I had a colonoscopy in late November – first time for me. There isn’t a lot of experiences about this on the site when I searched, so I thought I would share my experience. I had this done with a draining seton in for a fistula and I still have an area that is tender from my January LIS.
Overview of the prep - Called Miralax/Gatorade
-Couple of days of low fiber diet. I did call the GI and said I could take me fiber supplement since I was scared about hard BM’s. So I took my normal Ѕ dose of Citrucel before bed.
Day before (THE BIG FLUSH) – liquid diet. I had enough Jello to last me a year. About noon I had to take 2 dulcolax laxative. Then I mixed a 13 oz bottle of Miralax with 64 oz of Gatorade. Had to drink this over a 2 hour period.
Day of the colonoscopy – Had to 10 oz drink magnesium citrate 4 hours before. This stuff was just nasty……..
The BM weren’t too bad since the diarrhea was non acidic. I used a ton of Vaseline to protect the area. I would go to the bathroom and then recoat since there was no holding when I had to go again. I was on the toilet so much I can’t even guess a count. The worst part of the “flush” for me was at one point I felt like I had the flu – chills, vomiting, and diarrhea of course. This passed in about 1.5 hours for me. Then I just continues with diarrhea through the night.
The day of the procedure- I was really paranoid about going in my pants on the way to the GI since the mag citrate flushed the system again in the morning. Luckily, I made it ok. The colonoscopy was painful at first. I guess the first turn it is common to have cramping. They gave me another shot of drugs and then it was good from then on. Weird sensation the gas being blown in….
Afterwards was actually the worst for me. I had tissue bioposies taken. So afterwards I was still having diarrhea with blood mixed in. This burned like hell no matter how much Vaseline I put on.

Hey Paul!
Glad you got it over with! Has anyone let you know the results yet? From previous posts I read, you said they were worried about an underlying problem?
Hope everything comes back ok! Thanks for sharing what its like! My Dr wants me to get one too to see if there is something else up, so its good to hear what to expect!

PaulsPain- your description is very similar to my experience in August. I had a colonoscopy before in 2001 and it was very uneventful. I had the same concerns regarding going in my pants but all was well. If I had it to do over again, I would have started the early morning day of drinking of the stuff a little earlier than suggested, even if it meant getting up even earlier. I didn't like the ride to the clinic at all! But I would say to that I was so scared of it making my fissure worse that I put it off for at least 6 weeks. My GP had recommended it to rule out other issues, but also so someone could get a better look at what was going on without killing me. I have to say that the GI doc was a bit of an ass- he made it seem like I was being a baby over nothing. My husband talked to him more afterward because I was out of it and he said he couldn't believe how sarcastic the guy was. Anyway- his description of the fissure,etc... never really seemed to help anyone all that much. He also was very discouraging about botox or LIS and said those would be great options if you didn't mind wearing diapers or something like that. So he really made me put off seeing a CRS for a while and made me feel pretty helpless.
I would just want to encourage others that the colonoscopy didn't really stir anything up for me. In fact, ironicaly, it started a period of about 6 weeks when I was actually better and for a month had thought it had gone away. Maybe he scared it out of me or I wondered if the stimulation itself caused some blood flow to the area? Anyway- I worried so much for weeks prior thinking it would make it worse and worrying about the prep and I also had very little irritation from the loose stools of the prep. Vasline, baby wipes, and getting a new bestseller from the library that I read in the bathroom the night before all helped!

I'm due for routine Colonoscopy some time this next year because I've had polyps in the past and have to have the procedure every 5 years.
The polyps were discovered during Flexible Sigmoidoscopy, this was supposed to be a relatively painless procedure but definitely wasn't the case for me, like Pauls stated, the first turn is the worst, for me it was very very painful and they had to halt the procedure, luckily though, they managed to biopsy a few polyps..

Dang I thought I was the only one. My colonoscopy was aborted at the first turn from the sigmoid into the transverse colon because I couldn't tolerate it. I remember partially coming to and cursing at the doctor to stop. He gave me a bunch more drugs (I could hear him give the orders) and finally gave up after about 20 minutes of trying. Afterward he told me gave me 5x more sedatives and painkillers than usual before aborting and wrote up a procedure report that said the next time I have a colonoscopy, it should be done under propofol or general anesthesia lol. No biopsy in my case though.
My colonoscopy prep solution was something called Half Lytely. It starts with two bisacodyl tablets and then a jug of polyethylene glycol 3350 (i.e., Miralax) based liquid. Definitely some hilarious times, it was about 2 hours in before I gave up on actually wiping and getting up from the toilet following each liquidy evacuation.

You were lucky NG, here in the UK we have Sigmoidoscopy done without sedatives, I was told it was a quick procedure so sedatives were not needed and never have been, I sure could of done with a bunch though!, my turn into the transverse colon was really tight and that's why they couldn't proceed, that and the pain of course!!
The prep solution was the worst (FLEET), jeeeeez, this stuff made me poop through the eye of a needle lol, as I recall I was up all night pooping, the burning was a nightmare, in them days I didn't have a fissure, fortunately, but I did have hemmorhoids that got really angry during the brief exam.

my colonoscopy experience was actually pleasant in february 2008. i was super scared when i booked it as it was to be a combo with an LIS following it but after a month and eating macrobiotically, the LIS was cancelled. the colonoscopy was still kept.
i prepped the day before - right around 3 o 4 pm i took some tablets. then i believe around 7 pm, i had to start drinking the half-lytely stuff. didn't really start going to the bathroom til about 11 pm.
anyway, the next morning had some watery bm and then off to the center for the colonoscopy. i guess my main concern was that i didn't get all the water out and while under, my butt would be oozing water!!! lol.
i was put out with some versed and other relaxing stuff and never felt a thing.
i woke up as if nothing ever happened. had a little gas.
and whatever my CRS did, it seemed to have helped my fissure also continue its healing.
i can say that by 2009 (since i started in 2004 with the fissure from hell), i was fissure clear.

hi , for me the Colonoscopy was a big regret , after 3 month of improvement I made a big mistake. with worry and uncertainty and to go for a clear look according to my CRS , I decided to get the colonoscopy done, guess what ? I find myself at the square one , my fissure reopen wider then used to be , my pain came back hunting me for hours . my conclusion is I should have waited for the colonoscopy until either my fissure get healed or approached a dead end .anyway this is my own experience . thanks