Colonoscopy Prep....?

 Everyone has a different approach when it come to the days leading up to a colonoscopy. 

Eat this, but not that. Drink this, but not that. Take this, but not that. Depending on your particular situation. "Normal" people who have "normal" bowels, I actually feel sorry for. They aren't use to restricting foods on a daily basis and I'm sure they feel they are "suffering" with the restrictions.

I laugh.

For IBD'ers, it's a piece of cake...so to speak. For me, I've tried the oral prep AND the enema prep but neither really worked, not sure why. I'm pretty sure it's because my small intestine is attached to my rectum, I barely have any large bowel left. Both types of prep cause me great discomfort. 

Now, I need this colonoscopy leading up to removing my rectum, anus and add an ileostomy and luckily my surgeon is doing the scope so she can look for what she needs to do from the inside. So, this is what I normally do...

Four days before the test I switch to a liquid diet. No food at all. Breakfast is black coffee or tea and jello. Lunch AND dinner is juice, water, black coffee or tea and chicken broth. That's it. In between I'll have some Gatorade. 

Now, you'd think I'd be hungry, but I'm not. With the amount of liquid intake, I "feel" full. I may not actually be full, but as long as I just have the feeling, that's what I need. Plus, I'm use to it. There have been too many times in my crohn's life that I have stopped eating. By the time my test rolls around 4 days later, there's nothing left inside me to interfere with the camera. 

This is what I DO. It may not work for others. The normal prep will probably work for everyone else, but I wanted to say, this is what I do, for me, because the normal prep doesn't work and causes great discomfort. Like we always say, what works for one may not work for another.