There’s a lot out there about people’s experiences, so let me share a few things I thought were really helpful and a few things I didn’t find anywhere else.
Assuming you go to your colonoscopy on Monday:
Clear liquids of course on Sunday (no red food dye). Enjoyed the lime jello, chicken broth, tea with a little extra honey, Welches peach mango juice and some lemon-lime Gatorade (I used blue ice Gatorade with the Miralax powder). Drink plenty of fluids (at least 64 ounces total – tea, clear juices, tea, broth, etc) before 3 pm because after 5 pm you won’t feel like taking in much of anything else and will be at risk of dehydration which will give you an awful headache the next day.
Liquid diet on Saturday. I didn’t try to limit calories but just drink things that will move through more easily. Ensure actually tastes pretty good these days and comes in lots of flavors. I also got some juices I really like and tried some chocolate soy milk (try to stay away from any dairy). Drink as much of whatever you want, just nothing thick and no milk shakes (fruit smoothies are fine as is tomato soup). Try to work in at least a few 8 ounce glasses of water.
No meat on Friday. Stick with veggies, bread, eggs, maybe even some fish but no chicken and certainly no beef, salami or any other heavy meats or cheese. For goodness sake, no fast food and no fried food.
Thursday, no beef or heavy meat.
If you follow the above (more or less), I think you will find the cleansing on Sunday to be relatively easy. For me, Sunday looked like this: I took the Dulcolax tablets (2 at 10 am and 1 at 3 pm) and had a small bowel movement shortly after each. 32 ounces of Gatorade Miralax at 5 pm followed by 4 or five brief visits to the bathroom between 6 pm and 10 pm. I slept pretty well from 10:30 pm until just after 3 am at which time I had another small bowel movement (everything after 6 pm was more or less liquid). I drank the next 32 ounces around 4 am to 4:30 am (4 hours before I was scheduled to be at the doctor). I had a few more liquid movements between 4:30 and 5:15 and then dozed until 7 am. Got to doctor at 8 am, back to room by 9, to procedure by 9:30, back to room by 10 and released by 10:30. My throat was a little sore from the oxygen but otherwise no complaints. I did start my solids with Fish Food ice cream which tasted great but probably not the best choice (tummy did complain a little) followed by bacon and eggs with raisin bread (next time I may just do plain wheat toast and drink more water). Anyway, didn’t even nap that afternoon. Felt good and then back to work Tuesday.
Having said that, I do have a regular bowel movement most days and exercise on most days so even if you follow all the above, it may not go as well as it did for me but I expect it will go easier than it would if you don’t follow those guidelines. Oh, I did hear of some guy that wrote a funny message on his butt before the procedure just to make the doc laugh (never a bad thing if he/she is in a good mood before sticking a 2 foot hose up your hinny…lol). Good luck.
Of course, I am not a doctor and this is not medical advice. First and foremost, follow the instructions of your doctor.
