I do a light diet (low fiber) for a day or two, a liquid diet the day before, and tap water enemas until clear (using an emptied Fleets enema bottle) on the morning of the exam before leaving the house.

 

Jan

My surgeon's request was always just nothing to eat after midnight, so I do that, but I generally take a half dose is MOM before bed, and do 1-2 tap water Fleets filled enemas (I dump out the true Fleets and fill it with warm water and use that). It's always worked perfectly.

rachel,

 

what is half a dose of mom equivilant? do you mean half of the bottle? would beginning at 5 pm the evening prior to scope the next day, be sufficient?  also at what intervals between spoonful number 1 and spoonful number 2 and so fourth till i get half the bottle of the milk of mag down do i go, every 15 minutes a tablespoon ful, or?

 

i need more specifics...if my scope is for sometime near or at 1pm in the afternoon would the clear liquid diet a day prior then starting M O M @ 3pm in the afternoon one day prior be okay? or 5 pm?  when?

 

 

jan,

 

thanks for your answer/feedback. i was looking at NOT doing any enemas, i live alone, the enamas would just go all over my carpet be it plain water enamas or the ones that come in the bottle at the store... may i NOT do the enamas all together just a liquid diet one day before and then do Milk of Mag as stated up above?  give me your directions for how to take MOM for a jpoucher. one table soon every 15 -20 minutes till half the bottle is consumed?

 

thanks both,

 

len

15mls is what I consider half. 30mls is generally what I feel a person with a colon would take, so I take half of that. Good lord, half a bottle?  That would blow me up!  I take ONE 15ml dose. 

 

I've never done a clear liquid diet. Surgeon and GI don't require it. I just eat regularly up and including dinner, then stop food after that, and go NPO (nothing by mouth) at midnight. 

 

A Fleets enema is small. Could you not do it while sitting on the toilet?  It's what I do. We don't need big retention enemas, think of it more as a rinse out. 

Definitely DO NOT take a half a bottle of MOM. 

 

In regard to the tap water enemas, you do not have to retain them For any length of time. It is more of a rinse with a few ounces at a time. You could just squirt it in there while over the toilet. But, if you just can't do it, that is OK. The doc will just rinse as he goes. It just my prolong the procedure. But since you are being sedated, it is sort of a non-issue.

 

Jan

rachel:

 

so the bottle size is generally 30ml's in total filled wise with the magnesia (im thinking phillips brand M O M  or whatever is avail OTC)? it comes in one size then?

 

concerning the not eating one day prior, i think its to err on the side of caution. im 235-240 lbs and even so, that i go to the toilet 8-12 times a day with my pouch, its probably not gonna hurt to eat very very lightly 2 days prior to scope and the day right before just do liquids strictly with M O M desired dosage at night time the evening before.

 

i dont mind not eating for 2 days hardly compared to doing an over kill prep of some sort and no enemas if i can bypass that, so long as the dr can see the mucosa/inaards well and take biopsies (and do polypectomies) since I have Familal Polyposis!

 

thanks and i will go look at the store to see if their is a small bottle and a large bottle and decide what to buy. half of a large bottle 15ml sounds good, and i believe it comes in cherry flavor but doesnt taste horrid like golylytly in "cherry flavor" or etc flavors - its just nasty stuff the liquid clean outs for colonoscopy ppl.

 

thanks for responding again and claryifing more on the M O M dosage.

 

-len

Jan,

 

 

thanks for being forward about the MOM. Okay, im listening to you, i hear you loud and clear. everywhere online it says the coloned folk for colonscopies take 2-4 tablespoons to clean out. does this sound accurate protocol for a j-poucher or more like 1-2 tablespoons spread 15-20 minutes between one another will suffice?

 

i'll have a look at the directions that are called out toward the coloned on the bottle. i havent actually held the bottle/read it from the store yet. i know there is phillips milk of mag on the market, i dont know if its the only kind of what not (i didnt see first hand yet) my previous gastroenterlogist had me doing overkill prep for 14+ years like the coloned, he always new i had a jpouch too.  my gastroenterlogist and HUP here in philadelphia said MOM is OKAY, but didnt give dosage specification for me.

 

thanks for heads up on no half bottle of M O M. etc...

 

-len

got the milk of magnesia tonight from pharmacy delivered.  my gastroenteroligist/his assistant (Both obviousily know im a j-poucher, no colon) called in the script to the pharmacy and ordered that i consume one full bottle (8oz size) they gave and from the second given bottle also 8 oz size, im to take 2 more oz until i have consumed  IN TOTAL a total of 12Oz, DRINKING ONE TABLESPOON every 15 minutes.

 

 

I hope this ownt be over kill? i already stated in the thread i was doing clear liquids-low residue/light food diet on 2 days prior to sigmoidoscopy on oct 19th and on 1 day prior just 8oz of clear liquids all day.  IS THIS TOO MUCH MILK OF MAG? or am i good? Jan, you said make sure i dont consume an entire bottle or half a bottle. what is right here and what isnt?

 

did the script get written for a coloned person?

 

thx,

 

len

It won't kill you, but you'll have some doozy diarrhea. Just be sure to keep drinking fluids and stay hydrated.

 

But, yeah, I think it is overkill.

 

Jan

 

thanks jan.

 

ugh what is it with the drs prescribing this if its really not necessary and we could get by with out the over kill stuff.

 

i'll do what he has ordered, he is a good guy, dr wise and all around. i'll listen, i want the best possible look/see approach applicable for this as i dont want to have to repeat if im not cleaned out enough. I think some drs just err on the side of caution. with such a prep you'd think i could woof down a cheesesteak right before colonoscopy time and do milk of mag. might as well treat myself to some food minus the steak, was joking about that part. if im to do this over kill prep.

 

may i drink water as needed after taking a few swigs of tablespoons of the stuff? i guess the more i drink with the milk of the mag since its dehydrating, the better.

 

atleast this stuff will not make regurgitate and doesnt taste as bas as golytly.

 

it says tell you dr if you have kidney disease. i wasnt diagnosed with kidney disease but can milk of mag effect negatively if you have early stages of proteinuria? should i let him know i have bubbles intermittenly in my  urine before october?

 

thanks

 

-len

If you weren't told to change your diet you may as well eat a burger.

 

Um, if you consistently have proteinuria, you DO have kidney disease, which may be in the early stages. This is another reason to beZ motivated to control your blood sugar.

http://www.niddk.nih.gov/healt...ria/Pages/facts.aspx

 

Jan

Jan,

 

i was advised to try and change my diet. 

 

i do eat burgers actually.

 

i am aware of what proteinuria is and does. a good dr will sometimes be afraid to chastise their patient in fear of losing them as a patient if they constantly hound them about weight and what they should not be eating.

 

alot of my issues are hereditary if both parents are type 2 diabetics (father deceased) and that heart disease, stroke and kidney disease run in my family.

 

this isnt an easy process, jan, to control everything thats going on health wise. Often easier said than done.  I was looking for support.

 

I was not expecting a  response about "you can go eat a burger then" .

 

i need this website for support just as much as the next guy or lady who comes on this discussion forum. There is no where else to turn.

 

-len

Sorry, didn't mean to offend. 

 

I don't think I was clear enough. When I said you may as well eat a burger, I was responding to your comment about eating before taking the MOM prep; indicating that if you were not given a special prep diet for your scope, there is no reason not to eat what you want. I was not trying to be flippant about your general diet for health. 

 

I do understand how difficult it is to change old habits. Both my husband and I have been dealing with it for decades. Even if you are a perfect saint (and who is?) diabetes is progressive, so it is very challenging.

 

Jan

jan,

 

thank you. i have to admit i was feeling un-easy and a bit upset concerning not knowing how you meant the burger comment. Thank you for comming back in the thread and clarifying what you exactly meant.

 

i get easily offended sometimes. and it does not help when we are emotional already and have some health fiasco issues/family stuff. (away from the board, no one knows underneath us  our personalities, how we take in what someone meant or said in context, sometimes taking it out of context too, etc truthfully enough except our own person, us)

 

 

I am going to try for baby steps here to not binge eat at 3am sometimes when hunger spells strike.. (i;ll grab cheese, fruits, sometimes chocolate or junk food) with my pouch i get hungry sometimes and have to wake at night to eat. I eat 3 meals a day and am sometimes hungry after that and snack inbetween.  Things are moving through quickly, while i till absorb all the calores from these food choices and use the restroom 8 to 12 times a day in a given day 24/hour period. I am okay with how much i go.  I have accepted it as my "normal".

 

**i will read your response, and then won't further  post in under this topic** Please know i appreciated all the talking/view points you gave. Everything is perfectly valid. (pulls out an arm toward handshake with you).

 

Sincerely,

 

Len

Thanks for understanding, Len. Online conversations can be difficult, and you are so right that we have no idea what someone else's mindset is. Being a nurse, I try to be frank, yet gentle, but sometimes I fail completely. This is particularly true if I am in a hurry (but no excuses). So, all I can say is that I'll try to do better, and hopefully folks will give me the same benefit of the doubt I give them.

 

That said, every positive move you make to improve your health is worth doing. When my husband was facing insulin as a next step (after 3 oral diabetes meds put him at the max), his endocrinologist suggested halving his carb portions (rather than drastic changes). Amazing how small changes that are sustained make a difference. Losing 5 pounds even helps. We spent too much time beating ourselves up over failure, and not enough time praising our successes!

 

Be well!

 

Jan