Question:
Those who had BOWEL PREPS by drinking Magnesium Citrate please read!!

I have to do my bowel prep tomorrow (today). My question is, do I ahve to drink the WHOLE bottle? It's a little to late to be calling my doc :p The sheet says to drin ka dose of 10-12 ozs of mag cit. So that does mean the entire bottle, right? :) And how long did you, umm, poop for? :p    — Renee V. (posted on March 16, 2002)

March 16, 2002
If i were you, i would call a 24 hr pharmacist and ask if you cannot speak to anyone at the hospital. Good Luck.
   — Michelle H.

March 16, 2002
Yes, you drink the whole little 10 oz. I haven't had surgery yet, but that is what they told me. My friend had surgery last week and she drank it also. She said it took about 6 hours to kick in. Be ready!
   — Amy T.

March 16, 2002
Yes, You need to drink the WHOLE BOTTLE. Read your instructions carefully, since most true bowel preps require drinking one bottle at noon and ANOTHER bottle at 6pm. The first bottle took about 2 hours to kick in and was rather mild. The second bottle kicked in about three hours after I drank it, and HOLY SCHMOLY!!!!
   — prc111

March 16, 2002
Yes you drink the whole bottle. Get ready cause it doesn't taste great. Drink it cold and drink it down as quickly as possible so you don't have to worry about the taste too much. It'll kick in in 4-5 hours. I drank a bottle and a 1/2 and had BMs most of the evening and into the next morning (told the nurse I may have an accident in OR and she said they've seen everything and not to worry, if it happened while I was asleep they'd clean it up and never tell me). Good luck and God Bless!
   — Kimberly L.

March 16, 2002
10 ounces????? Dang! I had a whole gallon! I didn't drink it all though...I drank almost half a gallon and stopped cause anymore and I was gonna hurl more than poop! It was NASTY! It took a couple of hours to kick in and then....well...I was clean as a whistle the next day. Now, my surgeon has stopped the use of mag citrate altogether because of dehydration issues (well duh! a gallon indeed!)...now he uses MOM.....he made that decision about 9 months too late for me.
   — Sharon L.

March 16, 2002
I had to drink 6 ozs of Fleet Phosphosoda...it was nasty tasting...vile even. It took about an hour to kick in...and believe me, it kicked in!!!! I spent the next 5 hours sitting in the bathroom. Luckily I had my latop and a really long phone cord. I just chatted in the chatroom and kept myself occupied. LOL. Good Luck.
   — Mustang

March 17, 2002
HI, I asked this same question months ago, because I had to pick up my DH at the airport the night I did the prep. Here is what I discovered. YES, drink the whole bottle. It's not bad, drink it cold. It kicked in for me about 1.5 hrs after drinking the bottle and lasted about 2 hrs. This was possibly because after Noon, we weren't allowed anything but liquid to eat or drink and only CLEAR liquids after 6p.m. Hope this helps. Just remember everyone is different. Lots of luck.
   — Kathy J.

November 7, 2003
I was only told to drink 2 ounces!!
   — Taramedic

November 7, 2003
I drank the whole bottle. I felt the effects of it even after the surgery was over. I bet it lasted 3 or 4 days.
   — WendieS

November 7, 2003
I had to drink the whole thing. Make sure its cold, drink it down as fast as you can and have a big glass of water ready to chase it. I didnt think it was gonna work until about 2 hours later when it kicked in big time. Was still going the next morning but the OR nurse said it was ok, they would take care of any accidents. Good luck to you. ~Sidney~ Open RNY 10-23-02 down 125+ and counting
   — Siddy I.

December 19, 2003
I LOVE magnesium citrate ... LOL I've had a few preps for colonoscopy's and the only thing that worked is the magnesium citrate. The GoLytly (sp) made me puke. I'm learning more every day here ... I had no idea I'd have to do a prep before surgery. UGH ... that means three days of no food for me only because it takes that long for a prep to have a colonoscopy. Oh well ...
   — LynnetteMFrary

December 31, 2003
OMG! I had to drink that junk, a gallon...only got about half down...could not take any more. And now I will have to do same for WLS? I know last time I stayed in bathroom for hours...thought I would not make it to hospital next morning...had to stop ever couple blocks! I will take advise and do only liquids for 3 days prior....perhaps that will help. Tell you what the nurse told me when I had my last kid. Is only for doctors comfort! He does not want to work in all the poop we loose durning any type of surgery.....what about us?.....
   — Marla S.

December 31, 2003
Marla, you might want to check with your particular surgeon, some of them don't require the Mag Citrate prep. Some of them don't even require the liquids for several days before hand. My only pre-op instructions were to eat light that day and nothing after midnight. Easy Peasy!
   — Ali M

July 20, 2005
I have had to do several bowel preps for colonoscopies. Drink the entire bottle as directed. The possibility of infection from bowel contents spilling into the abdominal cavity when the bowels are redirected is serious enough to not question the order for a bowel prep. It is not for the surgeons convenience, it is for your life!
   — Janis

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