Went for Barium enema today and despite following all the instructions the previous day with regard to having a limited diet and taking sachets of picolax. My colon wasn’t sufficiently cleansed, they only discovered this after administering the enema so still had all the unpleasantness of getting rid of it.
Have new appointment for the 31st August and been given extra packets of picolax so I can have double the quantity hopefully works this time
Had hospital appointment this morning at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary with Mr King, who is one of the consultants. I wasn’t kept waiting too long. Had a very informal chat about how I had been over the last few months. Told him about wheat free diet and taking daily amounts of normacol and that apart from the recent bout I hadn’t been too bad.
He suggested I have a barium enema; last one was five years ago; to give them a base line on the condition of the lining of my stomach. He told me I had IBS and diverticular disease and to carry on with the wheat free diet and to continue managing my condition as I do now.
Suggested drinking chamomile or peppermint tea when I have another attack as they both have anti spasmodic properties that are more gentle than traditional remedies such as mebeverine or spasmonal.
The dreaded barium enema, having heard horrendous stories about the indignity’s and tribulations of the barium enema it was my turn, following a few days of a low residue diet and having to take the dreaded Picolax again I turned up at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary with some trepidation.
I was taken to a small cubicle where the procedure was explained and I changed into a hospital gown, then after a short delay it was through into the main room where I had to lie down on a tilt-able bed. The barium was introduced and the table was then moved into lots of positions to fully coat the colon with barium at one point the table was tilted to such an extent that I thought I was going to fall off. Xrays were taken and then it was off the table into a side room with a toilet where I spent the next twenty minutes or so trying to get rid of the remnants of the enema, it’s a bit like sh**tting chalk.
The results of the enema were all negative apart from one small diverticula that was found. This meant the diagnosis of diverticular disease was incorrect.
