!!!! I was just told I have to have an upper GI after my pre-op consult! What does this entail, and does it hurt?!?! It sounds painful, or, at the very least, SUPER uncomfortable!

Thanks, Jack! That makes me feel so much better! It actually sounds really interesting!

I didn't have any fizzy stuff. They basically just xray you while you drink barium. Lay on your left side, lay on your back etc. I guess a good way to say it is that you roll around on their table drinking barium while they xray you, haha!!

. Lay on your left side, lay on your back etc. I guess a good way to say it is that you roll around on their table drinking barium while they xray you, haha!!

Sounds like me after a few beers!:smile: Actually I get my upper GI in about 4 hrs--I can't wait---NOT!

For some reason, everytime someone says they had to do the Upper GI, I was thinking of when they put the scope down your throat, and I was REALLY nervous about it in those terms. Thanks for clearing that up!

I get to do the Upper GI series in the morning. I'm not worried, since I've had to drink barium several times in the past. Trust me, it's easier to drink it than the other ways they've given it to me. One way involved a tube up my nostril and down into my intestinal tract. Ugh! It was bad, even under conscious sedation. Don't worry, you will probably never ever ever have to do that test.

Anyway, there are different flavors of the barium that you drink. I don't like the berry flavored at all. It was hard for me to gag down the bottle of it.

The banana is tolerable, at least in my opinion.

They do have unflavored, also, and it was better than the berry flavored, but still not good.

Hey I had to have mine a couple of weeks ago and I was just like you I thought that they were going to put a tube down my throat also., Once I got there I realize that it was as described above. They gave me a small cup of crystals and a tiny sip of water they said to throw the crystals in the back of my throat and then swollow it with the sip of water. That was had because it was very fizzy. They tell you that you can not burp. Then the have you stand up in front of an xray machine and take a few big gulps of a very thick barium mixture. ( It is hard to get down it tasted very terrible) THen they laid the table down and had you lay on it face up, then they ask you to roll over as fast as you can. Then you are asked to lay on your side and take small steady sips of a thinner barium through a straw. (By this time I couldn't hardly drink anymore, I was gagging and they had to give me a spit-up tray) They watch it go down and go through you digestive track while you sip it. Then you are done. I was very sick at my belly, all day, after drinking that stuff. If I was you I would leave there and go stright to get something to eat. Maybe that would help. So anyway it was do able, but I wouldn't do it for $hit$ and giggles. I wish you the best of luck!!!

I forgot to tell you a little funny...it'll also make your stools white while you excrete it :wub:

Has any one had to do the endoscopy or is this pretty much the norm? My surgeon's office said sometimes they make you do an edoscopy and when I called the GI office to make the appointment, they asked if I had ever had an endoscopy before?! I'm scared :wub:

Yes, I had to have an endoscopy yesterday. But curiously, I didn't have to have an upper GI series?

The endoscopy was seriously a breeze. It's done as an outpatient procedure under "light" sedation, so you have to have someone to drive you home afterwards.

They told me that whatever they gave me in my IV was just enough to make me relaxed and kind of drunk feeling, but that I would be awake enough during the procedure to comply with their requests - ie., open your mouth, turn on your left side, etc.

I remember them putting the stuff in my IV.....and absolutely nothing after that. The next thing I knew I woke up in recovery! But, apparently they put a tube down your throat all the way into your stomach with a camera attached, so that the Dr. can make sure there is nothing wrong with your esophagus or upper stomach that would make having a band dangerous.

I came home and slept off the rest of the anesthesia for about 4 hours, and I was perfectly fine afterwards, no sore throat, no pain of any sort.

I had the upper GI endoscopy done yesterday. That's where they put the scope down your throat and into your stomach.

It was very easy. I remember the doctor putting the sedative into the IV, and next thing I knew, I woke up back in the room where I was before the procedure. Easy as pie.

The only side effect for me is that I have a mild sore throat today, but that's pretty normal. I've been through this about 4 or 5 times (have a hiatal hernia and had an ulcer) and it's really no big deal whatsoever. Don't even worry about a thing.

I'm scared :frown:

Don't be. Just as Celtic and Hope said, it's really simple, and you'll pretty much be out through all of it anyway. They'll just knock you out and then stick a camera down your throat to make sure your stomach and whatnot are okay.

The back of your throat may be a little sore for a day or so afterward, but it's no worse than when you start getting a cold and you first feel it in your throat. It should go away fairly quickly though.

I wish you the best!

They told me that whatever they gave me in my IV was just enough to make me relaxed and kind of drunk feeling, but that I would be awake enough during the procedure to comply with their requests - ie., open your mouth, turn on your left side, etc.

The stuff they give you in your IV for conscious sedation is Versad, which is basically a monster dose of Valium. I've had it several times for procedures dealing with my crohn's. I really don't remember the pain of any of the procedures, although I do remember that I told the doctor a couple times that I could feel pain. When I told him that, he pushed in a little more Versad, and the pain went away.

I ended up needing an endoscopy. I couldn't believe how easy it was! I remember going into the room and laying on my side. They had me bite down on a plastic thing and then I blinked and said "Nurse you need to sedate me more because I am still concious" To which she followed "oh hun, we are already done. you are in the recovery room" LOL I was so confused. No sore throat or anything. I think I am happier doing that over swallowing barium anyday

Edited May 15, 200818 yr by jaria007

One nice thing about the endoscopy is that you don't end up pooping out little white bricks......:biggrin2:

One nice thing about the endoscopy is that you don't end up pooping out little white bricks......:biggrin2:

I had the Barium swallow, and while the technician told me to drink a lot of Water or else I'd get constipated, I was SOOO not prepared for white poop. It was the strangest thing I had ever seen!! It was coming out like that for about 2-3 days!