Bowel prep

So apart from being terrified of the catheter I am also a bit scared of the bowel prep. I'm a big baby when it comes to drinking nasty medicines. So really, how bad is it?

I have to say the prep wasn't as bad as I thought. The worst part for me was just drinking so much. I am not a big drinker so I was full after 1 glass and it just seemed that I wasn't making a dent. The whole time I just kept reminding myself that after surgery I would finally feel better and have anything I want to eat and it helped. Good luck!

Hold your nose and drink it all at once. Wash away the taste with another allowed drink like apple juice. Plan to spend all day on the porcelain throne and don't be surprised if Niagara Falls comes out your b. I didn't have cramps but my b got very sore. Drink water after the effects are done. It is harder to get the IV in if you are dehydrated. I still have a pretty bruise from a failed insertion.

For me, the bowel prep was not as bad as I thought. I did the magnesium citrate version. I will not lie - it did not taste very good (anything that says "tasty" on the bottle - you know it is the exact opposite!) I just drank some water afterwards and had some soda crackers (for me soda crackers were part of the liquid diet).

Just be home when you start the bowel prep. But I did not spend all evening on the toilet. Just did not want to be too far away from one. Everyone is different on when it starts working. Mine took several hours and went into the next AM. I thought I did something wrong but when I talked to the pre-op nurse she said that I did just fine. She said all bodies work differently with different timing.

It wasn't great, but it wasn't that bad either. The hands down best advice someone gave me for the bowel prep - A&D Ointment. Yep, just like that white pasty stuff you put on a baby diaper rash. Slather it on BEFORE drinking your prep and reapply after each BM. Worked like a charm to protect the backside from all of the trips to the throne.

I have to take magnesium of citrate too. I priced the bottle and was shocked to see it 98 cents haha. But it's a 10oz bottle. Are we to just drink it straight from the bottle or are we to mix it with water etc? My mom said to just drink it straight from the bottle but that just doesn't seem 'right' to me.

Yep, I was told to drink it straight from the bottle (or pour it into a glass first and drink from the glass) Then, you can drink water afterwards. You can also ask your doctor...

ugh, I'm SO not looking foward to that. I may use a straw and put the straw totally back against my throat, suck the whole thing down fast as possible and then wait.

This is not going to be the best day of my life xD

The stuff does not taste real good. I chose "tasty" lemon lime - to me it sounded better than "tasty" cherry. I heard the straw method works pretty well to get it down. They might have suggestions on the bottle....

The whole process is not real fun... but not as bad as I thought either. Just be home when you start. Mine took several hours before it started working (I drank the stuff at 4 PM), and then continued to have runny BM into the next morning.

I actually had to start a new thread as my whole bowel prep thing runs a little deeper than just taste xD severe constipation my entire life pretty much is kind of scaring me.

I don't think I'd like cherry flavored. I learned that cherry anything medicine wise is NOT wise. Cherry Pepto Bismol comes to mind. YUCK.