Why does colonoscopy prep solution have to taste SOOO BADDDD?!!!

[TexasBushwhacker]

Nasty!

[GPV]

1. It really is. Which one you doing?

[TexasBushwhacker]

13. Suprep

Per my doctor's orders, I'm drinkingbGatorade (no red or purple) with Miralax and Gas X throughout the day. I just drank the first dose of Suprep, and I'm chasing it down with Gatorade. I take the second dose tonight, then nothing after 5 am. Colonoscopy is at 9 am.

[GPV]

14. I've done miralax W dulcolax. Suprep what tastes so bad?

[TexasBushwhacker]

20. Yes, the Suprep is horribly bitter

My doc has me taking Miralax and Gas X as well. She wants me CLEANED OUT!

[GPV]

24. Sounds yucky! I had to fast and prep for 3 days last fall. I had

a blockage that no one knew about until I had to prep for my colonoscopy.

[MustLoveBeagles]

36. Good luck

Mine is Thursday at 1pm. A friend who's done this before suggested the Miralax/Gatorade method. She said it does the same thin Suprep but is cheaper and doesn't taste as bad.

[TexasBushwhacker]

37. My doc has me doing both

She wants my colon to be clean as a whistle.

[Shrike47]

2. It's like they want you to hurl, too.

[CincyDem]

3. Mix it with cold Gatorade and chug it.

Doesn’t taste a lot better but it goes down a lot easier. Lolol

Ps. Just not the RED gatoraide.

[rogerballard]

4. I mixed mine...

with a little bit of apple juice then sucked on a piece of lemon.

[Still Sensible]

5. I think it is somewhat on purpose

otherwise some would just use it as a laxative. The way it cleans out the colon, it would be incredibly harmful to use very often.

[TexasBushwhacker]

15. Interesting

It is some nasty stuff, but as far as laxatives go, there are so many you can buy OTC.

[we can do it]

6. Did you do the miralax? That's not bad.

[Freddie]

7. Have some ice cold Sprite ready as a chaser

Gets the awful taste out of your mouth.

[blueinredohio]

8. Not only tastes bad but

you have to drink so much so fast (every ten minutes). Who drinks that much? It makes me feel sick because my stomach is so full.

[ret5hd]

9. Some people say it cures Covid.

[unblock]

10. Makes you wonder why the great chefs avoid Epsom salts

Prep is basically otherwise largely inert salts that your body passes through the intestines.

Once there, your body dilutes the massive salt intake with massive amounts of water, which is what clears out your gut.

As it's just massive amounts of salt, no wonder it tastes horrible. That's your gut brain telling you this is not nutritionally helpful.

[marble falls]

11. To keep people from purposely tasting it a second time? ...

... there are people who use it to make weight.

[TreasonousBastard]

12. It doesn't if you mix it with enough cheap gin

[smirkymonkey]

30. TB, you always have the best suggestions!

I have mine coming up in January. Can you really drink alcohol during your prep? I am planning to be sober, but it might make things easier.

[Chainfire]

16. I just eat a Big Mac the night before and I am good to go.

[gratuitous]

45. The prep is bad enough

I'm not eating a Big Mac!

[Chainfire]

48. The Big Mac is the prep.

I think it is the "special sauce."

The last time I prepped, after things started to "clear up" I passed a penny that I had swallowed when I was three years old.

[gratuitous]

50. I got it, and it tastes worse than the prep

Big Macs are a young person's game.

[onethatcares]

46. good pun

[Kaleva]

17. The prep doesn't bother me. it's the not being able to drink coffee the morning of that irks me

[Skittles]

19. same

I'm thinking it's the food snobs who are the most disgusted by the prep

[Kaleva]

21. I drink coffee from when I get up till I go to bed and I prefer it chilled or room temperature

It's a habit I picked up while in the Navy when I had to keep working even though exhausted and with the brew room temp, I could chug a cup or two quickly to get a caffeine boost.

[Skittles]

25. same here

I was also enlisted but while I did drink coffee then, my caffeine intake greatly increased when I quit smoking! It's like I have to have a vice, LOL. And working 12 hour night shifts, it's a good one to have.

[TexasBushwhacker]

23. I can only take sips of water in the AM

to take my morning meds. Otherwise, nothing after midnight.

[RobinA]

51. You Can Drink Coffee

as long as you don’t add cream.

The thing that gets me is the low blood sugar. This last time my appointment was at 1:30 and I didn’t go in until 3:30. It was awful. Much better once they got the IV running.

[Aristus]

18. When I worked in a colonoscopy clinic years ago, we called it "swamp water".

Now that I'm (actually over) due for my own colonoscopy, I'm not looking forward to the prep.

[Thunderbeast]

22. Margarita Mix!

[randr]

26. If it tasted good we might just want to have the procedure over and over

[no_hypocrisy]

27. I asked the staff of my gastroenterologist how I was supposed to drink The Prep

if my teeth were clamped together.

[keithbvadu2]

28. Prep day is definitely worse than procedure day.

Prep day is definitely worse than procedure day.

[Grasswire2]

29. why do people go for a colonoscopy when there's an alternative?

Unless you are high risk for colon cancer, there's something simpler.

Cologuard.

[mitch96]

33. Thats what I do... Problem is that the doctor who performs the colonoscopy doesn't make $$$

Also there is the possibility of complications that are not brought up in the office visit.
Look up "colonoscopy complications"...
No history of colon stuff in my family so the cologuard for me..
Way back when we gave patients a prep called "Go Lightly" it was neither...
Complaints of explosive diarrhea were common...
m

[TexasBushwhacker]

40. I looked up colonoscopy complications

You're 3 times more likely to get colon cancer in your lifetime than to have complications from a colonoscopy.

[mitch96]

44. GOOD! now you can make an informed decision. nt

[TexasBushwhacker]

34. Generally they want you to get an initial colonoscopy

when you are 50 or 60. Then if they don't find anything, you can wait 10 years until the next one. Cologuard is fine for younger patients or during the in between years.

[Grasswire2]

35. $$$$$$$ nt

[TexasBushwhacker]

38. Hey, my insurance recommended it

If they're paying for it, I'm fine with it.

[smirkymonkey]

31. I usually mix it w/ Fresca.

Kind of hides the taste, but it's still a bit unpleasant. There has to be a better way.

If only they could have you in the day before, put you completely under, flush you out while you are totally unconscious and then perform the procedure and wake you when it's done, that would be ideal. The prep is absolutely the worst part of it.

[csziggy]

32. I did two major steps to prepare for my colonscopy

First, for about four or five days, I ate a low fiber diet (https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/washington/get-care/additional-services/gastroenterology/colon-diet-low-fiber). Then when I had to mix up the prep solution, I only used half the water. I made ice cubes with a lemon lime electrolyte stuff my husband had purchased but hated.

When I started on the prep, I mixed the ice cubes with the prep solution in batches, creating sort of a prep slushie. It still tasted bad, but with it really cold and masked by the other stuff, it was tolerable.

I will do that from now on for my prep since it made it possible to get a good clear colonoscopy this time, unlike my first.

[Kali]

39. to prove your commitment?

ice cold and use a straw

[Fla Dem]

41. I find drinking it in a few big gulps, rather than sipping works best for me.

Get it over and done with.

[Chainfire]

49. I chug it until I am about to lose it, catch my breath and do it again.

No since in prolonging the agony.

[LuckyCharms]

42. Chill it in the fridge. Use a straw and

"gulp" it with the straw.

In other words, take a big suck on the straw and let it hit the back of your throat. It goes right down and bypasses your taste buds.

That's how I do it.

[LuckyCharms]

43. Oh no. All these years I've been shooting it right up my ass with a

turkey baster.

I'm assuming that's not correct?

[onethatcares]

47. well, ya did it again

we're now certain what "assume" does.