• Hydration - keeping well hydrated during your colonoscopy preparation is extremely important, a great tip is to have a glass of fluid every time you visit the toilet. Signs of dehydration include headache, dizziness, dark coloured urine, and nausea. It is important to follow your instructions to ensure that you are drinking enough fluids; the more fluids the better for feeling well and cleaning the bowel. Often water alone is not enough to replace the salts your body needs to stay hydrated, therefore we highly recommend that you include hydration drinks such as Gatorade, Poweraid, and Hydralyte. 

• Barrier cream - using a barrier cream such as Sudocrem on your bottom will help prevent soreness caused by wiping a moisture.

• Wet wipes - alcohol free baby wipes/water wipes are soft and assist in cleaning your bottom to prevent soreness.

• Keep warm - the chilled preparation and frequent trips to the toilet can make you very cold, warm drink can assist.

• Incontinence pads - if you are concerned about making it to the toilet in time or have a long drive to your procedure consider having some incontinence pads handy.

• Stay positive.

 

For more tips visit our Bowel Preparation FAQs page.​