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I am going for an upper and lower GI tomorrow.  Does the doc go up any farther than the pouch?  Curious because this time they want me to do 1/2 a prep of miralax which I have never needed before.  Always before I just did clear liquids and a fleet.  I called the office and made the nurse verify with the doc since he has known me for years and yes, he says the protocol has changed?  Anyone have thoughts?  I am not too excited about miralax and what it could do to my fragile system  

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the protocol for normal people is 238 grams (a whole bottle!) of miralax.  They told me to do 119 g, a half bottle!  Crazy.  I have had this pouch for 20 years and have had so many scopes I cannot count.  Have never taken a laxative.  It's always been fine.  So, I'm just gonna do what I always do, clear liquids today and a fleet in the morning.  Anyone ever done 'prep' ?  

Basically it is overkill.  There is likely no harm from the laxative.  They want you to be clear because Docs get pissed when people are lazy with their preps.  I have sat in recovery rooms and listened to Doctors lecture their patients on poor and insufficient preps.  There is a large segment of the population that do not take these preps very seriously -they think it's a joke. Even from the posts I have seen on this board, most people don't really even consider that a poor prep will lead to poor diagnostics.  Instead they worry about fasting too long, taking too many enemas or taking too many laxatives.  This is an intellectually lazy thought process, because logically the benefits of an overkill prep clearly outweigh any possible harms, while the risks of a poor prep greatly outweigh any negligible benefits, which are purely of a "comfort level" variety.  Being comfortable should never be part of the equation.  Is it comfortable when you bench press 250 pounds 25 times? No, but you do it because pain is gain, not because it feels good.

Miralax will not hurt you. It's not a stimulant laxative. I've taken it, but prefer MOM. Kind of how prior to scopes or when I get a little too thick, I'll also use some MOM.  Generally I take 1/2 a dose of MOM before bed, go NPO after midnight, and do a couple of Fleet sized enemas (but I dump out the fluid and use warm tap water instead).  I have no incontinence issues, though, and can sleep through the night.

"Our" systems are all different, too, just like those with colons, so you can't assume all of us are relying on Imodium or psyllium to slow things down. Good god, I'd die if I took Imodium and Metamucil!!  I *never* ever needed that stuff. I tend towards being too thick and prefer a looser stool. I take 1/2 - 1 tab of mag sulfate to stay looser, as magnesium is an osmotic and pulls fluid into the bowel.  However, Miralax was suggested to me, in the past. I just prefer MOM.

And yes. An inefficient prep will garner you poor photos and another trip back to the GI lab, this time WITH more stuff to clear you out.
Last edited by rachelraven

My GI scopes a bit upstream when he checks my pouch. Maybe 6-12 inches. I usually do a light diet the day before and tap water enemas before leaving the house. But I have also done the phosphosoda too. It did no harm. Miralax is quite gentle, so don't worry about that. 

 

If you followed up with the doctor and he confirmed the prep, I would do it.

 

Jan

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