There are a few different bowel preps that we use in our practice to help clean out the small bowel and the colon for your exams. The basic premise of all the preps are the same. The goal is to avoid solid foods the day before your exam and drink as much fluids as you can. The cleaner you can get your small bowel (for small bowel capsule endoscopy) or your colon (for colonoscopy) the more thorough and accurate of an exam we can do for you. We understand this is usually the most unplesant part of having a procedure done, but we have all been through it before as well and there are some things you can do to make it easier. Depending upon the time your exam is scheduled for, sometimes your bowel prep can be split so that half of it is taken the night before the exam and half the morning of your exam. This helps decrease the fullness and bloating feeling and gives you a much better washout. It also helps if you refrigerate your bowel prep as it does taste better when it is cold. If you start feeling to full, bloated or nauseated, take a break from the prep for a while until those symptoms resolved and then resume. It also helps to use baby wipes instead of regular toilet paper as once you start going your bottom side will tend to get a little tender. Click on the link below to find specific directions for the prep you are going to use. If there are other questions regarding this please contact my office.
Miralax Small Bowel Capsule Endoscopy Prep
Suprep Colonoscopy Prep
Half-Lightly Colonoscopy Prep
Moviprep Colonoscopy Prep