If I have an ileostomy and have none of my large intestine left will they do an ileoscope or do they do the upper endoscopy way to look at the small intestine? Just wondering...

I had an ileoscopy in that case :)

I love how honest you are....seriously I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. All good tips I know I'm going use!

=) Not everyone can laugh at the subject, but I'm glad you did!

Thank you so much for this thoughtful, very helpful and reassuring article! I wish you good health!

You're welcome, Maia!

I could not find any prep guidance in finnish or swedish for vegans - so thank you for all this wonderful information you provided!!!

You're welcome, Rita! Were you able to find this article easily even though it's in English? Would it have helped if I had a "translate" button to convert the text to Finnish or Swedish?

Thanx, but not needed. Finding something from internet jungle in english is easy - you just type your question in english ;=)
Finding reliable info is a another thing.
Being vegan is more rare in Scandinavia than in english spoken part of the world, so you are also able to find less info here. I've been vegetarian 39 years and vegan 11 years.

That works! LOL

If you're ever up to it, I've love for you to share your experience about living as a vegan in Scandinavia on our Community Forums: https://www.veganostomy.ca/community/

Take care,
Eric

This is very helpful as I recently started a plant based diet and am having a colonoscopy next week. Just one correction- tap water does have plenty of electrolytes in it.

Hey Parker, glad the article is helpful.

I've updated the wording on that part, so thanks for bringing it up.

Electrolyte content of municipal water tends to be too low to make a difference.

For example, the median sodium content in mg/L is 18 according to one study that compared the electrolyte content of various water : https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1495189/

Have a good one!

I wish I would have read this BEFORE my colonoscopy! I did what the doctor told me (avoid nuts, seeds, corn, and popcorn) but they said nothing about fruits, vegetables, beans, or whole grains, which I eat everyday! Because of that I wasn’t clean enough, and my doctor seemed annoyed! Grrrrr! He said come back in two years, which makes no sense if he couldn’t get a good look. Jerk.

Argh! That's so frustrating!

On the bright side, now you know for the next time!

Take care.

Great info, thanks. I feel like most doctors I've seen aren't able to suggest vegan alternatives when it comes to diet restrictions. I am curious, though, what you know about other smooth nut products (such as cashew cheese/cream, creamy walnut sauce) during the "no nut" phase. It would seem that if smooth peanut butter is OK, these would be too since they're blended to a creamy consistency. Of course I'll ask my doctor, but do you have any info on that?

Smooth nut butters are often fine a few days before, but not within 24h of the scope. I'd personally stay away from almond nut butter even a few days before because I find it contains too many bits (of almond skin?) in it.

What about post-op? Anything we should know about changes in our microbiome from the lavage? Is this a non-concern?

Great question!

There's one study that suggests that probiotics may shorten pain related to a colonoscopy, but nothing as far as returning to normal bowel function or even bloating: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26183594/

The reason I would hesitate to suggest them is:
- It's not a standard or recommended practice among hospitals or clinics that do scopes.
- They often take some time to "work", and by then, it doesn't seem to make a difference anyway.
- Some people (including myself) will experience even more symptoms when using probiotics; if you have a GI disorder, this could make things worse for you.
- Not all probiotics are equal, and simply recommending them may not have much value if someone isn't taking the "right one" (whatever that might be).

I hope that helps.

Thanks for the comprehensive article.