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I am sure the doctors and nurses will take good care of you. Let me know how it goes...
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-h2
"Soluble fiber not included."
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Upper GI Scan
#8624 - 05/08/03 12:19 PM
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Kris
Reged: 02/23/03
Posts: 75
Loc: Vancouver Island, BC
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Hi
Can you or anyone out there tell me more about this upper GI procedure where you have to drink a glowing liquid/barium, and get X-Ray's of the small intestine as the liquid travels down? I have to have it done soon, and would like to know what I am in for. Like does it really take two hours? Does it cause discomfort or digestive complaints?
Thanks
Kris
PS- I already had the upper GI scope done, where they take photos and samples of your stomach and the duodenum, it was a breeze during the procedure, though nerve-wracking before-hand.
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Be the change you want to see in the world.
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Hi,
I had this done a while back. It's really not too bad. You drink barium (which is the worst part of it b/c it tastes gross) and then they take x-rays. As to how long it takes - that depends. Mine was really quick. I first took some alka-seltzer type stuff with water (it foams up in your mouth and you have to swallow quickly) and then drank the barium then they x-rayed me right away. The whole process took about 15 minutes. If you don't have the alka-setlzer stuff, they make you wait around for a couple of hours until the barium goes through your system then they x-ray you.
Drinking the barium is the worst part because it tastes like slime, but the process really isn't that bad. It's not very invasive at all.
Good luck!
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Lorna 
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Lorna, did you find the barium to be really that bad? My barium was strawberry flavored. at first, i actually liked it, but then after like the 3red glass full, i just wanted to puke it all up! 
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-Angela
Healed in Jesus' Name
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I couldn't stand it right from the beginning. I didn't have it flavored either though. I tried to drink it slowly so I wouldn't gag, but I was on the x-ray machine and the tech. kept saying "come on, drink up quick", so I had to guzzle it! I think it may have had something to do with the alka-seltzer stuff as well b/c that was supposed to "move everything around" and I felt like I was going to throw-up on the table!
All around - not a pleasant experience, but I just kept thinking "at least it's not a barium enema!" 
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Lorna
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Yeah, when i had to drink it, the doc kept on going faster,faster,faster!!!I was drinking the fastest I could possibly, and felt more bloated then i ever did before. Oh well, at least its over with now. But, i dont think i can ever drink a strawberry flavored drink again...how tramatizing 
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-Angela
Healed in Jesus' Name
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Lorna is right... the worst part is drinking that awful stuff, it made me gag. (Mine wasn't flavored either, ConcreteAngel!) The actual X-ray didn't take long, and I got to watch my stomach on tv!
Now that I think about it, when I got home, drinking the Milk of Magnesia was awful too. (You have to drink it so the barium dosen't solidify in your system, that's what they told me.) What they didn't tell me was that it tastes nasty too! I gulped it down and threw it right up. I was able to keep the second dose down though, once I knew what to expect. 
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-h2
"Soluble fiber not included."
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I also had the upper GI or barium swallow done, it is really not that bad. The worst part is definitely drinking the barium, I wish I was given a flavour, mine just tasted like chalk. I was out of there in about an hour and I had an abdominal ultrasound done first. As for after effects I wish that someone told me to take milk of magnesia or something, because I was C for about a week afterwards, if I only knew then what I know now. Oh well live and learn right.
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Teg,
I agree with the C. Afterwards, the nurse told me that i will get c, and to simply drink alot of water.I got C for about a week and a half afterwards. It felt as if te barium turned into rocks inside me. I would get sharp cramp like pain on my sides that my mom told me was the hardened barium  Oh well, it eventually all came out
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-Angela
Healed in Jesus' Name
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