Camera pill

Hi everyone
Please can someone explain the procedure of the camera pill.

I am due to have it done in a few weeks time instead of the barim follow through as my consultant said it was nicer?

Thanks Dawn xx

For my capsule endoscopy, I had to do a prep that wasn't as "violent" as a c-scope prep. That's how my doc put it. I had to do all clear liquids the day before and drink a bottle of magnesium citrate the night before. It seems like there is a wide variety of prepping that is required. Some only have to have fasted for a certain number of hours.

The test itself was really easy. You go in, they put all these monitors on your abdomen and then they strap this rather large black velcroed belt on you. Mine had these really cool suspenders, too. At some point, they give you a glass of water and the pillcam, which to me was no bigger than a vitamin or something. Swallow it, then out you go for 8 hours at which point you come back to your docs office. Ummm, that's pretty much all there is to it. The belt is slightly awkward but it's not too bad. And I wasn't allowed to eat for 4 hours after I swallowed it.

Then you just wait for the results.

HTH.

I would add to Mayflower's description that in my case, a couple days before the prep, I had to swallow & demonstrate that I could pass a patency capsule. This is a capsule slightly larger than the camera, but which unlike the camera, will break down if it gets caught in a stricture or similar gut abnormality. If this occurred with the camera, at best you'd be looking at some involved endoscopic procedure to remove it, and possibly surgery. In my case, the prep was basically the same as for a colonoscopy (3 liters of Colyte the night before, only clear liquids, etc.). I've done this prep 3 times now, and I know many find it very uncomfortable, but I find it more annoying than painful. I would suggest avoiding any of the nauseating artificial flavor packets that come with the laxative bucket. Without them, the solution just tastes slightly salty, like some kind of odd broth, which I personally find more palatable than the sickeningly sweet, artificial flavor alternative.

In order to give you an idea of size, here's a pic of a pill cam (yes, this is the ACTUAL camera I swallowed, and YES I did retrieve it from, well, you know... ). The pill next to the cam is a 500mg generic Tylenol (paracetamol/acetaminophen) capsule, they dose you usually take 2 of.



Hope this helps.

David

Hope you don't mind, but I added some of this stuff to our wiki, including your photo.

Thanks for posting that, David! I'm having the pill cam on Thursday so it's helpful to see the size of it. And I'm kind of glad you admitted to retrieving it after it was expelled - I would like to do that too and am glad I'm not the only one willing to reach into the toilet!

Rebecca85 said:

Hope you don't mind, but I added some of this stuff to our wiki, including your photo.

Click to expand...

When you said "your photo", at 1st I thought you meant my forum pic, but as long as you mean the pill cam image, no problem :ylol2:

Cat-a-Tonic said:

Thanks for posting that, David! I'm having the pill cam on Thursday so it's helpful to see the size of it. And I'm kind of glad you admitted to retrieving it after it was expelled - I would like to do that too and am glad I'm not the only one willing to reach into the toilet!

Click to expand...

I had practice, since the day before I had to fish out the patency capsule, in case they wanted "proof"

In addition to this procedure being less unpleasant than a barium follow through, it yields better images & does not expose the patient to any radiation.

I hope the images are good like you say - I am still undiagnosed and am really hoping the pill cam finally yields a diagnosis for me.

I never found my capsule, but then I didn't go looking for it. My doc never even mentioned the patency capsule. I only read about that on here. So I guess he should be glad it didn't get stuck. He did think that the pillcam found narrowing in my duodenum, as it refluxed back into my stomach a couple of times before passing through what ended up being "sharp angulation." Anyway, I hope his sphincter tightened up when he was watching that part since he had done nothing to see if narrowing was even a possibility. LOL.

Yeah, Cat, I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say we are all hoping your capsule endoscopy yields something definite for you!! I think this is one of only a few places/situations where wishing a dx of chronic illness on someone is considered positive.

Thanks May! Just a few more days now. I never was offered the patency capsule either. I inquired about it and the nurse said that my doctor isn't interested in having me do it. Apparently he doesn't think I have any narrowing either - I hope he's right!

Cat-a-Tonic said:

I hope the images are good like you say - I am still undiagnosed and am really hoping the pill cam finally yields a diagnosis for me.

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I am undiagnosed as well, in my case the capsule endoscopy showed some scattered areas of erosion in the small bowel which were deemed to have been caused by NSAID's. Since then, I have had a 2nd colonoscopy with biopsies, still nothing. I hope your test yields something that can be TREATED.

I had the pill cam....my doctor said that I will not be able to have it again. I have stricturing chrons. I was not diagnosed with this test but had it 3 years after my surgery. I had to go for x rays 4 days following having the camera pill because it moved slowly through my system because I didn't do anything but drink boost because I was not feeling well. They said it could have gotten stuck in me and that would have caused me to have another procedure to get it out. I will stick with the regular colonoscopy from here on.

David in Seattle said:

I am undiagnosed as well, in my case the capsule endoscopy showed some scattered areas of erosion in the small bowel which were deemed to have been caused by NSAID's. Since then, I have had a 2nd colonoscopy with biopsies, still nothing. I hope your test yields something that can be TREATED.

Click to expand...

Thanks, David. It would be really nice if the pill cam finds something, anything. It's so frustrating to be undiagnosed, I'm sure you share that feeling. Having test after test (and drinking prep after prep, yuck) is getting old really fast, and I'm really hopeful that this pill cam is the last one, at least for awhile. Good luck to you, I hope we both get a proper diagnosis soon.

Cat- I guess you don't need the patency capsule because you have had small bowel follow through recently, along with others! which should have picked up any narrowing. Good luck though!

Rebecca: No, I haven't had the SBFT. My GI was initially going to do that, but he decided instead to just do the pill cam right away. He doesn't seem to think I have any narrowing so he thinks it's safe to forgo the patency capsule and the SBFT - I hope he knows what he's doing! According to the instructions I was sent, it's "rare" for the pill cam to get stuck, so I'm hoping it doesn't get stuck in me. Fingers crossed!

And hey, if it does get stuck, I've heard plenty of stories on here of people getting diagnosed on the operating table. So there's always that...