lovenox/colonoscopy/anemia

[Christine]

HI guys.. I know it's been like forever and a day since i've been on.. last several months have been crazy.. still looking for new job plus dealing with female related hemoraging for two cycles in a row (due to current boss not permitting staff to take Dr appts durring work hours, I work for a dr so it leaves only thursday mornings and friday afternoons to do it) because I take Birth control pills to control bleeding due to coumadin.. needed new script - the whole ordeal left me iron deficency anemic.. last months cycle was better (since been to the OB) but I lost alot of blood in the previous two - finally able to see my new GP last week.. hemoglobin is at 6.8 - iron levels way down.. my symptons have subsided from when I was heavy bleeding, but still a very critical concern.. now that I brought you up to speed, here's my questions: I'm having a upper endoscopy and colonoscopy done next friday the 27th, to rule out internal bleeding (brought on because I mentioned that I have the occasion hemoroid issue to deal with {I know just way too much info to share}) so they are taking me off coumadin monday and start Lovenox shots tuesday evening, wednesday morning and evening and thursday morning.. have the procedure friday and if all goes well back on coumadin friday.. Has anyone done this before.. i'm kinda nervous about giving myself the shots and figured i'd try to find some nurse friends to give it to me.. i'm also getting a iron infusion thursday morning for 4 hours and then start the prep for the colonoscopy thursday afternoon.. some say I should take thursday off along with friday because once the prep kicks in, i'll be living in the bathroom and by 6:30 while i'm driving home is no where I would want to be.

any thoughts would be helpful.. first time i'm going thru all these procedures, glad I found a great GP, she seems to be on top of this.. just ticked off at my boss, because I believe I wouldn't be in this condition if it weren't for his flippin' policies about his staff taking off durring patient hours.. sorry for venting...

love you all

christine b

 

[catwoman]

Christine:

I've had 1 colonoscopy, only took off 1 day. Prep work wasn't really bad. I expected it to be much worse.

Will be interested in your experiences with the Lovenox & colonoscopy.
I'm scheduled to have a colonoscopy this summer (family history of colon cancer; my GI found small polyp in July 2001). I have appt with my cardio 4/1 and will start the ball rolling with him then. I don't want to be unprotected for the procedure.

My PCP is near my office (15-minute drive, including getting out of downtown traffic) and my supervisor and his supervisor are very understanding, due to their own health problems and those of their relatives.

 

[Nancy]

Hi Christine-

I just had a colonoscopy. I won't address the lovenox thing because it didn't apply to me. But a couple of things:

When I got the info for the procedure, they told me to stop anything with iron in it until after the procedure. I think I had to stop a week in advance. So I was wondering if the doctor doing the colonoscopy knew about the iron infusion. You might want to run it by him/her.

They told me in no uncertain terms that after the procedure, I could not drive myself anywhere, and even if I took a taxi home, I would have to have someone with me. That is due to the relaxing agent they use.

Thursday night you will be in the bathroom the whole evening, off and on. By the time Friday rolls around, you'll be empty, so there will be no more urges to go, until you eat, then you might have some looseness and during the procedure they blow your intestine up with air, so I'm sure I don't have to draw you a picture, you'll have other discomforts. You may be feeling tired on Friday again because of the relaxing agent. They gave me valium, and that wasn't too bad. It wore off pretty well right after the procedure, but other things can really put you out of it.

So, you should probably take Friday off, too, since you can't predict how you'll be feeling.

I've had a couple of these procedures. If you have the Miralax and Gatorade prep, it won't be too bad.

All in all, it's not a terrible thing, and good to have for peace of mind. Good luck.

 

[MarciaB]

I had both a colonoscopy and upper GI about a month before MV surgery because I was anemic and they thought there may be a source of bleeding somewhere. You definately need to be off work the days of both of these things because of the happy drugs. I started the prep at 7:00 (had stuff I had to do) for the colonoscopy and was able to go to bed around 10:30. Fun stuff! They didn't find any source of bleeding but I had erosions in my stomach form H. Pylori bacteria. Neither the GI doc nor the hematologist considered H. Pylori for be a cause for anemia, but I found references on the internet that said yes, H. Pylori can cause anemia. H. Pylori is the bacteria that was found a few years ago to be the cause of most ulcers (stomach cancer is linked also). I got rid of the H. Pylori with one round of antibiotics, and haven't been tested for anemia since surgery (I was left quite anemic from surgery).

I gave myself Lovenox shots on and off after surgery. Sometimes you do what you gotta do. There is a thread somewhere with some good tips on how to make it easier and less painful. My brother's diabetic, I just didn't feel I could complain, although I sure didn't look forward to it.

Marcia

 

[cookie]

About a month ago I had a colonoscopy and used Lovenox very successfully. The injections were not as bad as I expected. I cringe getting shots but this wasn't all that bad especially considering the alternative. Before my surgery I also had an Endoscopy & a colonoscopy done at the same time. It sounded like you were having this done on two separate occasions. My gastro doc did them in one shot! Thank goodness. Good luck on your procedures. They are painless really.