I'm new to this site, and this is my first post. It was important to me that I could share my experience with my colonoscopy prep (MoviPrep) and procedure.
I want to start off by saying that I have a very long history with digestive issues. I am VERY lactose intolerant. I'm also a lifelong sufferer of GAD (Generalized Anxiety Disorder) which focuses mainly on health anxiety and anxiety regarding digestive/stomach problems (go figure!) I'm 24 years old and can't remember ever not having some sort of stomach problem.
Approximately 2 months ago, I had a flare-up of stomach gurgling, nausea, bloating, fullness, and weight loss. My gastroenterologist advised that an Endoscopy and Colonoscopy was necessary to get to the bottom of things. I'm phobic of pretty much everything that entails - a hospital, drinking liquid medicine, anesthesia, ANY MEDICINE THAT MAKES MY DIGESTIVE SYSTEM DO ANYTHING ABNORMAL. Basically a nightmare. After I got all the information on the wonderful colonoscopy prep, I did what any health anxious person would do - researched the heck out of it. While looking for information on other's experience with MoviPrep, I found a lot of stories. A lot of bad, a lot of ugly, A LOT of scary. But I finally found some good - a lot of good! - and I found those stories on here. Those detailed blog posts of a (is pleasant the right word?) experience with MoviPrep gave me the strength and calm that I needed when I started that preparation.
I thought I would share my experience as well, in hopes that it may make someone else like me feel even a tiny bit better about
the whole situation. If you're anything like me, you've laid awake every night since scheduling your colonoscopy (for me, it was 3 weeks), you've read enough about
it to do the procedure yourself, and you could practically recite the instructions and ingredients of the dreadful drink. You've had moments when you picked up the phone to cancel the procedure, telling yourself it JUST ISN'T WORTH IT and you'll live with whatever consequences that entails. Trust me, I've been there.
Fast forward to the day before the prep. My fiancé convinced me to take shots of water to prove to myself that I could, in fact, stomach 32 oz. of water within 1 hour. (*disclosure* I totally freaked out whilst drinking the water and called my doctor in tears, sputtering to him that I could never drink so much liquid so fast. He told me to take it slow and allow myself 3-4 hours to drink the mixture instead of 1). So besides having power hour with H20, I stuck to a very light diet. I wasn't given any instructions on what to eat this day, but I had read that some places recommended an "all-white" diet. I just chose to go with foods that were bland and easy on my stomach. I had also read that it was important to be as regular as possible. (I'll share an intimate detail with you - I only have bowel movements once every 1 to 2 days, so, what's normal?)
Okay, the dreaded FIRST DAY OF PREP. I wasn't too worried about
being terribly hungry, as I had been suffering with constant digestive aches for about
a month at this point and wasn't eating very much as it was. I was, however, concerned about
my blood sugar dropping and feeling uneasy from that. I'm not a big water drinker, so I had made sure to stock up on lots of other goodies - Cherry Coke, Sprite, chicken bullion cubes, mango and lemonade popsicles, and lime jello.
I started my day drinking as much water, as often as I could. My doctor had advised that I drink the MoviPrep cold and said it would last 24 hours maximum in the fridge. That morning, I mixed the two powders and water into the provided jug and refrigerated the mixture. I was due to start the first prep at 4:30 pm. I did get really hungry one time, around 2:00 pm or so. THANK GOODNESS FOR CHICKEN BUILLON! I boiled 2 of those bad boys on the stove and they were delightfully filling. I would definitely recommend stocking up on those for a change from all the cold drinks.
The hours ticked by, and alas, it was time to begin. I poured 8 oz. into a cup with a straw. I just kept mentally telling myself that all I had to get down was 8 ounces every 1 hour. I stuck the straw in the back of my throat and chugged. I chugged like I never have before. And let me tell you something...IT REALLY WASN'T THAT BAD. The mixture itself tastes like a watered-down, slightly salty, lime gatorade. That is seriously it. Don't get me wrong, it's no chocolate milkshake, but I had truly prepared myself for a vomit-inducing concoction that I imagined to be something between cayenne pepper and spoiled milk. I drank the first 8 oz. in literally 30 seconds. It was cake. Even when the liquid hit the front of my tongue, it wasn't bad enough to make me gag or have any kind of stomach-lurching reaction.
Although I had given myself permission to simply drink 8 oz. every hour, I didn't feel that was necessary. After 30 minutes, I felt like I was ready to drink another glass. I was originally afraid of bloating, cramping, and that dreaded "squishy" feeling you get when you drink too much liquid - but I wasn't experiencing any of that. All-in-all, I was able to drink all 32 oz. within 1.5 hours.
So the drink was down, hallelujah! I experienced NO uneasy side effects at all. My stomach felt fine and I was ready for Phase 2: waiting for the bomb to drop.
I felt the urge to use the restroom approximately 30-45 minutes or so after the last glass of prep. The first 1 or 2 trips was loose stool. After that, it was basically yellow water. I made a few back and forth trips, but finally caved and realized I was better off just sitting on the toilet. I highly suggest stocking up on magazines or books, and making sure your phone is fully charged. (Here's another tip - bring a towel to roll up and sit on so your bum doesn't go numb). I was in the bathroom for a little over an hour straight. I made sure to bring my water bottle in with me and sip on another 24 oz. of water so I wouldn't get dehydrated. Basically everything that comes out of you is just liquid. It's not an uncomfortable or uneasy feeling - not like when you get diarrhea when you're ill. I'm unnaturally overly prepared for everything, so I also bought baby wipes and diaper cream as a just-in-case. I'm VERY thankful that I did! I think it helped to just sit on the toilet instead of wiping after every movement, but my backside did get sore, nonetheless. The diaper cream really did help.
When I felt like I was finally (mostly) done, I felt like a new woman. For me, it was an (oddly) satisfying feeling. For the first time in months, I felt no rumbling or movement in my stomach! I was energized, alert
, and feeling great (My doc later told me that he has a lot of colonoscopy patients tell him similar things). I had 2 big glasses of Cherry Coke (I attribute the Coke to keeping my sugar levels normal) and even cleaned out my freezer with my new-found energy. I made sure to sit on the toilet for a while before I went to bed, but I did wake up twice in the middle of the night to go.
The next morning I was feeling a little lethargic, but still, my digestive system felt great. I started my next dose without a hitch. It is a little harder to get down the second dose - but only because it kind of sucks to drink so much of the same thing. I tried a few things to mix it up, like adding some natural lime juice, or adding some crystal light lemonade squirts - but in my honest opinion, it's best plain by itself. It's NOT that strong of a flavor if you put the straw in the back of your throat and just get it down.
Once I got to the hospital, I was ready to go, albeit nervous about
the anesthesia. I had my tonsils removed as a child, as well as an endoscopy at a young age, and was very sick when coming to after the procedures. The nurse anesthetist explained that this center used propofol, which has built-in anti-nausea qualities. He assured me that the propofol would put me to sleep quickly and that I'd come to just as fast. My doctor was running a little behind, and I used the restroom right up until the procedure started. Once they wheeled me into the procedure room, my heart monitor was going about
100 miles an hour. The anesthetist gave me a different medication first (I don’t remember the name, but the discharge papers said it was some sort of pain killer) maybe to calm me down first? I’m not sure. He warmed me that next, my hand would burn a bit and that was the last thing I remember!
I woke up in the recovery room with my fiancé and Mom by my side. The best way I can describe it is that I felt absolutely drunk. I vaguely remember my doctor coming in to talk to my family and me audibly passing gas in front of everyone and then laughing hysterically about
it. Whoops.
We stopped for my favorite food on the way home - Chick fil A - but I could only eat about
half. That night, I did experience a lot of discomfort in my stomach. I had cramps that would come on strongly and then sort of fade away. My fiancé is a nurse, and humored me by examining my stomach and assuring me that no, I did not have any punctures in the lining of my stomach (worst-case scenario). If anyone is also getting an endoscopy and is anxious like me, remember that cramping is normal. In fact, I was uncomfortable all night and into the next day. However, I was never doubled over in pain and my stomach was never distended. As my fiancé put it so eloquently, “you’ve had tubes of plastic and stuff go through all your insides so yeah, they’re a little irritated right now, you’re not going to feel perfect.” Well, he was right.
All in all, it was a breeze. I stressed about
absolutely nothing. The MoviPrep was about
as fantastic as you could get (compared to the online reviews I read about
other preps) and it was actually very cleansing. I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t mind doing it every 6 months or so just to clean out my system! The procedure itself was also a breeze, I don’t remember a thing. They did remove 1 polyp, but I never felt any lower stomach pain or experience any bleeding or anything of that sort.
I know this is a long post, but I truly hope this will help put someone’s mind at east who is potentially freaking about
the prep or the procedure. I was absolutely terrified about
this whole experience and it ended up being so easy – I felt so silly afterwards but so much at ease that at least I knew I was healthy and there wasn’t anything seriously wrong with me.
Good luck to anyone who is going through the same thing!
Post Edited (singolia) : 4/12/2015 8:49:44 PM (GMT-6)