Tags
cancer, colon, Colon cancer, colonoscopy, Colyte, Colyte prep, Colyte side effects, Drinking colyte, Golytely, Health, Intestinal cleanser, Laxitive, medical, personal, Preventing colon cancer, procedure, Purging intestines
[Update November 7, 2014 – People complain about Colyte, but here is why it is still the best. It doesn’t cause cramping pain. It does a good job of cleaning the intestines. It permits your monitoring of the cleanliness of the expelled material. It permits a better inspection than the X-ray techniques. It permits clipping out polyps if needed. It is predictable in its results, and the minute it goes it goes out, its done so you can go about your other activities like sleeping or driving. You can choose when you are going to do a cleansing cycle. You can have fun stories to talk about with your old friends.]
I have an UPDATE OF THIS ARTICLE with an slightly improved procedure.
[Update May 22, 2012 on “Colyte-free Colonoscopy”]
Tomorrow morning is the day of the dreaded colonoscopy, and so today is the day of the even more dreaded flushing out procedure based on drinking foul tasting purgative – Colyte™. Once before, some ten years ago this happened, without pain or other particularly unpleasant incident, but all the same this is now and now is always different and now it might hurt.
I am writing this blog as it happens, so to speak, partly because all of the other posts I’ve seen seem to be after the fact, and they all admit that they don’t remember the event very well. I don’t remember much about my last procedure except for the nasty drinks the day before to flush out of the guts from one end to the other. Everyone seems to remember that as being the worst part of the colonoscopy procedure. Right at the moment I have drunk about half of the gallon of Colyte in one cup increments. It’s not really awful, but it is coupled with the experience of not eating any solid food. The only thing I have had today has been green Lime Jello (not too bad) and apple cider (quite tasty) and Colyte (rather salty and slightly unpleasant).
The first cup of Colyte wasn’t too bad, but looking at the size of the bottle, and thinking that all of that had to be drunk was intimidating. But, don’t worry about the size filling you up, because it never gets out of ones digestive tract, and is soon expelled in the old fashioned way.
So, being an inveterate dabbler and experimenter and toyer with my food, I have been trying various ways of making the drinking of Colyte into a pleasant experience. So far, here is the routine of my ongoing experimental experience midway through.
1. Have a cup of some acceptable beverage poured and at the ready.
2. Pour out in a second cup the appropriate quantity of Colyte.
3. Take a couple deep breaths, and drink all of the Colyte straight down without breathing, and without breathing drink more of the spicy beverage. Take a quick breath and drink a little more.
When I do this just right I can’t taste or even smell the Colyte at all and it isn’t even slightly unpleasant. As I write this is seems that to take a few sips of beverage right before the Colyte might work even better. I will try that right now. …
I brewed up 12 ounces of Trader Joe’s – orange spice Rooibos herbal tea. While that was cooling down to a drinkable temperature I poured seven ounces of Colyte into a separate cup. When all was ready I took a couple of sips of tea and quickly took two deep breaths, exhaled, and drank all of the Colyte straight down, and without breathing drank a couple more of sips of tea and inhaled a couple of sniffs while my nose was still in the tea cup. This whole thing took sixteen seconds, and if I had been in a pleasant conversation at my local coffee shop it would have been a totally unmemorable experience. The spicy tea was good on both ends and the Colyte in the middle was simply neutral.
The after effects of drinking Colyte should be mentioned because they are explosive and quite entertaining. Before drinking this stuff you should make sure you have an immediate access to a toilet. The onset can be sudden, and very demanding of immediate attention. Don’t even consider going out into a public place for a couple of hours or you may be providing a disgusting entertainment to some folks you don’t even know.
Based on those former experiences, here is a slightly improved procedure.
1. Have a cup of some medically acceptable colorless beverage poured and at the ready. Chose something that you already like and which has a strong favor and nose (a strong smell) like a cinnamon spiced tea. But, not too hot. [Update – Febuary 3, 2014 – You might develop a dislike for the beverage you drink, by mentally associating it too strongly with the Colyte, so choose a beverage you rarely drink like an unusual spiced tea, or cola.]
2. Pour out, in a second cup, the appropriate quantity of your medicine, mine was Colyte. Generally they suggest cooling it to 43 degrees to kill the taste, but that was too cold for me maybe more like room temperature 68 degrees would be better – to avoid the icecream-eaten-too-fast cold-headache. [Update 2014/04/17 – The icecream-headache can also be avoided by drinking a cup of warm water, about 110 degrees F., immediately before starting the sips of spicy warm tea, and thus before the colder flushing stuff.]
3. [After the glass of warm water], take a couple of deep breaths, exhale. Drink a swallow of your spiced beverage and sniff it. Take a couple quick breaths, and then drink all of the Colyte straight down without breathing, and still without breathing drink a little more of your chosen spicy beverage. Take another quick sniff and drink a yet little more spicy beverage. And, if you still have some breath, daub off any of the foul smelling liquid that might still be clinging to your lips with a napkin. If well coordinated this all takes about sixteen seconds. …
Tomorrow, I get up early and go in for my colonoscopy.
[Update December 3, 2013 Drinking or eating things and then having a bad experience sometimes gets associated in ones subconscious mind. Who knows why? I don’t. But, to prevent your favorite drink getting into an unpleasant Pavlovian stimulus response trap, it is probably better to drink something that you don’t drink very often. I don’t drink a carbonated cola more than once a year, and if I got some weird wretches while drinking the purging drugs followed by a cola it wouldn’t affect my life. This might be a way to avoid the gagging that some people report associated with drinking the purging fluids.]
Thanks for the tips. I am having my very first colonoscopy on 2/6. I had a business meeting planned for the evening of 2/5, but after reading this and talking to other people, I think I will have to cancel that!
Hope all went well.
Thank you for posting this. I typed ‘experience with colyte’ into Google and your blog was the first choice. This was an educational as well as entertaining read, and I will set myself up the way you described by having a pleasant beverage at the ready as well. I am having a colonoscopy and an endoscopy tomorrow afternoon! So I am looking at about 30 hrs without food! The only other question I have is how long the medicine works. When I wake up Tuesday morning, will it still be “in effect” so to speak? I was planning to go to work tomorrow, so I hope all the flushing out is completed this evening.
Thanks again.
Thanks for the reply and praise. I don’t really remember how it went the next morning but neither do I remember having any problem driving to the appointment. Nor do I remember any problem sleeping.
This is the advantage of writing it down an hourly basis, as you go, an ongoing hands on experience so to speak. Let me know what your experience is and I will back post the clarification for others potential enlightenment. With or without you tag name, as you choose.
Thanks so much Probaway! Your “tips” will make next time easier. This time couldn’t keep it down, no matter what. Nasty stuff! Struggle to swallow it and then throw it up. Fooey. I noticed that the Colyte jug says don’t pour it down the toilet to get rid of it… WHAT??? I’m pouring it into my flesh and blood intestines, but don’t pour it down a porcelain toilet and into a septic? Ye gods. One doctor on call at my hospital said that I can use Miralax the next time. My next question is – why not offer that to begin with?
Pingback: Poison Oak, Poison Ivy itching cured with hot air. « Probaway - Life Hacks
Pingback: The colonoscopy laxative drink made enjoyable. « Probaway - Life Hacks
Thank you for your candid comments and suggestions for getting through what I know is going to be pretty awful. Your sense of humor helped a lot too. I will be off to Trader Joe’s tomorrow! Question — did you drink the entire gallon? Seems like overkill — 16 80z. glasses
Thank you for your insightful information, I am having colonoscopy tomorrow and right now I’m drinking the special juice. It has been really difficult to drink but I had some apple juice on the side to wash down the bad taste.
Tip:Drink amount you need to for each hour as fast as possible, don’t drink it too slowly, this will make it harder for you to drink and you will have more toilet trips.
Wow. Thanks for being so detailed. My procedure is scheduled this afternoon and I too was intimidated by the size of the flush. I have to finish the rest this morning. (uugghh) I will try your method. Thanks again!
I’ve tried everything to include swallowing (glupping), and sipping, and I still want to throw up. I’ve taken sips follow with sucking on a lemon, that did not work, after my 3rd sip, I want to throw up, I gag. I’ve taken sips and gups followed with soda, it’s the same gag and want to throw up. I even tried it with apple juice.
I sure wish someone would invent a better way of doing this procedure.
I have to drink 1/2 jug the day before my procedure, and 1/2 jug prior to my colonoscopy.
I feel the same way! and i totally feel bad cause everyone is telling me “just drink it!” did you get through it???
I am in the midst of Colyte as we speak. Its quite a horrible thing. The consistency is what gets me. IT has this oily texture that just coats my throat going down. Beyond that the effects of it are quite astounding. It literally feels like someone is hosing out my intestines. Hopefully, this is the worst of the whole colonoscopy experience.
Hi There Matthew Lee
By now you must have survived your colonoscopy procedure. If it was like mine the Colyte was the worst of it and I found the actual medical experience rather like going on a roller coaster ride. It was physically rather unpleasant but thrilling all the same.
How did your drinking some tasty beverage and holding your breath while drinking the Colyte and then drinking some more beverage before taking another breath work out? For me that procedure eliminated the taste and washed away the gunk stuck to my throat and so totally eliminated that part of the unpleasantness.
As you know the other part was rather entertaining but not annoying.
Please post your experience in the comments section – good/bad/or otherwise so those people who read it can benefit. Most of what they recommended on my bottle and what my doctor recommended didn’t work at all.
Your Pal – Probaway
Mine is in 30 days and I am preparing, what about miracle berries? My daughter had me suck on this tablet and it made lemons taste sweet, the berry tricks the area of the tongue. But what does this taste like to trick? Mine is a double whammy, I have to leave coumadin and go back to Lovenox shots in my stomache to stay on blood thinners.
Have you asked your specialist if there is analternative drink? I know some people take a porridge and have reported that it is far worse. I get some sort of Prep drink which involves two seperate sachets mixed with water to make up 2 litres. It’s a lemon flavour. It isn’t unpleasant, but it’s hard going because it is a lot to drink in a short time. I find it hard to drink extra fluids (even if they’re my favourites) so I take a couple of spoonfulls of jelly, which is a treat between the medicine.
I would recommend you don’t make plans to do anything major, for a couple of days after colonoscopy. Give your body time to adjust.
I am curious, Chris Davies said to take a couple of spoonfuls of Jelly between the medicine, but don’t most Jellies have a red or purple color? The doc said not to eat or drink anything red or purple……
I have mine on Monday. Every 5 years I dread the drink. And I mean dread. I have been doing this since my early 20’s and have never gotten used to to the drink at all.. But I know the end result is so important. So Sunday I will start my cleanse. UGH.. I wish everyone well.. :)
I am also in the midst of preparing for this event which is happening tomorrow at 4 pm. I was to drink 2 litres of the Colyte within 2 hrs starting at 7pm tonight. I drank about 1.5 litre within the 1st hour and it began to work almost immediately….then I threw up some of it. I drank another 250 ml and was barely able to keep that down – I still have 500 ml left but can’t do it. It seems to be cleaning out my system regardless, but I’m dreading 7am tomorrow when I’m supposed to start on the next 2 litres. I have a number to call, but of course the screening centre isn’t opened until 8 am….There has GOT to be a better way to do this. I’ve been drinking the clear fluids, but hate, hate, hate the gatorade and naturally the fruit juices give me heartburn. Coffee/tea is not allowed tomorrow so I’m beside myself trying to figure out what to drink that won’t cause more aggravation/nausea. It’s gonna be a long night…..
I am in S. Korea now doing the cleanse and it sounds like you have a diffrent set up then I do.I need to drink 4 500ml bottles of water in two hours tonight. Then do the same adding some other tablets in the last 8th drink. Mine started to work within the first half hour. Then on the second does I had trouble keeping it down. By the third I tried gulping it down and the three gulps came right back up. I’m glad to hear I am not the only one struggling with this. Thank you all for your honesty and helpful suggestions.
My hubby having so much trouble drinking the Colyte. After searching various ways, I finally found this excellent suggestion. It helped so much, really reduces the taste. His “at the ready” pleasant beverage wasn’t quite strong tasting & smelling enough (flavored sparkling water) but will get him some apple juice for when he has to finish this up in the morning.
Probaway, THANK YOU SO MUCH for the tip!!!
Thank you for the thank you
I discovered this trick and think the Colyte manufacture should print it on their bottles, don’t you. What they did print makes using their product a horrible experience.
Probaway
Have now gulped down the first half gallon ( two litre) application of Colyte and awaiting with bated breath the avalanche as it were. Not as bad as I expected frankly. I refrigerated the mixed product last night and it slides down quite easily.
I am having my colonosopy at 9 AM tomorrow and have only gotten half way through the dreaded drink. I tried taking a couple of gulps of the Colyte and then taking a spoonful of lemon italian ice and this seems to help but I am going to try probaway’s suggestions. OOOHH gotta go…the porcelain thrown is calling!
My colonosopy is 9AM tomorrow. would you remember when you started to drink the Colyte also did you finish it in one day or did you drink half today and the rest in the morning.
thank you
Donna
Well I’m having my first colonoscopy and upper GI endoscopy done tomorrow. They told me to do the phosphate saline laxative. I had to do it at 6pm tonight and again at 5am tomorrow. I got the first dose down, but as I was trying to drink the 3 glasses of fluid afterward I threw it all up. I’ve been having constant diarrhea for the last few weeks so getting cleaned out doesn’t seem to be a problem. We will see how the second dose goes in the morning. I’m going to try to spread it out a little more. I think I drank too much too fast and that caused it to come all back up. If anyone else has any suggestions, please let me know.
OK……………….This was not all that bad. I was horrified of this day ….the day of the prep. I am the kind of person that stands in front of the counter and has a hard time taking down a teaspoon of cough syrup. So………this is what I found out works. Hold your nose………….drink the entire 8 ounces in one big gulp……as soon as you down it…….put a hard candy ( the ones that are allowed) in your mouth………..and that’s it. I got 2 more 8oz and I am done for the night…………..but PLEASE….make sure you stay closed to the bathroom. :-)
Pingback: Colonoscopy Colyte prep cleanse procedure made easy | Probaway – Life Hacks
I am having my colonoscopy tomorrow at 7 oclock.The colyte is terrible .I am using chicken noodle soup juice to get it down.I will take great big swallows then take a spoon of juice from the soup.The salty juice takes away the taste of the colyte.
You say you are using chicken noodle soup? Surely clear stock is all we are allowed. Noodles are food.
Ann – The trick is to swallow the chicken soup immediately BEFORE and AFTER the Colyte without breathing in between gulps.
These were fantastic tips! Thank you all! I just downed glass #3, and so far so good. I pitched those nasty flavor packets that came with the Colyte. I have put some lemon juice (fresh, strained) & Stevia in all three glasses so far, with a drop of lemon extract in the last – I may try a bit more of that. The breathing is good. I also made some fresh chai base — all the spices with the black tea, but no milk added. I used fresh ginger, put through a garlic press to squeeze out a lot of juice, cardamom seeds, a little pepper, cinnamon stick (and some powder) and honey. I inhale the aroma just before and after the lemon juice Colyte now. Then sip on the chai as much as you want – mostly after to get the taste & memory disspipated quickly!! And yes, the humor helps!! xoxoxoxo
Hi There Shannon333 – I am glad to read that your Colyte experience is going well after three hits. Please let me know how the last one goes. It’s that last ones that get tiring and difficult, and that’s why I recommended doing several different drinks over the whole course. Your Pal in suffering – Probaway
Dear Probaway et al,
Thank you for your reply. This is a piece of cake. With all of the shared tips here, my 61 years of life experience, near-completed master’s in counseling psychology, 5 1/2 years of being a serious meditator, 2 years of study & practice of Abraham-Hicks Law of Attraction, and, last but not least, the 10 day initiatory Vipassana meditation course this past spring, I have made it through the 3/4 container this evening with an amazingly positive experience. I was determined to make a game of this. In addition to what I wrote earlier, I added quickly putting a fresh simmering autumn potpourri to boil on the stove while I made that spicy Indian chai. The potpourri is homemade – dried orange peels, cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice. Keep the Colyte and the glass in the fridge in between doses.
Pour cold glass of non-flavored Colyte. At same time pour cup of the hot spicey chai. Do two slow, deep inhalations and exhalations. Then inhale slowly the strong potpourri boiling . . . exhale and take a swig of the spicy tea and swirl it around your mouth and swallow . . . another quick inhale and exhale and while focusing on the smells and tastes of the potpourri and tea, take deep draws of Coyte so you are minimizing the swallowing (I did it in 5 gulps). Before inhaling, take another swig of the tea in your mouth and then inhale the potpourri.
Keep your thoughts on the sights and smells of the potpourri and tea. Keep yourself distracted – focus on the sensations which are pleasant. You might notice that the only sensation was liquid in the mouth for a brief moment.
We really do have more control over our experiences than we think.
For toilet, apply Vaseline from the get-go, and re-apply after each toileting. Don’t look in the toilet :-) . . just keep your thoughts on anything which is pleasant in your surroundings.
I was doing other things and not allowing myself to think about the process except only “in the moment” to do what had to be done. I was doing dishes, laundry, and arranging flowers in vases.
Good luck!!
Thank you Shannon333 for your wonderful reply. You got the concept I was writing about down perfectly and you made the whole procedure seem to be such a gourmet delight that your comments should be published in a Foodie Magazine. It seems strange to me that the Colyte manufacturers don’t put this method on their bottle. What they do put there doesn’t work and makes their product name world famous for awful. Thanks again. Probaway – Charles Scamahorn ps I received this via email and would like to post it in the comments section. Or you could just cut and paste it there. Potentially billions of future Colyte patients would be made much happier.
P.S. When toileting, blot rather than wipe. The first time is the most dramatic, so they may call for a wipe or two when done. Sit for a couple of minutes and you might save yourself another trip. Once past the first “rush” the subsequent “cleansing” is actually a pleasant sensation – just relax.
One correction is to use cinnamon sticks instead of the powder, since the liquids must be clear.
Early Tues a.m. – Just finished the last glass, and it was just as easy as when I began yesterday afternoon. This morning simplified things a bit. Made the chai with sliced ginger, more cloves, cinnamon sticks, pinch of freshly ground black pepper, one English Breakfast tea bag after the spices boiled for 15 minutes prior to Colyte. Had also gotten the Autumn potpourri boiling about a half hour earlier – dried orange peels, more cloves this time, and cinnamon sticks (ground works, too). When ready to start, get your chilled glass & Colyte out of the fridge. Pour 8 oz into the glass. Pour 1/2 cup of the tea into a cup and add honey if you like. (This was especially nice this cold morning.) inhale the potpourri in a long slow way, focusing on the wonderful aroma; drink the Colyte without taking any breaths; exhale and then inhale the potpourri again, attention on the lovely aroma, and sip the tea, swishing it around your mouth and focusing then on the pleasant flavors there.
I then took my tea and sat in my rocker next to the computer and listened to Ask And It Is Given on Hay House Radio (the Law of Attraction) which is inspiring, in front of my windows which have a beautiful view. I had a kitty in my lap too. I just distracted myself from every bit of the process, in favor of thoughts and feelings which would feel good. That’s the whole Law of Attraction idea, anyway. Entertaining negative thoughts generate more negative thoughts. Changing the channel to any thought which feels a little better will take you in that direction. Let go of any resistance to doing this. Find something good about the moment – such as, “I’m getting the day off from work today – WOO HOO!” etc.
I also have studied Tantra for many years – getting out of the head and “coming to your senses”. Staying in the present moment and finding something to enjoy there.
Shannon333 you make this whole Colyte experience seem so inviting and so much fun I’m feeling left out. I’m not scheduled for an exam for several years and I want to play the game too. Ohoo. I can hardly wait.
I hope the people who might be having a bad experience right now read your comments and start having a good one.
A short plug. This was an important discovery of mine, but a much more important one I published in 1994, was how to beat heart attacks and other embolisms. It is becoming common knowledge now – 22 years later.
You are so kind! Thank you! You are evidently one of those who is ahead of his times. I am, too, with some subjects, though never intended to be. Do you have a cite to where your heart info is located? I’m reading “The Heart’s Code” right now.
Here is a short list of my publications on avoiding heart attacks. https://probaway.wordpress.com//?s=aspirin&search=Go
https://probaway.wordpress.com/2011/05/07/keep-your-heart-attack-aspirin-at-your-bedside/
My current personal experimentation is with High Intensity Training (HIT) and
every two months flushing my arteries with 2 oz of vodka taken with a body temperature of 102 degrees F created with a hot bath at 106 degrees F. for half an hour. I have no proof that this works except that my blood pressure is now 115/69 – 55bpm at age 76.
P.S. Took a printout of your blog to the exam today (which as you said was also enjoyable) and my doctor said he’d put it out for other patients to see. I hope he and the other medical people read it, too.
37 year woman have my test wednesday morning,drinking the nasty stuff,my stomach feels sick,I wanted to know how long it would take to run to the restroom,I guess soon i will find out
Phillipians 4:16, I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me. Good advice and having a drink and toilet handy is the ticket! Going to brew in my Keurig now!
One more thing! I poured a bunch of countrytime lemonade in my bottle, and a few ice cubes, shook it up and it was more tolerable.
I am about to take my first dose of the Colyte and I am scared to death. I have my colonoscopy in the morning at 8:00 am. I have to drive 1 1/2 to get to the doctor’s office. Will I make it in time or will I have to pull over to go to the bathroom. Oh, I will be sooooo glad when this whole ordeal is over.
If you take your Colyte, for the numerous times recommended the night before you depart, you will discover that it is very fast acting. Don’t take any for the hour before you leave and you will probably be alright for your long drive. However, you might carry along a towel or two just in case of disaster. Most people find the biggest problem is just drinking the stuff, but if you follow the directions in the post that isn’t too bad. Because of your time delay you are going to get hungry, but don’t eat anything solid or it will ruin the tests, and you will have to start all over.
Thank you for the helpful tips! I just had my colonoscopy yesterday and had good results taking the colyte with chicken broth the night before and apple cider the morning of.
Thanks for this! It really, really helps! I did the first 12 glasses of glop yesterday afternoon, am doing the remaining 4 glasses now. I temper the taste with a sip of clear apple juice before and after. That also provides a little sugar for energy. (Hope it doesn’t ruin the procedure!)
The ‘scope’ work is this afternoon. I’ve never had any hospital procedure before so it’s scary. I’ll let you know more.
Thanks again!
The worst part is over. The actual procedure is fun if you enjoy having nurses fuss over you.
How true! I do enjoy nurses fussing over me, and the procedure went swimmingly! In fact I didn’t know it happened until a nurse woke me up!
Thank you very, very much, for your advice in getting through the tough part which was guzzling that gallon of glop! Having sipped something before and after drinking that stuff made it possible. In my case it was clear apple juice, which also provided a little sugar for much needed energy.
i like the Demerol buzz
My comment is: Why in the world would you force an ad on your visitors? That black and white window on the lower lefthand side is SOOOOO annoying, and has no ‘X’ to close it! how RUDE!!! I won’t come back to your website because of it.
Dear Barbara Fuller
I have absolutely no control over those ads! I find them very annoying too, especially since I have put up 1,616 mostly helpful posts about personal discoveries and have over 600,000 page views but not one penny of monetary recompense. Occasionally I do get a thank you.
Charles Scamahorn – Probaway
sorry…it’s on the righthand side.
My husband is having a colonoscopy and an endoscopy tomorrow morning. The advice here was SO VERY helpul with regard to the Colyte, as well as the information about the actual procedures. The sip of tea before and after the Colyte chugs made all the difference for him. I agree with all the other comments regarding this blog being required reading for colonoscopy patients, as I always hear that the prep the night before is horrible, and I think this keeps people from a lifesaving diagnostic procedure. I have never had this done- though I should- (my mom- a nurse- died of colon cancer, helloooo…) and now, having observed my husband’s process, and reading this helpful information, I feel much less scared. Thanks so much!
I am preparing for my fifth colonoscopy tomorrow morning. This will also be the fifth doctor to perform it – therefore my fifth set of instructions. This was the first doctor who said I could have as much of the clear liquids as I wanted throughout the prep. So this is the first time I have finished every drop. I had a sip before and after each glass, but I didn’t know about the aroma – I will try that on the next one.
I was told about that I could use the lemonade mix for flavoring with my first colonoscopy – it was a huge mistake for me. I felt raw inside and out. I could not sit comfortably for several days.
Preparation H or KY Jelly are good tips too.
I was also told to lay on my left side if I felt nauseous during the process.
Try to remember that there are worse things in life!
ok, this stuff tastes HORRIBLE!!! Very salty, I gag when I try to drink…. I typically don’t even use salt on food, so the strong salty taste of the colyte is really bad for me. I just (tried) started to drink it…. Not sure I can do this
Pingback: How to cure cancer. Maybe. « Probaway – Life Hacks
I am in the process of drinking the colyte in preparation for my first procedure tomorrow. Thanks for all of the tips on how to get this drink down. Using lemonade to help the process. Thanks again.
Past colonoscopies had to drink the whole gallon of colyte the night before. Now they want half the night before and half in the morning. Look up “morning only prep for colonoscopy” and it says that depending on what time your appointment is (noon or later) you can drink the whole gallon in the morning and even have light breakfast and lunch the day before!
Just finished glass # 5. I cannot seem to hide the taste of the colyte 😝while gulping it down but the sip of another beverage immediately after certainly replaces the unpleasant taste quickly. Your description was indeed entertaining. Still wondering when the, as Teddy stated, “avalanche” will begin.🚽
Ok, for those wanting to know how quick things start to happen, here is my experience. I was instructed to drink the first 2 litres of Colyte, one 8 oz. glass every 10 minutes, then the last two litres 8 hours after starting the first 2 litres. On the first 2 litre session here is what happened. The first BM happened between glass 6 & 7. My next was right after the last glass of Colyte of the first two liters, glass # 9 ( a 1/2 glass). Then for the next 1/3 hour it occurred about every 5 minutes spreading out to 10 minutes apart then 15 minutes. I followed the preparation diet as directed. After the 4th BM, it was the color of cloudy pee. Hope this is not too gross sounding.
I start mine tonight @ 6PM. My doctor told me to add Crystal Light Lemonade or Iced Tea to each glass to help kill the taste. Has anyone tried anything like that? I will let you know how that worked out for me. If it doesn’t do anything for me, I will try the the OP’s method. I read the instructions and it says not to mix anything with the solution but the doctor is the one who told me it’s ok so…Ok. I’ll try it. Thanks for all the enlightenment on things to come.
I decided to go the way described above and used ginger tea, which has a strong flavor, so not once did I ever taste the Colyte. I had no problem drinking it the first round but when it came time for the second round ( 5 hours before my colonoscopy) I made it through 3 glasses and then my body decided it had had enough and I threw it all up. I was still cleaned out by the time I went and wasn’t nervous at all. When it comes time again, I know this is the method I will use. Sip the strong flavored tea hold breathe drink Colyte, sip tea, breathe. Thanks for all the helpful tips.
Thank you for your wise and very helpful tips. I sincerely appreciate them. I drank white grape juice before and after my Colyte in the manner you suggested and it went well. It was a little harder getting the second 1/2 gallon down because the Colyte wasn’t as cold. I leave for my procedure in about an hour. Hallelujah! I believe the worst part is over. I will have been without food for approximately 41 hours. Feeling weak but excited to be done with my 50 year old rite of passage. :)
I have had 2 colonoscopys, both with Colyte prep, but my husband had one recently and he was given pills to take the night before with several glasses of water in between. I don’t know how he got so lucky, but the pills had the desired effect and he didn’t have to deal with the Coyte. I’m asking for the pills next time!
I get to do mine on Friday. YAY!
As a Crohn’s patient, I have had my fair share of colonoscopies using various prep medications and methods. I hate Colyte. Makes me gag, vomit, etc.
So, my new doc just sent the instructions for my upcoming colonoscopy which included Colyte. Got on the phone and said I’d rather take an entire bottle of Miralax and split it between two 32 ounce bottles of clear or yellow Gatorade. He agreed. Depending upon when your test is scheduled for, you may take one in the late afternoon, and the other in the early morning to ensure a good night’s sleep. Check with your doc regarding timing, but tell him you would like to get a good night’s sleep.
BUT, here’s the thing and it is the gospel truth. I’ve adhered to this with all types of GI tests and even a bowel resection surgery. Once you start pooping water, you’re done. Drink nothing but water from that point forward and you’re fine. I usually only drink one of the 32 ounce bottles of the Gatorade/Miralax mixture and the docs report I’m squeaky clean. This advice was given to me by a friend who has a rare intestinal cancer and participates in a national study. She has had yearly colonoscopies for a decade and knows what she is talking about.
My third colonoscopy in less than a year is coming up in a couple of weeks. No Colyte for me.
A spicy drink right before and after a foul tasting drink or food works even with peas and broccoli. That technique might be necessary when at a formal dinner, like George Bush Sr who was embarassed to say, “I’m President and don’t have to eat broccoli.”
I have zero experience with Miralax, but it should work with that stuff too.
Do you remember the scene from “It’s a wonderful life” where the bottle of sherry keeps filling up on it’s own? I think my container of Colyte is doing the same thing! Good tips for getting it down posted here, thanks.
I meant to say the movie “The Bishops wife” , on my second half bottle……apple juice seems to help get it down.
Thank you so much! I read with interest all that was described in your blog entries & the comments – it has helped me immensely! Tomorrow is C-Day, and I now feel a little more “prepped” heading in. The half gallon of Colyte is ingested, and has yet to make its reappearance. Fun, fun.
Pingback: Colonoscopy update on avoiding Colyte laxative drugs. « Probaway – Life Hacks
My first colonoscopy is tomorrow and I’m half way through my Colyte. I was feeling very isolated and actually called the nursing station to make sure that vegetable broth was acceptable substitute for chicken of beef broth. I almost called back to inquire how fast I was supposed to drinik the mix, at what intervals, etc. and then thought to just look it up online Subsequently I stumbled upon this site. What a comforting sense of community it has given me. In about a half an hour, with renewed confidence, I’ll begin to finish off the second half of my ‘pooh-juice’ . My best tip is this … the Pampers diaper wipes for sensetive skin are awesome. I keep them around the house for my grandchildren and they made this experience a bit less uncomfortable. I haven’t yet had to use the Desitin that I also kept close. Good luck Everyone!
My procedure is set for 2:00 p.m. the day after tomorrow. The next 40 hours are going to be the longest of my life.That huge jug is certainly intimidating.Can’t wait to toss it into the recycling bin. The powder is pineapple flavoured…not my favourite flavour. The tips were very much appreciated and hopefully will get me through the ordeal ahead.
Dear Norse – Please keep a hourly diary (not diarrhea – I do have a problem with spelling) to remember how things go. It is impossible to remember after the whole thing is over, but others would like to know because it would ease their fears. – Probaway
I will try to do that. It all begins right now!
I’m about to embark on the intimidating journey that is colonoscopy. I am 52 and have managed to put it off for the last 2 years. I do know how important this procedure is. I lost my sister to cancer in 2009. I think all these comments and suggestions sound very helpful. I will definitely try the sips of strong drink before and after. My doctor will not allow me to go to this procedure without someone present to drive me home. He will not perform the procedure unless my person agrees to stay there the entire time. I will let you know how everything goes. Thank you.
I made it through my first colonoscopy without a hitch. I took some of the advice given in this blog, I think it was really helpful. In addition, I brought a cooler with an ice pack into the bathroom with me so I could keep everything cold. With each dose, I took a sip of apple juice, drank 8 oz. of prep, then took another sip of apple juice without taking a breath. I had very little trouble. I tried to space doses about every 15 minutes, and I finished in a little over 3 hours. To pass the time, I either read or watched tv. I didn’t have any trouble sleeping, but it was difficult waking up at 4 am to finish the prep. My stomach hurt slightly, but I was not nauseous. After the final prep, I stayed awake for about another 1/2 hour, then slept until 1 hour before my appt. Once at the hospital, I was taken to a waiting area. I changed into a gown, and I was allowed to keep my bra and socks on. I talked with a nurse, answered some questions and signed some forms. I was given IV fluids. I was then taken to a room for the procedure. I talked with the doctor briefly. I was given anesthesia and told to take long slow breaths. The next thing I knew, I was awakened by the nurse. I felt very well and not the least bit groggy. The doctor talked with me and told me all was well. I don’t need to have another colonoscopy for 10 years. All in all, it was not a bad experience. Thank you and everyone who has responded to this blog.
Thank you Laurie – This is exactly the kind of response people heading in for a colonoscopy want to hear. “All in all, it was not a bad experience.” That simple comment may eventually be read by thousands and give them the encouragement needed to get their tests. It will save some of them from a slow, painful and unnecessarily early death. Thank you.
Just finished my second litre of this nasty disgusting liquid. Each litre should have been drunk in 1.5 hours I’m afraid it’s taken me 5 hours!!! Wished I had read these comments before I started. Well just 1 litre to go then it’s bed and up again at 7.00am for another litre before my tests at 1.00pm. Some good tip’s here especially the one about dab not wipe feeling the results of that one but a bit too late for me. Started to sip vimto before and after the liquid and it does help, but my body not used to all this liquid intake. Good luck everyone.
Adding ice chips to the colyte was helpful to kill the taste. I had to drink about 48 liters of the stuff after they pumped my stomach.
48 liters? That would be some sort or record. It’s enough to fill a bath tub. My personal experience was that it was impossible to drink more than a couple of swallows of ice cold stuff without getting a terrific headache.
A more current post, what will miracle berries do to the taste buds? That candy tablet that really makes lemons taste sweet. My daughter had me try one and we ran around the house trying to find sour and bad tasting stuff. Its kind of pricey, but considering the dialog here, I am headed to Amazon or ebay now. Its worth a try any way!
What ever tastes good to you and has a bit of a good smell should work just fine.
This was my third colonoscopy and the easiest one yet. Thank you for the tenique. I was not only able to drink it all but I didn’t throw it up before I got it down.
I could not wait to get back to this blog page to let everyone know my results. This was my 2nd colonoscopy and the first one I had the Phosphate stuff that was recently recalled. This time I cringed when I found out I had to take the dreaded COLYTE! So 3 days ago I started searching for answers to ease this painful beverage when I came upon this one I carefully read all the entries as others did, then went to the store to find something with all the advice floating in my head. This is what worked for me and I will be using from now on. I bought:
APPLE CIDER
1 LEMON
1 2.54 oz. of TRUE LEMON (Iced tea mix) –In the Crystal Light section!
The morning of my prep I woke at 5am. :( I then mixed the prep of colyte with warm water from the tap cause warm water mixes alot better with powder. Mix very well by shaking bottle. Then I put bottle in refridg to chill. In the meantime I cut up the lemon to a couple of thick slices and set aside. Based on the advice here I poured a coffee cup size of apple cider and put it in the microwave for 1 and 30 min. Nice and hot and steaming with spices (oh yeah) I set that by the lemon slices. By this time the colyte is ready to pour in a 16 yes 16 oz. glass. Pour the prep in the glass then pour about half (maybe little less then half of the TRUE LEMON and stir vigorously with spoon. The packet is supposed to make like half a gallon and this will work. Use a squirt or two of the lemon if you like. Then as heard here…take a small smelling and sip of the aroma of hot cider. Plug your nose (believe me you can still taste it, it’s that strong) and take a deep breath in and hold it. Drink the mixture SLOWLY AND STEADILY not fast. Drink as much as you can about half a glass for me and then follow up with another sip and smell of the hot cider AS you take another breath. Rinse and repeat. This REALLY REALLY worked for me so much so that I was surprised at the 4th or 5th glass I didnt need to hold my nose anymore as it tasted like a slightly salty iced tea with lemon. Not too bad.
Thank you soooo much for the advice here by all. My results were 100% “clean clean clean” in the words of my specialist AND he also said and showed me pictures of how my bowels were the cleanest he has ever seen!!! Wow that was too much information…anyway, I feel as I have broke the mold of feeling fear at all for the next one thanks to my discovery and the advice given here. I sincerely hope this helps someone like it did me. I wish I could post this all over the internet. =)) Good luck!
—Matt
This was my second colonscopy and I was dreading drinking the movi-prep after my first experience with it, which involved taking a gulp and refusing to drink any more.
I proudly say that I managed to drink the entire 2 litres without throwing up and even done it within the alloted time, I used apple juice in between and this worked brilliantly although I did get through 2 litres of this :/.
Just wanted to say thankyou as I was preparing myself for an awful day of trying to drink this stuff, and as a chrons patient I have to have regular colonscopys every 5 years or less… this will make it so much easier the next time.
Thanks :)
this blog has been a lifesaver! I made myself a nice cup of Market Spice tea found here in Seattle. It is a very strong spicy tea. I took the time to smell it savor it, then quickly go to the cup of movi-prep, drink through the straw while plugging my nose. I drank as much as I could (about have the glass) then went back to my tea and sipped and sniffed. I repeated until my whole first half was done. Now to repeat in a four hours. Thank you so much for posting!
I know this blog was years ago but THANK YOU!! I am going in for a diagnostic colonoscopy tomorrow. I have already drank the magnesium citrate which I have done before for surgeries so that wasn’t bad but now I have to drink the colyte, do the enema, take the suppository, everything… I’m only 22 so this is all pretty intimidating but your blog post helped a lot! Thank you thank you thank you!!!
This blog was very helpful to me, I am 2 litres into the kool-ade. I don’t find the flavor to offensive, but its to much to drink in such a short time. I like the chasers of white grape juice and apple juice, but that too bloats you up.
Very scary no false alarms! If you think you have gas, you don’t, get to the toilet quick or it will run down your leg. Miracle Berries work on sour things, but the colyte is salty and taste the same either way. Diabetic candy with Xylotol seems to help in between. But every 15 minutes is to soon. I find working in the heat helps me absorb the liquid, but make sure you have a direct path to the bathroom and if you don’t get there in time, it will escape with out your health.
Vasaline might be advised if the runs cause chapping.
I haven’t really found the experience to bad yet, Kaiser puts you to sleep, you wame up and its done, so that part is predictable.
My issue was leaving Coumadin a blood thinner and going to a bridge thearapy of LOVENOX injections in the stomache. I know diabetics shot needles in to them, but i am a needle coward! I found a nurse friend to do the shots and have the 7 down before the procedure and will get another 6 to 7 afterwards. The punch is wau better than the shots I dread, so its all what you are comparing it too.
Jay
Best one hour of sleep I ever had! Kaiser puts you under. The procedure lasts about 20 minutes and the other hour or so is prep or recovery time. While in they take pictures you get to see and remove pallups. Bring a banana with you in the car, you will be hungry afterward. Its nothing to be fearful of and if you do it every 5 years, so be it.
With a clean colon consider the new lease on life! Eating more raw fruit & vegie’s, staying away from Red meat, etc. Its a new begining!!!
Jay
Im having. My first one sept 5. Apprehensnive, scared. Though necessary. Same yucky liquid. Prescribed plus 2 dulcolax. Did u have cramps, sweating. Or was it quite a cleansing? Tired or weak follow drinking and frequent visits to the toilet? Following recovery? Rest, resume normal activity? I.e., eating, bathroom habits.? U know there’s an xray type colonoscopy. ? Thanks for listening.
The current X-ray method misses the smaller polyps that would be clipped off during a colonoscopy and checked for cancer, thus catching them earlier than an X-ray. There is a blood test method that is now being researched, but its efficacy and use isn’t available yet.
My spouse just had a procedure yesterday. Her experience was okay. Not exactly pleasant, but nothing to worry about either. Taking the drink wasn’t a problem using my spicy drink before and after the purging drink, while holding breath. For her not eating solid food was a bit annoying but nothing to worry about. The procedure itself was no problem and she chose to take the sedative, which left her woozy for a few minutes. The nurses and doctors were pleasant and efficient. As for the results, almost everyone comes out okay, or has a few benign polyps removed. You don’t need to worry about a bad outcome until you get diagnosed with that problem. So, just enjoy it as much as possible, and in a couple of hours you will probably be back home and everything will be normal again.
At this time it appears like Movable Type is the preferred blogging platform available right now.
(from what I’ve read) Is that what you’re using on your blog?
I’m prepping right now for my exam tomorrow morning. I put Vanilla Creme Stevia extract in it and somehow it’s a little better. It’s the amount you need to drink that’s freaking me out. Last time I had this done, I threw up everything…they were still able to do the test though since I must have cleaned myself out good. I read somewhere if you take 4 ducolax about an hour after your last meal, than start the prep an hour or so after that, that you only need to drink half the amount. That’s not what it said on my directions though. I took the ducolax at about 9am, started drinking the drink and still haven’t gone to the bathroom!!! Maybe since I already did this morning and it’ll just take longer? Thanks for the advice!
My memory of the experience was that I felt normal for about half an hour after taking the Colyte and then suddenly I had to go – thirty seconds would have been the longest I could have held back intentionally. *Whoever reads this*, please keep a minute by minute diary of these effects and post them. Everyone wants to know the timing so they can plan their activities. As I recall, and memory around these events is poor, after I went to the toilet there was no further need to go until I took the Colyte again several hours later. Therefore, it would have been okay to go outdoors without a problem, but I don’t know, and that’s why your feedback would be valuable to everyone facing this procedure.
Ok…so it started around 1/2 hour ago…not to bad. I’m taking my time drinking this…even if I don’t finish the whole thing…I cannot chug this stuff down, even though I doctored it up…will let you know more details later!
Thanks so much for all the blog! My procedure is tomorrow as well, first time, and I just finished the entire jug of Colyte BEFORE I found you. There are a lot of good ideas here which I could have used. However, I was lucky in that it all stayed down the first time. I only spit up a little at the very end, and by then it did not make any difference. I used fresh lime juice in the Colyte, but it did not make it all that pleasant. At the end of each glass I had to put the lime in my mouth, followed by a little bit of a lemon popsicle to make it all stay down. It was about one hour before I got any reactions from it, but then they were swift and sure; no cramps or pain, but had to be in the house and ready to move to the bathroom. Once it was over, it was over, and now at 4 AM I have to drink magnesium citrate, only 10 ounces.
I still think that in this modern day and age, there should be a couple of pills you could take to make this less stressful.
Also, I stayed on a liquid diet for 2 days instead of one, although I did have some fruit the first day, so maybe there was less to void than if I had.
I am a pretty good writer under most circumstances, but I can tell I am in a meandering frame of mind, so I thank you again and wish everyone good luck with the procedures. Will check back.
It appears that when Colyte is taken it takes a half hour before the effects begin, but once a thorough bowel movement has occurred plus a few minutes to make sure, that there won’t be any need again until after the next intake of Colyte. Another preparation called Suprep, isn’t so bad tasting as Colyte, about like cough syrup, and its reaction timing before the reaction is about a half an hour, but the cut off timing isn’t as exact. I don’t know for sure, as that is based on a few hearsay reports. Please if you are reading this and are about to take any of these bowel cleansing preparations write down the exact time you take it, the time to the effects take place, and the time after the bowel movement you have any other effects. No one seems to know, and it makes a difference in how confined one is going to be to their toilet. If “when your done, your done”, it would be possible to go about your daily activities.
Please post your results.
This is important data coming in –
“It was about one hour before I got any reactions from it, but then they were swift and sure; no cramps or pain, but had to be in the house and ready to move to the bathroom. Once it was over, it was over,” –
Knowing this gives the user of Colyte some idea of what to expect. Was this typical or was it only a one time personal experience? Whoever is reading this, please share the timing of your personal experience.
It’s late and I’m going to bed. Could get about 2/3 down…no more. I am so tired and just am waiting for tomorrow. My “runs” are pretty clear now and I’m not that worried that they won’t do the procedure, even though I didn’t finish it all. Good luck to everyone tomorrow.
How many minutes between when you took the (name?) stuff and the effects? And how many minutes after going did you have to go again – if ever? Could you have left home safely?
People want to know, so they can carry on with their lives.
Never trust a fart, excuse the term!
The Ducalox stool softener can give you cramps. The kool-aide is pretty basic, its salty lemonade or close! Cooling it to 47 degrees works, you mix and cool it the day or night before. Cold tricks your taste buds. My opinion is its not that bad!
The distracting flavors of white grape juice & spiced apple juice helped some, but to much of added liquids will bloat you. Its to much in to short a period, at 8 ounces every 15 minutes. First quart or litre you don’t notice much. Once you start the 2nd quart, stay close the the toilet, don’t trust that you have just gas, it will be liquid and messy if you don’t reach the toilet in time. A few hours after it will do its job.
If you have Kaiser, they will put you under and you will wake up in recovery, wondering what happened? They usually offer photo’s of what they saw. They will update you of whether pallups were removed.
They use air to expand the colon. so you will have gas 4-6 hours after. You will want a toilet out of fear its still liquid, but it will be just gas or air.
Its not really as much fear as we make it out to be. I drink health blender drinks that taste worse, so I have had practise. It was my first, but I wouldn’t lose any sleep on my next one.
Jay
Good luck Lori – but the worst is over, and the rest should be fun, if you let it be. Please make an after the event post, good-bad-or indifferent. Do you have any improvements?
You pal in the quest for a trouble free life.
As I ‘key-ya’ I am on my 3rd class of the oily clear wine called Colyte. NOTHING has happened yet!! Should I EXPECT PAIN in this purging? What if I have a blockage? Should I be worried? Should I down it as I have been more like gulping. Okay between a large sip and big gulp. Having trouble drinking a whole glass in 10 minutes. Anyone else? Will keyp (get it) ya posted as we go.
Hi,
I read all these blogs on Colyte yesterday before downing the 4 litres of the stuff. I got myself pretty worried about how it would taste. I have had 2 colonoscopies before, both with Picosalix which is just one drink with results happening for many hours afterwards. I was worried this time about how I could possibly get that massive amount of fluid down in the few hours allowed and how it would taste. My other worry was that I needed a good night sleep and didn’t want to be up all night visiting on the “throne”
Well, I found the new and improved pinapple flavoured colyte not too difficult to take. It is somewhat salty but using the suggestion of apple juice just before and just after the drink, plus holding the breath as long as possible made it managable.
However, the trick then was to be as close as humanly possible to the toilet. The episodes are quite violent but with no cramping. There is not much feeling that you have to do anything at all, not like Picosalix where you would get some cramping. This was so rapid that, although only 10 feet from the toilet , a few times I soiled my underwear. So my suggestion is to have lots of clean underpants! Otherwise, just stay in the bathroom.
I seemed to get clear fluid after about 2 1/2 hours which seemed very early considering we have a huge number of feet of bowel to clean out. However, I did have 2 ducolax laxatives the night before that did get rid of some of the solids early that morning before taking the colyte which must have helped.
I was concerned that maybe I wasn’t cleaning out well (has been a aproblem in thepast). There didn’t seem to be much stool produced for someone like me who is cronically constipated, so i called the OR nurse and she said it is very variable and to continue taking it till it is finished which I did. All seemed well and I figured I was finished (about 5 p.m.) when the results were clear. Then as the evening wore on, there seemed to be some light gold solids and I figured that I wasn’t clean after all. This continued until 10 when I finally decided to go to bed, putting some towells under my butt should I have an accident I couldn’t feel over night (which I didn’t) I did get a good night sleep inspite of some apprehension). This morning, I still had some semi solids which I figured they might cancel the test (although I was having a stomach exam as well).
I spoke with the nurse with my concerns and she said that residual, golden, mucassy stuff a the end is bile from the liver and is normal. They have water and suction that they use to get rid of small amounts of stuff left over so it is normal and not to worry.
In the end, the colonoscopy went ok, I had a litlle pain toward the end but nothing to report except a bit of diverticulitis, no polyps etc and he said that the bowel was nice and clean.
The experience was not that bad for what good news I got and not something that someone should avoid. The colyte was acceptable and was superior in effectiveness and comfort compared to Pico salix..
So goodluck to all those anxious about the whole procedure, it is not that bad….but try to get the pinapple flavoured Colyte and stay near the bathroom and get there if there is even the slightest feeling that something is happening!
I agree with you about being close to the bathroom. I went through about 6 pairs of underwear. I also was worried about sleeping but didn’t have a problem with it. I was surprised to still pass a little water the next morning. Thanks for mentioning the golden residue, I wondered about that.
Thank you so very much Val! – We are beginning to get clarity on this issue! Perhaps the recommendation should be to be sitting on the throne very soon after taking your medicine. Reading a book or magazine while waiting for the action sounds like a reasonable activity. After, the big event, plus a couple of minutes without any further activity, it’s probably okay to go to your other rooms. However, after an hour, when it’s time to take another round of purging fluids, it may be best to do it in the bath room. I think there is about 15 seconds to a minute after you first feel the urge to go that it becomes an uncontrollable flow. Whoever reads this please comment on this timing issue.
I had my colonoscopy this afternoon and I’ve noticed in reading all the posts in this blog that no one has really said anything about the procedure itself. I understand that if you are sedated during the procedure (according to my attending nurse, 99% of people are) you might not remember too much about it or at least you won’t have had any pain. I asked the Dr. if I could have it done without any sedatives and she said that would be fine but they would prep me for them anyway in case I changed my mind during the procedure. I watched the whole thing from beginning to end on about a 30″ monitor and I did not change my mind about the sedative. There was a timer running in the corner of the screen that disappeared sometime 15 min into the procedure. I am estimating the whole thing took between 35 and 40 min. I’m always curious about how things work so for me it was good to be totally with it during the whole procedure. For anyone with a low pain threshold I would not recommend this. When they pump the colon full of air so they can maneuver the scope and see where they’re going with it, it feels like you are having cramps. I’ve had much more painful cramps when I’ve been sick. After the procedure there was a bit of paperwork the nurse had to complete and he brought me some cookies and juice. I was so hungry I downed everything quite quickly. At this point I hadn’t eaten in 33 hours. I got dressed after a couple huge farts, went to the washroom and then was able to walk out of the hospital without any help. I had arranged to be picked up just in case I had been sedated, because I was told that I couldn’t drive for 24 hours after. An hour after I left the hospital I was sitting in my hairdresser’s chair getting a haircut. I would likely do it without the sedative again just because I don’t want to waste a day recovering. Thanks to everyone who has posted about the prep for the procedure. It was very helpful.
Brad, you are very brave. Did you still have to pay to have anesthesia on standby? I sleep through the whole procedure which I was glad of. I had two natural childbirths so I could have probably stood the pain and It would have been cool to watch but, I sleeping through it made it go faster.
I had my first colonoscopy today. The Co-lyte was horrible. I am a RN and have given many, many people jugs of Co-lyte to drink. I didn’t realize how really bad it it.
The suggested of taking a chaser after each glass really helped. A co-worker suggested adding Crystal Light lemon-lime to flavor it. I didn’t have time to buy any.
I found some Raspberry flavored Splenda in my cabinet. (It doesn’t add color to the drink) I add it to the first glass, and found that it didn’t completely dissolve. I used it in a few of the glasses. I found it was the consistency of the drink that was hardest for me to handle, that’s where the chaser helped the most to wash it out my mouth. I found it easiest to chuck the whole glass without breathing then drinking something afterwards. I still gagged a few times.
Once it started working, that was pretty bad. It was very unpredictable when it would happen. I used A & D for the sore bottom.
I am very happy to say that I didn’t have any polyps, so I don’t have to have another one for 10 years. Maybe by then there will be a different prep or I will forget how bad it was.
Hello! I’ve been following your site for a while now and finally got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from Lubbock Texas! Just wanted to tell you keep up the excellent work!
anime is taking over, i remember a few years back you couldnt hear about cosplaying in america
What has me really freaked out is that I am disabled,wear a full leg brace and a turtle walking at a good pace could out run me. Is this lovely drink thing going to make me have an accident? I am deathly afraid of humiliating myself!
This whole procedure is pretty ‘shitty no pun intended
For a few months I’ve had GI issues, so I have a colonoscopy/gastroscopy tomorrow at 10:00am. I opted to travel 1.5 hrs to a smaller centre, as the waiting-list was much shorter there. My instructions were to begin a clear-liquid diet the morning of the day before my appointment, and begin drinking the Colyte solution around 12:00 noon. Here is what I jotted down:
12:00 noon – hungry as hell
Laste ate at 11:00pm last night.
I decided to go out and pick up some lemon Jello, chicken broth, and apple juice before I began.
Weight 138.8lbs
12:48 – first glass of Colyte, didn’t taste pleasant, but wasn’t bad at all. Like salty pineapple flavored water.
1:04 – second glass, a little harder to swallow, feeling bloated
1:18 – bathroom, watery stool
1:23 – glass 3
1:27 bathroom, watery stool
1:37 – glass 4, tasting gross now
1:40 – bathroom, there’s no stopping it now
1:55 – glass 5 – aftertaste is horrendous
2:00 – bathroom, getting clearer
2:10 – glass 6
Weight 138.6lbs
2:15 – bathroom
2:27 – glass 7, tastes plain awful, but gotta drink it
2:35 – bathroom, essentially yellow/clear now
2:44 – glass 8, it tastes so bad.
2:48 – bathroom, rear end is getting pretty sore
Weight 138.4lbs
3:00 – glass 9, really hard to get down now, gagging after drinking
3:10 – bathroom, almost as clear as what I drink
3:18 – glass 10, gagging at the thought of having to drink more. Started chasing with apple juice.
3:20 – bathroom
3:38 – glass 11, wouldn’t be able to keep it down without apple juice
3:45 – bathroom, nothing new here
Weight 138.8
4:00 – glass 12
4:05 – bathroom
4:20 – glass 13, apple juice really helps it go down
4:30 – bathroom
4:40 – glass 14
4:55 – bathroom
5:05 – glass 15
5:10 – bathroom
5:15 – glass 16, all gone! Yes!
5:40 – bathroom
5:45 – Enjoying some chicken broth
5:47 – bathroom
6:00 – bathroom
6:15 – bathroom
Weight 138.8lbs
6:40 – bathroom
7:15 – bathroom
8:50 – bathroom
9:20 – bathroom
SLEEP – Only woke up once to go to the bathroom.
10:00am – Drove 1.5 hrs without incident; appointment time, so hungry, feels like my stomach is eating itself.
Weight 136.0lbs
Upon arrival, I was given a bed and a nurse came and asked me some questions. I then changed into a backless gown and was given a robe to cover my behind. Next, the anaesthesiologist stopped by and asked me some questions. The nurse came back and took my blood pressure and weight. She then started me on a saline IV. At 11:30am, one of the OR nurses came and wheeled me into the OR where the gastroenterologist, anaesthesiologist, and rest of the team were waiting.
They hooked me up to a blood pressure monitor and I signed a consent form. The anaesthesiologist reached over and injected the anaesthetic into my IV. The nurse then told me to roll on to my left side, where she then placed a mouth guard in my mouth to protect my teeth from the endoscope. That’s the last thing I remember.
I woke up from what felt like the best sleep I’ve ever had. A nurse was beside my bed taking my blood pressure, and my head felt like on of those bobble-head figures. She wheeled me back into the room I was in when I first arrived, and she brought me some tea, apple juice, and a bun. 15-20 mins later she disconnected my IV. The gastroenterologist came by a few moments later and spoke with me. I walked out of the hospital at 1:30pm.
Thank You Cyndi This is wonderful. It gives everyone a first hand account of how the whole procedure goes, from beginning to end. It is informative to everyone that the Colyte doesn’t taste all that bad at first, but it seems to get worse later on. Using the spicy smelling drink just before and after swallowing the Colyte probably would have helped a lot, it really helped me. Another point that needs clarification. After drinking the Colyte was there a single complete elimination and never a second one? That is important to know, because it may be necessary for someone to leave the house, and they wouldn’t want to get involved in a disgusting public situation. My experience, as I remember it, was that about ten minutes after taking the Colyte I had a single and complete elimination of watery discharge and never a second need to go. Thank you so much Cyndi. You have helped to make the world a better and safer place.
While you’re taking Colyte, I wouldn’t recommend being somewhere without immediate washroom access for more than 5-10 minutes. I ran to the bathroom over 20 times that day. The majority of those bathroom trips occurred between 1:00-6:00pm; that’s an average of one bathroom trip every 15 minutes. After I took my last glass of Colyte, it took about an hour for things to settle down.
I had some jello, posicles, and chicken broth in the evening, and I’m sure that contributed to my evening bathroom trips. In other words, after you’ve finished your last glass of Colyte and have waited about an hour, all of the Colyte should be out of your GI system. You likely won’t have to use the washroom again until you eat/drink something else.
On a side note, it’s now the day after my procedure, and I’m quite tired. My bowel movements aren’t anything like they used to be, and I expect it will take a few days for things to return to normal. I also wanted to mention that people shouldn’t be overly worried about dehydration or electrolyte imbalances. Colyte is much safer than the other options out there, because it contains a very particular ion concentration. That is, your body doesn’t “absorb” the Colyte, nor does your body lose fluid, The Colyte literally goes right through you, clearing everything out on its way.
That being said, your body naturally loses fluid throughout the day (e.g. sweating, breathing, etc.), so you should still consume fluids other than Colyte, when you can.
Thank You JR Those comments sound perfect to me. Your experience and advice is really helpful to someone facing this ordeal. Thanks is is also well deserved, via future good thoughts, from those who will be helped.
what a great place this is i have found! have been reading and laughing for an hour now. am TRYING to down these drinks, but i am having not only a colonoscopy tomorrow but an endoscopy due to 5 weeks of stomach pain, SO it is DIFFICULT to say the least to pound ANY kind of drink nevermind this vile concoction.
the instructions sat to drink 8 ounces every 15 minutes until i have drank 3 litres.
YEA RIGHT.
i weight 103 pounds soaking wet and am 5 feet nothing! i’m the size of a child.
how is this safe? i can already tell you it won’t be happening BUT i have pretty much eaten NOTHING for says SO i doubt much will evacuate anyhow.
would like to post a diary as you suggest, but i doubt my input would be helpful.
i AM worried about drinking the stuff in the a.m. BEFORE they put me to sleep.
i vomit easily and don’t want to end up a vegetable.if i end up pooping water, as they say, tonight, i am skipping tomorrows dose entirely.
why risk it?
thank you for the MANY hearty belly laughs here.
oh, started drinking an hour ago and have no urge, but i’ve only put away about 12 ounces in that time period. :(
i’m but a WEE ONE!
Hi Victoria
I am not a doctor, and don’t even play one on TV, but I don’t think there is a problem overdosing on Colyte, because it doesn’t really enter your “body” only going through you intestines in 10 – 30 minutes and on out. All the same since you are 2/3rds average in weight, perhaps 2/3rds dose would be more appropriate. I found drinking the spicy drink right before and after the Colyte really helps. My mother was only slightly over 100 pounds, and my grandmother wasn’t nearly as big, but I never thought of either of them as small in any way. They were powerful forces in my life.
thanks probaway!
well, procedure OVER. one nurse was a bit concerned that i failed to drink the entire does AND neglected to drink the morning dose BUT it all worked out as i had eaten practically nothing for days prior.
that said, the procedure went fine.(although i have a case of the hiccups which is AWFUL and apparently commonplace)
i used the pineapple flavoring as i had read on another message board that if your favorite flavor is “cherry” USE SOMETHING ELSE because you will hate cherry from then on out.
i followed it with white grape juice, that i also no longer want in this lifetime.
a spoonful of chicken broth took all the bad taste away after each dose.
i will say that i only consumed HALF the dosage from 3 pm until 9 pm (6 hours) and it still worked for me.
i did NOT do the 8 oz every 15 minute thing.
now i have some pretty severe pain in my right side, but i assume it will pass.
had the endoscopy/colonoscopy with biopsies and results in a week.
thanks for keeping the webpage running all these years!
Okay, so I do have a question, after reading every comment. Almost, anyway. I started the generic colyte at 2 p.m. today, it’s almost midnight now. My appointment is in the afternoon, so I was instructed to leave about 1/2 to 1/4 of the bottle in the refrigerator to use in the morning. My problem is this: Things were pretty much clearing up with each bathroom visit until about 2 hours ago. Now, I’m seeing more solids again. Not a lot, but enough that I am afraid I’ve done this whole thing for nothing. Oh, I haven’t really asked a question, but I’m sure you know what I’m getting at. Is this normal? Should I be drinking more water? I’ve been drinking the original flavored Gatorade for the most part all day. I haven’t eaten anything since my “light lunch” before noon. Oh boy….
Hi Terri
The doctor can probably cope with a few little bits of solids, so just “take your medicine” as instructed and show up on time. For your final round of Colyte you shouldn’t drink more than a tiny sip of spiced tea to wash away the taste. And, from the beginning to the final taking of the Colyte you should avoid anything that might turn into solid fecal matter. Another suggestion, to make it all a little easier – think about the good taste of the sip of warm spice tea before and after the gulps, and plan to just ignore the time in between the beginning sips and the final ones.
Not eating is a real annoyance, but I went through the US Air Force survival school and didn’t eat anything for three days while living high in the Sierra mountains, in January, and got by just fine. But, I was in my 20s then.
Having my first done in the morning and I am So nervous!! Thank You for all the great info- All my fears and questions have been talked about. This was a great way to pass the time :-) So glad this came up in the google search!!
Hi Folks!! This is my 10 years, so once again “here we go”. Did remember from the last time being ready to vomit, vomit and vomit. So, this time I did drink on a super empty stomach. Only 1/2 glass of water 3 1/2 hours prior. Made a huge difference. If you have that full feeling from too much liquid, that’s what will make you gag. Also, drinking quickly from a straw really helps. And yes, drinking juice or downing some green jelly after makes you forget that awful taste. But here’s the thing. I know 3 people who ended up with colostomies (and that’s for life remember). So don’t fret over this. Which would you prefer? This is fast and over with. And it could save your life. Be happy – it’s only once every 10 years. Happy drinking!!!
Hi Lorene – I hope your procedure went well this time. This is such an important thing to do because when caught early, at the polyp stage, they simply clip it out and you never feel a thing. If you ignore these things until you do feel pain your chances of death go way up. So, with that bummer of a statement, I am happy to hear you did the procedure. As Spock was so fond of saying – Live long and prosper.
On Thu, Dec 13, 2012 at 4:08 PM, Probaway – Life Hacks wrote:
> ** > Lorene Puleo commented: “Hi Folks!! This is my 10 years, so once again > “here we go”. Did remember from the last time being ready to vomit, vomit > and vomit. So, this time I did drink on a super empty stomach. Only 1/2 > glass of water 3 1/2 hours prior. Made a huge difference. ” >
I get the biggest glass I have in my house….I pour in 5oz of vitamin flavoured water (strawberry-kiwi)and 5 oz of colyte. drink and repeat. I have done this for my last 2 colonoscopies and it makes it bearable. Also, burp as much as possible when you are drinking it. With drinking it so fast you get a lot of air in your gut. My colonoscopy is at 8:30am tomorrow.
Hi Tanya
I have my 1st Colonoscopy tomorrow at 9am – would you remember when you started to drink the Colyte, and did you finish the whole bottle 4ltrs same day or started the other half in the morning. – my Dr. instructions is not clear at all.
And thanks for sharing your tips – my clock is counting down or maybe I should of started already.
Thanks
Donna
Pingback: Christmas gifts came year around to me. « Probaway – Life Hacks
Hi Probaway
I have my 1st Colonoscopy tomorrow at 9am – would you know when is the best time to start drinking it today it’s Colyte 4ltrs – my Dr. instructions is not clear at all – I’m wondering if I have to complete it all today – I see on this trend that some drink half and the rest in the morning – In the morning it does state I have to take an enema a 6am and 7am.
Thanks
Donna
On third 8oz glass. After reading all these comments, I am no longer concerned. Thanks everybody.
I have a cleansing to do (for a barium test) in a couple months. This post is a primer on the cleansing process. A great service to the community. Not sure if anyone mentioned this, but my HMO includes some lemonade powder to mix with the colyte that works quite well. Drinking as much as you do, even it becomes tiresome, but it lessens the salty, objectionable taste. I’ve done this twice now, and I was back “in business” by the evening of the procedure. Thank you Charles, and all the people who replied. This struck a real nerve. It feels like a Yelp.com review.
I actually was basically looking for suggestions for my weblog and came across ur article, “Colonoscopy – and how to enjoy drinking the
foul tasting purging fluids. Probaway – Life Hacks”, do you care if I employ a number of of your concepts?
Thanks -Rayford
These Probaway articles are intended to help people live their lives better. The more people who can benefit from my experiences and discoveries the better.
I must say this is one of the best sites giving out information on prep for colonoscopy. I had my colonoscopy done last week and I thought I should share my experience here. Prior to my prep, I had gone through this site and various other sites trying to see the best way to prep.
Lot of comments here have suggested a variety of tips to drink colyte. I will offer my own tip. Its important to consider Colyte your friend in the endeavour to have excellent colon preparation. I was ready with a can of sprite to drink between colyte every 10-15 minutes. The colyte which I was drinking was pineapple flavor and did not tase bad at all. I drank the first glass with a straw, and then realised that the taste was not as bad as I had anticipated . I will admit that I was SUPER intimidated by the 4 litre size of the colyte. But once I started drinking it, it was a piece of cake. Towards the end of drinking the 1st two litres, I had a feeling of gagging, but it was over in a few seconds. I had started drinking colyte at 4 pm and was done with 2 litres at 6 pm. My first BM happened at 5 pm and subsequent BM’s happened respectively at 5;30 pm, 5:45 pm, 6:05 pm, 6:15 pm, 6:50 pm and then at 8:50 pm. I tried to sleep as I had to start drinking the balance 2 litres at 2 AM on the morning of colonoscopy. I started drinking at 2 AM and had my first BM again at 2:15 am, 2:50 am, 3:35 am, 3:50 am, 4 AM, 4:15 am, 4:35 am, 4:55 am, 5:25 am, and 6:10 am.
I drank the 2 litres without any gagging this time. I kept drinking sprite and was fine .
My colonoscopy was scheduled for 10:30 am and the last drink I had was a couple of sips of water at 8:30 am.
The last meal I had was a light breakfast the day before the colonoscopy and thereafter it was a diet of clear fluids only. I had orange jello for lunch , vegetable broth for dinner and then nothing except sprite until the next morning.
Please do not be scared of the prep with colyte. Just dont have any judgemetal issues on colyte prior to drinking it. It is meant to help and it is not bad tasting at all.
I think FEAR of the bad taste is worse than the actual drink itself. Be calm and get a thorough cleanse of your colon.
All the best to everyone who has to get this prep done.
Pingback: How to breeze through your colonoscopy -
It’s the best time to make a few plans for the longer term and it is time to be happy. I have read this put up and if I could I desire to counsel you some interesting issues or suggestions. Perhaps you could write next articles regarding this article. I desire to learn more things about it!
My mother had her colonoscopy this morning at 10:30am. Thanks to the helpful tips here she was pretty prepared for the prep; armed with lemon-lime and glacier cherry (dont worry its white) gatorade, canada dry ginger ale, baby wipes and pad lined underwear.
She started yesterday morning with a light breakfast consisting of toast and earl grey tea (no cream). She drank some apple juice, white cranberry juice, chicken broth and water until 8:00pm. From 8pm-10pm, she began drinking the 2L of colyte – 1cup(8ounces) every 15min. She found using a straw to drink the colyte with and using ginger ale and gatorade as chasers helped alot. Since my mom doesn’t do cold drinks (she can’t stomach them), we just left the 8 cups out so it was room temp, and she found it easier to drink. There were no BM until midway on the 5th cup. After the first BM, she found that she had to go immediately again and had to hurry back to the toilet. From that point on, she pretty much stayed on the toilet until 10pm since she felt like she couldn’t control the rapid fire.
From 10-11, she stayed on a chair very close to the bathroom – just a couple of steps away to avoid any accidents. From 11-12, she only had 2 more BM.
She slept from 12-5; only waking up twice for BM.
From 5am-7am, she drank the remaining 2L of Colyte. There were pretty much no BM until around the 4th cup. After the 5th cup, the remaining BM were clear. At around the 6th cup she puked some back up; I think she drank it all too quickly since she was burping a bunch before she puked. The 7th and 8th cup passed by uneventfully with 3 more BM.
From 7-8 she drank a little gatorade and had one more BM.
8-10 no more liquids! She had one more BM at 9:15, just as we were leaving to the hospital.
10:30 was her procedure – it was a conscious sedation. 2 hours later and shes home and perfectly fine, no polyps found! :D
All in all, the experience really wasn’t all that bad for my mom. She had to take magnesium citrate a year or two ago for a separate procedure (which was horrendous – impossible for her to keep the stuff down) and we were worried it was going to be a similar experience, but thankfully it wasn’t! :D
Thanks for the tips and good luck to everyone!
Thanks for this helpful site. I just wanted to chime in that I’m having a colonoscopy at 1 p.m. tomorrow; tonight I drank the first 2 litres of Colyte and was expecting something horrific, but it wasn’t that bad. It tasted like a Bromo-Seltzer type of drink that my parents would take called “Brioschi” for an upset stomach. Plus it tasted vaguely of pineapple. It did start to get hard to swallow toward the end of the 2 litres (especially with that bloated feeling going on), but it wasn’t horrible. Had a BM about 1.5 hours after the first glass, and now I’m pretty much on the toilet every 10 minutes. Thanks again for all of this support–it helped. :)
Oh, and by the way: having a nice warm bowl of beef broth helped a lot. The cloying sugary drinks don’t really help with the swallowing toward the end.
Pingback: Anorexic Weight Loss Timeline
Well this really gives me the courage to keep going. I am on cup #4 of this stuff and it is not fun. I seriously have been gagging every time I take it in. I have a chaser of powerade, but I think trying the stronger smelling liquid maybe a good idea.
In fact if I can be honest, I am a beauty product junkie.
On the subject of natural supplements, it is very important
to do a little research before taking them. Below are some great sources of fat that we should be including in our diets daily.
Omega-3 deficiency can also be linked to poor healing of wounds,
flaking skin, dandruff and excema. Some dealers carry this oil products
that are scented, making the experience more pleasurable and even therapeutic.
Exposure to the sun’s ultra-violet rays can trigger the release of free radicals that hastens aging and appearance of wrinkles.
Hi there just finished that really good Colyte treatment yummy!!!!That stuff is discusting. I found that drinking warm water as a chaser after each glass worked pretty good, tomorrow i go for my colonoscopy or yes if you have hemeroids it sure gets painfull
I forgot to add that taking Gravol before you start the procedure really helped it was recomended by my Doctor .
Ahaa, its fastidious dialogue on the topic of this paragraph at this place at this blog, I
have read all that, so now me also commenting here.
Hey there just wanted to give you a quick heads up.
The words in your article seem to be running off
the screen in Chrome. I’m not sure if this is a format issue or something to do with browser compatibility but I thought I’d post to let you know.
The style and design look great though! Hope you get the
problem resolved soon. Thanks
I’m really loving the theme/design of your blog. Do you ever run into any browser compatibility problems? A handful of my blog visitors have complained about my site not working correctly in Explorer but looks great in Firefox. Do you have any recommendations to help fix this issue?
of course like your website but you need to test
the spelling on several of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling issues and
I in finding it very troublesome to inform the reality then again I’ll definitely come back again.
Thanks for the interest and the comment. I know I have a spelling problem, always have, and it has caused some serious problems for me. It seems probable that spelling has a genetic component. The new spelling checkers have been a great help to me, but if there is a choice, I will trade my blood pressure of 120/70 at age 77 any time for my lousy spelling problem. We must make do, or do-do, with what we have. In college my English essays were always read by the teachers, but I usually got an F for the grade because of spelling. You may find it interesting that I never got a grade in English above a D- that’s what I deserved if the paper was graded on spelling, on the other hand I usually did top of my class in most other things, including USAF flight school.
I have been surfing on-line more than three
hours nowadays, but I never discovered any attention-grabbing article like yours.
It is pretty worth sufficient for me. In my view, if all site owners and bloggers made just right content material as you did, the web can be a
lot more helpful than ever before.
Thank Heaven for your blog. And, thank you everyone for your input. Sure to make my prep and procedure more helpful come next week. This is my 5-year screening. I’ve had two colonoscopies prior. The first, I was prescribed Colyte, but the second I took horse-sized pills with buckets of water. However, I’ve been told that the pills are hard on the kidneys so I’ve opted for the yucky Colyte. My relative in another state just had a colonoscopy using Dulcolax and Miralax which he said was “not bad”. I guess every doctor is different. Anyway, good luck to all who are on deck to undergo this procedure, and thanks again for being there for us.
This is my fourth time having to drink this stuff, Your tip of drinking the spiced beverage before hand, helped me drink it down so much faster! Thank you so much!
Pingback: January 2008 – Probaway.wordpress.com – web posts | Probaway - Life Hacks
This iis really interesting, You’re a very skipled blogger.
I’ve joined your rss fred and look forward to seekig
more of your excellent post. Also, I’ve sharedd youir web site in my
socioal networks!
Hello, Neat post. There is an issue along with your site in web explorer, might check this?
IE still is the marketplace chief and a big section of people will miss your magnificent writing because
of this problem.
Pingback: Condensed thoughts from Probaway’s January 2008 blog posts | Probaway - Life Hacks
Pingback: Condensed thoughts annual compilation from Probaway’s 2008 blog | Probaway - Life Hacks
It’s really very difficult in this full of activity life to listen news on TV, so I just use
web for that reason, and obtain the hottest news.
Si vous cherchez un website de films en ligne
utilisent un moteur de recherche tel que Google ou Yahoo!
Il permet aussi comparer les prix, de regarder des bandes-annonces et de donner son avis.
On se FOUT DES VO. Allez sur des sites angliches.
Some genuinely superb information, Gladiolus I discovered this.
You’ll for certain do not have something to lose with Adiphene,
thus for those that actually need to slim while not losing their time and power, then Adiphene
is that the product for you. Adiphene the new weight loss formula is
now available with the power of 11 different fat burners to boost weight loss.
There is a section to discuss the biggest loser show, specific
diets, and much more.
II wish I had a better story to relay. My first colonoscopy ten years ago was a breeze. Toileted right away no pain or bloating. But this second one was killer. I was scheduled for my 2nd colonoscopy today. I did not make it. Yesterday afternoon I started drinking the Nulightly every 10 minutes while also intaking both water and apple juice. My tongue swelled after about five different glasses of it (about an hour in) and my stomach was SO bloated and filled with gas. I kept at it, drinking over 1/2 of the huge bottle within 1 1/2 hours or so. I couldn’t drink anymore. I had no bowel movement even after 2 hours so I called the (unhelpful) after hours nurse and she told me to chug it down and then the pain and discomfort would go away. It wasn’t happening for me. I was going to throw up. After, I called the pharmacist who told me to immediately take an enema to relieve the pain and pressure as I may be allergic and since the bowels didn’t move when consuming over half of the solution and I was having severe cramps (I couldn’t even sit down), swollen and burning tongue and was unable to sit. She also told me to take a Gas-Ex product to try and “bring down” the huge bloat of my stomach. I did both things and it was FIVE HOURS after I first started drinking the solution (with water and apple juice), after the gas pain reliever and the ENEMA (directly inserted into the anus) before I had ANY bowel movement. It was not even a complete bowel movement. I had not been previously constipated, I stuck to the limited liquid diet (green jello and popsicles and water). The pharmacist also suggested a pedialyte product to replace my electrolytes since I was lightheaded and dizzy and it looked like I was five months pregnant! It is now more than 24 hours after the enema and I still have not had any more bowel movement, since the initial one after the anal enema. I will not have another colonoscopy unless I can use “the pills” that my husband took which were laxatives and immediately worked while drinking a flavored Miralax solution which is much more palatable and does not give me severe bloating, gas and swollen tongue. Thank God my husband was able to run out and get me the necessary supplies. If you have an extreme reaction like this, call a pharmacist or go to an E.R. if you can. Who knows what would have happened if I didn’t do what the pharmacist suggested? Oh, yes, of course neither the nurse or the doctor who was scheduled to conduct the colonoscopy EVER even called back to see how I was doing. I know the after hours nurse was mostly concerned that I was the second one in line in the morning and if I cancelled I would be upsetting her schedule. Tsk…tsk……..another doctor will be selected for my next go around. (I am still not recovered and have appointments tomorrow, so I pray it doesn’t “let loose” then). I seem my primary care doctor the day after tomorrow. Since this was my second scheduled colonoscopy, I KNEW my reaction was not normal and I wasn’t being sensitive, etc. Call for medical help if you need it. Some people are allergic to this solution……I took Benadryl as well for the probable allergic reaction. Good luck to all of you. Chances are slim that this would happen to you, but be aware that it can happen.
Hello Buffybaby – It appears there are several products on the market now to replace the mildly unpleasant Colyte. Unfortunately it seems they all have some worse downside than bad taste, but yours is the worst I’ve encountered for an immediate nasty reaction. With your extreme bloating it would indicate an immediate trip to the emergency room, as intestines can rupture, and if that happens you are in a life threatening condition. Possibly you have some unusual intestinal condition that triggered your bloating, so it is important to get the colonoscopy.
I have an appointment with my Primary Care physician tomorrow. I will definitely have the colonoscopy in the near future, but I will opt out of the Nulytley and replace it with the two day laxative and other liquid formula AND make sure that my Primary Care doc is available to see me if I need any help this time around. I hope I don’t have an “unusual intestinal condition” but that is what the colonoscopy should determine. Thank you for your reply. I will update as soon as I have/know the results of the colonoscopy. I will probably wait 1 to 2 weeks before I reschedule. I will let my Primary help me to determine the best possible time so I am not left without medical attention. (I considered going to the ER or Urgent Care, but I was unable to sit at all/in the car–either I needed to follow the pharmacist’s recommendations or call an ambulance as sitting was totally impossible for almost two hours). Thankfully, the pharmacist’s directions helped me greatly; she could not understand why the after hours nurse did not do more to help me. God bless the pharmacist. Your site helped me to see how unusual my reaction was. The “mildly unpleasant taste” was not my issue……I was terrified that it took five hours to move my bowels after the liquid, a colace stool softener and an enema……I have had no constipation prior to this process. I promise to update. Be well.
Hello Again, Checking back with an update. I did the two day fast, eating only clear liquids on day one and taking three dulcolax laxatives at 3 p.m. as instructed and then drinking the ten ounce bottle of magnesium citrate (also a laxative) at 6 p.m. All went well and my world started moving in the gut and then came expulsion from the colon. I wasn’t entirely “cleaned out” but was able to continue the soft diet of clear liquids, broth, orange and green popsicles and gatorade that evening and was able to sleep. The next day I was back on this diet and again at 3 p.m. three dulcolax tablets and then at 6 p.m. Miralax mixed with a 64 ounce dose of Gatorade. It did achieve the anticipated reaction (plus hemmies thrown in to add a little extra unpleasant gift to me). However, the Gatorade is so acidic that I experienced very burning gastric relfux which I rarely have unless I eat/drink something very acidic and some nausea but did not throw up. (I’ll never drink Gatorade again in my entire life…..I found it very distateful although the Miralax mixture in it (64 ounces) had no taste whatsoever). I downed 3/4 of the mixture in under an hour and completed the rest within 20 minutes. I did use a straw and drank from the back of my mouth, sipped on another flavor of Gatorade during the process to add variety and sucked on Werther Original hard candy that tastes like Caramel to give myself a “treat” and a “retreat” from the Orange Gatorade mixture. On day three, the morning of my colonoscopy, everything was clear water. I did not eat or drink anything after 10 p.m. the night before and I didn’t even consume water as I had taken so much in and knew I could again a few hours after the procedure on day 3. The medical staff left much to be desired, but I got it done and they found a polyp which they are sending out to see if it is cancerous or benign and they also found internal hemmies which may have been the reason for the blood in the fecal occult tests. I’m praying for the word “benign” when the results come back and hoping that my next colonoscopy won’t be for another ten years. I certainly won’t go back to the same doctor or do it in this way again, either. There is a shorter 1 1/2 day way of going about it which my primary care doctor has his gastro do for him, and I will take that shorter route the next time around. No one could believe that the Nulightly did not move my bowels, and I think that process is about to become extinct. I had IV sedation and the process took about an hour and recovery about 30 additional minutes. They gave me pics of my clean colon, the polyp, and the internal hemmies. Thank you for your concern, information and caring attitude. The first round was very frightening and I would not want this to happen to anyone else. Remember, if your gastro doesn’t take after hour calls, utilized the Urgent Care, ER, or seek advice from your pharmacist if you have one. I hope that someone learns from my experience. Best to all. I’ll post my results when I get them (sometime next week). Peace, Out…..
Last update……my polyp test came back positive for an adenoma (pre-cancerous) growth. Not the news I wanted to hear, but they should have excised/removed all of it during the colonoscopy, so I shouldn’t have too much worry over it. I do have to go back in 5 years (instead of ten years) for another, or sooner if I have a positive fecal occult test (blood in stool) or any major change in bowel habits (not sure I would recognize this). Since this occurs in siblings very often, I am notifying mine to let them know to make sure and have this critical test since mine was positive. I pray that I too, can help someone with my extensive detail and encourage all to charge ahead and get this test done……..colon cancer many times can be caught very early (like mine) and a life can be saved or enhanced by early detection. As you read in my long narrative, it was very difficult for me during the initial prep, more difficult than most, but any problem or bad reaction can be overcome by working with your doc for a solution that will work for you so you can have the test. Bless you all and thank you for having this blog to help and guide and comfort all.
Wow! Thank you for the details. Your experience seemed so much more challenging than mine, partly because you went so much longer than I ever did without eating real solid food. The Colyte method is generally considered unpleasant because of the slightly unpleasant taste, but it appears to work wholly within the intestines and isn’t dangerous to ones general well-being. Colyte did a really good job on cleaning me out overnight, and I haven’t the slightest apprehension of doing the whole thing again. I only missed one meal, and with the 7/Up instantly before and after the gulping down the Colyte the unpleasant taste was never there. Next time give it a try.
Congratulations on having the forethought to have your colonoscopy done, that little polyp might have caused you a lot of grief in a couple of years. Now it’s gone!
Pingback: C. difficile shit and spit treatment is what works. | Probaway - Life Hacks
Pingback: How to enjoy eating feces to save your life | Probaway - Life Hacks
My experience with this product reminds me of the stomach flu and going into child birth at the same time. Forget trying to go far have lots of charmin tissue and baby wipes. I experience that I would not wish this on my worst enemy
I am having my 1st colonoscopy and having to drink the Gavilyte. I have spent hours searching for the tastiest way to mix and drink it. I bought the orange flavor of the Nestle Splash water and mixed it with that. I would say that helped me drink it and keep it down. It takes 8 bottles of 16.9 oz. I have also been taking little bites of the sugar free green jello after a huge drink *straws make it easier to drink it too*, I may not ever be able to drink the Nestle orange splash again but that’s OK I prefer the Lemon anyway. The drink is still a little salty but tolerable. I hope this helps anyone looking for a solution on mixing it with something. Good luck on your procedure too.
Pingback: A Probaway blog overview of past and future | Probaway - Life Hacks
This blog was so helpful. I found that the breath holding after chugging the prep liquid followed quickly with Lemon/Lime seltzer water was the key to keep me from gagging. My colonoscopy is at 10 this morning. It is now nearly 7 am and I’ve had 5 1/2 glasses of the prep since about 5:30. I’ve only gotten through about 2/3 of the gallon jug but I think I am prepped. Only yellow clear liquid is coming out. I’ve seen other posters saying that they only have to do this every 10 years. It has been 3 years since my last one and I was called to have another one. They did remove 2 polyps last time. I guess that is why I need another one, for closer monitoring. I am really happy that the drive to the hospital is only 15 minutes.
I am going to try mixing Colgate with stevie sweetened real lemmon will that work?
FOLKS – MY SUGGESTION: Have your doctor prescribed an anti-nausea pill PRIOR to your Colonoscopy. Ask your doctor when you should take it – I take a Compazine 1 hr. prior to drinking GoLightly – and no nausea!
I had to consume 3 litres of colonlytely at 5.00 pm the day before the procedure ( over a period of 2 hours ) and 1 litre at 6.00 am the day of the procedure. The first taste was an absolute eye opener, I initially thought that bowel cancer was a viable alternative rather than drinking this vile concoction whose other use is toilet cleaner judging by its hideous taste and smell. My daughter decided to break the problem down into smaller amounts. She poured the 1 litre bottle into 3 large glasses and my job was to scull them at 5 minute intervals with a break of 15 minutes after each litre.
This made it just bearable and having a young daughter supervise the procedure meant there was not any swearing and showing her that even though dad isn’t superman he is a close second. i don’t think there is a way to completely disguise or make the taste bearable but the sculling helped me. Best of luck to all you poor bastards that have to go through the preparation because the colonoscopy part is a breeze.
Actually, Colyte is still pretty disgusting and it is far worse than the colonoscopy itself. The fact that the taste is very disgusting and that you have to drink so much makes the experience very unpleasant. The good news is that the stool tests that exist now make it so you don’t need to go through this ever 5 years unless there is a good reason. My friend was suggesting that perhaps if they made a vodka flavored version of it people wouldn’t object to it. Perhaps they could create many different flavors.
I have 1 liter lof the Colyte eft to go, but I’m thinking I’ve had enough because I am pooping clear. It is almost 5am and my colonoscopy is scheduled for 9:30. I don’t think I can drink anymore of this stuff. Trying to stay strong! This is my second colonoscopy. Five years ago I had one polyp. Hopefully none this time.
Yes this had been very helpful but I’m a little scared to do this procedure mine calls for me to drink Gavilyte-c 2 liters 8 oz glasses every 25 min till consumed 2 liters and take 2 Bisacodyl tabs then morning if the remainder of the 2 liters finish 3 hours before my procedure .don’t know if I can do this has anyone done this procedure with this type of prep solution
Every 15 min I mean
Ϝreelancing also сan lead tto ann enoгmous “plus” regarding
youｒ income. Ꭺs an alternative of getting to accept the precise
wage that is provided ƅy thee one regulation agency that you jսst work,
you may have a substantial amount of leeway in setting your indiviⅾual pay rates.
This issue can result in significantlοy more mоney for you.
Generally I do not read post on blogs, but I wish to say
that this write-up very pressured me to try and do it! Your writing style has been surprised me.
Thank you, quite great post.
I have noticed you don’t monetize your website, don’t waste your traffic, you can earn extra cash every month.
You can use the best adsense alternative for any type of website (they approve all websites),
for more details simply search in gooogle: boorfe’s tips monetize your website
Fastidious replies in return of this question with firm arguments and explaining
the whole thing about that.
Thank you so very much for your write up on how to enjoy drinking the foul tasting purging fluids for a Colonoscopy. Just as you said, I didn’t taste a thing, and was able to drink the every 15 minute 8oz fluid of colyte without any problem. I had been really worried about it before I read your post. I did a very slightly modified version of what you said. I lined up three things instead of two: 1. the Colyte mixture (without adding the optional flavor packet which they include which looked awful). 2. A small pot of slightly warmed up clear apple juice (I do not like cold drinks) and 3. A large steaming uncovered pot of very strong peppermint tea. First I held my breath and guzzled down 8 oz of the colyte liquid in 8 swallows, and then, without taking a breath yet, took one mouthful of the apple juice, swished it my mouth and then swallowed it. Then immediately, before I took in a breath, I stuck my face over the peppermint brew and breathed in the wonderful steaming aroma with my first breath. There was absolutely no colyte taste or after taste or smell. And I was left with the pleasant taste of apple juice and the aroma of peppermint tea. I did this every 15 minutes as directed without a hitch. I couldn’t believe it. It was amazing. It totally worked ! Not only that, but it did not at all effect my liking of apple juice or peppermint tea since there was no bad smell or taste to associate it with. Thank you so very, very much. I told my doctor and the nurses all about it. I will be sending them your blog. They report that lots of people have trouble with the liquid and this was so easy and it worked !
Thank you, Arati
I have written, what I hope is a helpful blog every day for ten years, and only rarely do I get a thank you. So, a hearty THANK YOU ARATI! I agree with your improved peppermint sniff after the Colite. One of my favorite smells is to take a fresh teabag from a foil pack of peppermint tea (from Trader Joe’s) and press it to my nose and sniff. It is really strong but wonderful. I hope your medical results were good.
Charles Scamahorn
Yesterday, while I was at work, my cousin stole my iphone and tested to see if it can survive a
forty foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My iPad
is now broken and she has 83 views. I know this is totally off
topic but I had to share it with someone!
Going in for colonoscopy/endoscopy in two days. Tomorrow will be my prep. I am to drink a gallon of Golytly between 2pm and 7 or 8pm. Clear liquid diet till 2pm, and after 8pm. Two tablets of Bisacodyl at 8pm. The next morning: Fleet enema 5:30am, and procedures at 8:30am. I had a colonoscopy 10 years ago and had to drink a lemon/lime solution that tasted like radiator fluid. This time, I got a gallon container with the powder in it, and I am to add water. It also came with a lemon flavor packet. I think I will not add the flavoring this time, as last time the lemon/lime was horrible, and I think might have made it worse. I have heard others say that to add something sweet is not a good idea, as it tastes “off” with the salty flavor of the solution. I like the idea of sipping some ginger tea in between drinks. I started a modified diet today, trying to avoid high-fiber foods, and eating very little, and am going to actually stop eating altogether today around 6pm. I think this will make it so there is less stuff to have to clean out tomorrow, on prep day. This site was very helpful. Thanks to all who contributed.
Thank you for this post and tips. I found this post amongst many others as I tried to manage my anxiety of my first colonoscopy yesterday. I followed much of the tips and I really didn’t taste much of the prep as a result in the split dosage process. When I prepared the Gavilyte-N, it was a single 2 liter jug that I added water to then chilled in fridge all day. At my pharmacists recommendation, I only added a small portion, 1/4 tsp, of the flavor packet. I didn’t want too much lemon in case I didn’t care for taste.
My process for taking the prep was to bite a lemon wedge, swish of the spiced tea(I don’t drink spice tea normally), spit tea, your deep breath and drinking approach(I did each glass of about 16 ozs to get done quicker, note below), followed by swishing of more spiced tea and then more lemon sucking. I was surprised, and shocked, it went so well, in both the evening and morning dosage. I didn’t taste any of the prep.
I will say, in my earlier prep, I practiced my chugging of water, to get good hydration in the days before the actual prep, to see what I could manage in ounces. I ended up figuring out, for me, I could tolerate\do the 16 oz vs 8oz approach; peoples mileage on this will vary.
THANK YOU for sharing the original post and sharing it with the details that really really helped.
thank you Probaway – my last colonoscopy by way of the vets hospital was 10 years ago – the setting was surrealistic like something from One Flew Over the Cookoos Nest – two guys doing the procedure – no sedative nothing – flex sig – half way through in the middle of the procedure I noticed the stainless steel guard rail I was holding with both hands was bent from all the vets who had gone before me. when it was done one of the fellows tossed a box of tissue towards me and said clean yourself up – we are done…. Oh how the times change — now the VA is sending me to a special place in the private sector where they do give the twilight sedation – I enjoyed reading all these posts because the world ain’t so lonely when you connect with others who are going through the same thing – after being brutalizer the last time – it took some real effort to agree to do this again — so Probaway thanks for the place to have some laughs and feel better – even if none of it made drinking that salt water any better. I had a chewable vit C and a piece of pure black licorice (no sugar – small like tic tac) at the ready to get rid of taste – worked pretty good – and would only hold it in mouth until taste from salt solution went away… now if I can get up close to 5am to drink some more of it — before the 10am procedure – I kind of miss food..