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Bowel prep before surgery?



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I’m scheduled to have surgery April 16th. My surgeon wants me to drink two bottles of magnesium citrate the day before surgery to keep me from getting constipated afterward. I just tasted this stuff and it’s awful. There’s no way I’m going to get all that down. It’s like soda Water with some rubbing alcohol mixed in. I have Miralax, so I may drink that instead. Has anyone else had to do this before surgery and how critical is it that I do this? Thanks for all the great information that you all give.

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I had to do it before surgery and thankfully I only had to drink one bottle. I got the grape flavored one. I used a straw and just drank it in 3 big gulps with a shot of apple juice in between. You can always call your dr and see if you can take something else instead.

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I didn't have to do anything like that before surgery. I had a bowel movement before leaving the hospital and haven't had any Constipation whatsoever.

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nope - I didn't have to either. But since I had to do a liquid diet for two weeks prior to surgery (and this was ALL liquid - no solid food allowed), I doubt I had anything in there.

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If it's something your surgeon requires I would suck it up and do it.

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My son's Bowel Prep before colonoscopy contained both Mg Citrate and Duocolax. A LOL which was part of it,i He was permitted lemon and lime Jello along with fluids during,prep. In the pictures he received after the procedure was finished, there is visible lime jello,cliinging to the colon walls. As much,as he went to the BR before, you could swear it would be impossible! 😝📝📆

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Add ice cubes to it or refrigerate it so it's cold. It goes down much easier. I've told my patients this when they've had to do preps. Good Luck!

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1 hour ago, elcee said:

If it's something your surgeon requires I would suck it up and do it.

If any doctor requires something and I don't understand why, I ask them questions, such as, are their other options to achieve the goal here?

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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