barium enema ??? anyone ??
#319938 - 12/03/07 08:48 AM
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jenUK
Reged: 12/01/07
Posts: 163
Loc: warwickshire, uk
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i have posted this already but not sure where the hell its gone !! prob me being blind !! anyway been to docs and i found out that i am being referred to have a barium enema - my doc who referred me failed to tell me this - it was another doc i saw today !! and thank god i saw him - he explained everything to me !! - However im still a little confused as to the pains in my tum - they feel just like period pains - am i right here - is this what they sometimes feel like ?? god i panick every day that theres somethign moer wrong with me now im terrified bout this test and them giving me a laxative prior to the test - how can they give someone with chronic diareah a laxative ??? please anyone who's had one i need help !!!
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Ibs sufferer for 7 years !
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Hi Jen - first of all - stop panicking (if you can!) I had a barium enema back in September - and as I'm from the UK too I assume it's the same procedure.
I had to eat a low residue diet (they gave me a sheet of allowed and forbidden foods) the day before. All I had as a laxative was a couple of senna tablets. I am IBS-C, and I wasn't looking forward to the senna as it had always given me cramps as a teenager (when I last took the stuff). But in the event, it wasn't that painful and it did the trick. I had to fast from the night before, too - but was allowed water up to a couple of hours before my appointment.
The procedure was done by a doctor trained in radiography. He inserted a nasal-gastric tube which went down into my stomach and then I lay on the table under the X-ray machine and, over the course of about an hour, he pumped three litres of barium through the tube. As it went through my
small bowel, he observed it (and so did I - I had quite a good view from the table!) and took lots of X-ray photos.
After the procedure, I was allowed to go home. I had to stay quite close to the bathroom during the rest of the day as the barium went out of my system, but this wasn't painful. I was able to eat and drink as normal, too.
I had already been newly diagnosed with IBS ( although I have had it for over 30 years!)but I also have post-operative adhesions and the barium enema was an attempt to see the effects of these on my bowel. But the results were entirely normal. I am now being investigated for endometriosis.
Have you been formally diagnosed with IBS, or is the barium enema part of the testing process?
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I'm IBS-D and had a barium enema several years ago. I had to drink a gallon of something called Go-Lytly, and that was the worst part. I rented a video and stayed near the bathroom. About halfway through the "cleansing" there was nothing but clear liquid coming out, so I stopped drinking the rest of it.
For the procedure they pump the barium up your butt (not down your throat), and it's a little uncomfortable trying to hold it in, but other than that it's fine. After, you run to the bathroom and it all comes out (it's white). No big deal.
Good luck!
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Hi again JenUK,
I suggest you check out with your doctor exactly what the term 'barium enema' involves. I had a small bowel enema, which did involve putting the barium in via the throat. I had checked this in advance, as the word 'enema' does imply it goes in the other end! When my appointment letter came, it explained the procedure in detail.
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