Hi Norma,

Im scheduled to have one tomorrow. I am taking amantadine
AM, levodopa-carbidopa, and comtan. Im taking the last two meds avery 3 hours, so if its going to show, it probably would be noticeable to me.

I wasnt aware that we were dependent on adsorption in the colon. Do you know if any of the meds Im taking are ones that are dependent on the colon for adsorption?

Ill try to post a summary of what effect it has in the next couple days.

Alan

I talked with the PD nurse at the Pacific Parkinson's mobility Clinic. She said that I will probably have a couple of bad days. The Sinemet CR is the main problem as it dissolves slowly. I look forward to hear your experience. My colonoscopy is on Wednesday.

Yes, I had one about 7 months ago. I was so worried but it was no big deal at all. I took my sinemet like always and was fine. Prep is the worst but the IV drug is the best! (Techs call the drug "milk of amnesia!!!)

I am right now in the process of going through the prep phase. My colonoscopy is aftter noon today so I took half the 1 gallon laxative solution last night and the other half Ill take this morning. I did have a rather bad night and the Sinemet CR I take at night likely didnt get as much adsorbed as I needed. Ive had muscle cramps and all the other symptoms Ive come to associate with not having enough meds. ILm scheduled for my second of 6 daytime doses of 25/100 Sinemet and am hoping that will;l get me back closer to my normal.

Ill let you know how today goes. Good luck Wednesday.

Hi there,
I have had two and the worst part was having to drink all that liquid laxative. I have a lot of stomach problems though so I'm sure that didn't help the sick feeling I had while trying to get all that down me. As far as the Parkinson's went I had no problem. Just took my meds like always and I was as good as ever.
Hope all goes well for all of you who are having this procedure done.
Joanee

My husband who has PD has an appointment with the surgeon to see about a colonoscopy. He also has a lump in the upper abdomen which the doctor thinks is a fatty tissue, but if he is constipated, then the lump is harder. It doesn't bother him, but his regular doctor asked him if he wanted a colonscopy. He's never had one before. I guess the doctor's have to ask.
He has had 3 ultra sounds in the last year about the lump, but we haven't heard back from the last one yet.
I wish they would do an MRI, but maybe the colonoscopy is another test. I really don't know what the doctor thinks as I wasn't at his appointment .
I think I should go in with him when he talks to the surgeon though, so I can ask questions etc. My husband sometimes gets things mixed up, and I am more inquisative than him anyway so we'll see.

I finished my colonoscopy yesterday and every thing came out well in the end. I had one small polyp and everything else was clean. However, I did have a problem with my Parkinson's meds during the bowel prep phase. My procedure was in the afternoon yesterday, so I was supposed to use 1/2 gallon in the evening and the second half in the morning before the procedure.I took a dose of meds (2 sinemet 25/100 and 1 comtan) at 5:00 PM and started drinking the laxative at 6:00. By about 7:00 I was really wearing off.At 8:00 PM I took the next dose of meds. At this point I had cramps in both hamstrings and in both feet and was having difficulty walking,talking or thinking. These are usually the major symptoms I have when I don't have enough meds. I was in this state up through my night dose of controlled release sinemet and to the the 5:00 AM dose time. It was a major effort to get up every half hour or so and get to the bathroom. In the 5:00 am dose I took an extra sinemet. At 6:00 I drank the second half gallon for the prep. My cramps were starting to release a bit and I could walk better at 8:00, when I took another dose of Meds. including the extra sinemet. Things gradually got better as the morning progressed. Took extra sinemet with the 11:00 AM dose and things were a piece of cake all through the procedure and driving back home. By evening I was back to my normal self.

This is a long way of saying, it looks like the meds were affected by the bowel preparation phase and that taking extra sinemet appeared to counteract those effects.

Thank you everyone for your advice and experience,
I was very apprehensive about my medications being absorbed but actually it was not as bad as I had expected. The prep started with 3 dulcolax tablets taken at 6PM on Monday after a light dinner then I was allowed only clear fluid till 4 PM Tuesday when took a strong laxative dissolved in water followed by 1 gallon of fluids, another lax in water at 8 PM again followed by another gallon of clear fluids. I took my medication ( Sinemet CR, Sinemet regular and Comptan) at the normal times and they must have swam through all the fluid and were absorbed. It certainly was far from my best day but I managed. I was allowed to drink clear fluids until 3 hours before the procedure which turned out to be between my medication times.
I had my colonoscopy this afternoon at !:30 PM and was able to see the pictures of inside my colon -- ugh! I asked the doctor not to sedate me unless I got too uncomfortable After all - I had convinced myself that I had cancer and I wanted to see for myself --- X nurse syndrome. My colon was totally normal but they did take several biopsies. i closed my eyes for those. I don't recommend to anyone to watch your own procedure but I do have a high pain tolerance and if Dr. Oz could do it - so could I.
View Dr. Oz at http://www.doctoroz.com/colonoscopy-videos/dr-ozs-colonoscopy-pt-2.

I'm sure that I have given you more information than you wanted to know but now I can encourage you to ask for a routine colonoscopy if your over 50 yrs. . More information at : http://www.doctoroz.com/colonoscopy-videos/dr-ozs-colonoscopy-pt-5
Norma

To aarober - that's funny "everything came out well in the end" I laughed so hard.

My husband is getting his colonoscopy in a couple of months. They said to stop the cumadin for 5 days but he can take the other meds so I hope things go okay too..

Had one early on after Parkinson's Dx. It was funny because the nurse asked me,"Are you nervous?" and I smiled and said, "No, I just shake because I have Parkinson's. It will stop when I go to sleep". He nodded and looked away with what I caught as a sort of amazed look on his face. We get so used to it, don't we? I shook more for the next day but went back to the degree of control my then-meds allowed. I have not had one since being on Sinemet, which is the only thing that ever worked for me. Hope you do well and it is not too disruptive! :)