Hi, new and having colonoscopy tomorrow

Hi all,

I was diagnosed with IBS some 10 years ago in my teens and have suffered with it in waves of good times and bad times. The last 6months-1 year however it's become much worse and the doctors are no longer thinkng it's IBS due to the severity of the symptoms now. I have weight loss, irratic BM's, bloating, trouble eating due to pain, etc etc.

I am due to have a colonosopy tomorow morning to find out what's going on. I have been given Citrafleet to take today to 'prepare' myself. Having taken the first sachet (which tasted fine but looked like dishwater) it's not done a lot. I'm worried about it not working and having spent a long time waiting for this I desperately want it over with and to get some answers.

I don't know what my outcome will be be, if it's still IBS or it's IBD, Crohns or UC or something else, but I just want to feel well enough again to look after my three young children and get on with my life, instead of constantly thinking about the toilet or being asked if I'm pregnant because I'm so bloated

I know this may not be the totally right place to post as I'm 'undiagnosed' and may not have IBD, UC or Crohns, but I know many of you will have had a colonosopy and will understand my anxiousness about it.

Thanks in advance, take care,

Penguin x

Don't get your hopes up about finding answers tomorrow. The doctors usually do biopsy's if the see a spot that is concerning and it usually takes two weeks to come back. In my case, my doctor did a biopsy but knew right away that I had crohn's.
Good luck tomorrow!!

good luck for tomo, try not to be too anxious the prep will work and the colonoscopy isn't as bad as you think. They will be able to tell you from the procedure if you have any narrowing / inflammation of the colon /terminal ileum tomo after it is over the doc will chat to you and hopefully give you an impression of what he thinks, he may suggest further investigation maybe a small bowel series or CT scan/ bl tests depending on your symptoms. At least they're doing something and it won't take to long before they give you something to feel better. Try not too worry as anxiety can aggravate your symptoms.

Penguin,

Good luck with your colonoscopy! I hope they can figure out what's going on!

-Karissa

Thanks for your replies I shall let you know how it all goes tomorrow

Iam in the same boat as you. I have my colonscopy tomorrow and very nervous so I truly empathize with you. I hope everything turns out OK and I am here if you need to talk...

Hi Penguin, I'm glad you've already found the Undiagnosed Club thread. I hope you aren't undiagnosed for long, it sounds like you've had symptoms for quite awhile! Best of luck with the scope and keep us posted on how it goes. I hope you get some answers and get on the mend very soon!

Hi Penguin and Dayz

Good luck for tomorrow guys with your scopes. Hope you both get good outcomes and some answers.

Will be thinking of you both.

Gwen xxx

Thanks again for all your messages, it's wonderful to know there are others who can support me. It can be an embarrassing subject to bring up with friends but you all know what I'm going through here. It's comforting when you can feel very isolated with a condition like this.

I spoke to the clinic a couple of hours ago who reassured me the CitraFleet would start to take affect before the end of the day and they certainly weren't wrong! Drink goes in, water comes out lol. Guess I wasn't so full of crap after all!! I sure am hungry though. I'm alternating lucozade with diluted squash so that I don't get dehydrated. The lucozade is helping somewhat to convince myself my tummy is at least slightly full of something. Cooking the kids tea and smelling it was somewhat cruel! Still, this time tomorrow it'll be over and will be worth it I'm sure.

x

I can relate with cooking tea for the kids, any other time not eating wouldn't bother me but before a scope you just want to eat yourself through the fridge. I had my last scope less than a month ago and the prep here is Klean prep yuck yuck yuck had to lick cheese and onion crisps to get it down, my 3yr old was horrified "mammy you don't lick crisps and leave them there, thats not right" but you do what you can to get it to work, don't want to have to repeat if you can help it. sounds like it's all kicked in for you.

Roll on this time tomorrow

Gwen x

That made me chuckle My kids are slightly bemused by the fact I keep going to the toilet bless them! I still gagged on the Citrafleet dispite it tasting ok. I have a very silly irrational fear of white liquid so chugging down what looked like white creamy dishwater was not the best.

I've not heard of Klean prep, but I am rather 'new' to all this. I've read of a few and I think I must have come off lightly as some of them sound truly awful.

x

It's amazing what the kids notice, my flare up started last nov so first time my children have seen me unwell, the day before my scope my daughter stood outside bathroom door, "are you all right mammy, you're in the toilet a lot today" 3yrs old!!! haven't heard of citrafleet but it sounds lovely yummy dishwater hehehe I do remember years ago they would use X-prep and it came in this lovely little bottle but it was black and as thick as tar, I was 14 and in hospital at the time, so i drank most and then ran to loo to pour last out and got caught, nurse opened 2nd bottle and sat on bed till I drank it, i kissed my backside away that day, but learned a lesson don't get caught next time hehehe

Lovely talk to you, let me know how you get on.

Gwen x

Gwen I'm so with you on the klean prep it was seriously one of the hardest things i've had to do I poured it into a lovely jug from Laura Ashley to make it look nicer!!!! the things you do... honestly for me it was the worst part of the whole procedure, good luck tomo Penguin

Lovely to talk to you too Gwen. I've now got to the part where I'm shaking and feel extremely weak and very sorry for myself

x

Thank you Alice x

You hang in there, try to stay sitting or lay down when you feel shaky, do you have someone to go with you tomorrow? After the scope you will feel a little out of sorts for the day, so take it easy and let your system get back to normal slowly.
I sat up in hospital bed after my scope a few weeks ago and got my phone out of bag and text my hubby in the waiting room i was finished, then when he walked into room i said oh did the nurse tell you I was awake? he looked at me like I had two heads and told me I txt him. I didn't believe him till I checked my phone and then I thought oh no who else did i call or txt hahaha, keep your phone out of reach!!!
make sure you stay hydrated now if you are fasting from midnight.

Alice

What did we do in life to get crohn's, but seriously what did we do to the people who came up with Klean prep. I said to my consultant before the scope it was a form of torture and he laughed would love to give him a big bowl and watch him gag hehehe

Gwen xxx

I had a jelly after my post and I don't think I've ever enjoyed a kids strawberry jelly so much!! The sugar was much needed. My ex husband is going with me and is waiting for me while it takes place so he's there when I'm in the waiting room. He's down to look after the kids for me until Thursday night so that I have time to recover properly before resuming 'mummy duties'. I will make sure he keeps my phone on him so I can't text anyone haha.
I'm still clutching my lucozade bottle and it's still coming out just as fast as it's going in oo:

Bring on tomorrow, I'm ready now!!

yeah the jelly saved me too.
Thats good you have support and don't be too quick to jump after the scope if your children are calling, let them be taken care of, while you take care of yourself. You need the rest.

I know its a pain but the fact it is still flying out is a good sign, I heard of scope's being stopped due to poor prep and having to go through it all over again for that reason would be heartbreaking. you are doing great.

Gwen x

Gwen pippy said:

I sat up in hospital bed after my scope a few weeks ago and got my phone out of bag and text my hubby in the waiting room i was finished, then when he walked into room i said oh did the nurse tell you I was awake? he looked at me like I had two heads and told me I txt him. I didn't believe him till I checked my phone and then I thought oh no who else did i call or txt hahaha, keep your phone out of reach!!!

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Ha ha, I am glad my phone was nowhere near me after my scopes! After my colonoscopy, I remember asking my husband how long I had been out. He just smiled at me and said that was the 4th time I had asked him that! I don't remember the first 3 times! And after my upper endoscopy, apparently I had an entire conversation with my GI afterwards that I do not remember. I remember bits and pieces of getting dressed, and then at some point I realized I was home. Don't remember leaving the hospital or being driven home! And, last but not least, just this past Thursday my husband had a kidney stone procedure and he got general anesthesia for it. When he woke up, he kept asking me what time it was - there was a clock right in front of him but he kept forgetting it was there! :ylol2: Those sedation and anesthesia drugs, they do some crazy stuff for short-term memory!

Hahaha you guys make me chuckle!! I'm sure the ex hubbie will find it very amusing while I'm off my head on sedation! He's been taking the mick all day every time I dash to the loo, good job we get on now else I'd have clocked him over the head to wipe the smile off his face lol.
I'll make sure he's with me when I talk to them after the procedure though incase I forget what's said.
I'm so glad to have found you guys I feel so much calmer about tomorrow now.
x

I hope tomorrow goes well for you!
I too was on the CitraFleet for my prep and I know what you mean about gagging on it even though the taste isn't THAT bad - I'm sure if I'd had the energy to I'd have jumped for joy when I got to the bottom of my last glass. As for the sedation, I didn't think I was feeling any effects afterwards but apparently I was a right chatterbox... No one has told me what nonsense I was talking and don't recall though!

x

Thanks Vickie The giggles about the after affects of sedation have made me feel more relaxed, I'd been very much worrying about it as I'm not a fan of being woozy or 'off my head' on drugs. I tend to ride things out with as little pain meds as possible normally. I shall let you all know how it goes tomorrow. Hoping I can give in and sleep soon if my body will stop dragging me to the toilet. CitraFleet has definitely done it's job well and I'm sure I'd feel cleansed if I wasn't feeling so lethargic from the whole process!

Hi Penquin and welcome!

Good luck with the scope tomorrow! I hope it gets you closer to some answers! As others have already mentioned, you might not get a definitive DX tomorrow. For many, the dx comes after a pill cam or small bowel test, but a colonoscopy is the best place to start and can at least start to rule some stuff out maybe.

Hope it goes easy! Let us know! - Amy

Hey Cat-a-Tonic

You got me thinking about the sed's and scopes. 5 years ago in a bad flare up, I had full conversation with the ambulance driver back to the main hospital after scope and we talked about how the local chinese will deliver to the hospital (probably not the best food to be eating in a flare up). But then I got my phone out again and called my mum to tell her I was back on ward and I was having a bad hemorrhage and that the chinese takeaway delivers to the hospital so all will be well. My Mum still cracks up when she thinks of it.

Gwen xxx

Hey Penguin

Don't let that ex-hubbie tease you too much, us women can have our revenge I'm sure you are probably over the scope now, hope all went well.

Talk to you later

Gwen xxx

Hi Gwen, I've just got home and am laying in bed still rather dozy drinking sweet tea and eating biscuits, will settle for a nap soon I think. It went ok, I wasn't out of it at all but I don't think they gave me alot of sedation. They couldn't go all the way round, in fact they didn't get far at all, as it turns out I have an adhesion from my c-section onto my bowel :eek2: they changed to a gastroscope but still couldn't get much further as it was very painful. They took 4 biopsies and removed a polyp so will have to wait up to 2 weeks for any results. Diagnosis on the sheet they gave me was colonic polyp, intestinal adhesion and ?IBS...
So if the biopsies come back fine, I suppose I'll just have to live with my symptoms as no IBS treatment has worked for me. Obviously I'm glad it's nothing more serious, but rather deflated that there's nothing they can do that they haven't tried already. I just want to be well again :frown:

You're a great woman, back home already. Just stay in bed with tea and bickies.
They couldn't get all the round on my last scope either not even a full left side, I didn't feel overly sick, just felt like I had IBS not typical crohns and they stopped due to bad inflammation and kept me in for 5 days. they said i'd have to do another scope when they cleared things, I was stunned then at out patients they said they got what they needed and no scope needed???
Its horrible when you don't get answers but they got some biopsies and even caught a polyp, so hopefully that will help. Do they think the c-section adhesion has anything to do with it. I think its easy to dx IBS when they have nothing else to tell us. I'm going to see a homeopath soon, I'm ready to try new things only took 24yrs, but when we have children we don't feel ourselves running down as quick, always running a round looking after everyone else but ourself.

Get some rest honey,

Gwen xxx

Well I had a little sleep and then went to see a GP as I felt mightily sorry for myself (not my usual GP). GP basically told me 'well I have IBS and I just live with it, if it's making you down take antidepressants'.... wasn't really the outcome I'd hoped for!

I just have to be patient and wait now for the biopsy results. I don't know if they think the adhesions have anthing to do with it, but I will ask my own GP when I get to see him.

Good luck with homeopathy, you'll have to let me know how you get on. It's something I've considered before but never got round to what with the kids and everything else, you know how it goes!

Don't get me started, Why do they throw anti-depressants at people like sweets instead of directing people towards managing their symptoms, like CBT, help with diets, maybe do some allergy testing on us to see if its something we are eating. NO take a pill!!! I'm not saying that they don't have their benefits but maybe not in this case.
Just waiting on the homeopathist to get back from hols. My bestfriend has been and thinks she is amazing, she refuses to take payment for treatment just donate towards meds, she was a midwife who got completely disillusioned with the health care system here. Wonder why will let you know when I've gone to her.
Now make sure you take advantage of the children being looked after and rest yourself.

Gwen xxx

Tell me about it, I'm not about to start sticking antiepressants down my neck because they can't make me better, I'm not ill because I'm depressed, I'm miserable because I'm ill! Don't get me wrong, I'm sure they work fantastically for others and I have taken them in the past, but I don't feel it's the answer for me right now.
The kids have had some cuddles with me on the sofa this evening before thier dad put them to bed which was lovely and I've finally eaten a meal - hooray!

ah thats good, nothing like a little cuddle. feels good to be able to eat after. When I was younger my parents would pick me up from scope and have takeaway in the car, think they were afraid they wouldn't make it home alive if they didn't feed me there and then.
Hopefully when you see your GP and then get results there might be some good news.

Gwen xxx

Hi Penguin - Sorry you didn't get the answers you were looking for with this test. Good luck with the biopsies - hope those results are clean.

I would suggest keeping an open mind about anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds. There are some anti-depressants like Amitripyline that are anti-depressants and can help immensely with IBS/IBD as they are also anti-spasmodics.

Good luck - keep searching for answers! - Amy