Colonoscopy: My First Experience.

If you are thinking about having a colonoscopy,  remember that each person's experience is different. Remember to tell your gastroenterologist  all your concerns including what to do about an upset stomach, gastritis and any other concern regardless of how minor the concern appears. This is important because the formula for cleaning your colon may vary according to what you tell your gastroenterologist.

I decided to go for a colonoscopy primarily because I'm 65 years old and I figured it was high time to do so. 

I told my gastroenterologist I had a nervous stomach' as a child. I don't know what it really was. 'Nervous stomach' was the term my mother used. I would get stomach cramps often. My first case of gastritis occurred when I was in my mid-twenties. The gas bubbles would form in my stomach after I ate and when the bubbles came up, they'd bring up the food causing me to choke. So I had to lay down. This lasted for several days. On the second day I visited my family doctor who prescribed something to get rid of the gases.      My doctor had me take more than the maximum dosage of the prescription because the maximum dosage did not relieve the gaseous feeling. My stomach was so upset that for months the only food that wouldn't give me gases was a broiled hamburger. It took years of experiment to find out what foods I could and could not eat.

I found the preparation for the colonoscopy not so bad. Of course, I could only have clear liquids the day before the colonoscopy. My doctor told me that broth, Jello, sports drinks, soda and coffee were all acceptable. So I had a bowl (not a cup) of Chicken broth and some Jello whenever I got hungry. The formula I had to drink at 6:00 PM did not taste good. So I sipped a little sports drink whenever the taste of the formula got to me. Then I drank a quart of sports drink. The sports drink replaces all the electrolytes that are drained from one's body during diarrhea. It also rehydrate the body. Of course I was in the bathroom all night. 

On the morning of the colonoscopy, I woke up early and had another bowl of chicken broth. Then I drank the formula and drank another quart of sports drink. I had no liquids for two hours before the colonoscopy. I was not conscious during the colonoscopy. During the colonoscopy they found and removed four precancerous polyps.