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Colonoscopy Prep - Gavilyte-N/Golightly/Nulutely?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 9/7/2009 1:31 AM (GMT 0)
I have a prescription for the Golightly but the pharmacist only had Gavilyte in stock. I've never had that. It came with a lemon flavor pack. I'm so scared! I would honestly do my colonoscopy every year like I'm supposed to if the prep didn't taste so VILE.

Any tips/tricks to down it all without tasting it SOO much?? UGH!!

Posted 9/7/2009 2:53 AM (GMT 0)
I make sure there is lot of ice- I feel like it makes it somewhat more bearable!! I have also done the Miralax/Gatorade prep which tastes much better than the others...
Posted 9/7/2009 3:51 AM (GMT 0)
Drink it through a straw, sucking it into the back of your mouth. That way it bypasses most of the taste buds.
Posted 9/7/2009 4:09 AM (GMT 0)
Yep, same suggestion Judy has; and make sure it's very cold, drink a gulp of Lemonade Gatorade in between, maybe suck on a butterscotch disk...works perfectly!
Posted 9/7/2009 7:42 AM (GMT 0)
Do NOT add the flavour pack..you won't need it. Nor, drink anything in between because you won't need it. A gallon is enough.

Definitely drink it with the straw.

The prep should be kept in the fridge..you won't need ice.

Pour your first glass...set the timer for 10 minutes. Drink it with the straw as far back as you can get it (because you won't taste anything that way) and drink it all.

Pour your next glass...set the timer for 10 minutes...drink after it goes off...
pour, set timer, drink...etc.

The reason I suggest pouring it and letting it sit for 10 minutes is that it'll take some of the intense chill out of it.


I'll be doing my 8th prep today....and I use the gallon based on preference and results.

I've used that process for 20 years.

Let us know how it goes.

q

Posted 9/7/2009 2:14 PM (GMT 0)
I have had the 2 gallon prep, the one gallon, (sorry, Go lightly and... can't remember the other one's name, it was more than 20 years ago)... my former doc used the Fleets phospha soda until all the bad news came out about that. Now, with my new doc, I'm doing Miralax, mixed to be 1/2 gallon, and Ducolax pills. I'm curious to see how it goes. The coldness of the drink and the straw on the back of the tongue have been useful in the past, and also not using your favorite drink, because after using it as a prep you may not like it anymore....
In 3 weeks I'll have my 24th colonscopy (roughly one per year, though a few years I ended up with 2 and I didn't have them the years in which I was pregnant....)
Posted 9/7/2009 4:35 PM (GMT 0)
omg...24 scopes at one a year. I don't think I could do it..lol...but if I live long enough, possibly.

I did the fleet drink for one scope....worst experience. I request the gallon prep.

I don't like to starve for days before consuming stuff I don't consume anyway. That in itself is what makes it a sick experience.
q
Posted 9/7/2009 4:50 PM (GMT 0)
Get one of the Mcdonalds biggie straws and use it. I used half-lytly last time and it was pretty easy. Used the orange flavor packet. I also kept 7-up to use directly after each dose but just swished the taste out of my mouth and spit it out (don't drink it!). Can get some barbeque chips and lick the seasoning off of them if you need, lol. Done that a few times.
Posted 9/7/2009 7:36 PM (GMT 0)
Thank you for all the suggestions, everyone. I am drinking apple juice right now with a straw, just to practice for later tonight with the Golightly... I find that I can't really take a lot of liquid in if I stick the straw toward the back of my throat, so I guess not THAT far back then?

And I know my doctor said I should finish the whole jug but I've basically stayed away from solid foods since Friday so there's not much in my system right now. Do you think it's safe to stop once what comes out is a clear yellowish liquid? (I say yellow because that's what I remember the color being for my sigmoidoscopies...)
Posted 9/7/2009 7:57 PM (GMT 0)
Well, I did that this year and the result wasn't good. My clean out was not really adequate, even though I'd been running pretty much clear since the evening before.
Posted 7/5/2012 5:42 AM (GMT 0)
I took Gavilytle with gatorade and it tasted fine. Did not need to drink it cold. I drank too quickly and would up popping after fourth glass. You have to have one glass 8 oz of prep slowly then followed with same amount of warm water slowly to let it gradually build up. After about 6th glass you should start going. The more water you drink the smoother the prep will be. The am extra dose is indeed needed as waste will build up over night so you need to have another glass or two and some water four hours before your procedure. It does not taste bad at all when mixed with gatorade. People are so freaked out by the taste but its not bad and I just want people to know that.
Posted 6/15/2013 6:26 AM (GMT 0)

I'm a 200 Lb male, 75 years with "Indeterminate Colitis" [colonic ulcer in remission just above the recutum] and just had my 3rd colonoscopy.
This was my 1st time using GaviLyte-N [plus 1 Fleet enema; no pills, etc] and compared to my 2 previous 4 liter preps, GaviLyte was a breeze to drink.
My colonoscopy was scheduled for 9:00 AM but hospital 'check-in' was at 8 and would need an hour [maximum] more to be sure to be able to catch a public service bus to get there in time.
Remembering how awful previous Preps were to swallow, I took the precautions I found here; but GalviLyte's such an improvement that tho LemonDrops, GingerAle, Straws & FreezerChilling seemed to help, 'chilling' alone would have gotten me through [but I WILL use the others next time anyway]  There was so little product odor that plastic wrap over the glass was totally unneeded..
The "Clean Out" was reported to be thorough even though I had been a rather worried about that as I went thur the process.
I started drinking the 1st 3 liters at 4:00 PM the afternoon before and it wasn't 'til after 6:00 I had any 'results' which didn't seem particularly voluminuous in view of the liquids I'd already consumed which by then amounted to about 2 cups GingerAle plus 8 cups GalviLyte.
Still as I finished the last evening's quart; I had about 6 trips to the john in the next 2 hours tho each had just moderate results and there was a definate leingthening beteewn trips toward the end which grew notably as the evening continued.
Just before beadtime it was clear: a) I'd sleep thru uninterrupted 'til morn & b) my 'evacuations' were, so faar, anything but 'clear'.   For this latter case, I'd been warned to have a Fleet enema handy to use one hour before I'd leave home to go to the hospital. I also figured that drinking the last of my 4 Liters that AM would start my system flowing again and so [with my long bus trip in mind] I set the alarm for 5:00AM so I'd finish the last of the GalviLyte by 6:00AM.
By 7:00 AM 'ToiletBowl Results' [30min apart Thank G__] were looking more Yellowish than Borwn and while looking better seemed far from 'Clear' so I used the Fleet, tho to little apparent effect. 
By 8:00AM my 'John trips' had streached out to 45min so I figured [prayed] I wouldn't need to pay a taxi and I departed to catch the bus, arriving just before 9 "with time to spare". 
Sorry for all these gory details but, as I 'worried my way' thru the process, these were details I wished I had. 
But, again, GaviLyte's a great improvement and especially with straws to bypass the tongue and Hard Lemon candies is easy to swallow with or without the included flavoring. And, by the way, I suspect the GingerAle probably increases the 'flow' so next time I'll try to drink 2 liters of it.

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