Anything but picolax!!

anything but picolax!!

hey fellow sufferers i need sum advice and help with picolax. im sure many of you out there have had to take it and im sure you now how disgusting it is. a couple of months ago i had my first endoscopy and found it almost impossible to stomach the stuff. the taste just made me vomit! somehow i managed it and was diagnosed with crohns. ive been on steroids for about 2 months now and am having another endoscopy on the 21st of december...merry christmas!!

what i want to no is does anyone no of any alternatives to picolax? ive heard of citrafleet but in other forums ive heard people say theres barely any difference in taste between the two. ive also heard of sum other solution which requires you to drink sumthing like 4 litres of funny tasting stuff which doesnt sound too merry either. does anyone no of a sort of picolax tablet? or sum other laxitive tablet that will do around about the same job as picolax? if anyone has any information at all about this please reply ASAP also if anyone has any tips about taking picolax itself please dont hesitate to comment as i fear i may have to suffer through it again if nothing else comes up.

sorry for going on but any help is much appreciated thanks alot!

by the way im only fourteen and am trying to cope with passing my GCSEs and not letting crohns affect my final grades. im new to this stuff and really cud use some advice and tips for dealing with crohns. thankfully the diarrhea part of it has eluded me but the stomach pains are frequent and almost impossible to cope with. please read my above comment and help me out if you can. once again thanks alot

Hi amor151,

Welcome to the forum!

Scopes are definately not the fun thing to do and definately not around xmas either!!

I had Fleet (last xmas) in a drinkable format and have to say its two sachets were supposed to be lemon or grapefruit flavoured and I managed to tolerate them but definately couldnt have coped with any more after them. Think it was something like take the first one then the second 12hrs later...could be wrong. I had picolax last summer and wont ever have it again it was worse than the Fleet for me.


Only other thing I would say to you is drink plenty of water too. Unfortunately there are no tablets that any of us can take that will do the same job or we would all clamour for them!!

You are doing so very well with coping at school too so hang in there and make sure you get plenty of rest. Can I suggest you have a look at the NACC site? It's www.nacc.org.uk they have a group called smilies people specially designed for kids and parents. Your parents could also help you to join by signing your application form. Have a look and see what you think.

Hope you are feeling better with the steroids too. Will be thinking of you on the 21st .. let us know how you get on ok?

thanks yeah the first thing i said when i came round from my forst endoscopy was "im never having picolax again" but here we are! i will ask my doctor about citrafleet and my dad is currently seeing whether i can be sent into hospital the day before to have through a tube in my nose. not a nice thought but its got to beat tasting picolax again!!

yea the steroids arent to bad thankfully. i havent seemed to have had any side affects but as i decrease the dosage i find my self becoming much more prone to stomach pains and feeling tired very easily. will let you know how the endoscopy goes fingers crossed it will be fine!

thanks for your help

Read my post again as I have added a bit more info in view of your second post.

Make sure you tell the docs looking after you how you feel with the reduction in steroids ok? The more info you can give them the better they can tailor the treatment to you too.

yeah i recently signed up to NACC but havent yet seen the smilies part, will look now! during my last visit to the hospital i told my doctor this and he is thinking of putting me on a new drug called azathioprine though i dont no much about it. does anyone out there take or no anything about azathioprine?

thanks alot for your help jan

I think its the section on information and support - there is a pretty good section also for young people which you fall into more readily!

You should find info on the site about lots of drugs and treatments too. Another one your parents might like to look at is www.crohns.org.uk which is run by the hospital I go to but provides some goods answers too.

See what you and they think of both.

Hope you get on ok. Touch base with us any time you like - your parents too for that matter as we have a few on the forum too!

Take care.

leg pain

I don't know how to post in but has anyone had severe leg pain like bone pain throughout your legs?

Hey samantha,

Well you have managed to post fine here well done!

Muscle and joint pain and stiffness can be part of Crohns as an example but could also be a side effect of any drugs you are on or that you could be coming down with plain old flu...

Try posting on the support threads and see what folk think as your question might be missed here.

If you are worried or concerned which it sounds as though you are go and pick your gp's brains so at least your mind is at rest. Let us know how you get on honey.

I just took 32 OsmoPrep tablets to get ready for my colonoscopy tomorrow. l also took some pills last time as well. The past two scopes, my doctor gave me a choice. However, I've been told by a GI that they prefer the gallon of shit.

Welcome amor151!

The 4-litre solution I think you are refering to is "Golytely". I think the name is a bit misleading, as it makes you go anything but lightly! It has a pinapple taste to it, and truthfully I find it tough to take as there is just so much.

I have found that the mind is the thing that affects my ability to take these products the most (and I have had them all!). The best things I have found is to not over-dwell on my hatred of them, and to take them as fast as I can.

This may not be the answer you are looking for, but that is just what I have found to work for me. As someone who went through the major symptoms of this disease while in grade 12 and the first year of university, I know the pressure of maintaining school and health at the same time. Just do whatever you can do, and do not feel you have failed if you can not achieve perfection.