Colonoscopy

Review Prep Instructions

As your upcoming colonoscopy approaches, it’s important to take time to review the preparation instructions at least one week before your procedure. Proper preparation is key to ensuring the screening is accurate and effective. This includes following any dietary changes, gathering the supplies you’ll need—such as over-the-counter laxatives, clear liquids, and any medications outlined in your prep instructions—and arranging transportation for the day of your procedure. By reviewing your instructions and gathering supplies ahead of time, you can avoid last-minute issues and help ensure a smooth, successful procedure. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact our team for assistance.

Review Medication

You may need to stop taking or change the dose of some of your medications before your procedure. Review your medications at home. If you take the following medications, ask your provider about them before your procedure:

• Anti-inflammatories: ibuprofen, naproxen, Celebrex, meloxicam, fish oil, Omega-3, and Vitamin D3
• If you take medication to thin your blood, such as to treat blood clots or to prevent a heart attack or stroke, ask the provider who prescribes it for you when you stop taking it.
• Blood thinners: Aspirin, Plavix, Aggrenox, Warfarin, Pradaxa, Eloquis, Heparin, Lovenox, and Xarelto
• Supplements: multi-vitamins, herbal supplements, iron, and fiber supplement
• If you take insulin or other medications for diabetes, you may need to change the dose. Ask the provider who prescribes your diabetes medication what you should do the day before and the morning of your procedure. Tell your provider you will be drinking a clear liquid diet the day before your procedure. If you take metformin or a medication that contains metformin, do not take it the day before or the day of your procedure.

Make sure you talk to your provider before making any decisions to start/stop medication.

You will need to follow a clear liquid diet the day before your surgery or procedure. Examples of clear liquids are listed in the table below.

Other steps to follow:

• Do not eat any solid foods
• Do not drink anything red, purple, or orange
• Make sure to drink plenty of liquids in addition to water, coffee, and tea. This helps to make sure that you get enough calories and is an important part of your colonoscopy preparation. Try to drink at least one 8 oz glass every hour while you’re awake.

Things To Remember:

• Take only the medications you were instructed to take the morning of your procedure. Take them with a few sips of water. (This may include blood pressure medications, heart medications, and/or anti-seizure medications.)
• Do not put on any lotion, cream, powder, make-up, or perfume.
• Remove any jewelry, including body piercings.
• Leave all valuables such as credit cards and jewelry at home.
• If you wear contact lenses, wear your glasses instead.

What To Bring With You: 

• Driver’s license
• Insurance cards
• A list of the medications you take
• Your rescue inhaler, if you have one
• A case for your glasses
• Someone to drive you home

What To Expect:

Once you arrive, you will need to check in at our front desk. As you prepare for your procedure, our providers, nurses, and other staff members will ask you to state and spell your name and date of birth many times. We do this for your safety as people with same/similar names may be having procedures on the same day.

After changing into a hospital gown, your nurse will place an IV into a vein, usually in your hand or arm. You’ll talk with your anesthesiologist about your medical history and the anesthesia you’ll get to make you sleepy. Your provider will explain the procedure and answer any questions.

When it’s time for your procedure, you will be brought into the procedure room and helped onto an exam table. Our team will attach equipment to monitor your heart, breathing, and blood pressure. You will also receive oxygen through your nose. Once all equipment has been attached, you’ll be asked to lay on your left side with your knees bent.

You will receive anesthesia through your IV, which will make you fall asleep. Once you’re asleep, your provider will examine and place a flexible tube, called a colonoscope into your rectum. The colonoscope is connected to a video monitor, which allows us to see inside your colon. Your provider will use air and fluid to move the colonoscope along the length of your colon while looking for anything unusual.

Important: Call us if you have any of the following after your procedure!

• A temperature of 101° F (38.3° C) or higher
• Severe stomach pain or hardness
• Bleeding from your rectum that lasts more than 24 hours
• Bleeding between bowel movements
• Weakness, faintness, or nausea
• Heavy bleeding

In The Recovery Room:

You will wake up in the recovery room, where you nurse has been monitoring your heart, breathing, and blood pressure. Many people feel bloated and have stomach cramps after a colonoscopy – this is normal and goes away by passing gas. Once you are fully awake, your nurse will remove your IV. If you have someone waiting with you, your nurse will explain your discharge instructions to both of you before you go home.

At Home:

• If you had a biopsy, you may notice a few drops of blood coming from your rectum. This is normal after a biopsy. However, there should be no more than a few drops and it should not last more than 24 hours.
• You may resume your normal activities 24 hours after your procedure.
• Do not drink alcoholic beverages for 24 hours after your procedure.
• Begin eating light foods as soon as you are discharged. Work your way up to your normal diet. If your provider wants you to limit your diet, they will tell you.
• Do not drive or operate heavy machinery for the rest of the day. We also advise against any business or financial deals until the following day.
• If you have a biopsy or removal you will have an appointment to review the results. Your provider will also discuss the timing for your next colonoscopy at this appointment. If you don’t have any polyps or biopsies taken, then your next colonoscopy will likely be in 10 years.