Question:
How do you handle fluids for Colonoscopy prep as a WLS post op?

The instructions for my colonoscopy prep say to drink phospho-soda and follow with 3 glasses of water- 24 oz in 20 minutes or less. I am physically unable to do this. I asked my pcp and his answer was unhelpful- just do the best you cna, he said. I am worried that i won;t be able to dilute this stuff enough and it will be bad for me. I wnat to know if nay of you have had ot do bowel preps POST op and how you handled the limitations on drinking? Thanks Jo    — jomu (posted on July 12, 2004)

July 12, 2004
Funny you should ask this, my DH who is PO 9+ months just had a Colonoscopy on Friday. I am also PO 14 months and had one also back on March 31st. Our instructions said to drink the the Fleet's phospho-soda in 20 minutes then we were to follow-up with 3-8 oz glasses of water during the time that the Fleet's was doing its work on your bowel. You do not want to dilute the Fleet's except to mix it with a few ounces of water and drink that in the 20 minutes that they want you to. The Fleet's will not hurt you, it is also the same drug that my bariatric surgeon said to take as a prep for the colonoscopy and I felt real comfortable knowing that that is what he recommends also for a colonoscopy. Good luck.
   — ChristineB

July 12, 2004
I am sure you should follow your physician's orders as best you can for your prep. But I do have this experience to share...I stayed on liquids all day two days before my colonoscopy. The day before, when I did my prep, I took 4 TBSP (recommended dosage) of non-stimulating Phillips Milk of Magnesia (there are other brands such as Dulcolax and Exlax but they all say "non-stimulating Milk of Magnesia). Then, thru the rest of the day, I sipped on liquids all day long. I was constantly sipping water, chicken broth, Crystal Lite (as long as it's not red), sugar free jello (again, not red), apple juice, white grape juice (100% juices..no sugar added). By the morning of my exam, I was expelling only clear fluid during the bowel movements. The key is following a clear liquid diet the whole day before the prep day, taking the laxative early and drinking absolutely as much as I could drink throughout the entire prep day. I have done the prep you mentioned before WLS and the phosposoda gave me such terrible cramps and with the Milk of Mag...no cramps whatsoever. As I stated before, you should follow your physician's instructions, but this is what I did and I had no problem with my prep at all and my study was completed successfully without any problems from the different prep. Hope this helps. You may want to call your physician's office and run it past them to see if they care if you change your prep. As it was for me, they didn't mind because I don't have much as far as solid food in me at any time because of the small amount of food I eat during the day. Good luck and God bless...Kathy
   — Katherine F.

July 13, 2004
Funny how the instructions for prep differ with each doctor. I was told to divide the phospho-soda into 3 glasses and add a little liquid, then drink each glass 30 min. apart. Since I only added a small amount of flat soda, I literally took 2-3 sips and the glass was empty. I was allowed breakfast that morning, then could only drink liquids the rest of the day. Oh, the next morning I had to use a suppository to make sure I was totally cleaned out. Good luck.
   — j D.