Using Fleet and sigmoidoscopy question.

The fleet enema prep is an easy one, waaaay better than a colonoscopy prep.

My instructions say take one enema 2 hours before your flex-sigmoidoscopy and a second fleet an hour before.

It's a big bottle, insert as much of the enema as you can (all isn't necessary) your supposed to hold it in for a couple minutes and then evacuate it. I don't usually last that long. Afterwards you'll have to poop urgently several times to empty the enema fluid and anything else that's inside your rectum/sigmoid colon. It takes 5 minutes or less to empty after an enema, it's a lot of liquid and uncomfortable to hold in for long, so there aren't many surprises. Allow enough time before the drive and you should be fine.

Pro-tip, the bottles are filled with salt water and if you're badly inflamed then salt on a wound = ouch. I typically unscrew the cap, empty out the salt water, and refill with tap water. If you're doing well symptom wise, then no worries the salt water is fine. A badly inflamed colon will be very unhappy with salt water, like pouring salt on an open wound...

Not sure if they offered you sedation or not. I've had numerous flex-sigmoidoscopies without sedation. Only when I was badly inflamed (20+ bms a day) was it painful. Some always have sedation as they had a bad experience.

The scope itself is fast, less than 10 minutes and a little pressure or discomfort. It's not bad. A scope is invasive and irritates your insides, so you might poop blood afterwards. They pump air into your large intestine, after the scope you'll likely want to sit on the toilet and release that gas. An empty intestine is like a sock laying on a table, completely flat with opposing sides touching (it collapses when empty), so air is necessary to see through the scope. They typically vacuum some air out with the scope but they never get it all out.

Yes, any scope will upset your system for the rest of that day and likely the following day. You'll likely poop extra times for the next morning, sometimes two days afterwards are upset and more bms. You'll settle down to your normal though.

I'd choose a flexible-sigmoidoscopy any day over a colonoscopy. Waay better.

Good luck,