I think I'm going to starve to death

nancy324

Cathlete
I'm going in for a routine colonoscopy on Friday. The procedure is at 2 pm. Between midnight tonight (Wednesday) and midnight Thursday, the only things I can ingest aside from water and tea are yellow jello, gatorade, apple juice and white grape juice. Sugary foods make me feel awful. There are 20 grams of sugar in a little half cup of jello, and fruit juice is all sugar too. Gatorade may be a bit better, but not much. I could eat sugar free jello, but then I might starve. On Friday I won't be able to eat anything until after the procedure, which probably won't be until like 4 in the afternoon, when they'll finally give me some saltines. I can't believe how nervous I am about having to eat so little for so long. Has anyone here been through this? How did you keep from passing out? I normally can't go 4 hours without eating something. :eek:
 
I did it before, too, and I remember worrying that I would pass out, too. :eek:

But I kinda hit a point after lunchtime the day before where I got really hungry, and then the rest of the day I didn't feel it quite as much anymore. And honestly, drinking that stuff they give you turned my stomach so often that I didn't want to eat very much anyway.

You can do it!
 
Personally, when I had mine a couple of years ago, once I started the prep I wanted NOTHING to eat or drink :confused:
 
I'm going in for a routine colonoscopy on Friday. The procedure is at 2 pm. Between midnight tonight (Wednesday) and midnight Thursday, the only things I can ingest aside from water and tea are yellow jello, gatorade, apple juice and white grape juice. Sugary foods make me feel awful. There are 20 grams of sugar in a little half cup of jello, and fruit juice is all sugar too. Gatorade may be a bit better, but not much. I could eat sugar free jello, but then I might starve. On Friday I won't be able to eat anything until after the procedure, which probably won't be until like 4 in the afternoon, when they'll finally give me some saltines. I can't believe how nervous I am about having to eat so little for so long. Has anyone here been through this? How did you keep from passing out? I normally can't go 4 hours without eating something. :eek:

Oh yes, I was OK until I had to drink that hideous saline with "flavor"

I still can't stand pineapple.

I just had a cardiac stress test and had to go 24 hours w/no caffeine and then nothing to eat or drink after 10 pm. My test was at 10, naturally they were running late. I was getting very irritable from thirst. After the nurse started the IV and injected the stuff to light my heart, she gave me juice. To me at that point, it was Manna From Heaven!

Don't worry because you will be OK.

I had to do a treadmill test without any food and only some juice and I did OK.
 
I did it before, too, and I remember worrying that I would pass out, too. :eek:

But I kinda hit a point after lunchtime the day before where I got really hungry, and then the rest of the day I didn't feel it quite as much anymore. And honestly, drinking that stuff they give you turned my stomach so often that I didn't want to eat very much anyway.

You can do it!

Thanks so much! It's nice to know someone else made it. The "stuff" I have to drink is 10 oz. of magnesium citrate. I sure hope it kills my appetite.
 
Oh yes, I was OK until I had to drink that hideous saline with "flavor"

I still can't stand pineapple.


I just had a cardiac stress test and had to go 24 hours w/no caffeine and then nothing to eat or drink after 10 pm. My test was at 10, naturally they were running late. I was getting very irritable from thirst. After the nurse started the IV and injected the stuff to light my heart, she gave me juice. To me at that point, it was Manna From Heaven!

Don't worry because you will be OK.

I had to do a treadmill test without any food and only some juice and I did OK.

Me too and I even broke out in hives after that drink. They had to give me Benedryl or something like that. I was so itchy.
 
Good luck, Nancy!

I had my colonoscopy done about 3 months ago. I thought I was going to starve to death too! I eat all the time, and it was really hard for me to just quit eating for all that time. I think it was a total of about 36 hours.

I'll be honest though, choking down that stuff you have to mix and drink was just about the death of me. It was awful. I don't have a very big stomach and I literally could not drink all that they wanted me to without it coming back up. (Sorry to be so graphic). I was pretty sure after about the first liter I was "cleaned out", so I just quit.

The procedure was a breeze. It's the prep and starvation that was so awful.
 
Good luck, Nancy!

I had my colonoscopy done about 3 months ago. I thought I was going to starve to death too! I eat all the time, and it was really hard for me to just quit eating for all that time. I think it was a total of about 36 hours.

I'll be honest though, choking down that stuff you have to mix and drink was just about the death of me. It was awful. I don't have a very big stomach and I literally could not drink all that they wanted me to without it coming back up. (Sorry to be so graphic). I was pretty sure after about the first liter I was "cleaned out", so I just quit.

The procedure was a breeze. It's the prep and starvation that was so awful.

I drank my saline junk within one hour. There was no way I was going to spend hours drinking that junk.

I had to drink 2 bottles of magnesium citrate the day before the saline junk.

The procedure is kind of fun. Versed does not knock me all the way due to some other meds I take, so I watched my colon on television. And when the test is done, you don't even feel it coming out.

The prep is hell, the procedure not so bad.
 
Good luck, Nancy!

I had my colonoscopy done about 3 months ago. I thought I was going to starve to death too! I eat all the time, and it was really hard for me to just quit eating for all that time. I think it was a total of about 36 hours.

I'll be honest though, choking down that stuff you have to mix and drink was just about the death of me. It was awful. I don't have a very big stomach and I literally could not drink all that they wanted me to without it coming back up. (Sorry to be so graphic). I was pretty sure after about the first liter I was "cleaned out", so I just quit.

The procedure was a breeze. It's the prep and starvation that was so awful.

Jeanne Marie,

First liter!! I only have to drink 10 oz. of stuff, which doesn't seem like much. Maybe it won't be so bad? Did they tell you you don't have to come back for 5 years? That's what I'm hoping for. Trying to work while I'm starving is what I dread the most.
 
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I used a different product - I was able to eat a solid breakfast the day before the procedure...then I had to drink this jug of stuff called "Go Lightly" (there's an irony...). I think I would pass out if I had to fast for it. I'm bad about needing to eat too; I get headachey and really crabby when I don't eat...

I hope all goes well for you! The prep definitely is worse than the procedure; I slept through the procedure. They found two polyps though so I'm glad I went through with it. That was over 5 years ago; actually I'm due for one! ARRGH!
 
I had one last year and the prep is awful. I was drinking it every 30 min like they said and started getting chills. I called and ask the nurse about it and she said I was drinking it to fast (even though the instructions said every 30 min) and to slow down. I drank all but about a glass full and just couldn't get anymore down. They did find a small polyp and removed it and now I have to go every 3 years darn it. I did feel some pinching and was kinda sore in my upper stomach area for a day or two. Just glad I had it done early enough to catch the problem. Coffee was so wonderful after I got home.

Susandean
 
Oh Nancy you'll be OKAY! I had this done last year except my appt was at 11:00 in the morning. I didn't do jello (I hate it) but I drank chicken bouillon (did I spelll that right?) and drank tons of water. I was like you and concerned because I usually eat every three hours or so but I was fine and you'll be fine too! Just keep drinking the fluids.

Jo
 
Nancy,
I hope all goes well with your test. Having it at 4 pm after fasting all day the day before seems like a really long time to wait--I guess you can't move the appt. to that morning? Anyway, good luck to you. I had to take a bunch of these huge pills to get cleaned out when I had mine done. The nurse had said they dissolve better with ginger ale or sprite, so I drank that with the pills. If you can curl up on the sofa after work and watch a good movie to take your mind off food, that might help. Hope it all goes by fast for you!!
Valerie
 
Jeanne Marie,

First liter!! I only have to drink 10 oz. of stuff, which doesn't seem like much. Maybe it won't be so bad? Did they tell you you don't have to come back for 5 years? That's what I'm hoping for. Trying to work while I'm starving is what I dread the most.


Yeah, for some reason I was supposed to drink 2 liters of the stuff. As I said, I didn't make it and it didn't matter a bit. It did its job way before I drank all of it, thank goodness.

They told me I didn't have to come back for 10 years! I'm so glad!!! My DH had it done a few weeks before me and they found some benign polyps. They told him to come back in 5 years.

Oh, and yeah, my appointment was at 7am. It made it so much better. I was done and eating by about 10am.
 
Nancy, I don't have any helpful suggestions but I just wanted to wish you luck and a speedy fast! (hm, interesting work combination;))
 
Yeah, for some reason I was supposed to drink 2 liters of the stuff. As I said, I didn't make it and it didn't matter a bit. It did its job way before I drank all of it, thank goodness.

They told me I didn't have to come back for 10 years! I'm so glad!!! My DH had it done a few weeks before me and they found some benign polyps. They told him to come back in 5 years.

Oh, and yeah, my appointment was at 7am. It made it so much better. I was done and eating by about 10am.

10 years! Good for you, JM! :) My doc does a 2-part prep. I have to repeat the evening prep the next morning and then go to the procedure 4 hours later. She said patients find the magnesium citrate a lot less unpleasant than the stuff they used to use, so I'm not too worried about the "prep". I'm sure by the time you go back in 10 years, there won't be any prep at all. By then, they should be using a scan instead of a scope!
 
10 years! Good for you, JM! :) My doc does a 2-part prep. I have to repeat the evening prep the next morning and then go to the procedure 4 hours later. She said patients find the magnesium citrate a lot less unpleasant than the stuff they used to use, so I'm not too worried about the "prep". I'm sure by the time you go back in 10 years, there won't be any prep at all. By then, they should be using a scan instead of a scope!

Well, if the stuff I was drinking is better than what they used to use, I can't even imagine what the old stuff was like! It was truly awful! I think what made it so bad was the amount I had to drink. I was literally choking that stuff down.

I hope your procedure goes well, Nancy! You'll be fine and so glad when it's all over.
 
Gosh, I went 3 years ago. I had to drink a half gallon of the prep. I really didn't mind it. I would hold my breath and drink the 8 ounces. To me, it didn;t have an aftertaste. My appointment was for 11 A.M., but they they had a cancellation and I went in at 7. Luckily, they found nothing so I didn't have to go back for 5 years which is now 3 years.
 
I just had a colonoscopy in January.
Once you start taking the 'cleaning' product (I had to take 4 Dulcolax, followed 2 hours? later by a mix of 64 ounces of Gatorade mixed with a bottle of Miralax, taken in 8 oz. doses 1/2 hour apart) you will NOT want to eat much!

Some advice:
>>get EXTRA-soft toilet paper and/or some soft wipes (you'll be doing a LOT of wiping). Even better, if you have a bidet!

>>>if you do a Gatorade mix, dilute the Gatorade 1/2 and 1/2 with water before mixing the Miralax in. (By the time I got 1/2-way through the mix, I was sick--almost literally--of the sickly-sweet, artificial Gatorade flavor. I don't think I will be drinking orange Gatorade for a LOOOONG time!)

>>>put all foods you can't eat OUT OF SIGHT in cupboards or boxes (a couple of organic red delicious apples I'd left out smelled SOOOOO wonderful when I passed by, they were very tempting.

>>>get some tasty teas: I pretty much stuck with herbal teas, water and the Gatorade solution on the prep day (I thought of it as a liquid fast, and I've done those before. In the 70's, I went on a couple 3-day water fasts, and a few liquid fasts).

>>>do things that are incompatible with eating: put together a puzzle, knit, read. If possible, avoid places you usually eat (on the sofa, iin the kitchen). I discovered that I had an almost Pavlovian impulse to eat in certain situations, even when not hungry---this is another 'discovery' you can make during this time (think of it as an interesting experience/experiment).

>>>Think of the liquid prep as something positiive for your body (when everything is 'cleaned out', you can start fresh after the colonoscopy.


My colonoscopy was the first time I'd ever been under anesthesia (nursese who screened me were surprised by that, but seemed to not believe me when I said I didn't take any medication of any kind). I pretty much was out for it (except I woke up in the midst of it, saw the TV screen at the foot of the bed that everyone was looking at, that had some blurry---my glasses were off--fleshy-colored images that I realized in my daze were my innards, so I tried to get a look myself, then noticed the poking and prodding, closed my eyes, and said "ow", then "ow" then "OW, OW" then was out again until I woke up seated upright in the recovery room with my glasses on.)

The friend who was my 'driver' told me she was dizzy for the whole day after hers (and the following day), and felt 'off ' for about a week. I just felt a bit sleepy, but was okay after a 2-3-hour nap. The next day, I was back to normal.

My innards are 'normal" (I was hoping for "excellent" or "lovely" or something less banal, LOL!), but because my father died of colon cancer, I'm supposed to do this again in 5 years.

Good luck!
I hope everything 'comes out' alright (a bit of colonoscopy humor there.;))
 

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