Another success story — GLP-1 edition

Just adding my story like so many others in the hope of easing minds. F52, family history, should have had first colonoscopy at 45 but put it off because of anxiety/denial. About a year and a half ago I finally got my act together and contacted the GI doc my PCP refers to, only to be told that their office was having issues with people who had the same first three digits of my insurance plan and that I would need to “contact my insurer” (BCBS Empire in NYC) to get everything straight as a prerequisite to scheduling my appointments. You can only imagine how that went… I noped out of that one in about 30 seconds, and another 18 months went by before I contacted the next GI doc my PCP came up with.

Anyway. I did the pre-appointment, everyone was super nice, I was reassured by the PA because I had no symptoms or red flags. I’m on a GLP-1 so I took the prep VERY seriously and even downloaded some online content I found that gave an entire guide to the week before and days after the procedure to ensure smooth prep and post-procedure outcomes. I began the low fiber diet about five days out, and three days out I started magnesium citrate in the evenings (so two nights in a row). I just did not want my prep to fail and to be told that I’d have to reschedule and start all over again.

Clear liquid diet started when I woke up the day before the procedure, although technically according to my doctor’s instructions I could have had solids up until 12:30 that day. As a GLP-1 my prep protocol was slightly modified — I had to do both doses of Clen Piq the night before procedure, whereas according to my doc, regular procedure is to do one dose the night before and one dose the morning of. The Clen Piq was a little gross but I swigged it fast (ugh) and chased with a range of clear liquids, and I think the diversity of flavors helped me get all the fluids down. I did 16 oz of apple juice, 8 oz of coconut water, and then sipped 16 oz of vegetable broth (with salt that I added) over the course of 45 minutes or so. This was how I did it for both split doses of Clen Piq.

One observation — I expected the purge to be painful and uncomfortable like when you have a stomach bug. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t like that. It was time consuming and somewhat relentless over the course of several hours, and I of course experienced the sense of urgency to go, but it wasn’t painful and I didn’t experience cramps as you do with illness. Honestly (and sorry this is gross), it just felt like peeing out of my butt.

On the morning of the procedure I was worried that I’d feel urgency to use the bathroom while en route to the clinic, but that didn’t happen. Everyone was super nice to me at the clinic. I was dehydrated of course but they gave me subcutaneous fluids through my IV port while I was waiting which helped. I met the doc for the first time upon being wheeled into the procedure room and she was wonderful. They pumped the anesthesia into the IV and I didn’t feel any heat, stinging or anything at all. I drifted off very quickly. I woke up about a minute before the doc was completely done and I of course didn’t know where I was or what was going on so I was trying to figure out in my confused state why someone was poking me inside my butt (this is a true story)! After about a minute of that (or so it felt) I raised my head in confusion and that was the moment I heard the doctor say “we’re all done here, you did great.” She told me two polyps had been removed (5 and 6 mm) and that she already knew they were benign, though they were of course also sent to the lab. They wheeled me to recovery where I happily ate some Ritz crackers and graham crackers and drank an apple juice and a water. My friend had come to pick me up (this was a requirement) and we went downtown and went shopping and had some lunch.

I didn’t have any feelings of bloat that day but I did get some the next day, and I was a little tired. Today is the second day post-procedure and I’m largely back to normal, although I still have some stomach rumbling and I get the feeling my system remains just a little confused overall. I’ve been eating a few spoonfuls of coconut yogurt with probiotics each day to try and repopulate my flora. And I’m pleased that there was a line in my report noting that the quality of my bowel prep was excellent! I have to do it again in three to five years. GET YOUR SCREENING COLONOSCOPY! You will come through it just fine and the feeling of relief afterwards is real.