Jessity Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 There are several old threads on the forum, and elsewhere online, with horror stories about how awful/dreadful/revolting Klean prep is and how it makes you vomit. I hope the mods will allow me to start a new thread on the same topic to highlight my experience because I didn’t find it so bad and perhaps it will reassure others. I’d seen the forum threads and read other contributions online and was horrified, spent a couple of days worrying myself into the floor, plus a sleepless night, and was thinking to phone the Hallamshire to call it off. But there wasn’t an alternative, I have a family history of bowel cancer and needed a colonoscopy so Klean prep was essential. Spoiler alert, this post is a bit graphic. If you’re not imminently facing Klean-prep or a colonoscopy, you really don’t need to linger here. Klean-prep. Maybe it’s has been reformulated or tweaked in some way? Others spoke of a salty taste, a fishy taste. I didn’t get that, just a pronounced taste of vanilla. Yes I’d rather any vanilla taste was more subtle but we’re not into a gourmet experience here. The hospital leaflet advised mixing it with lime cordial so I added a hefty slug as part of the measured litre of water for each sachet. It also advised keeping the made-up solution in the fridge, and in addition to that, I added a handful of ice cubes to each tumbler I drank which gave me a very cold lime/vanilla concoction. No, I don’t suppose I’ll order it next time I’m in a cocktail bar but it wasn’t horrid or nightmarish. Downside was that I got very cold through drinking so much icy stuff but a warm sweatshirt and a hot water bottle solved that. At no time did I feel any nausea and I certainly never felt I might vomit. It’s a lot to drink a litre each hour but not impossible. Leaflet advised not to drink it too fast, so I just kept taking small mouthfuls and pacing myself by the clock to get a glassful down every 15 minutes. By the end of the fourth litre I was utterly and completely bored with it all, but I’d done it. Once it starts to work, which wasn’t instantly for me, took a couple of hours before I had to race to the loo, Andrex moist tissues and copious amounts of Vaseline are essential and you do need to stay near the loo and have unrestricted access – other family members must just make their own arrangements! Colonoscopy. I opted for sedation and the only sensations I had were two or three times when I thought “ooh, a bit of a twinge” but as I was thinking that it was going to get painful, it went away. And that was all I felt. It was barely half an hour from walking into the treatment room to being wheeled into the recovery room and some of that time was taken up with blood pressure equipment being strapped on my arm, positioning me on the trolley and putting the IV line into my arm. Because of my bowel cancer family history, I may need Klean-prep and another colonoscopy in the future. What I will do is make sure I have lime cordial, lots of ice, warm sweatshirt and hot water bottle, Vaseline and Andrex moist wipes. What I definitely won’t do is worry about it or have sleepless nights. Way too much information I know but it might help someone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medusa Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Thank you Jessity I knew I couldn't be the only person for whom it was no great shakes in the grand scale of the potential illness/treatment spectrum. As you said, it's not like you're doing it for fun, but then I didn't have the hysteroscopy, the colposcopy, the bronchoscopy, the hysterectomy, the radiotherapy or anything else for fun either. I joked with my mum and the only orifice I could think of that the medical profession hadn't invaded in my time in hospital was my tear ducts, and I opted not to have the sedative for my colonoscopy any hysteroscopy, and to be honest, neither of them were as bad as I thought they would be. I think that a lot of how you experience these things is down to expectation and it doesn't help people to be utterly terrified of something that may not exactly be pleasant, but it won't be the end of the world either. I hope that the results from your test are equally positive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_Sleeps Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 No, I don’t suppose I’ll order it next time I’m in a cocktail bar I wonder how that night would end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessity Posted January 9, 2013 Author Share Posted January 9, 2013 Thanks for asking Medusa, the result was clear which was a huge relief, I'd have opened a bottle of champers but the hospital said no alcohol for 24 hours :-(. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lyndyloo Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 My hubby went for a colonoscopy in december,he was dreading it but came home saying it wasn't that bad he had gas & air.He wasn't keen on the klean prep he mixed it with flavoured water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
choogling Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 when i had investigations for chrohns disease they used Pica lax spelling may be wrong but the results would have been the same Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bypassblade Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Thanks for asking Medusa, the result was clear which was a huge relief, I'd have opened a bottle of champers but the hospital said no alcohol for 24 hours :-(. Jessity so glad you've got the all clear, I had 2 colonoscopys in June, and used Klean Prep for both, one at home one in hospital. I agree about the tissue & cream as boy oh boy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottf Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Yeah, I agree with you, I had suspected bowel cancer a few years ago so have to have them pretty regularly and as you say it's not too bad. I did it slightly differently to you though, I just necked the entire packet in one go after mixing with water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nagel Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 I had a dual colonoscopy/gastroscopy last month. I found the Klean-Prep not as disgusting as some threads on here would have you believe, but I could only manage 3 out of the 4 litres I was meant to drink. It started off OK, but got progressively harder to stomach. There was something about its cold clammy taste that got more and more difficult to swallow. I found it a lot easier just to neck a whole glass in one and also found it easier if the solution was made up luke warm. The colonoscopy itself was not so bad, just felt some odd feelings down there from time to time, similar to the stomach cramps you sometimes get when you have diarrhoea. The gastroscopy felt more invasive and I didn't like that part at all. I elected to have the sedative and was glad I did, although it was very mild and I'm not sure it did much at all. Unfortunately I have to repeat the gastroscopy, tomorrow evening (today now) and I'm not looking forward to it at all, although it's better than last time as at least I know what to expect this time and it's quite a quick procedure, about 5 or 10 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddysbuddy Posted August 16, 2013 Share Posted August 16, 2013 hi , I have read the posts on this subject as I am due for the klean prep experience this week end. I am due to start at 3pm. can anyone tell me when the effects of this will start slowing down?. I am wondering wether to go to bed [ about 9.30 is normal] or should I get a duvet in the bathroom? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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