Fateh EntabiMD, FACS
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BEFORE YOUR PROCEDURE

Ready for your colonoscopy.

A clear colon helps your doctor see the lining well. Plan ahead, follow your prescribed prep, and call if anything is unclear.

Call the practice

Confirm your plan first

Before starting, check your procedure date, arrival time, location, bowel-prep prescription, and the exact time to stop drinking. Arrange for a responsible adult to take you home after sedation and follow your facility’s instructions about someone staying with you.

1 WEEK BEFORE

Skip nuts, seeds & corn.

Do not eat nuts, seeds, corn, or popcorn during the week before your procedure. Pick up your prescribed bowel prep early and review the instructions.

Confirm your medication plan and your ride home.

3 DAYS BEFORE

Switch to low-fiber foods.

Avoid whole grains, fruits, and vegetables during this part of Dr. Entabi’s usual preparation. Choose foods such as white bread or rice, plain pasta, eggs, and tender chicken or fish, as your other dietary needs allow.

Continue this diet until the clear-liquid day. Do not start a clear-liquid-only diet three days early unless your team specifically instructs you to.

THE DAY BEFORE

Clear liquids. No solid food.

Have only clear liquids throughout the day. Drink permitted fluids within your medical limits to replace fluid lost during the prep.

Choose

  • Water and clear broth
  • Apple or white grape juice without pulp
  • Clear sports drinks
  • Tea or coffee without milk or cream

Avoid

  • Solid food
  • Milk, cream, and opaque drinks
  • Juice with pulp
  • Red or purple drinks and alcohol

Take your prescribed bowel preparation

Start at the time on your current prescription or procedure plan. Stay near a bathroom; frequent watery bowel movements are expected.

If you were prescribed GoLYTELY / 4-liter PEG-electrolyte solution

Mix with water to the container’s fill line exactly as labeled. At your prescribed start time, drink an 8-ounce glass about every 10 minutes. Follow your prescribed total amount and whether the dose is split. Do not substitute these directions for another brand of prep.

The goal is clear or pale-yellow watery output without solid pieces. Follow your team’s instructions about completing the solution. If you cannot finish, are repeatedly vomiting, or still have brown output or stool pieces after the prep, call for advice.

If your team prescribed a split dose, take each portion at its assigned time, including the second portion on procedure morning. Do not add laxatives or change the schedule yourself.

PROCEDURE DAY

Follow your fasting cutoff.

Do not eat solid food. Stop all drinks and bowel-prep solution at the exact time your endoscopy or anesthesia team gave you. If no cutoff was provided, call the facility before proceeding.

Take only the morning medicines your team has approved, with the small amount of water they allow. Follow your individual diabetes plan for insulin and other diabetes medicines.

  • Bring photo ID, insurance information, an up-to-date medication list, and your ride’s contact information.
  • Tell the team if you could not finish the prep, still have stool in the output, or ate or drank after the cutoff.
  • After sedation, do not drive, operate machinery, drink alcohol, or make important decisions for the period in your discharge instructions.

PREP QUESTIONS OR PROBLEMS

Call early so we can help.

Call (559) 412-5533 for conflicting instructions, missing prep, trouble completing it, repeated vomiting, little or no bowel response, or signs of dehydration such as dizziness or very little urine.

Severe or worsening abdominal pain, marked swelling, fainting, chest pain, or breathing trouble needs urgent medical attention. Call 911 for an emergency.

Call the practice

After hours, follow the office phone instructions. For urgent concerns, call rather than email.

Learn more

ASGE: Understanding bowel preparation · GoLYTELY medicine information