Sigmoidoscopy Friday - enemas as prep?

Hi all. I've been flaring up for past couple of weeks and Rowasa doesn't seem to be doing the trick this time so my GI wants to do a sigmoidoscopy this Friday. He's not having me prep, just do a liquid diet. He said they would give me enemas at the hospital to clean me out...I am scared...lol. I've only done retention enemas.

I asked him about Cortifoam and he said I could try that or the steroid enemas if my disease isn't up past a certain point. But if it's higher up he mentioned putting me on pred, which I've never been on before. From what i read here, it sounds like everyone who goes on pred can never get off of it without their symptoms coming back...

I don't really feel that awful right now. I felt pretty bad this weekend, lots of cramping and feeling like I had to go to the bathroom all the time, but feel a bit better today. I'm waking up during the night a lot too. I saw a tiny bit of blood Friday night but none since then. about 10-15 bathroom trips a day, but not much comes out. I've been on Rowasa nightly for past two or three weeks and Canasa in the morning (which I feel does nothing for me really).

Thanks for any advice. :)

Post Edited (Sara14) : 8/28/2012 7:03:02 PM (GMT-6)

Regular enemas are, I think, salt water. There bottle is going to be a bit bigger than you are used to but don't freak out. If you've done other enemas, you can do these. You squeeze the liquid in and try and retain it for five minutes. I have to say, I've only lasted about 30 seconds before!! You feel like you are having an immediate "to go" cramp (if you've ever had trouble retaining your normal enema, that's kind of what it feels like).

My doc has me drink a 10 oz bottle of Magnesium Citrate and take 2 saline enemas in the morning before my scope... Compared the the preps I used to do this is a piece of cake! Honestly I don't hold the enemy in longer than a few seconds (I can't!) but it always seems to clean me out good enough for the scope. Docs are starting to realize that it really doesn't take as much as they used to think to clean the colon out enough for a scope.

The magnesium citrate just tastes like sprite, saltier though. I chug it in one go.

Wait, you're supposed to try and retain it for five minutes??? Oh my, I'm with ActiveUCer, I've only lasted about 30 seconds, but my gastro has never complained. And they're really not bad at all... especially when compared with full scope prep.

I use them close to the bathroom, but if you have room to lie down than go for it :) I can barely hold them for 30 seconds too. Thank goodness my sig days are over! (knock on wood!)

Thanks, Red. I'm doing them at the hospital right before the scope.

Well, the last time I scoped I had to do them in the bathroom. I tried them lying down at first. I didn't want to tell you horror stories because they really aren't that bad, but I had tried two at home and barely got any fluid in. I just wasn't doing it right. I told them before the sig (note that I also did mag citrate so I was hoping that was enough), and they told me I had to do the enemas until the liquid came out clean.

So at first I tried the enemas lying down on the floor of the bathroom in the endoscopy suite (they had individual bathrooms). My rectum was so swollen that I couldn't get them in. The nurse had to come in and help me. She had me squat over the toilet and inserted/squeezed it for me. Much less painful than when I tried to do it. The ONLY reason I held it for 30 seconds was because she kept insisting on talking to me before she walked out!

I don't want to scare you but my fleet enemas before the sigmoidoscopy were like pouring salt and vinegar over an open wound. That was absolute torture!!!
I was bleeding ALOT though where as i can see you aren't. Maybe it's because i had lots of open ulcers there that it hurt this bad.

     I have to agree with ConquerUC.  A few months before I contacted my colorectal surgeon (I finally decided on surgery when all else failed), my GI doctor wanted to do a sig on me.  Well, I suffered terribly from ulcerative proctitis and was in a horrible flare.  I attempted to do the Fleets...OMG ...it felt like someone stuck a blow torch up my butt.  My GI doctor had to put me out completely to do the sig, at the local surgical center.  He usually did these in his office without any kind of anesthesia.  When I came to, he told me he could not complete the sig as I was soooo diseased in the rectum.  The following week I sought out a good colorectal surgeon and had surgery in June of 2010 and never looked back.

I think that if he said that it doesn't have to be a clear liquid diet, than a smoothie should be fine as long as it doesn't have fruit chunks in them.

I've never had to do any special diet for my sigs, just the enemas about 1 or 2 hours before the scope. I've had so many of them over the years and I can say that probably only 1 or 2 of them were actually very painful (I was never knocked out). The last one I had when flaring, the doc used a lidocaine gel to numb the rectum, which helped tremendously. Since I am past the 10 year mark, I go in for a full colonoscopy every 2 years and my need for sigs are almost nil now.

Yeah, I had the "blow torch" experience as well. Both going in and going out. Liquid fire. But I also had open sores/ bleeding.

I am now doing what is hopefully my last prep! Colectomy tomorrow morning - reporting at 5:15 am. On my way to jpouch.

Oh, I also opted to be knocked out for my last sig. I knew I was feeling worse than my previous sig and I was so glad I was knocked out after that awful enema experience.

Thanks for the well wishes!

     BTW ActiveUCer....my surgeon did not require me to do a prep before doing the total colectomy with end ileo.  Maybe because I was not having a j-pouch?  I have no idea, but was soooo delighted to hear no prep...I had to ask him a second time to believe me ears!!!

     My surgeon told me to just drink clear liquids 24 hrs before the operation.  Just for good measure, I did the clear liquid thing for 48 hrs.  No problems!