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I am doing a colonoscopy prep. Miralx and Dulcolax pills. Low residue diet five days prior..

So far I have only taken the pills and am really nauseous. This is my fourth time doing this and I have never been this nauseous.

Does anybody have any suggestions to help with the nausea?

Thanks so much!!

Hey zebra, I was waiting for Tush to chime in but myself, having had several ordeals like this in the last decade, Dulcolax never made me sick before, either.

Where did you buy the pills from? Check the expiration date, perhaps? I have no other idea why this is happening, other than perhaps you are dehydrated already. Keep drinking liquids and did you know, gelatin drinks are OK? (Not red colors). I read somewhere that people who prepped with gelatin based drinks had better preps? And maybe that would calm the system down, as it has protein the gut can absorb. No name suggestions for what to get, but I did read that little bit the last time.

Thanks.

I did not know that about gelatin drinks. I have to Google to see what they are.

The nausea subsided for a bit and is kicking back in since I drank the gatorade/miralax.

I have another bottle to get down at 6:00.

Wow I got ONE MINUTE to give you this tip: Use a STRAW, the bigger diameter straw, the better!! :) Also if you have any hard lemon candy drops to suck on, they are great for after the Big Swig. Also keep WALKING and LOOKING far away if you think you're going to lose your Miralax! Eyes on the Prize!!! (I had to pace up and down a Holiday Inn hallway at the Cleveland Clinic during the wee hours of the morning before my big appointment, because I wasn't going to have wasted a 5 hour drive to get there...and looking out the window at the city below really seemed to help me quell the stomach!)

Thank you. I forgot about using a straw.

I started to feel better and got it down no problem.

I have to really hydrate. It took seven or eight sticks to get my IV in last time. The anesthesia people had to put it in and they were having a hard time. Ugh.

Well, how did it go, zebra?

Thank you for asking!!

The rest of the prep went well.

The procedure took an hour longer than usual. I had a polyp that was difficult to get. They had to call in another physician. They can't be sure they got it all so they marked it and I have to go back in one year.

I am feeling like crap. I had a ton of pain after which has eased up but have hardly eaten anything and still have to run to the bathroom. I also have a low grade fever and pounding headache.

I called the number on the paperwork. They are open but not available. WTF!?!?!?!?!

I left a message.

The doctor called me back. He thinks I aspirated stomach contents due to the difficulty of the procedure. It should resolve on its own. If it doesn't I should be okay, whatever that means.

Wow Zebra, that sounds about like what I went through in 2019 for a pre-cancerous polyp I had removed surgically (by the best Colorectal Surgeon I could find up at Cleveland Clinic, which is why we drove 5 hours once he agreed to tackle this job. Otherwise I was looking at an open abdominal incision!) That polyp was all the way down by the appendix, so it was also a tough job for them and that 2 hours on the operating table was no cat nap for yours truly! I felt things, as they only had me sedated, not completely out. I know I hollered out loud a couple times! Yet I never opened my eyes. I just wanted that damn thing gone.

I wonder what the doctor meant by what went on during your procedure; do you recall anything? I think our bodies might be reacting to pain even if our minds don't record much. Scary sounding....

It's not unusual to feel rough after such a procedure, as Tushnurse advised me so reassuringly at the time. (I woke up at 3 AM after eating a nice dinner I was permitted to have, feeling like I had been kicked in the gut. It was because my gut was "guarding" the site where they operated internally, and when solid food hit it, yikes. More feeling lightheaded, scared and needing to use a cold washcloth on my forehead to keep things down. I called the hospital from my hotel room next morning and was told to take Tylenol! It was ok after that.

Anyway, you can PM me if you want. Hope Tushnurse happens by...

Edited to add your headache very well could be the anesthesia!

[This message edited by Superesse at 1:09 AM, Wednesday, August 14th]

Sorry guys been off the platform for a bit.
If you have fever ongoing do not hesitate to call back aspiration pneumonia can get nasty quickly. The pain is usually due to air in the small intestine due to length of procedure. Normally the bowel is flat or only expanded when matter moves through. To do a scope we blow that sucker up like a balloon, and if you have a long procedure air gets into the small bowel. Walking drinking warm fluids helps get it out and moving.
My H had a nasty polyp at 44, if he had waited to 50 to have his initial scope he would have 100% been cancer. So he gets to go every 3 years. Feel free to pm me with other questions.

Zebra, I'm thinking of you!

Thank you Rush and Superesse!!

My fever went up and my headache was absolutely horrible. Yesterday was better. I was exhausted and my lower abdomen felt like it was used as a punching bag. The headache came back, keeping me awake last night.

I'm glad I had it done but am really ready to feel better!! I get to do it all over again next year because they aren't sure they got the whole thing and my other polyp was precancerous.

Tush, thank God your H didn't wait until fifty!!! We're lucky to have a test available to catch these things before they cause trouble.

Superesse, I can't imagine doing the prep in a hotel but it beats having to do a long drive. Ugh, you remember feeling things? Thankfully, I don't remember anything. The nurse said I was asleep and comfortable the whole time. Are you followed more closely since then?

I'm hoping I can knock this headache out and have a better day today.

Have you called and reported that you still are feverish? As Tush said, that would be worrisome.

I also remember feeling like somebody had poured concrete in my gut, after the first colonoscopy that found the problem! That feeling lasted over a week while things healed up. The local doc had taken 30 scrapings of my colon wall, to check for Irritable Bowel! I wasn't told in advance he was going to do that, either. I'd told them how my mother had suffered from it, and they told me IBD is a risk factor for colon cancer, and I'd been having some symptoms that he thought suggested IBD. But no, it was due to one large, evil polyp, which was just about to turn into something they'd have had to chop out with half my colon. Local doc refused to touch it, his face told me he thought it was the Big C. I researched online to find the best Colorectal surgeon who could handle it. Cleveland Clinic saved me, but they are a high volume institution, so they don't use an anesthesiologist for each patient, they just sedate them without respiratory assistance. That is why I felt things. When I went back in 6 months for a follow up, it didn't hurt like that. Then it was a 3 year schedule. I went back there again in '22 and was put back to a 5 year schedule but I almost wish they'd have kept it to 3.

Because, we know a guy who died before age 60 of colon cancer after a 2 year battle, after a history of polyps and a colonoscopy only 22 months prior! He got into the oncology program at Johns Hopkins, and everything. Last month, his nephew died of it - at age 30! I think it is a genetic varient, in their case. But both my doctors told me that what they found I had was genetically-linked, too. Cleveland Clinic is researching the genetics of cancer. I will always go back there for my future check ups, even though it was a hassle.

It sounds like you had the kind of procedure using a snare called Endoscopic Mucosal Resection. When they use that technique, it is normal to have a one year follow up. I learned about this from a man I never met who had an online blog about his experience, and I emailed him. He had to argue with his insurance company to get it done, but that was over 10 years ago. His didn't come back but he did have to return in 1 year. I think they are getting better at this. Hope they biopsied the polyp and fingers crossed that you get good news!!

My fever is gone. Sorry, I wasn't clear, I'm A little foggy headed probably from not enough sleep and food.

I actually had to advocate for myself to have a colonoscopy done sooner than was recommended. I had ischemic colitis in 2016 and was hospitalized for over a week. They told me I didn't need a follow up colonoscopy for TEN years. I asked if it was possible they didn't get a good look at the part of my colon that was severely inflamed. The Dr laughed and said no. That did not sound right to me so when I went back to GI (different doc) for my follow up I asked the same question. He said that with that much inflammation a polyp could been missed and gave me a five year return for a colonoscopy. Lucky for me because that's when they found the precancerous polyp.

Good for you for going to a top notch hospital!!! Very smart on your part.

I should have the biopsy results by tomorrow. The Dr did not think it was anything to worry about.

And GOOD for YOU that you hounded the doctor (pardon the doggo pun) :)

I didn't mention, but my mother ended up dying of cancer at age 65 and she claimed her doctors never could determine what kind she had. I've always had to tell my doctors this, and it's been an unsolved mystery since I was 40. We always assumed she had some kind of abdominal cancer, as she suffered from tumors in that area first. But after I learned more about the progression of colon cancer, and remembered how she'd suffered severe IBD while married to my Dad, then heard at the hospital that IBD is a predictor of CC and discovered I had the worst kind of polyp, now I'm assuming colon cancer is what my mother died of.

People don't know enough about this, especially what they call "flat polyps" which are the easiest to miss! General surgeons who do routine colonoscopies don't get as much experience with seeing all these things. I'd had a clear colon scan only 5 years before what happened to me. Ironically, I'd driven a younger male friend to the biggest medical center in our state because of his advanced colon cancer (where and he ended up losing his colon, permanent colonostomy) and as I sat in the large waiting room, I had time to reflect back on some symptoms I'd had earlier that year that my gyno doc had blown off! And thought "It's been 5 years. Wow, andlook at all these young people here, younger than I am! Hmmmm...maybe I ought to get another one..." Six or seven months later, I was blessed to get the right kind of help. But I too had to start the ball rolling!

So YAY FOR ZEBRA! If the polyp they removed was a scary one, they'll describe it enough that you'll know if they got underneath it. That was the question my surgeon was most concerned about, to where he took a biopsy of my colon wall after he removed it.

FINGERS CROSSED!

For all of you with precancerous or Adenometous polyps remember your kids need their first scope ten years prior to the age of your first polyp removal.
If you have had bad polyps then definitely need scope every 5 year. If you aren't comfortable waiting just tell the dr you are seeing dark blood with bowel movements. That's an indication and will get it covered by insurance.

Superesse, that's interesting about your mother and also worrisome for you. Sixty five is too young to pass.

Thanks Tush for the information. Nobody told me about my DD needing to get scoped sooner. I will let her know.

I actually had some bleeding about a month ago but my scope happened to be scheduled already. I told the Dr doing my scooe but he didn't say anything about it.

The Dr told me if I was clear this time, which I wasn't, I could go ten years. That didn't seem right after having a precancerous polyp removed three years ago. It even says I'm high risk in my chart. I will make sure I don't go longer than five years.

I hope everybody takes advantage of this potentially life saving screening!!

I just got the pathology report.

Adenomatous polyp with features of traditional serrated adenoma.

Not sure exactly what that means. Hopefully they will call me tomorrow.

Double trouble, methinks. Did the report state centimeters of the specimen, or possibly use the word "flat" (which I don't think pathologists can state) but they'll state the size, usually? Whatever, I am glad they removed it, Zebra!

Here is another tip I learned doing research on this polyp formation stuff. Dysplasia is thought to be caused by a genetic lack of utilization of dietary folate. Something like 25% of Americans - especially certain ethnicities like Native Americans, don't really absorb the kind of folate we tend to get in vitamins. Which our gut needs to repair the lining, and as we age, the repair gene can 'hiccup' and cause these weird growths.

I started taking "methyl folate" after my procedure, and I just ordered another bottle from my chiropractor, $45. Cheap insurance, I figure. Hard to find in big box pharmacies, There are DNA tests for this, but with my Mother's story and her being a descendant of an Algonquin grandmother, I just started taking it. One in 4 is pretty high odds. (I'm sure eating more kale would be a great idea, as well!!)

Tush thanks for the tip on moving up the schedule. I hope we never need to see that but I agree that prevention is worth a ton of cure.

I think the size was .2 cm.

Can a polyp that small cause bleeding?

Geez. I am high risk for breast cancer, colon cancer and heart attack and stroke. I have been health conscious my whole life. I guess it's just unlucky genetics. The older I get, the more I fret about this stuff. I get so incredibly anxious about anything medical but force myself to go to all these appointments.