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Thread: *** OFFICIAL *** Colonoscopy Thread

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    *** OFFICIAL *** Colonoscopy Thread

    This month I will be having my first colonoscopy. I am almost 49 years old.

    My grandmother on my dad's side died of colon cancer at age 66.

    My dad was probably very close to colon cancer at age 55, as they found a precanerous polyp in him which looked "super close" to going cancerous. That was his first colonoscopy, so he probably dodged a bullet by a narrow margin, and thankfully is still alive today.

    Now I'm only about 6 years younger than he was. I should have had a colonoscopy already, but I just haven't. I was going to in early 2020, but these were shut down during the early coronavirus days, and I didn't reschedule near the end of the year, putting my appointment in about 2 weeks.

    I am electing to use propofol (shout out to Michael Jackson). I have heard the colonoscopy without the propofol is awful, so I'm not doing that, even though I really really really hate the idea of being put under.

    I am doing the Miralax + Gatorade prep. They tried to prescribe me the awful, salty SUPREP, which everyone seems to hate. I said fuck no, give me the Miralax one, and they switched it. From my research, the two are about equivalent in effectiveness, so I don't know why they don't just direct people to the easier one by default.

    Since a lot of people here are old, I imagine some of you have had one.

    If you have had a colonoscopy, please post about your experience.

    1) Did you use SUPREP or Miralax/Gatorade?

    2) What advice would you give to a first-time person doing this?

    3) Did you use propofol? What was that experience like?


    Interested to hear these answers.

    For those of you that don't know, colon cancer is 100% preventable if you get colonoscopies at recommended intervals. This is because polyps grow very slowly, so they can keep finding them and cutting them out before they can do you harm.

    My mom has never had a polyp yet, nor has anyone on her side of the family, so I've got that going for me. My dad's side, not all that good. This is apparently very hereditary.

    No trolling or junk posts here, please.

    Once I have the colonoscopy, I will post about my experience and answer any questions people have.

     
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      ToasterOven: await trip report, mine is in the summer

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    Gold Cerveza Fria's Avatar
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    I probably should have had one already, having recently turned 54. Was going to do it, then COVID happened. I guess I should think about scheduling it. I have just heard horror stories about the prep. I had one friend who did the prep. She showed up for the Colonoscopy, and the power was out in the facility that day. She had to reschedule.

    These days, many people are doing Colonoscopy and Endoscopy at the same time. I had one friend who had both at the same time. I told him to make sure they did the Endoscopy first. Because, if they did the Colonoscopy first, it might leave a shitty taste in his mouth.

     
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      big dick: was only messing when i called you a spic in the other thread but you never responded

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    Assuming there are no polyps that are affecting your rectal functions using Miralax etc shouldnt be painful.

    However the day before, be prepared to be on the toilet for about an hour per bowel movement.

    When they put you under, the anesthesia feels like a cool(almost burning sensation) but you are out super quick so they can get to work on your hole.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cerveza Fria View Post
    I probably should have had one already, having recently turned 54. Was going to do it, then COVID happened. I guess I should think about scheduling it. I have just heard horror stories about the prep. I had one friend who did the prep. She showed up for the Colonoscopy, and the power was out in the facility that day. She had to reschedule.

    These days, many people are doing Colonoscopy and Endoscopy at the same time. I had one friend who had both at the same time. I told him to make sure they did the Endoscopy first. Because, if they did the Colonoscopy first, it might leave a shitty taste in his mouth.
    A lot of people do endoscopies without knowing why they're really doing it. Unlike a colonoscopy, which has a clear and defined purpose, endoscopies are often more probing for whatever they see.

    I don't believe in diagnostic endoscopy without a good reason for one. There always a small risk to things like this. For colonoscopy after 50 (or 45 with a family history), the rewards far outweigh the risk. You definitely should schedule one.

    I bet if you ask your friends with prep horror stories, they will have taken SUPREP. It seems to me that SUPREP is the biggest mistake people make. For awhile there was a belief that it was more effective than Miralax/Gatorade, but studies even dating back to the 2000s have proven otherwise.

    I was told that the Miralax/Gatorade doesn't taste bad at all (it basically tastes like Gatorade), and aside from the shooting diarrhea all day and the annoying clear-liquid diet the day before (plus the 4 hours of no water before the procedure), it's not that bad. However, I've heard that people with the SUPREP were eventually puking because it tasted so terrible.

    The power failure thing is a super bad beat. I would be 1000% tilted if that happened to me.

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    Diamond BCR's Avatar
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    I used osmoprep after using the horrible stuff many times. I don’t know about Miralax version. Do yourself a favor and start the process days out. Not the final prep, but eat lightly, drink a lot of water, and you can make the actual prep extremely mild. Almost unnecessary. I think they always used a benzo drip on mine. I can’t recall what they used on last ones, some twilight sedation, but they certainly used benzo drip on earlier ones as they always had to adjust mine higher as I was already on them and tolerance.

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    After this procedure, I began to have an increased level of respect for bottoms.

     
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      rum dick: Respect the bottoms

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    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    One frustrating thing I'll have to deal with is the cessation of aspirin and ibuprofen in the week leading up to the procedure. They make you stop this so you don't have excessive bleeding.

    I get tension headaches at the rate of about 250 per year, with the worst being in the summer (6 per week average) and winter (5 per week). I know I can take Tylenol, but that doesn't work well.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    One frustrating thing I'll have to deal with is the cessation of aspirin and ibuprofen in the week leading up to the procedure. They make you stop this so you don't have excessive bleeding.

    I get tension headaches at the rate of about 250 per year, with the worst being in the summer (6 per week average) and winter (5 per week). I know I can take Tylenol, but that doesn't work well.

    There's weed for that

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    Owner Dan Druff's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BCR View Post
    I used osmoprep after using the horrible stuff many times. I don’t know about Miralax version. Do yourself a favor and start the process days out. Not the final prep, but eat lightly, drink a lot of water, and you can make the actual prep extremely mild. Almost unnecessary. I think they always used a benzo drip on mine. I can’t recall what they used on last ones, some twilight sedation, but they certainly used benzo drip on earlier ones as they always had to adjust mine higher as I was already on them and tolerance.
    Were you awake at all? Or were you totally asleep?

    Other family members who have had the propofol told me that they were just completely asleep.

    It is funny because I was warned about the hunger the day before, and it was told to me by this person that I should eat a lot 2 days before, so the day before will be more tolerable. However, you're the second person to say the opposite -- to basically lighten the eating so you don't have to pass as much.

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    Also, I was clear that I wanted an actual anesthesiologist doing my propofol, not a nurse practitioner. They started pushing this onto nurse practitioners because some felt it was a waste of resources to have an anesthesiologist administer the propofol, but others felt this added a level of danger, and it was only deemed "acceptable" because the anesthesiologist would be available for more urgent work. But for the patient himself, he's definitely better off with a doctor doing it.

    Fortunately this office has an anesthesiologist on staff anyway, so that was easy to get.

    I want an expert there in case any shit goes wrong.

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    Diamond BCR's Avatar
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    Each procedure was exactly the same, as I always recalled them making the turn at some point and it waking me for just a brief split second, but nothing else. It’s quick and nothing.

    Even the split second I could recall was not painful, it had simply woke me but I recalled nothing else and was right back out. Everything else is the hassle, not the procedure itself. I also didn’t start getting them until they had already did extensive surgery on me, so it’s possible I wake as they are in an area where they reattached stuff internally and I wouldn’t have otherwise.

    I had a NA back here in Ohio, I don’t know if it was an anesthesiologist or NA previously in PA. It’s nothing either way. The endoscope feels like something could go awry. Colonoscopies have worse prep, as endoscopes are basically just fast for the night like bloodwork, but feel less troublesome as it’s not going down your throat and your out before they insert it. I don’t know if that’s true, just what made me nervous having had both done. Colonoscopy procedures are you are out and they’re done before you know it. The sedation is more similar to some dental procedure as opposed to surgery. No ventilation or breathing tubes are necessary.

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    I have had 5 of them, first 3 were on the drug that jus makes you forget you had the procedure, love that stuff...wake up with a buzz and no hangover.

    Last two were propofol, you actually recover faster on this stuff but no sweet buzz.

    Suprep is the worst, the first two I used some other stuff which was gross but you only had to drink 16 ounces of it, turns out it was hard on kidneys so they switched.

    My brother lives in Europe and he takes some sort of pill with a bunch of water which seems preferable by a lot.

    My experiences have been a walk in the park, however, my Bro and Dad each almost got killed in their latest ones.

    My dad is old and they pieced his intestine causing an infection which he ignored for a few days, doctor said discomfort was normal for a few days...but he pulled through.

    My bro is 55 and while removing a polyp they nicked a blood vessel or something and it took them a while to stop it, a few years ago my bro had some weird condition that he produced too many red blood cells so he was put on meds to control it...that may have something to do with his bleeding issue.

    Both have had several colonoscopies in the past with no issues. Dad says that was his last one, but he is 82.

    My mom was killed by colon cancer, which was found when she was 59, so for me they are clearly worth it as an colonoscopy at 50 and 55 would have most likely saved her life.

    Also make sure they are looking at the entire colon and not just the sigmoid colon.

     
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      BCR: That pill is the osmoprep. We have it. You have to lean on them to give it to you as they prefer the other. It draws all the water into you intestines.
    Last edited by Texter; 01-05-2021 at 08:34 AM.

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    Druff- make sure the doctor has a good flashlight.

     
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      Cerveza Fria:

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    Quote Originally Posted by Texter View Post
    I have had 5 of them, first 3 were on the drug that jus makes you forget you had the procedure, love that stuff...wake up with a buzz and no hangover.

    Last two were propofol, you actually recover faster on this stuff but no sweet buzz.

    Suprep is the worst, the first two I used some other stuff which was gross but you only had to drink 16 ounces of it, turns out it was hard on kidneys so they switched.

    My brother lives in Europe and he takes some sort of pill with a bunch of water which seems preferable by a lot.

    My experiences have been a walk in the park, however, my Bro and Dad each almost got killed in their latest ones.

    My dad is old and they pieced his intestine causing an infection which he ignored for a few days, doctor said discomfort was normal for a few days...but he pulled through.

    My bro is 55 and while removing a polyp they nicked a blood vessel or something and it took them a while to stop it, a few years ago my bro had some weird condition that he produced too many red blood cells so he was put on meds to control it...that may have something to do with his bleeding issue.

    Both have had several colonoscopies in the past with no issues. Dad says that was his last one, but he is 82.

    My mom was killed by colon cancer, which was found when she was 59, so for me they are clearly worth it as an colonoscopy at 50 and 55 would have most likely saved her life.

    Also make sure they are looking at the entire colon and not just the sigmoid colon.
    Thanks for the info. Gotta admit I have some anxiety about this entire thing, but I know I have to do it.

    I know they can cause some damage in the colon, especially if they are removing a polyp. I don't have any unusual conditions like your brother had, so maybe he was more prone to it, as you said.

    I'm also nervous about waking up and finding out I have stage 1 colon cancer (which often has no symptoms). I suddenly developed a mild anemia in October which I never had before (though it only showed up in blood tests -- I don't have any symptoms of it), and that's often associated with polyps being there. In all previous blood tests, including March 2020, I had no anemia.

    I don't want any buzz from the stuff they give me. I just want a clean, rapid descent into sleep, and a clean wake-up. I don't want that weird in-between phase where you're kinda out of it but awake. I experienced some permanent psychological damage from my issues in 2018, and some of that damage is a panic-like feeling sometimes when I am right on the verge of falling asleep, but not there yet. (Oddly, this isn't present when I a wake up and am half-asleep, though.) So I don't want that happening when they're giving me the propofol.

    I was considering asking the doctor for that Osmoprep, but I'll just stick with the Miralax, which seems fine. It's tasteless and takes on the flavor of the Gatorade. Too bad they don't make a clear version of the red fruit punch flavor, because I fucking love that stuff and could wolf it down easily. The only two Gatorades I really like are orange and red (neither of which are ok), but the blue is kinda ok, so I will do that one. I just don't want to force an awful liquid down, on top of everything else.

    Having to run to the toilet and make watery diarrhea doesn't concern me much. Definitely not fun, but I'm not really dreading that at all.

    Oh, and I have to take that terrible way-up-your-nose COVID test the day before, which also kinda blows.

    I really wish I did this prior to August 2018, when I didn't have the psychological damage, and could have handled it all way easier. I promised myself back then that I'd be satisfied with an 85-90% recovery -- one which left me with permanent damage, but would allow me to live life normally day-to-day. Well, that's what I got. Things like this and dental work are just particularly tough now.

    I'll be very happy when this is over, provided I don't get unexpected bad news.

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    For Druff and others in the know, how does that home test screen factor into things that was advertised heavily a year or two back, where you mail in a sample of your shit to screen for cancer?

    Presumably that should never replace a proper colonoscopy. Is it something you do before a colonoscopy to assess risk, etc?

    Some people have funky reactions to the meds; I picked my dad up from one once and he was a completely different person for like 5-10 minutes, doing crazy shit like intentionally making his hair look wild and acting generally obnoxious.

    It's a normal procedure that all adults of age should be getting. Be thankful you're at a place in life where you have proper healthcare and don't be a faggot.
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    You will be fine, sleepy after. Use the gi cleanse to start a clean diet to prolong your life so you see your kid grow and grandkids. No shitty food is worth not living for that.

     
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      Texter: Cleanse...umday
      
      dwai:
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sloppy Joe View Post
    For Druff and others in the know, how does that home test screen factor into things that was advertised heavily a year or two back, where you mail in a sample of your shit to screen for cancer?

    Presumably that should never replace a proper colonoscopy. Is it something you do before a colonoscopy to assess risk, etc?

    Some people have funky reactions to the meds; I picked my dad up from one once and he was a completely different person for like 5-10 minutes, doing crazy shit like intentionally making his hair look wild and acting generally obnoxious.

    It's a normal procedure that all adults of age should be getting. Be thankful you're at a place in life where you have proper healthcare and don't be a idiotic.
    Good question regarding the non-invasive screenings.

    In August 2018, I went to a checkup and mentioned I'd be getting a colonoscopy, and asked for some recommendations for good GI doctors in the area. Sadly, the two given to me didn't take my insurance. I started looking into others, and then a few weeks later, my terrible anxiety/depression problems hit, and there was no way I could get through something like this. I was barely able to sit on my own couch.

    Knowing I was 46 and still needed this, I looked into alternatives. I went with Cologuard (one of the things you see advertised), and had the doctor order it for me. Keep in mind that I didn't know if or when I'd ever be better, so it wasn't a matter of just waiting out a few months. Well, Cologuard broke the bad news to me that my insurance wouldn't pay because I wasn't 50. I tried to get an exception, but it was stuck in a lot of bureaucracy. It never got approved or denied. While I was waiting, I found out that Cologuard has a 13% false positive rate, which is horrible. Imagine a 13% chance that a test falsely says you have cancer, and then you have to freak out until you can get it for a colonoscopy!!! At that point, I said "fuck it" and dropped the matter. In 2020, they lowered the age to 45, but I was no longer interested.

    There are Cologuard alternatives, but they all have the false positive issue. They also only detect cancer -- not polyps. So while it's a good early detection tool (aside from the false positive thing), they don't find or remove polyps like a colonoscopy does.

    There is something called a "virtual colonoscopy" which started gaining some popularity, but hasn't really caught on yet. It has some clear benefits. Not as invasive, no sedation required, and the risk of complications is lower. They basically blow up your colon with air and take pictures via X-ray. However, the downside is that it cannot see polyps smaller than 1 cm, plus you will need a regular colonoscopy anyway if polyps are seen. You need the prep either way. Also, apparently it's uncomfortable, because they don't sedate you for this in any way.

    I considered asking for this, but I'm not even sure if it's available here, and I'm better off getting the real deal. But if they can improve the imaging, I might go for it. Similarly, during my LPR problems in 2018, I wanted a videostroboscopy, where a camera down your throat takes pictures as you talk, and can see things much better than a standard scope. You don't need to be put out for this. The "old" method was putting an awful long stick in your mouth, while a nurse pulls your tongue forward so you don't throw up. However, people gag several times and throw up anyway. It sounded completely awful, and everyone bitched about it. This was considered the "gold standard" for years, and people did it anyway, despite the existence of a much easier one up your nose. The reason given for years was that the one through your nose had poor resolution. However, by 2018 this changed, and they were essentially equal. Yet almost all ENT doctors still did it the old fashioned way, because it didn't require the expensive equipment. I chose to drive 50 miles to LA to do the easy one, and it was a piece of cake. Was thrilled with that decision, and I felt bad for all the poor saps who didn't know about this equally effective alternative.

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    Finally, some good news in 2021.

    Sure, there have been some frustrations this week. Republicans lost the Senate, Trump's 2-month meltdown culminated in weirdos storming the Capitol, making my entire party look bad, and I had the wrong time for the easiest NBA under in the world, and didn't get to bet it.

    However, I got an e-mail from the doctor's office that they no longer do the horrible COVID test way up your nose, and instead have changed to a much easier one.





    I was really dreading that awful test. Now I don't have to take it.

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    Gold tommyt's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    Finally, some good news in 2021.

    Sure, there have been some frustrations this week. Republicans lost the Senate, Trump's 2-month meltdown culminated in weirdos storming the Capitol, making my entire party look bad, and I had the wrong time for the easiest NBA under in the world, and didn't get to bet it.

    However, I got an e-mail from the doctor's office that they no longer do the horrible COVID test way up your nose, and instead have changed to a much easier one.





    I was really dreading that awful test. Now I don't have to take it.
    I have been required to be tested "randomly" for work. We do the saliva test now and the only bad part is not eating/drink/putting anything in your mouth for 30 minutes prior to the test. Trying to spit in a tube with dry mouth is kind of annoying..

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    I'm proud to say I made it though 2020 without taking a covid test

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