prep today....i'm freaking out - Bowel Disorders Message Board

Juliahalexis · 07-24-2005, 10:34 AM

I'm having severe anxiety issues and need to know how you guys got through the prep. I just took 4 bisacodyl tablets and will start drinking the solution no later than 6pm. I'm suddenly wrought with anxiety. My dad died of colon cancer at age 42 (I was 11 years old). I have been having intermittent bleeding, constipation, severely bloated abdomen, etc for about a month. The last time I had a colonoscopy, the prep was horrible. I am a bit underweight and prone to dehydration and I blacked out on the commode after having horrible cramps and runs. The morning of the procedure, I passed out on the floor in the bathroom of the hospital and they took me over to the ER, nearly cancelling my colonoscopy. I cried and begged them to do the colonoscopy b/c I couldn't bear the thought of doing the prep again. And here I sit, waiting for the pills to kick in. Any words of comfort? Thank you so much. Love and hugs to you all, Juliah

quincy · 07-24-2005, 02:16 PM

Hi....since you've been through it before, you at least know that the scope iteself isn't as bad as the prep.

When I had mine the first time, I was badly underweight and low blood sugar after the prep because I was having diarrhea normally 15+ times a day. I called the day of the scope and the nurse suggested I have a tiny amount of tea with honey in it.
I only had 3 sips and it worked bringing my blood sugar level up.

Anxiety will definitely have an impact on this...worrying will exacerbate your symptoms.

What time is your scope tomorrow?

quincy

Juliahalexis · 07-24-2005, 03:19 PM

Quincy, thanks for your reply. My scope is at 10:00 am tomorrow. I called the on-call gastro b/c the bisacodyl tablets made me really sick (vomiting, blacked out, severe pain in abdomen). The on-call doc was not helpful and told me to cancel the colonoscopy. I asked if I could use magnesium citrate instead of the halfLytely and he said I could do 80cc tonight and again 80cc of the citrate in the morning. I can't figure out how much 80cc IS though! lol. I'm calmer now, just so weak and wish I could get a shot of morphine for the abdominal pain. thanks again, juliah