Posted 8/13/2010 2:10 PM (GMT 0)
Oh yes, the miralax/dulcolax prep. I just used that for the first time a week ago and the dulcolax just tore me up inside. I've had two colonoscopies before this and both times I used Fleet's, as did my husband. That has got to be the easiest prep ever and from what I've read, also cleans you out better than anything else. Unfortunately, it was when I scheduled the test this time that I found out they stopped using the Fleets because of a small number of people who had kidney problems from it. Granted, these were mostly first-time users of Fleets, and - as stated by the FDA - either already had a kidney problem or didn't follow directions and drink enough water. Still they felt it necessary to pull it off shelves, leaving the majority of us who had no problems and prefer it with nothing to use. My doctor is using what many others are using now, this 'new' Miralax/Dulcolax prep, and I hesitated taking the pills because I've taken laxative pills twice in my life, and both times they didn't agree with me. A friend of ours had just had his test the week before, and his prep called only for miralax, no dulcolax, and he said he was fine for the test, but because I couldn't find anyone else who only used miralax, I was afraid his didn't do a good enough job of cleaning out the colon and would have an affect on the procedure. So. I took the dulcolax as prescribed, took the first two pills at 10:00 am and the second two at 3:30 with miralax in-between, and I was literally up all night in the bathroom. Which means I was 'going' from 2:00 in the afternoon until 6:30 the next morning - 16 hours. I know from the way I looked and felt that I should have been in the hospital with an IV in me but I couldn't have left the house. I cannot believe I'm the only one who was affected like this, I just cannot believe that other people are finished in three hours and are fine. And not only that, but I have a small area of diverticulosis which I know is common, and I've never been bothered by it, but after the test my doctor said part of it was inflamed and put me on cipro. I have NEVER had any problems with it and she knows it, but I told her I felt it during the night and knew something was wrong. She told me she wasn't using this prep anymore, she doesn't like it, she said she was going to start using the Golytely. I'll tell ya right now, that ain't gonna happen. My husband and I have been researching all the information on Fleets, because we've both used it with no problems - it's one glass, lots of water, finished in 3 hours. What we have found is, the problem is rare and usually affects people with no prior history of using Fleet's - this is posted right in the FDA recall, along with a notation they added, saying that most were users who either had kidney problems already or were not properly hydrated (didn't drink the amount of water they were told to). We also found that it was the double dose that actually caused the problem, and that one bottle would not do this. In other words, using the two bottles called for in the prep was considered an overdose, but one bottle is considered safe. We have also found that using only one bottle is sufficient to clean you out for the test, that two bottles are not necessary. And as an afterthought, obviously miralax by itself is also enough to sufficiently clean you out for the test, as confirmed by our friend, as his prep was given by a rectal surgeon who works out of a high-ranking hospital in my state. So this is a rectal surgeon who uses only Miralax for his pateints, so I will assume it works just fine by itself and the dulcolax is overkill. Also, we found that the recall included the store brands such as Walgreen's, CVS, Meijer's, etc, but they've put theirs back out on the shelves with the new required warning. And in comparing the store brands to Fleet's, they're identical. So, come five years from now when it's time for me to do another test, if Fleet's is back by prescription like they're trying to do, I will ask for that; if it's not, I will be using one bottle of the store brand. But anything that ends in 'lytely' will not be in my house. And the happy ending here is, other than an inflamation that my 'wonderful' prep caused me, I am good to go, no polyps, and very healthy.