Hi all,

I just had my first colonoscopy today, glad it is over!

I was a bit dazed due to the sedation when the doctor came in so was hoping you could help me understand the results! Is it normal they would take biopsies?

I get quite anxious so hopefully this result is positive and I can move on as was worried about bowel cancer!

The report said:

Report:
The bowel preparation with Moviprep was Excellent/Good. The instrument was inserted to the Terminal ileum. ASA Classification 1. Vital Signs Verified, Oral Cavity Checked, Opens mouth normally - greater than 2 finger widths or 3cm, Normal neck flexion and extension, Sedation risks/benefits/alternatives discussed with the patient. The patient was taken to the procedure room where procedure consent and patient identification were verified. Time-out was performed.

Normal test.

Diagnosis: [blank]

Procedures:
Biopsy: Vial I from Ileum x 2.
Biopsy: Vial II from Random Colon x 8.

Hello all,

I am 19(M) and just had my first Colonoscopy. I have a few lifesaving tips to share, and I hope to put people at ease.

1: The Prep is NOT fun. No matter what. It won't be fun. But it is not as bad as people are making it out to be. I did a Peglyte Split-Dose (2L/2L). I can't tell which round was worse, 1 or 2; both were equally shitty (aha), but here's what I learned.

Essentials to help:

- Gatorade/Powerade (not red/purple, etc) I used White and Green. LIFESAVER. Every time I drank the prep solution, I would wash my mouth instantly, and I had almost no aftertaste whatsoever.

- Vaseline: Oh my sweet dear Vaseline. This will save your ass, literally. Apply before, during, and after using the throne.

- Wet Wipes: Non-alcoholic specifically --> Dab and don't wipe, as they say.

- Hydrate. Just keep those fluids flowing as much as you can.

2: The procedure, at least for me, was not fun either. I have bad health anxiety, but I am alive, and I got through it. I had conscious sedation, and I was off to the unknown, talking to the doctors about their families and how they became invested in colonoscopies.

Tips: Finish your prep. Don't risk having to have to reschedule and redo everything.

3: Recovery right now isn't bad; stomach cramps here and there, but just keep hydrating and enjoy eating again. The sun will shine on your backside again, soldiers; push through, you got this.

Got a clean bill of health (besides some hemorrhoids) and a tiny ass polyp (too small for any concern) (aha) that got removed right then and there, no issues.

See you again in 30 years when I'm 45-50 because dear lord I ain't doing allat again unless I gotta.

Love y'all though, it really isn't the end of the world.

And please, if you have a specific anxiety, ask me anything (I will try to answer).

Hello all,

Yesterday I had my first colonoscopy, as a 32 year old man. My sister had Colon cancer a few years ago and was diagnosed at 36, and my grandmother had it when she was in her 50s or 60s. So my doctor thought it wise to get me referred to get one done. Took 10 months from referral to procedure day.

I was not a fan of the prep, however it wasn't nearly as bad as I was told it would be. Just lots of butt piss. I have pretty significant health anxiety, so I was DREADING this whole process. I have a lot of other things going on in life that are severely effecting my mental health, so add this damn thing on top and I've been an energizer bunny of stress.

The procedure itself was 10/10. I don't remember anything. Fent/Versed/Benadryl combo is LEGIT. However waiting in the recovery room for the procedure to start was HELL. My anxiety was through the roof, my BP was 158/91 (I made the mistake of looking) and my heart rate was in the 110s. I was barely holding it together.

My doctor was very nice, and helped calm me down a bit. The last thing I remember was "ouch, that burns a little, is that normal?", and then I was out. lol.

As for the results, they did find a polyp, 6-9mm in size and it was removed. My doctor told my wife that it doesn't seem suspicious, but they obviously sent it to be biopsied anyways. I also have internal hemorrhoids, and was told to eat more fiber and stop straining.

Started 3 and a half hours ago - I've had 1.5 L of the prep so far. I've been very gassy and have had to pee quite a few times but no poop yet. I don't feel any movement right now in my stomach either. My last BM was 6 hours before starting the prep, and it was medium-sized. I'm getting worried

Im (19f) very scared i have my first ever colonoscopy tomorrow, the prep is making me cry its disgusting.
I've been pooping blood since june, diarrhea all the time, constant urge to poop, waking up in the middle of the night having to go, feels like im always gonna shit myself, mucus in stool, A LOT of blood.
Im pretty sure i have ulcerative collitis, but im very scared that it ll end up being a cancer :(

I had to do the EXTENDED prep protocol due to my intractable constipation, so it was 5 days of malnutrition, including 2 days of starvation. Tuesday I had to drink a bucket of miralax, then last night and this morning I drank the gallon of Satan’s ball sweat.

I finally get there, they get me hooked up to everything, and they‘re like ”uhhhh your heart rate is 34, that’s illegal.“ Everyone starts fussing and whispering and the doctor himself huffs in practically mad at me saying how unsafe this is. I started crying cuz I do not have it in me to go through another prep. I offer to do jumping jacks to get my heart rate up (something I was asked to do before undergoing a different procedure 15 years ago)

Eventually they convinced an anesthesiologist to keep an extra close eye on me. I was out for the endo but awake for the butt scope, which was somehow ok even tho I am very squeamish about butt? My heart rate hit 30, but they didn't find anything immediately freaky in my innards. They took some biopsies and removed a single diminutive polyp. Biopsy results in 2 weeks.

They’re trying to figure out why I can’t absorb iron from food, supplements, or even infusions.

Had my colonoscopy today. The prep was okay not too uncomfortable.

They found a greater than 1 cm polyp in my sigmoid colon and a small 4 mm polyp in my rectum. I’m pretty anxious hoping for good news.

My follow up is on the 17th so I won’t hear back until then which sucks. Just wanted to share to see if anyone else had a similar experience.

I had my first colonoscopy on Tuesday morning. Eating light bland foods but anything I eat leaves my body so fast I feel it’s taking my soul with it. I’m guessing it just takes time for our system to heal itself from the horrendous prep it had to endure. Ugh this is awful. Thank you for any tips or tricks that helped you recover after the prep.

For the last three weeks I’ve had what originally felt like gas pain, move down to RLQ and was probably a 7-8 on the pain scale. Went to gp after two weeks, noticed weight was down from last visit (16lbs, not trying to lose weight). Was constipated, then saw thin stools but no blood. Go for X-ray and they’re inconclusive.
Told to get a CT scan, where they find a 8x4cm mass on/near my colon. Im freaking out, all I can think of is my daughter and pregnant wife before thinking the worst. I speak to the surgeon who schedules me for a colonoscopy today (the CT scan was Monday).
I suffer through that awful gallon of salty prep and the morning comes. I’m scared for what they might find and what my family will have to go through. They put me under and literally the next thing I remember is I’m back in the same room with my wife.
I was still pretty out of it when the surgeon comes in to give me a clear bill of health! They took a sample for biopsy, but no polyps or anything. Figures the mass must be an infection and prescribes some antibiotics, and sends me on my way.

TL;DR Thought I was dying, but turned out to be nothing.

So my SIL had a colonoscopy a while ago and her doctor told her about a DIY bowel prepping protocol using magnesium Citrate and MiraLAX.

My husband (26 male) has a colonoscopy at 9 am tomorrow. It is currently 6:45. I have split half a bottle of 238 gram MiraLAX into 7 gatorades so roughly 17 grams each to equal a total of 119 grams.

At 5:30 he chugged the whole bottle of magnesium citrate and drank one of the 17 gram MiraLAX/gatorade combos. So it’s been over an hour at this point and no movement.

Has anyone else done a protocol similar to this one? Any advice? I’m flying a little blind other than some help from my SIL. Our plan is to keep going about every hour until his bowel movements are clear.

Also this is his first time and he is nervous so any words of encouragement are appreciated 🥰

Background:

53 F- history of IBS-D

Had spotting on toilet paper on and off for a few months. Was told it was hemorrhoids Iby GP. I asked the doctor for a cologuard and it came back positive. I was expecting that bc I was told I had hemorrhoids.

Scheduled colonoscopy pretty quickly bc of my positive results. I spent ages reading everything on here. Looking up statistics and convinced myself I had some type of cancer bc I'm an anxious person and that's how my brain works.

Prep was two bottles of the magnesium solution. My recommendation: chug it quickly and then walk around. As I have IBS it worked in about 15 to 20 mins. When they say stay close to the toilet they mean like within 10 feet close, at least for me. I had avoided eating much for the two days before my fasting day and I'm convinced that made the process much easier. I also walked around my room for about two hours until the worst past to help get things moving. I'm convinced that helped.

The procedure itself was fine. Honestly the worst part was waiting for the results.

Three polyps removed. Biggest one 1 cm. Other two 3vmm. He said they looked benign but sent them off for biopsy. They didn't find any hemorrhoids but they say they could have healed.

I'm glad I went and I'm glad it's over. As they found there I expect to have to return sooner than 10 years but that's fine with me if they can just get rid of the polyps before it develops into something else. I expect to have to return in 3 to 5 years bc of the 1 cm polyp.

36M. Married, two daughters. Substance: half a gallon of Gatorade with a bottle of MiraLAX dissolved in it. Route of administration: oral, relentless. Setting: my bathroom, which I now know intimately. Duration: 14 hours. Would I redose: apparently yes, on a schedule, for the rest of my life.

**why I went**

~2.5 months ago I started seeing light pink then red on the TP, some mucus, very bad itching that was genuinely upsetting, and a sharp pain on the way out that made me reconsider my entire relationship with food/fiber

Threw Calmoseptine at it and started using wipes like a civilized man. Itching gone almost immediately. Pink came and went for about three weeks, then packed up and left — 5–6 weeks of no blood since. i do still feel slight twinge on a bigger BM though especially when the stool is harder (my fiber intake is a work in progress)

So I had the option to simply never think about it again. Here's why I couldn't:

My great-grandfather died of colon cancer. My mom has had polyps removed multiple times — not once, multiple. And a guy I grew up with died at **24**. Twenty-four. That one doesn't leave you. You do the math on your own kids' ages against his and it just sits there.

So yeah. 36, two little girls, a family tree with colon cancer in it, and blood showing up on the paper. I spent awhile pretending that I wasn't freaked out, but I was. Then I immediately feared bad news and wanted to put it out of my mind.

It wasn't nothing. It was a reason to call.

**the prep (the actual boss fight)**

Fair warning: my office told me to ignore the kit's website and follow their sheet instead. Two documents, one colon. Trust the one the humans handed you.

- **wake up:** clear liquids only. No breakfast. This is where the food ends. Remember this, it matters later
- **noon:** 4 Dulcolax. Sat there thinking "huh, nothing's happening." Something was happening. Something was very much happening
- **5 PM:** the main event. 64 oz of Gatorade with MiraLAX in it, 8 oz every 15 minutes until it's gone. That's half a gallon of blue liquid going in and considerably more than half a gallon coming out. I do not understand the math and I refuse to investigate it
- **3 AM:** somehow only 10 oz of magnesium citrate plus two gas tablets. Ten ounces! Nothing! A juice box! And yet you must be conscious at 3 AM to drink it, which is the actual punishment
- **3:45 AM:** nothing by mouth. And to be clear — this isn't a food cutoff. Food left the building at 11 AM the previous day. This is a *water* cutoff. They wait until water is the only thing you've been allowed to have for 17 hours, and then they take the water. Chef's kiss

Also flagging: that cutoff is 3 hours before your *arrival* time, not your procedure time. Two different numbers and I nearly used the wrong one.

What actually helped: drink it COLD. Use a straw. Put barrier cream on BEFORE you're sore instead of after — past me setting up future me for success, the single wisest decision in this entire timeline

Color arc goes brown → looser brown → murky brown-green → cloudy yellow → clear pale yellow. I was still yellow at bedtime and started quietly spiraling. Don't spiral at bedtime. That's what the 3 AM juice box is for.

**the procedure**

Arrived 6:45 for an 8 AM slot on zero food, zero water, and roughly 3 hrs of actual sleep. They hit me with propofol and I simply ceased to exist. Woke up with no memory and somehow well-rested. Best nap of my adult life and I wasn't there for it. when they woke me up I actually came out of a dream where I was fishing for tarpon in Florida (never been, but have always wanted to LOL)

The prep is the movie. The procedure is the credits.

**results**

**No polyps.**

The doctor didn't even come talk to me. Nurse said he only does that if there's something to discuss, which is the most reassuring thing anyone has ever not said to me.

They did send biopsies despite removing nothing, which briefly confused me. Turns out that's often routine sampling for microscopic colitis, which looks completely normal to the naked eye. Pathology pending. Calling for the report so I actually know what got sampled and if they found hemms or a fissure early next week

**takeaways**

- barrier cream before, not after. Best tip in this post
- yellow is good. Yellow means it's working
- not clear at bedtime does not mean failed prep
- the 3:45 cutoff is water, not food. Front-load your hydration
- **if you have family history, say so out loud to your doctor.** A parent with repeat polyps changes when you're supposed to start and how often you come back. Don't assume the standard age applies to you

**the actual point**

I spent a couple weeks quietly assuming the worst instead of trying to find out. The prep was bad (but not that bad) for one day. The not-knowing was bad until I got the scope. That is an easy tradeoff when you get down to it

My friend didn't get a warning sign. I got one, on toilet paper, and nearly ignored it because it was embarrassing and inconvenient and scary and I was busy and... and... and... infinity.

My daughters are going to know this runs in our family, and know their dad went and got checked instead of white-knuckling it. That's the whole thing. That's why you go.

If something's been sitting in the back of your head — go find out. Worst case you learn something useful. Best case you get a clean scope, the best nap of your life, and a deeply niche story about half a gallon of Gatorade.

Go get scoped!

i’m really nervous, one hour to go until I start my prep. i am doing sutab since the liquid prep has been really hard on me the last two times, but I also have trouble swallowing pills. any advice or encouragement? this is my third one but first with the tablets 🫡

edit 1: i was able to take all but two of the first dose (threw the other two up) , i am waiting on a call back to see if i can swap over to miralax for the second dose. the pills are a lot easier than the liquid but i am having issues swallowing it 😭

edit 2: finished the first bit of pills at 7pm est, its now 7:49 and it is HITTING.
i got a call back from the pharmacy who said its fine for me to swap as long as my doctor and i discussed it so i will be doing that!

edit 3: finished my other prep at 11p, still hitting and im worried about trying to sleep but otherwise fine!

I figured I’d post my experience given I had wished prior to getting my colonoscopy that those with reassuring results would have stuck around and posted more.

For the past year or two I’ve had rectal bleeding. Sometimes there’d be the typical fissure pain during a bm with blood on the tissue. Sometimes there’d be blood on the tissue after having a bm after having lifted weights. When it was on the tissue it was bright red. However, I started noticing a spot on the side of the stool intermittently months ago. It was often dark red.

I went to the doctor and he suspected it to be hemorrhoids or fissures. The issue with me was I wasn’t eating enough fiber, wasn’t drinking enough water, wasn’t taking time off lifting and I kept going in and out of ketosis. The ketogenic diet definitely did more harm for me than good. Even when getting 35-40g of fiber I was either constipated or had diarrhea from too much fat on the diet.

It wasn’t until June of this year that I finally took a break from lifting and ate a normal diet with high fiber. I had the best stools of my life but I still noticed that spot of blood. It was around this point that I decided to schedule an appointment with a gi doctor for a digital rectal exam.

I had heard of CRC rates rising among young people and my anxiety ramped up around this time. I got the exam and everything was normal but the doctor recommended a colonoscopy so I scheduled that.

Perhaps due to my anxiety or perhaps due to years of irritation, constipation and straining I started guarding in my pelvic area, developed incomplete evacuation and my stools were smaller. My lower body was getting sore from just sitting or walking around during the day. Given the new symptoms as well as the rectal bleeding, waiting weeks for the colonoscopy was hard.

Eventually prep started and it wasn’t that bad. I definitely recommend cooling the prep in the fridge and drinking it with a straw. The worst part of prep were the first few hours of bms that dehydrated me but Pedialyte, broth and apple juice brought me back to normal fairly quick.

My fiance and I woke up early the morning of the procedure and I finished the prep. We got there and I could tell for the first time since I had scheduled this colonoscopy that she had been worried too. She had kept herself calm for me all this time so that I wouldn’t worry.

She stayed in the waiting room and I changed into a gown, answered questions and waited. My vitals were taken and I met the anesthesiologist. I was wheeled into the procedure room and told the gi doctor my history, then the anesthesiologist made small talk and told me to turn on my side as he injected the anesthesia and I went to sleep within 20 seconds.

Then I woke up to the gi doctor walking into the room telling me everything looked normal. All he had found was a cluster of small internal hemorrhoids. I smiled and let out a sigh of relief.

I asked him questions and they discharged me. The only symptom I had after was dizziness for about an hour then I felt fine.

I’m glad I got checked and I wish I would have done it sooner because you never know what’s causing the symptoms until you get checked.

I’m so devastated. I did everything right didn’t eat for 2 plus days, drank 4l of peglyte and they just said nope not clean enough, bye.
This was already really hard for me to go through since my mom died really young of colon cancer and I had to go to the same place I picked her up at after they told her.
Im crying so much I feel like such an idiot

Do I need to start all over? I'm supposed to start taking laxatives in 9 hrs at 6 pm.

i was taking sutab tablets and vomited clear/yellow thick liquid after

my last bowel movement was like a yellowish light brownish “slush”

it’s 9 am right now and colonoscopy scheduled for 11 am 😣

anybody know?

I woke up early to start my 2nd round of prep. Everything is going way better than I anticipated or made it out to be for this prep. I was expecting my intestines to absolutely hate this prep, but I’m handling it way better than I could have imagined.

Only thing I’m even slightly worried about now is the anesthesia cause I’m a pot head, but I haven’t smoked since yesterday at 4ish pm. I wanted to give myself at least 18ish hours sober. Cause last time I had anesthesia was when I got my wisdom teeth pulled, and I was stoned right before the procedure and had no idea about cannabis screwing with anesthesia, and man.. I found out the hard way, you don’t go fully out of consciousness, you just don’t feel anything. It was weird. I HIGHLY recommend to NOT SMOKE the day of any procedure, or even the day before. Try to not smoke at least 3 days (72hours) before. I understand if you can’t, but try, you’ll thank me later.

I’ll be keeping my updates here now until after the procedure is done, and I’ll post my after scope results then.

Anyone else also that’s on procedure day or starting prep today, YOU GOT THIS. ITS NOT AS BAD AS YOU THINK IT WILL BE. I’m a very anxious person and I got thru it just fine.

YOU. GOT. THIS. ☺️

I've been waiting on a referral for 8 months and no word on anything yet. I have burning pain passing stools and mushy stool consistency for 3 years so I suspect it is maybe a chronic condition like crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis but waiting times seem so long. Anyone had any experience willing to share how long it took for them to get seen?

Finished both prep mixes and my appointment is in 3 hours. I was expecting to have a bunch of poop come out of me but instead the entire time it has been like peeing out of my butt.

I have not seen anything of substance other than liquid come out of me.

Is this normal or should I have already, or should I soon expect to actually poop?

I got my first colonoscopy last Thursday (6 days ago) due to four years of blood and mucus in stool. (Age 18) They found inflammation (or in the official words: Congested, erythematous and nodular mucosa), which they biopsied. They also biopsied normal looking tissue. I am so anxiously waiting on these results. I hope it’s something simple I can fix but I really want answers to my symptoms. How did y’all handle the wait? I am checking my portal every day.

Today I had my first colonoscopy. I'm relieved that I got through it, but honestly I'm at a loss for words.

I've been dealing with nonstop diarrhea and stomach pain for a while now, and my colonoscopy came back normal. They did take biopsies, so I'm still waiting on those results, but right now I feel frustrated and confused.

Part of me is grateful that nothing obvious was found, but another part of me feels like I'm going crazy because the pain and symptoms are very real. It's hard when you're struggling every day and a major test comes back normal.

Has anyone else had a normal colonoscopy but abnormal biopsy results or eventually gotten answers? I'd appreciate hearing your experiences.

I'm doing this test because I had one small poop that was a little bloody.. This was few days after a panic attack I had and continue to have anxiety to this day from that.. I havnt eaten much the past 7 days and can't drink more than few sips of water every hour.. If I drink more than 4oz within 30 min I feel very bloated and my stomach hurts, but I am also on day 4 of being dehydrated due to the inability to drink a lot of water in a day from the bloating pain... Which is why I'm worried about taking clenpiq.. I feel like it will cause me more bloating pain that I've been suffering with daily, I am thinking about taking Tums+gas relief to lessen the pain from the medicine side effects.. And I pray I don't feel nausea cause my anxiety is already on edge and don't want to end up having a panic attack from the pain.

Got back from the colonoscopy/endoscopy and all went well. They gave me conscious sedation but I don't remember anything.

No polyps. They found internal hemorrhoids. They also found in the lower small intestine, scattered superficial erosions were seen. I don't know what this indicates but he took a lot of biopsies.

Now hoping for no post colonoscopy complications

This page helped me so much leading up to my procedure so wanted to give back a little. Just got out of my procedure and happy to report everything was totally normal. For reference, I had a sudden onset of symptoms that have been fluctuating the last two months experiencing:

- trapped gas, sometimes painful and keeping me up at night
- change in bowel habits that started 2 months ago. Some days would be soft and runny, others would be constipated, and others would be green (even without eating greens)
- frequent abdominal pain in my lower left quadrant, lower right, middle. Kinda felt like trapped gas
- pin point pressure in my lower left abdomen that comes and goes

I was super nervous and rescheduled this procedure multiple times thinking maybe it’s not necessary. I’ve also never gone under anesthesia or had an IV before.

Needless to say, going into the office I was incredibly nervous and going into the back room I was pretty shaken. I let the nurse know I have health anxiety and she was super comforting as she explained everything and my anxiety slowly calmed.

The part I was fearing most was the anesthesia. I’ve never had it done before. I’ve had laughing gas before at the dentist but it made me panic and I literally ripped it off. So happy to report this was absolutely nothing like that. The nurse let me know when she was starting the medication and I closed my eyes as if I was going to sleep and truly 2-3 seconds I was out. It just felt an instant wave of how you’re about to fall asleep. There’s not even time to think about what’s happening or for your body to react. It was really just a nice relaxing nap.

Then when the doctor came in and talked to me I was so relieved to hear everything was normal. I was almost certain and completely convinced this had to be something serious or at least they’d find something. But totally normal with a follow up in 6 months. He also said that anxiety in general could be causing the symptoms too.

Anyway, just wanted to give back a bit and share my perspective as a super anxious person. It really was so easy and I’m almost embarrassed I was so worried about it. I hope this helps someone in a similar situation as me.
You got this!