What are some good alternatives to bowel prep medication?
Given the choice of wood splinters being shoved up my fingernails and drinking the bowel prep meds I would choose the former. Please tell me that there is/are some pill(s) I can take that won’t require me to drink 46 gallons of warm, unsweetened pig salivia. Help! Sorry for my graphic description. But in all seriousness, I can not drink the liquid that has been prescribed no matter what I add to try and get it down. I have now cancelled my procedure twice.
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You understand and agree that use of the Website does not in any way create or establish a physician-patient privilege or physician-patient relationship between you and any Medical Professional Member. You should recognize that the information provided on the Website (including past questions and answers and articles posted on the site) is provided for your general information. These materials should not be relied on as medical advice and reading and reviewing them is not a substitute for direct consultation with a medical professional about a specific medical problem.
Without limiting the foregoing, you understand and agree that submitting a Free Question or receiving an answer to a Free Question does not in any way create or establish an physician-patient relationship between you and any Medical Professional Member, or between you and us. The information and answers provided in response to Free Questions is intended to be generic medical information, not medical advice, and is based upon the very limited information provided by you in a Free Question. Specific medical advice can only be given with full knowledge of all of the facts and circumstances of your situation. If you are currently being treated by a doctor, that doctor is the best person to give you advice about a medical case or medical matter. Under no circumstances should the information obtained on this site be used to make decisions about the quality of service provided by a doctor or about the proper course of a medical matter.
There are alternatives, some people chill the prep solution – its much more palatable if you cool it off in the freezer first before you start (and doesn’t affect the quality of the prep).? You can also discuss split dose prep and possibility of alternative solutions such as miralax.? Unfortunately, all of the currently available preps pretty much require high volumes of liquids (most are 4 liters) to work.? The alternatives such as phospho-soda prep are unsafe and shouldn’t be used (but did require much less liquid).
There are pills available (Osmoprep) for the preparation. However, you will need to take 32 pills (four pills at a time with 8 oz. of water) amounting to 8 sessions of 8 oz. of water (64 oz. of water. Ask your physician about whether you are a candidate for the pills since the pills do come with a Black Box Warning. The pills can rarely cause a phophate nephropathy resulting in a permanent kidney impairment requiring kidney dialysis. Unfortunately, the current choices for bowel preparation do not taste good (to say the least) and the bowel preparation is the worst part of the process. Most gastroenterologists will prescribe an anti-nausea medication if requested by the patient. This will really help you with curbing the nausea.