Nuts and seeds

[ny biker]

I finally have scheduled a screening colonoscopy. I turned 50 more than a year ago, and have been putting it off because I really just do not want to do it. But my health insurance is changing next year which means it will cost me much less if I do it now. So it's scheduled for next month.

The diet instructions say no nuts, seeds, popcorn or corn for 1 week prior to the procedure. This includes fruits and vegetables with seeds.

So which fruits and vegetables have seeds? Berries, yes. Tomatoes, yes. What about figs? One of my go-to snacks is Nature's Bakery fig bars. I assume red and orange peppers are okay if they've been sliced and the seeds have been removed. Broccoli is okay, right? What about smooth peanut butter -- the idea is to avoid little things that can linger in the colon.

This is really going to mess up my ability to eat for a week. The bread I like has bits of nuts and seeds in it. I eat a lot of Clif bars because they've got a decent amount of protein. I eat blueberry Nutri-Grain bars and blueberry yogurt. I know these are processed foods but I would think that even blueberry filling in a cereal bar could have stray seeds in it. When I eat raisins I end up with little things stuck in my teeth -- are they seeds?

I guess pineapples, peaches, apples, oranges are okay. And beans -- kidney beans or chick peas. And cauliflower?

What about jelly or jam? I prefer blueberry Polaner preserves -- really I do like blueberries! But would grape jelly or jam be okay?

BTW for the clear-liquids-only day, I asked if Gu would be okay. The doctor said one should be alright. I guess I will be stocking up on ginger ale, chicken broth and jello. (The last time I made jello I was in college and there was liquor in it.)

I don't even want to think about the last four hours where I can't have anything at all by mouth, since the appointment is not until early afternoon. I will probably faint!

[emily_in_nc]

NY, I had my screening colonoscopy at age 50, and one thing I will say is that early on, during the prep, I was ravenous, but that actually faded, so the night before and the morning of the procedure, I felt ZERO hunger whatsoever. I don't know if this is typical or not, but I assumed it was kind of how starvation works. Not sure, but it was noticeable, like the hunger switch in my brain just turned off at some point. And for that I was thankful! I hope you have the same experience.

I don't think I was super diligent about nuts and seeds the week before; perhaps my instructions were not quite as rigid as I don't recall a big change in my diet until two days before the procedure. Perhaps I am just forgetting, as it's been over four years now.

I do think figs have tiny seeds. I guess google could be your friend in this case, and with many of the other things you mention.

My mother just had a colonoscopy today, as a matter of fact, at age 81. They did find four tiny polyps but they were all the benign type. She was told she never had to have another one -- I guess if you don't have colon cancer by her age, you aren't so likely to get it. I know she is relieved!

[lauraelmore1033]

Oh man, I didn't pay such close attention to the prep instructions! I think I was eating nuts until a couple of days before the procedure. Luckily, it didn't influence the result; Turns out, My colon is "beautiful":D

[Crankin]

I found it really hard to follow the instructions; my diet is almost all high fiber. I did it, but I *was* hungry and cranky. I drank all of that awful stuff, too, and the doctor said he couldn't "see" very well.
Oh well. That was 8 years ago, so I will be doing this again, in a couple of years.

[ny biker]

I think my doctor might have more requirements for the week before the test than others do. Someone at work told me her husband did not have to restrict his diet that much. Meanwhile I'm making a list of things I can eat that week -- shredded wheat cereal instead of the granola with nuts that I've been eating lately, regular whole-wheat bread/pita/english muffins instead of the bread I usually prefer, vanilla or pineapple or peach yogurt. I think plain old grape jelly should be okay, so I'll pick up a small jar. I'll probably also pick up some dried fruits that I know won't have seeds, like pineapple.

The nasty liquid I have to drink is "only" 16 oz the evening before and another 16 oz at 5 am the day of. Both are followed by 32 oz of a clear liquid. So lots of drinking, but not a whole gallon of nasty stuff. I'm allowed to add Crystal Light to the nasty stuff as long as it's not red.

[ny biker]

Yes I was thinking that I will bring something with me to have as soon as it's over -- juice or gatorade, some fig bars or cereal bars. I have to get a friend to drive me there and back, and I'd offer to take them to lunch afterwards but I assume I will be too loopy for that.

A few months ago I had bought a box of 6 Italian ices at the grocery store for an occasional summer treat. Then I got sick and wound up eating them all in two days -- they really hit the spot. They would be allowed as a "clear liquid" so I'll get some (lemon or orange) for that day. That and jello should help with the mental aspect of wanting to eat real food. And I'll get some chicken broth for a savory alternative. I was just in Whole Foods walking past the aisle with soy and almond milk -- I wonder if they would be okay since they're not really dairy products (which are not allowed). For the 32 oz chaser after the laxative, I'm thinking ginger ale or cream soda. Too bad that Dr. Brown's black cherry soda is the wrong color -- cherry soda was my go-to hangover drink when I was in college. Ah, memories. :D

[Crankin]

The hospital where I had my colonoscopy has muffins and bagels waiting for you when you are in recovery. I ate stuff I never, ever would eat!
Then, I came home and had Indian food for dinner.

[shootingstar]

Hmm, I had my colonoscopy done just 5 days after the appointment was booked (someone had cancelled). It was 2 yrs. ago.

I don't recall avoiding nuts and seeds. But I did gear down to softer foods. I also had to drink a prescription based powerful laxative (or is it close to an edema?). Pretty awful tasting, but I did it every few hrs. Then had colonoscopy.

I was a given a photo of my colon...just gorgeously clean. :)

I would suggest you ensure someone takes you home. Don't drive. You'll be too weak.

[ny biker]

They won't do the procedure without a name and phone number for a person driving you home. That' s the next thing I have to do -- find someone to drive me there and back.

I remembered last night that the hospital where this will happen requires you to remove all body piercings. I've never removed the ring from my belly button before. I hope it's easy to put it back in. I suppose this is a good oppurtunity to switch to different jewelry since I've been wanting to do that for a while now. I guess some people might think 51 is too old for a pierced navel but I still like having it.

[shootingstar]

Admittedly after seeing my own clean healthy colon photo, it's given me even more motivation to eat generally healthy (though, I'm far from perfect) and remain active. Yay, plain yogurt, fruit...bicycling, etc.

[pll]

I've had this done 3 times, although always with a gallon of the nasty stuff (which, to me, tastes like bad Gatorade with baking soda). Keep your intake clear the day of the prep -- I would not take any opaque liquids or a gel. The one thing you want to avoid is being recalled and have to do it again. Low residue diet: no dried fruits, no figs, no cauliflower, brocoli, beans, lentils... Northwestern Memorial has a good handout about it: http://www.nmh.org/ccurl/84/948/lowfiber-diet07.pdf
I just do a lot of rice and chicken that week...

Jello, broth, Ginger Ale, lemon candy, etc, are all good to have. I did not feel hungry during the prep, but I did get cold and feel a little faint in the hours leading to the procedure (also get a headache). Each time, I took a cab to the hospital and a friend picked me up. Before you are discharged, even before you get up, you will be offered a bite, some juice and some carb like a bagel or crackers).

[ny biker]

I've had this done 3 times, although always with a gallon of the nasty stuff (which, to me, tastes like bad Gatorade with baking soda). Keep your intake clear the day of the prep -- I would not take any opaque liquids or a gel. The one thing you want to avoid is being recalled and have to do it again. Low residue diet: no dried fruits, no figs, no cauliflower, brocoli, beans, lentils... Northwestern Memorial has a good handout about it: http://www.nmh.org/ccurl/84/948/lowfiber-diet07.pdf
I just do a lot of rice and chicken that week...

Jello, broth, Ginger Ale, lemon candy, etc, are all good to have. I did not feel hungry during the prep, but I did get cold and feel a little faint in the hours leading to the procedure (also get a headache). Each time, I took a cab to the hospital and a friend picked me up. Before you are discharged, even before you get up, you will be offered a bite, some juice and some carb like a bagel or crackers).

Well, the diet from Northwestern is interesting. If I follow that for a week I think I will need a laxative...

At this point my biggest concern is the 4 hours with absolutely no food, drink, candy, nothing at all prior to the procedure. I simply don't go that long without drinking a lot, ever. And on a normal day I get lightheaded when I"m hungry, so I probably will faint on the way to the hospital.

Meanwhile re: the belly button piercing, I have a captured bead ring now which apparently is best removed by a professional. Later this week I'm going to a tattoo/piercing place recommended by a friend to look at new jewelry. I hope I can get something that I can easily remove and put back by myself. I tried to do an internet search on jewelry for body piercing last night to get some ideas on what I might want, and ended up downloading a trojan to my pc. Microsoft Security Essentials to the rescue!

[pll]

Well, the diet from Northwestern is interesting. If I follow that for a week I think I will need a laxative...


Curiously enough... you will be getting one! Don't worry about that. The one time I had the procedure in the afternoon, I had a terrible headache and spent those hours laying on my bed. It was not a good time and the IV could not be put in place fast enough (within minutes of being hooked on the IV, I felt better). The worst part of the entire deal is the anticipation, so don't anguish about it. Once you start, you'll get it done, no problem.

[shootingstar]

Curiously enough... you will be getting one! Don't worry about that. The one time I had the procedure in the afternoon, I had a terrible headache and spent those hours laying on my bed. It was not a good time and the IV could not be put in place fast enough (within minutes of being hooked on the IV, I felt better). The worst part of the entire deal is the anticipation, so don't anguish about it. Once you start, you'll get it done, no problem.

I think I was given anaesthesia or something....because was put on the surgery gurney or whatever with physician and someone else by. Then I awoke and they were done. Photo of my colon given after I got dressed.
No pain, etc.

I didn't eat heck of a lot during the day before colonoscopy. As mentioned, I took a prescribed laxative ...actually is was mixing up to 1 litre of stuff from a drug powder with cold water.

There are worse things...cancer+ chemo..etc. That was what I was thinking.. A lot worse.

I know my partner ended up lying on the living rm. carpet and napped, because he got weakened in prepping himself prior to colonoscopy. He's 5'10" @ 190 lbs.

[ny biker]

Well I went for a 40 mile bike ride yesterday. I tried to eat a lot afterwards -- salmon burger with fries and a glass of orange juice immediately after, a big baked potato topped with lots of cheddar cheese for dinner, a big bowl of greek yogurt after that. Nonetheless I was hungry at 1 am. But the clock had started on the clear liquids so I just had a glass of ginger ale.

I woke up a little while ago. I am STARVING. I had 8 oz of a fruit juice cocktail (should have read the label on that before I bought it -- it's thin and watery, not 100% juice.) Now I'm having jello. I won't say "eating jello" because that verb simply can't apply to jello. Anyway my stomach feels full yet I am still hungry. I am also dizzy and I have a headache. It's not even 11 am.

I'm pretty sure I won't get through this without fainting.

[Catrin]

Hope you're feeling better now. That does sound like a pretty strong reaction to a 40-mile bike ride. You ate appropriately with good nutritionally dense foods and enough carbs to follow up the level of effort. Hang in there!

[ny biker]

Thanks. I've been drinking as much sugar as I can. Very soon I expect to be...indisposed for a long while. So naturally my downstairs neighbor just decided to fire up the grill and cook meat for dinner. The grill is directly under my bathroom window and exhaust fan vent. My bathroom now reeks of smoke and meat. This is the absolute worst possible thing right now.

(Really wishing I had called the fire department and reported the illegal placement of that grill last summer. It's right next to the building, inches away.)

[emily_in_nc]

Aw man, NY, just what you don't need!

I hope you'll start feeling better soon. As I posted before, I was very hungry near the beginning of my prep, but as time went on, my appetite when to absolute zero. It was strange; just like a switch turned off. Hope you experience the same and that your procedure goes smoothly.

[ny biker]

Thanks Emily. I moved the air purifier from the kitchen to the bathroom, turned it on high and closed the door. The room is so small that the grill odors were gone quickly.

I was very worried that there would be bad abdominal cramps from the laxative (Suprep). A friend who goes through this every 3 years had given me the impression that I would be suffering mightily after drinking it. Fortunately this did not happen! It tasted awful, and I thought my stomach would explode from drinking the 16 oz. mixture followed by 32 oz. of a clear liquid. For the first dose I started off the 32 oz. chaser by drinking ginger ale because I thought the bubbles would help, but I think they actually made it worse. I switched to Gatorade which was easier to drink. So after the second Suprep dose (at 5 am -- too early for any food or drink, in my book) I drank all Gatorade. As soon as I could I followed that up with Italian ices, the remaining jello and some juice to get as many calories as possible before I had to completely stop the clear liquids for four hours. Nonetheless I was very hungry for most of those four hours and could barely remember my date of birth by the time I got to the hospital.

The anesthesia was great -- I closed my eyes, went out right away and the next thing I knew it was all over. I was a little lightheaded at first when I got to recovery but that wore off quickly, especially after I had some ginger ale and crackers. I felt fine when I got home, just a little tired. Around midnight I fell asleep in the chair in the living room, woke up a half hour later and realized I had edema in my legs and feet. Overnight that improved but I'm still overall bloated with excess water. For about a week now I've been having a hormone swing with water retention plus a flare up of the chronic hives. I think that ingesting so much sugary liquid and salty chicken broth for more than 24 hours followed by the dehydrating effect of the Suprep made all of that worse. I have no idea what to do about it. Every pair of pants I own is too tight right now, barely wearable. I'm already taking antihistamines twice a day and I've gone back on Zantac (also a histamine inhibitor) which is how I treat the hives. I'm wearing the tightest compression socks I own. I'm trying to avoid salty foods and too many carbs. So far none of this is working. A nurse from the gastroenterology place called me today to follow up and I told her about the edema, but she said that she'd never heard of that as a problem after a colonoscopy -- most people are dehydrated afterwards. I would love to be dehydrated right now.

Oh and they found a polyp so I have to go back in 5 years. Yay.

The day before the clear liquid diet I had been in a bookstore getting some Christmas presents, and while I was there I realized I could probably use a really good book to occupy my mind and keep me from thinking about how hungry I was. I watched the first Hunger Games movie recently and thought it was interesting, and I have a niece who had really liked the books when they first came out. So I bought all three books. I read the first one in less than 24 hours -- it definitely helped pass the time. Now I'm reading the second book. I haven't seen any of the other movies so it's all new to me at this point. (Yes there is some irony in this -- there is much discussion of food throughout the first book! :D But it still helped keep me from thinking about all the food in my kitchen that I was not allowed to eat.)

[emily_in_nc]

Wow, sounds like you had a pretty bad experience, NY. I don't remember much about "after" my colonoscopy, just that I got the day off work and napped in the afternoon (lovely). Can't remember any strange after-effects at all. I was lucky they didn't find anything, so I'm on the 10 year plan (my DH has had polyps twice so is on the five-year schedule).

On the positive side, I recently finished reading the Hunger Games trilogy and loved it. I have not had the chance to see any of the movies. The first book was my fave, but I liked the other two as well.

Hope you're all back to normal and un-swollen very soon!

[Crankin]

As someone who has had all kinds of weird side effects/allergies/hives, it's very frustrating, because most of the time no one believes you. While I had no issues after my colonoscopy (I never was all the way out, just felt no pain and I actually watched it on the monitor) and came home and ate Indian food and rode my bike the next day, I have avoided other medical procedures because of this. I would strongly suspect there might be a preservative in the IV solution you had, in addition to the salt/sugar thing. I had a horrible reaction to IV contrast dye, even after I told the tech I didn't want it during a CT scan, because my mom was allergic to it and I am also allergic to most shellfish, which is pretty much the same thing (iodine).
NY, I would seriously try to find out what chemicals and preservatives were in all the medicines and "drinks" you took.