How to Avoid Vomiting During Colonoscopy Prep?

Do you know when you drink colonoscopy prep, vomiting can hit you?

It is common to have nausea after taking the prep, and you must know how to avoid vomiting during colonoscopy prep to deal with this awful situation.  

If you feel nausea or vomiting, stop drinking your bowel prep and take a break until you feel normal, and then restart. Drink chilled prep with straw and take cold water or clear liquids to change the bitter taste of the prep. Do not look at the prep and drink without smelling to avoid vomiting. 

Before starting your colonoscopy prep, you must know why nausea occurs during prep.

Most importantly, do not drink your prep without getting tips and tricks to avoid vomiting, because if you take it unknowingly, it can result in big trouble for you.

Split dose preps are also totally in to make your prep easier. So, work on these tricks and get rid of vomiting.

Nausea During Colonoscopy Prep

Nausea is the stomach discomfort and sensation of vomiting. (1)

When you prepare for a colonoscopy, it is common to face this problem as you have to take colonoscopy prep to clear your colon.

When you drink your prep solution, it induces bowel movements. These movements are necessary before your procedure to empty your bowel. 

Sometimes, the stomach does not accept laxatives, and you start feeling chills, bloating, vomiting, and nausea during bowel prep.

This nausea is not going to affect your prep as you can work to avoid vomiting.

It will subside in some time, and you will be ready for your colonoscopy.

Recommended Read: How to Know If Bowels Are Empty for Colonoscopy

How to Avoid Vomiting During Colonoscopy Prep

Vomiting is the most common side effect of colonoscopy prep.

You have to be mentally prepared for this stage and must know how you can avoid vomiting during colonoscopy prep.

Here are some workable tricks and tips that will help to get you out of this problem:

• The very first thing you have to do is take a break and stop drinking bowel prep for at least 15 minutes. If you do not feel normal even after this short break, extend this time for an hour. When vomiting is stopped, you can restart the bowel prep.

• One of the main reasons for vomiting during colonoscopy prep is its bitter taste and unpleasant smell. You can stop vomiting by reducing your sense of smell. Hold your nose and avoid looking at the prep. The smell and look of the prep will affect how you perceive the taste.

• You can change your taste with a soft drink or Ginger Ale. Taking hard candies also helps to get rid of its flavor and stop vomiting. 

• Smelling strong smells like lemon or coffee before and taking bowel prep also helps to relieve vomiting. 

• Get up and walk around for 1O to 15 minutes. You will feel much better.

• When you take bowel prep, do not try to drink it fast. Most of the time, your body can not handle too much prep solution. Therefore, drink at a slow rate so that your system can tolerate it. 

• Another trick to avoid vomiting during colonoscopy is to take chilled prep liquid with a straw. Drinking cold water with the bowel prep also helps to avoid vomiting. 

• If your vomiting is not going to be stopped, you can take anti-nausea medicine. But before taking any medicine, be sure that you have already used it in the past and your body tolerates it. For example, Phenergan helps to stop vomiting and improves nausea. (2)

Why is it important to follow bowel prep? Watch below:

Recommended Read: Colonoscopy Prep: Liquid Stool Still Brown – What to do

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Split-dose Preps 

In split-dose bowel preparation, you have to take the prep solution in two parts, and they relieve much from nausea.

The first one in the evening before colonoscopy and the other right 4-5 hours before the procedure.

This split-dose prep is more efficient than taking bowel prep in a single attempt.

In fact, it has 30–40% more efficient results in preparation as compared to single-dose prep. (3)

When you take the solution night before the examination, it helps to clear fecal material.

That is good, and we need it.

But it is not enough for an accurate procedure because when this material is gone the night before the procedure; it is half prepared because other secretions of your intestine like mucus or chyme start to come in your intestine and stick at the walls.

Although there is no more solid material, these secretions make your colonoscopy difficult when sticking to your colon.

That is why when you will take your prep in a split manner, any material, secretion will be gone a few hours before your colonoscopy. 

What does bowel prep involve? Watch below:

Also Read: What to do When You are Still Pooping Morning of Colonoscopy?

Suprep

Suprep is FDA approved split dose prep that is used for adult’s colonoscopy prep (4). 

How to Take:

You will get two 6-ounce bottles of Suprep liquid. Empty one bottle into the mixing container and fill it with cold water up to a 16-ounce line.

Mix it well and drink all of the liquid as it is the first dose of your bowel prep.

When you finish the prep, you have to drink two more containers of water. Take small sips and drink it slowly for the next hour. 

The next morning, you have to take your second dose as you took in the night.

Recommended Read: What to Eat After A Colonoscopy? A Complete Diet Plan

Prepopik

Prepopik is a bowel cleansing prep that is effective to cleanse the bowels of adults but does not use it for children.

If you have kidney or heart issues, you have to be very careful in taking this prep as it may cause complications. (5) 

How to Take

There will be two 5-ounce doses.

In the first dose, you have to take five 8-ounce servings of clear liquids.

While in the next dose, take three 8-ounce servings of clear liquids. (6)

MoviPrep

MoviPrep is another FDA approved bowel prep that can be used for 18 years or above age. (7)

How to Take:

You will get 4 pouches in MoviPrep bowel prep kit, 2 labeled as A and 2 as B with a disposable container.

For the first dose, mix 1 pouch A and B in a container and fill it to the top line.

Mix it well, and every 15 minutes, drink one-quarter of the solution.

When you finish the solution, you must take plenty of water or clear liquids to keep yourself hydrated.

Repeat the same procedure for the second dose of prep. (8) 

When your endoscopist advises you on any bowel prep, you must discuss your medical history to avoid any complications.

Do not forget to read all the guidelines in the prep manual. 

What can you eat or drink before colonoscopy? Watch below:

Also Read: How Clear Should Stool Be For Colonoscopy?

What Is The Alternative To Drinking Colonoscopy Prep? 

Take only clear liquid to clean your stool like plenty of water, broth, tea or coffee, clear juices, soft or sports drinks, popsicles, or clear Jell-O. Do not drink any liquid with synthetic food color, e.g., purple, red, or blue, that can mislead your bowel prep results. 

What To Do If You Can’t Drink Colonoscopy Prep?

If you find it difficult to drink colonoscopy prep, keep it in the refrigerator and take small sips with a straw. Do not drink it fast and change your flavor with some hard candies or any soft drink. Taking cold water with prep will also help to finish your colonoscopy prep. 

What to Take Away? 

Must try these worthy tricks to avoid vomiting during colonoscopy prep and must share in comments which trick worked the most for you. We will feel pleasure to know and do not forget to rate our workable tips, tricks, and suggestions out of five.

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Also Read: What to Eat Before Colonoscopy? A Complete Diet Plan