole Magnesium Citrate is what?? Less than $10 for TWO bottles? Less than or right around $5 actually if I remember correctly.

Life "ain't" fair, Roni. Life "ain't" fair. Every gastro and prep medical developer should have to do a prep w/these products once a month until they come up w/something decent, don't you think?

Friday, the 11th is the "big day". I'll be snarkier than ole billy heck by then! Grrrrrrr.

I did ok with drinking the Halflytly, but the Biscodyl tablet caused horrible cramping that lasted for several hours. I think you have to trust what you are comfortable with and talk to your doc. I don't have problems with a gag reflex like some of the other folks here, so I'd rather just buck it up and drink the miserable stuff than ever take one of those pills. When is you test? Good luck with it. I hope you get good results.

Why can't they knock me out and then take the shop vac to me ? Hey , its a wet dry vacuum . My vote is for the mag cit . Works just as well as all the other stuff less hassle and less drinking . Sorry you have to do this C2 .

Well, w/the Suprep there's just 16 ozs of the Sewer Water to drink and then 4 - 8 oz glasses of water w/in the next hour the night before (for afternoon scope) and then another 16 ozs of Sewer Water to drink plus another 4 - 8 oz glasses of water w/in the next hour the next morning - being sure to finish 3 hours before scheduled scope time. I would stretch them out by starting an hour earlier than recommended times and take twice as long for each prep session.

W/the HalfLytely its drinking 32 oz of Sewer Water the evening before (for afternoon scope) and then another 32 oz of Sewer Water the morning before the scope. Clear liquids until 9 AM then NPO until after the scope.

That's 16 oz of Sewer Water vs 32 oz of Sewer Water twice. I can drink the extra 32 oz of water easier than 32 ozs of Sewer Water, thank you.

Of course, w/Magnesium Citrate it is only 10 oz of Mag Cit, if not diluted, plus lots of water evening and morning ..... the KEY w/Mag Cit is that you be sure to drink enough water after each dose. I think it is that "we" don't drink enough plain water after the Mag Cit or PhosphoSoda that causes the problems w/using them. Just my personal opinion, of course.

I'm thinking I'm going to give the Suprep a try ..... maybe.

This dang scope prep bit is going to consume me between now and the scope!!!! *grrrrrrrr* *mumble* *grumble*

(I forgot to mention, I drank refrigerated bottled water non stop while doing this)....I think that helped immensely. The on-call doc said I could drink as much water as I wanted. :)

Keah, Sniper, Gumby, Lambs - thank you. I apologize if I'm not particularly gracious right now. I'm in HATE mode!!! Grrrrrr. Snarl. Mumble, Grumble. You don't want a hug from me right now because I just might get carried away and try to strangle you just because.

Aww. Well I don't know anyone here, I'm a first timer. But, I can say that I will definitely have you in my prayers, Chrohnie. I'm sorry you have such a rough time with liquids; that is certainly going to make it a lot more difficult on you than it would someone else (I tend to never deny something when it's staring me in the face). Sooo...I won't bother attempting to road-apple you. Suffice it to say that regardless of the prep you choose/chose, I hope in all sincerity that it will go smoothly for you, (pardon the pun). It's 8:40pm and thus far I still haven't had any more 'movements'...which is odd isn't it? I was told by "previous preppers" I would be on the toilet all evening. I think I may just try to get some sleep. I have round 2 of the SuPrep at 5am. The taste is definitely grosser than gross, but the straw really did help. And, I hate anything that has a 'fake berry' taste, so chances are it wouldn't have been that bad had it been lemon-lime or some such.

I would say 'keep your chin up', or 'you'll get through it' or some other such wordage of peace, understanding, hope and encouragement, but if you're anything like me that would just add to the "HATE mode". (I don't do well with words of encouragement especially when those who are issuing them know they're full of poopy (pardon the pun again).

Be well!!

I had a question and I forgot to ask it.

I'm supposed to drink 8 ounces of water every hour during prep period, which they said was from 5pm tonight, until whenever my last movement is from the dose tomorrow morning...which I imagine will be around 8am.

However, if I'm reading that correctly, it would seem to me that I'm expected to set my alarm clock for every single hour, drink 8 ounces of water, which will result in waking up again 20 minutes later to pee...taking at least another 20 minutes to fall asleep again, and then 20 minutes later repeat the whole process....over...and over...and over.

Please tell me I'm reading too much into it and I can sleep through the night??

Well it's 4:50am and I'm relaxing for my last 10 minutes before I have to start Round 2.

As far as the Suprep goes, I did feel it was mentionable that last night around midnight I was woken up to my heart having a party in my throat. In other words...had some pretty heavy PVCs happening. I do have a history of those, especially when anxiety is running amoc in my body, or under times of extreme stress. So...I'm not sure if it had something to do with the cleanse itself or if it was because of an underlying 'freak out' session, courtesy of my emotional side.

Either way if you have a history of PVCs...be prepared for midnight parties in your throat.

[Update] I have no idea why, but the second dose is so much more difficult than the first one was. :( First dose was a breeze, and I found it to be quite easy.

Second dose....misery. I can barely get a swallow down.

Is it just me or does the phrase "I want my mom" enter other people's heads during these times?

I'm also scared the doctor is going to mess up and do more harm than good.

My colonoscopy is this afternoon.

[Update] I'm done with the second prep, and still running to the br. What concerns me is that my information sheet from my doctor says I'm supposed to be having 'clear poopage'...but it's not clear, it's light yellow. I'm sorry if I seem 'newbie', but it's because I AM a newbie (and a scared one at that).

...sorry for being graphic, but there are no 'bits' at all in my poopage, it's just liquid, but it's not clear, it's yellow. I don't understand why it's not clear by now. *cries a little* I swear if I get there and they say I'm not cleaned out I'm going to chuck a fit. I've done everything exactly as noted, drank everything exactly as prescribed, and I stopped eating solid foods Friday morning. So...since Friday around 10am, through Saturday, and through Sunday all I've had is white grape juice, lemon ice pops, and chicken broth.

So excuse me for flipping out...but WHY is my poop not clear!?!

Post Edited (SomewhatAwake) : 11/7/2011 5:39:58 AM (GMT-7)

Thanks for the support Chrohnie...it is appreciated. I guess I'm just fed up with all this testing, and every single one thus far is coming back A-Okay. Most people would find that good news, I don't. I just want it to be blaringly obvious so they can fix me. :(

And yes, I'll update tonight.

I'm back home already. The procedure was at 3pm and lasted 30 minutes.

No polyps, no ulcers (ahem), and nothing was removed or biopsied.

I do *not* have Crohn's. The blood tests and previous exams had them 'for sure', but it was a definitive NO after the colonoscopy, and once again they don't know what's wrong with me (yet).

In other words..I'm FINE 'inside', which is a far cry from what my doctors said they'd probably find in there. They found NOTHING except 1 very small, and very shallow, diverticulosis thingy.

I do have diverticulosis but he said the pocket was shallow, and nothing to be worried about. I already knew I would have that, because loads of family members have diveriticulitis. He said if take a fiber supplement every day, and watched my diet and fatty food intake, there's a high possibility it will never turn into diverticulitis, and it's also possible I can go through my life not having any problems with it. He said it's when people don't take care of their diverticulosis that it turns to diverticulitis. :(

(and what was the first thing I did after my colonoscopy? I ate a cheeseburger from McDonalds....STUPID yes, but I was starving, and it won't happen again) I also bought a bunch of greek yogurt, asparagus, carrots, and broccoli from the grocery store.

I don't even know what a high fiber diet includes...but I'll google it after the update. He wants me on a fiber supplement like Metamucil...yuck.

As far as my extreme left abdomen pain...

The nurse suggested I get a bit more aggressive with my ob/gyn in regard to endometriosis extending to my large bowel...which isn't viewable in a colonoscopy. She said simply because nothing was detected on the inside, doesn't mean you don't have something rampaging on the outside...unseen to the scope. I have severe PCOS, and extensive endometrial hyperplasia (currently being treated by nothing more than birth control pills until January when I get more ultrasounds).

I have a mammogram on the 10th as well as a breast ultrasound due to what my ob/gyn is safely calling fibrocystic change as not to alarm me yet.

.....still no news as to why my white blood cell count is off the charts, or why all my lymph nodes are ridiculously large. There's no infection in my intestines (which is why she said the white count was probably high). I have no infections anywhere (bacterial anyway). Candida overgrowth was negative as well.

She asked if I'd had a laparoscopy before and I said no...she was surprised. She said I needed to talk to my ob/gyn and be more aggressive in my conversation o.O

So that's it....I don't have Crohn's. =/ So I guess I won't be back on this board because I don't want to intrude on something that doesn't involve me like they thought it would. Which is good, and bad at the same time because I really like CrohnieToo :'( That..and I still don't know what the HECK is wrong with my innards *squawk*.

Thank you for all your support. :'')

Ach! This Friday, 11 Nov. A veteran colonoscopy prep victim having yet another colonoscopy, this time on Veteran's Day. *sigh* My gastro found my first polyp on 07 Dec 2001. Not that I"m superstitious or anything ....

Have you ever had a barium small bowel follow thru to check out the small intestine? Some of these gastros are so hung up on Crohn's USUALLY showing up first at the terminal ileum if they can't find it by colonoscopy you don't have Crohn's. But my Crohn's started in the mid-ileum and didn't "hit" the TI close enough to be seen by the colonoscope until 23 years AFTER my Crohn's first struck.

IF I were you I would insist on a pill camera endoscopy BEFORE I would agree to a laparscopic exploratory. Your PCOS and/or endometrial hyperplasia could well be causing your symptoms ... but there's some reason they suspected Crohn's as the cause of your pain, etc. first. I'd push and push hard for the PCE before I'd push my ob/gyn for the time being.

As far as the fibrocystic change in the breast(s) .... both my mom and older sister had to have biopsies for what turned out to be thankfully benign. All three of us are pretty well endowed but mom and sister moreso than me. And thankfully I've escaped the need for cyst biopspy. knock, Knock, KNOCK.

Don't be so quick to write us off here in the forum just yet. Stick w/us a while yet, get that PCE or at least a SBFT if you haven't had one yet tho the PCE would be the better more definitive choice. Keep us informed of how you are doing. (((hugs))) We're hoping you find definitive answers to what the cause of your problems is and that it is hopefully something more easily and successfully treated than Crohn's but just in case and until .... Keah, actually is in a rather similar boat to you and she still hangs w/us and we love her for it.