Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: Colonoscopy

Coming from a family of doctors, I got some terrific advice that really helped me cope.

To avoid cramping you need to drink as much liquid as you can. Everything you drink will pass right through, so don't be surprised that the more you drink the more you go. You WANT to do this as it means you are cleansing yourself out thoroughly, which lessens the probability that you'll have to redo the colonoscopy b/c you weren't cleaned out enough.

While drinking sodas is usually a no-no for us IBSers, in order to avoid getting extremely faint while cleansing you need to drink as much ginger ale or 7up as you can. It will provide you with sugar. It didn't make me cramp or give me any IBS symptoms when I did it. I also drank a ton of chamomile tea and chicken bouillion.

The worst part for me was the raw bum. No one warned me about that so I was unprepared. You are expelling undigested biles from your bottom so it gets extremely raw very quickly. Get some baby wipes, vaseline and desitin diaper cream. Lube up the outside of your bottom after each BM and try to get some of it into your actual rectum. Use the wipes instead of TP as it will help from making the rawness worse. The rawness is practically gone the next morning.

Lastly, just make sure you stay very near the potty. I went about every 10 minutes for about 6 hours. Then I had to go a few times during the night. You don't want to be far because you may not make it in time.

Good luck! I'm sure you'll be just fine!

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