I will probably be having one in August. And I have a few questions for those who have had this done. I searched colonoscopy but nothing is coming up in the search.
1- How do we keep ourselves stable without solid food? I never drink juice unless I'm going low and I'm not sure how to bolus for high carb liquids alone or how this will affect me, especially with a prep that is going to likely dehydrate me and stress my body out. How do we stop from feeling hungry with 24 hrs of liquid/jello only? I feel very hungry from insulin a lot of the time and veggies/fat etc. help me manage it.
2- Which prep is best for us? This doc uses miralax and maybe dulcolax. I'm worried it won't work since when I had a sygmoidoscopy a long time ago it didn't work very well- I think I used fleet then but I can't remember.
3- Should we reduce our insulin doses? This doc just said to ask my endo which I will do soon. I'm thinking reducing my basal may be necessary not to go hypo. Their paper work says reduce insulin but don't stop a pump(no pump) I'm on mdi.
4- Sedation: I had a terrible endoscopy years ago, it was so bad I have not done any of these tests since then. For the sygmoidoscopy I was given nothing and it was quite painful- the air blowing in, but I made it through ok. This doc uses an anesthesiologist and propofol so I assume I will be out totally for this.
I had one in February. I can't remember the name of the prep, but it was a mineral compound and had no carbs. I was told some people mix it with sweetened drinks, but since I don't eat sugar it was suggested I used Diet Crystal light powder which definitely helped the flavor. There was no reason to bolus for the prep. The prep worked VERY WELL. I was told that as a diabetic I could eat breakfast the morning before, rather than fast all that day as other people do. I'm on a pump rather than MDI so I am supposed to be stable without food. But even on MDI you should stay relatively stable. Think of it as "free" basal testing! I was stable all day but did actually go low overnight. Luckily I had asked ahead of time and was told it was ok to eat glucose tablets to treat a low. No, I didn't reduce insulin doses at all, and didn't see any reason to. The low told me more about my basal settings than anything else. My BG was fine into the procedure and after. As for how to not feel hungry, I don't think you can prevent feeling hungry when fasting. But do ask about the breakfast the day before. And if it helps, the whole prep thing kind of took away my appetite.If nothing else because you have to drink SO MUCH liquid for the prep, it pretty much fills you up. I had to stay in a hotel two days to do it and I had prepared sugar free gelatin and brought vegie boullion cubes which they said were ok. I didn't eat the jello (I'm not a dessert person) and a few sips of the boullion were enough.
The sedation that was used for me (and is most common I think) is what is called "twilight sedation". You are not technically "out" (no breathing tube needed) but it has an amnesiac effect which is decidedly odd, but is better than pain or being anxious. (They did give me anxiety injection as well). They had emphasized that I wouldn't be able to drive afterward and I had to fight to have it done in a place that didn't require someone to pick me up. That's why I stayed the second night (in a hospital sponsored center a block away). They were expecting me to wait for hospital transport to the hospice. But I felt fine and hungry and I had seen they had an espresso cafe in their cafeteria. So I had the wheelchair guy take me down to the cafe and leave me there. I was fine to order and eat breakfast and then walk down the hill to my room. I wasn't at all altered. I'm not sure how long I'd been in recovery but I don't think it was long. I just wanted to get dressed and leave.
I dreaded this procedure and put it off for way too long (I was actually having symptoms, not just a routine test). Other than the hassle with having to stay over two days, it really wasn't as bad as I'd dreaded.
1. I was told that I could have broth so I made a large batch of chicken broth and would have cups of hot broth. I let it cook a really long time and it was very rich and nutritious. I didn't have any problems with dehydration. I also routinely fast so although I did reduce my basals I didn't have any problem.
2. I was provided with a prescription for the prep
3. I did reduce my basal something like 10-20% but basically I just stopped bolusing for anything.
4. I was sedated for the procedure and basically they had to wake me to have me turn and I slept through the whole thing.
Thanks for the detailed descriptions, Zoe and Brian. I have been putting off getting a colonoscopy, and at 59 have NEVER had one. Last night I got a visit from a friend I who mentioned that her mother died of colon cancer at 57; then this morning this post just happened to be the first thing that I read upon awakening and going to my laptop...Kind of lets me know that it is time to schedule one.......I will do it today. I had avoided a colonoscopy because I was afraid of balancing BGs during fasting while consuming the prep. I had been told by others that it HAD to be carb-laden and tasted gross..The diet Cyrstal Light addition that Zoe mentioned sounds like a good alternative to sugar.
Meee, I hope your procedure goes well and you are found to be healthy.
Technically the prep only restricts you against foods that are not fully absorbed, so sugar is ok. Well, ok relative to a colonoscopy, sugar isn't exactly a good diet for someone like us.
I've had three colonoscopies and all have been uneventful BG-wise. Fasting makes my BGs easier to control. As Zoe said, just consider this as a basal test.
One of my prep sheets warned me about eating food with certain color food dyes. It may have been related to the kind of Jello to eat the day before. So I've purchased white glucose tablets to use during the 24 hours before the procedure. I do break the protocol to treat hypos with these glucose tablets. They've always said that this is OK.
I've used the prep that consisted of a small bottle of syrupy liquid and more recently the one that consisted of a large quantity of a prepared solution. The actual procedure was painless and over quickly. This is one of life's unpleasant tasks that doesn't deserve much thought or consternation. Just do it.
I just had mine. I was allowed soft food for breakfast and lunch the day before - I had tofu noodles and soft boiled eggs for breakfast, and hot soup for lunch and dinner. I also kept drinking water and tea the day before. I stopped eating at 9 pm (my schedule was for 3 pm the following day). After 9 pm, I just had water and hot tea to keep me from being hungry. For me, hot liquid satisfies my stomach. On the day of the procedure, I was not hungry - not after drinking laxative diluted in 2 liters of water.
I live in Japan, so the laxative I was given is different from what may be available where you are.
My doctor gave me sedative but did not put me to sleep. The air they pumped into me was painful but after more than a week, I now think it was so bad.
After the procedure and when I was able to discharge the air they pumped into me, I had the best dinner in a long time.
I'm also worried about this because my bg doesn't stay stable at any time whether I'm fasting or not although I have periods of stability. It nearly always spikes when basal runs out and goes low when basal kicks in with any activity and sometimes without. So those people who do manage to stay stable or more stable will probably not have the same concerns as we do. Twice last week my bg spiked to 200 and I wasn't able to get it down unless I bolused alot and ate something. That is what works for me. If I bolus a correction I just go higher until I finally eat something, so I'm hoping the prep and lack of food are not going to make things even crazier for me.
Fasting doesn't make it easier for me unfortunately. Once dp kicks in a large bolus and food is the only thing that will lower me, and I don't want to have a colonoscopy with high bg. Hopefully it will be one of those stable days for me.
I'm glad yours were painless and went well Terry, unfortunately I had a terrible endoscopy and I will always be concerned about proper sedation from now on with these procedures now since lack of it can result in perforation etc. I didn't find the sigmoidoscopy painless and I doubt I would find this painless.
Thanks Brian, I will ask my endo how much to reduce my basal because I have a feeling I will need to and the paper work says no insulin the morning of the test so that would maybe rule out my am basal dose. I don't think that I will be able to drink any high carb liquids without bolus though and I don't know if I can make it through 24 hrs on broth alone, just the way my metabolism works. I never fast unless it is natural whether I'm busy doing something and just don't feel hungry or if I'm sick etc.
Thank you Zoe, I was wondering if you ever had yours done because I responded to your topic at that time. I'm very concerned about the sedation, I don't want to be awake for this at all because my problematic endoscopy I was given versid and a narcotic and I was wide awake, they didn't spray my throat to inhibit the gag relex and I was vomiting, pulling the tube out throughout the whole process, the doctor was yelling at me etc.. I should have sued that doctor. I ended up with some damage to my vocal chords for months after that. Before that I had one normal endoscopy with only versid and I remember waking up in the middle, burping a lot and then going back to sleep. No problems.
I'm going to ask about eating a soft breakfast the day before since my appointment is for 1:30 pm. I may be able to do that. I read various prep accounts online and someone said she did liquids for 2 days prior to make it easier due to bad constipation. I think what I will do is practice with liquid breakfast of juice and broth/tea before the test and see how I do with that. I'm glad that you made it through ok. I will always require an anesthesiologist now after my experience.
That sounds awful, and I can understand it adding to your anxiety. But it sounds like these things are pretty routine (for the medical personnel if not us when we're the one having it!) and usually go smoothly. Are you having yours because of symptoms or as a routine testing? I hope yours goes well too! I put mine off and worried about it so much that the actual experience, if not exactly fun, was pretty much a non-event.
I had a colonoscopy and endoscopy in October. The prep was the worst for the colonoscoy because I get very nauseated with the miralax prep. The day before I could have a clear liquid diet and also drank a lot of hot liquids/broth. Once I started drinking the miralax I wasn't hungry. I made sure I mixed it with sugar free gatoraid. I was put to sleep and when I woke up I didn't remember anything and there was no pain involved. The colonoscopy was different even though I was put to sleep. They took biopsies so I had a significant stomach ache for two days afterward. Sorry I can't answer the insulin questions- I have no experience there. Wish you the best :)
Awful doesn't begin to describe it Zoe, it was enough to stop me from having any tests for years. You know I hope you're right but last night I went online to find numerous horror stories about colonoscopy and some about endoscopy so what happened to me is not a rare event apparently. Most of them had the type of sedation you had, only one person said propofol didn't knock them out, but he had a combo of propofol, versid and fentanyl. I'm very glad it was a non event! I hope mine will be too, minus the prep of course.
I have ibs so I always have symptoms but otherwise it is routine screening, except that my father had a polyp removed at some point.
Just to give some perspective: Remember that people are more likely to post a horror story than they are an "Everything went smoothly" story. My recommendation? Don't read them! I've got an over-active imagination and have learned that while I want to be well-informed, there are some descriptions that just don't help me at all!
