Colon Irrigation..please help

[AOX81]

Originally posted by FSUZeta
aox81, i know what you mean. that stuff is the nastiest stuff ever invented. thank goodness we are knocked out for colonoscopies!

If they hadn't knocked me out I would not have had it done!

[Tom Earp]

If it is not necessary, just dont do it!



Did Three in 5 Days!

Got some graet pixs. Not going to frame them!

[winnieb]

Originally posted by Dionysus
Upper GI's suck too. They make you drink cups of some nasty chalky foamy shit. Even worse, before the proceedure, they give you these sour crystals that make you uber gassy, but the radiologist tells to NOT to expell it. If you belch, you have to swallow some more crystals. Painful!

Sorry to hijack, I just have to say--- at 17 I had to have an upper GI, I drank the chalky crap, started gagging- then puked it up. I had the cup still- caught it in the cup, like a nice patient. Well the dumb tech forced me to drink it because "its too expensive to mix more" So I drank my chalky puke mixture-- got it half way down-start gagging-looked at the nurse and puked it all over her. She stormed out, a new tech came and got me new stuff. They finished the test. My mom was in the hallway when the first tech stormed out ranting about the stupid b!tch in the room! My mom asked what happened, I told her, hospital administration had a nice chat with my mom!

[honeychile]

FSUZeta & AOX81 - welcome to the sisterhood! I've had both procedures, and let me tell you, it's a special type of horrible! I had to drink the icky stuff twice (to find out that I have had so many ulcers, I have scar tissue in my stomach!), and as for the other end, let's just say that the doctor was so sadistic, not only did I not get any sort of aenestectic (sp?), but he also said, and I quote, "You girls like this!" prior to using any apparatus.

I was so glad to hear that he's now in prison - and I hope he's grown to "like it"!

[FSUZeta]

lord a mercy honeychile!! i hope he is in prison for a nice long time!!

[honeychile]

Originally posted by FSUZeta
lord a mercy honeychile!! i hope he is in prison for a nice long time!!

That makes two of us! The only problem is, I need to find a new doctor, and I'm terrified of going through "that" again!

[Peaches-n-Cream]

Originally posted by AGDee
There are normal bacteria that make up the flora of your colon which assist you in digesting foods. If that normal balance of them gets messed up, you can have some very serious issues. Google on c-difficile and see if you would want to risk this...

ETA: The best way to keep your innards cleansed is to eat plenty of soluble fiber.

I know someone who had c-difficile colitis from taking antibiotics. It took almost a year to get rid of it. She still cannot take antibiotics two and a half years later.

[pinkyphimu]

someone i work with has them once a month or so. she said she feels better and likes that her stomach is flatter after this procedure.

she is a massage therapist and the school she went to trains people to do this. she goes there and said that if you use a student, it is $35 and if you use a "professional" (for lack of a better term), then it is $65. she also said that all of the hoses and stuff are not reused between patients. i don't know how they actually clean the machine, but i can ask her if you really want.

[honeychile]

Originally posted by Peaches-n-Cream
I know someone who had c-difficile colitis from taking antibiotics. It took almost a year to get rid of it. She still cannot take antibiotics two and a half years later.

c-dif is terribly hard on the body, and to get rid of. My understanding is that people who enter a hospital has a 10% chance of catching it.

My uncle shared a hospital room with a man with it this summer. After seeing the nurses or aides without gloves treat that man, then try to move to my uncle, we just started a 24-hour vigil to make sure that NO ONE without universal precautions got anywhere near him. He did catch one infection, though. He's 6'3" and usually about 130-140. He's now 110# and can't handle solids after six months! Grrrrr.....

[ragtimerose]

I had to drink that chalky barium stuff before getting a CAT scan a few years ago. Nasty, nasty, NASTY!

I'm getting to the age where I'll need a colonoscopy as a matter of routine (every few years?). I understand the prep is worse than the actual procedure. Thank goodness they put you under for that.

Me, I'll just eat more fiber.

[AGDee]

I had c-diff and my first flare of Crohn's for two years before being diagnosed. I know firsthand how nasty it is. There are Crohn's theories that an infection like c-diff actually brings on Crohn's. It's a logical theory, because your body's immune system would work like crazy to get rid of the infection and then something goes haywire and won't quit once the c-diff is gone. C-diff mimics ulcerative colitis so you absorb very little of your food.

Needless to say, with Crohn's and a family history of colon cancer, I get annual colonoscopies and upper GIs. I now get sick from the colonoscopy prep and I always gag on the barium from the upper GIs. They are all hellacious tests.

honeychile... definitely find a new doctor. I've not had one be so harsh. I have to go to a new GI in January because of insurance changes, which upsets me, but I can't imagine a doctor having the attitude that yours did.

C-diff is similar to a yeast infection in how you get it from taking mega doses of antibiotics. There are all types of natural and normal bacteria in your system. They keep each other in check. When you are on massive doses of antibiotics, they can become imbalanced as some of the good bacteria are killed off. Others become too strong and take over. Thankfully, Flagyl got rid of my c-diff pretty quickly but also gave me Thrush. After my re-section, I was on huge doses of antibiotics again, including Flagyl, and got Thrush again. Next time I am on Flagyl, I will be talking with the doc about preventing the Thrush!

[Peaches-n-Cream]

Oh Dee, that's awful. Maybe taking acidophilus will prevent thrush.

Initially in May '03, the doctors weren't sure if the c-difficile would cause permanent colitis or Crohn's, but it didn't. She was not allowed to take antibiotics until a few days ago when she had some dental work. The dentist and doctor talked and decided that she could handle three days of antibiotics combined with probiotic acidophilus which she also had to take while treating the c-difficile. Fortunately, there are no signs of a problem, but everyone held their breath. The upsetting thing is this c-difficile might have been avoided if the doctor had told her to take acidophilus while taking antibiotics for a sinus infection back in May '03.

[IIOA]

The purpose of a "cleansing" of the colon is, with standard medical practice, in preparation for a colonoscopy and/or surgery of the colon or for removal of impacted fecal matter. *YUM* None of the gastroenterologists or colo-rectal surgeons I know do these for any other reason that I can think of offhand.

Someone asked why clean something that is going to get dirty again. While this is the same argument I present when it comes to making my bed, there is some logic to it when it comes to intestinal health. You cannot sterilize your colon indefinitely.

I seem to recall one of my attendings docs while in training talking about the old, old days when the logic was that since the colon "contains toxins", people were undergoing total colectomies to just remove it altogether.

I fail to see how undergoing a water or coffee enema for "cleansing" accomplishes much more than a placebo effect (aside from some weight loss). Certainly I doubt that the benefits are worth the discomfort. When patients ask me if I've ever had a colonoscopy I give them an fake horrified look and say "hell no, I'd never do that to myself - what, are you crazy?"

[AchtungBaby80]

Originally posted by honeychile
let's just say that the doctor was so sadistic, not only did I not get any sort of aenestectic (sp?), but he also said, and I quote, "You girls like this!" prior to using any apparatus.

I was so glad to hear that he's now in prison - and I hope he's grown to "like it"!

I wish you'd kicked him in the nuts. Seriously.

[irishpipes]

Originally posted by ZTAngel
All the porn stars do it when they have to do scenes that involve that area of the body so that....er....stuff doesn't come out.

1. Why do you know that?

2. My old country immigrant grandmother used to want to give us enemas all the time when we were kids. My siblings and I were all asthmatics, and she (in very broken English) would start in with the "we have to get the poison out! Whoosh! Whoosh!"