One day before your colonoscopy
☐ Eat breakfast — clear liquids only, no solid food. ☐ Eat lunch — clear liquids only, no solid food. ☐ Eat dinner — clear liquids only, no solid food. ☐ Take your bowel prep in the evening as instructed.
Have a light breakfast, such as boiled egg on toast (white bread), no later than 9am. After breakfast, do not eat any solid food until after your test. Drink clear fluids only today.
You will usually be asked to avoid eating all solid foods the day before your colonoscopy, including eggs. However in the week preceding your colonoscopy, you can eat eggs.
OK to eat:
Breads and grains made with refined white flour (including rolls, muffins, bagels, pasta) White rice. Plain crackers, such as Saltines. Low-fiber cereal (including puffed rice, cream of wheat, corn flakes)
Three days prior to your procedure, please eat low fiber foods: Do not eat any nuts or seeds (including those in pickles, tomatoes, fruit, etc.). Do not eat high-grain/ high-fiber bread, rolls, pasta, crackers or cereal with nuts or seeds. This includes granola, raisin bran and oatmeal.
The day before the colonoscopy procedure — Don't eat solid foods. Instead, consume only clear liquids like clear broth or bouillon, black coffee or tea, clear juice (apple, white grape), clear soft drinks or sports drinks, Jell-O, popsicles, etc.
Typically, bowel prep medication is a solution that you will need to drink starting one day before your procedure. You will be asked to take the colon prep in two doses: the first dose, 3-6 pm the night before your procedure; the second dose, 6-8 hours before your procedure.
For Breakfast You may have a light breakfast consisting of plain or vanilla yogurt, 2 slices of dry or buttered toast, coffee or tea (with a little cream or milk) and clear liquids. After Breakfast Start on a clear liquid diet. Clear liquids are those you can “see through”. NOTE: CLEAR LIQUIDS ONLY.
However, this new study found that those who ate a limited amount of low-fiber foods were happier and didn't suffer any negative effects during their exam. In fact, their bowels were actually better prepared for the procedure than those of the patients who stuck to traditional clear-liquid diets, the researchers said.
DAY 2 & 3 Continue with your Low Residue Diet from the food list above. STOP YOUR LOW RESIDUE DIET FOLLOWING DINNER ON DAY 3. DAY 4 Light breakfast-BLACK TEA AND TOAST (with butter, margarine, honey, seedless jam or vegemite) ONLY.
What if I've taken all my preparation and am still passing solid stool on the day of my exam? In this case, your procedure will need to be rescheduled. You may be prescribed a different preparation for your next procedure. Please call the triage nurse to reschedule your procedure with a different preparation.
You can still have smooth soups with no bits (e.g. tomato, vegetable Bouillon), jelly, ice cream, Ambrosia custard, Complan drinks, Bovril and Oxo drinks, and water, clear juices, fizzy drinks, coffee and tea.
A light breakfast consists of liquids, 1 egg or cereal or a piece of toast. Do not eat greasy foods such as bacon or sausage.
A: It is normal to feel hungry whilst preparing for a colonoscopy, particularly in the liquid-only stage. It is important to follow the food intake plan in order to ensure that the prep is effective. Drinking sodas with a high sugar content can help to keep feelings of hunger at a minimum during this stage.
Will I be up all night with colonoscopy prep? Probably not, if you start on time. While everyone's body is different, most people are able to complete their round of purging before going to sleep for the night.
Oatmeal, grits and plain corn flakes are types of cereals that are okay, along with cooked fruits, bananas and applesauce.
In fact, multiple randomized, controlled studies have shown that allowing patients to eat the day before a colonoscopy improves prep tolerance, increases patient satisfaction, and improves willingness to repeat the test in the future.
Why Can't I Have Milk Before a Colonoscopy? Anything that you drink other than clear liquids can end up inside of the colon. Similar to how certain dyes can affect your colonoscopy, traces of milk can hide a possible polyp in the walls of the colon.
Ideally, you should start the bowel prep at the time instructed. However, starting the first dose early by 1-2 hours is fine as long as you follow the clear liquid diet for the day.
Background. Colonoscopies performed in the afternoon (PM) have been shown to have lower adenoma detection rates (ADR) compared to those in the morning (AM). Endoscopist fatigue has been suggested as a possible reason. Colonoscopies tend to be technically more challenging in female patients.
For procedures that are scheduled to start after noon, it is okay to drink clear liquids (black coffee or tea without milk, water, Seven-Up, ginger ale or apple juice) until 5 hours before the start time of the procedure. You should still not eat any solid food after midnight the night before.
Colonoscopy recovery is usually quick with most people resuming normal activity the next day. Even so, it is important not to rush back to work. It is best to take the remainder of the day to rest, recover from sedation, and replenish fluids and nutrition. The results of your exam should be available within a few days.