Fifty Plus (50+) - 400 km brevet day after colonoscopy?

Yikes, I just realized I have a colonoscopy scheduled Friday, when I have a 400 km brevet planned for Saturday :o

Essentially I can't eat anything after breakfast Thursday, until after the procedure Friday morning. That gives me Friday afternoon/evening to fuel up for a 4:00 AM start Saturday. That's a challenge.

The procedure is preventative; my first colonoscopy so I don't really know what to expect as far as recovery.

What say you guys, ride or no ride?

If you receive straight propofol as the anesthetic you should be fine. There's minimal hangover effect from it. After the colonoscopy, when you're up to it, you'll need to take in lots of liquids and nutrition for the next day. Most people don't have much trouble with that.

This is for information only and does not constitute specific medical advice. Always consult your personal physician.

Here is what I did: I was already making my own maltodextrin/fructose mix so I had bulk maltodextrin on hand. In reading over the instructions they provided, and going online, it became obvious the issue for not eating is the presence of solids and colored liquids that would obstruct their optics. Well, maltodextrin mixed in water is a colorless, flavorless liquid, and it is difficult to distinguish from plain water. So I worked out how much I needed over 24 hrs to get 2000 calories, and consumed that.

My colonoscopy was performed with no issues, and I did not need to suffer starvation for a day.

shim.... now why doesn't the med community give that as an alternative? hell you could just do maltodextrin for a couple days and no one would be the wiser. brilliant! next time...

It is a common procedure during the colonoscopy to give the patient an I.V. solution with dextrose and water with electrolytes. Check with your gastroenterology physician or just call them and the nurse will tell you what you're getting.

No need to over think this.

The 400k is not worth the potential risk top your health. Especially of they removepolyps. Yes I have had 2 scopings, and had pre-C polyps removed.

Medical advice on the internet is dubious.

I had a colonoscoy done in December and had moderate to severe abdominal cramps for five days after plus some bleeding the day after because of polyp removal. My MD said I had a prticularly "tortuous" colon. lots of twists and turn, so he really had to work hard to get the apparatus through. My wife had a colonoscopy two years ago and we were hiking into the Grand Canyon two days later with no difficulty. There is no way to tell what the aftereffects might be till the doc gets in there.

I enjoyed a ten mile ride six hours after my colonoscopy a year and half ago. Not real good at metric/mile conversions but that is a good bit less than 400km.

If they do anything other than just look around, there could be increased bleeding risk with intense activity.

Guessing that the gastroenterologist would give you conservative advice concerning your planned physical activity in the 24-48 hour period post-scoping.

The 400k is not worth the potential risk top your health. Especially of they removepolyps. Yes I have had 2 scopings, and had pre-C polyps removed.

My story: Spent the night in the hospital after a polyp removal actually made a very small perforation in my intestine. Not fun. So I am gun shy - I would wait a day or two before doing anything too crazy (like riding a Brevet) just to be sure. Most likely, you'd have no problem the day after. Most likely.

Essentially I can't eat anything after breakfast Thursday, until after the procedure Friday morning. That gives me Friday afternoon/evening to fuel up for a 4:00 AM start Saturday. That's a challenge.You shouldn't have any problem staying fueled. You just have to do it with clear liquids: apple juice, gatoade, jello etc. I consumed 2,400 liquid calories the day before and felt fine the day of and day after my colonscopy.

I will not give medical advice on the Internet. Not only am I not a doctor; I've never even stayed at a Holiday Inn Express.

I only stopped here to say that, if you still do the brevet, nobody in their right mind will ever have the right to tell you to "harden up" again.

The bottom line is, see how you feel, the overwhelming chances are that you will be good to go. Good luck. If you can't postpone the procedure (you could call in sick) then you will just have to take your chances.

Pardon the intrusion of a 40+ into this sub-forum. I wouldn't dare to tell you what to do but I can tell you what happened to my step-father.

My step-father, a super strong 60+ year old, had a colonoscopy on the advice of his sister who was worried about him for no other reason than she had the procedure. The doctor performing the colonoscopy nicked my step-father's intestine which allow for a septic infection. Complications from the infection lead to my step-father's passing within a week of the procedure.

The only symptoms my step-father had were weakness and a fever following the procedure. Personally, I wouldn't want to do anything that would cover any symptoms following any type of medical procedure.

As a randonneur wannabe myself, I can sympathize with the difficulty in setting up a 400km. I'd see if the medical procedure could be postponed unless there were strong indicators pointing to the fact that the procedure was time critical. Besides, I can't imagine a saddle being comfortable for any length of time afterwards but I haven't had the procedure done myself so I'll not speculate any further.

Best wishes and please let us know if you do the 400km that you are doing fine afterwards.

Well, I had a colonoscopy done on Friday morning and was suppose to do a 54 mile group ride Saturday morning. I felt pretty good, but not good enough to go on that ride. I was afraid I would run out of energy half way through and as the day went by, I did start to not feel up to par. In retrospect, was glad I didn't go and was very disappointed I felt the way I did. Everyone is different, so see how you feel and decide at that point.

Reschedule the colonoscopy.

Reschedule the colonoscopy.

That is what I should have done!!

I reckon that if you are mad enough to do a 400k Brevett- Then a little thing like a colonoscopy will not be noticed:innocent:

Reschedule seems the best suggestion as Chances of a 400k do not come up every week.

100k a day or 2 after the colonoscopy is not bad. 300 or 400k, might be too much. There could still be sensitivity from the prep and procedure.

Shoot, you can drink all the Gatorade you want...as long as it isn't red. I'd say it depends on what they do while they are in there......and who know what that is ;). It's all a bunch of crap...

I am also not a doctor. I had my first routine colonscopy last month at the age of 51. The GI doc found a large (benign, yay!) polyp which he was not able to remove entirely. I was advised not to exercise for a few days afterwards. I think whether you'll be able to do the brevet the next day depends largely on what the dr. finds when s/he gets in there and whether they have to remove any polyps and you won't know until it's over whether you'll be able to ride. Personally, after my experience, I'd put off the brevet rather than the colonoscopy. A routine colonoscopy (and the surgery two weeks later to completely remove the polyp they found) saved me from colon cancer. They got to it just before it turned to cancer.

400 km brevet day after colonoscopy?

I wouldn't.

Fasting (and yes, you must) will sap you - and even though it's a very light anasthetic, I can't imagine that you'll be unaffected...

I wouldn't.

Fasting (and yes, you must) will sap you - and even though it's a very light anasthetic, I can't imagine that you'll be unaffected...

I agree. It will take more than the rest of the day to recover fully from that. Personally I would want at least a week after a colonoscopy before I would ride a 200, 300, or 400k brevet.

Fasting (and yes, you must) will sap you - and even though it's a very light anasthetic, I can't imagine that you'll be unaffected...No need to fast unless you want to feel like crap (no pun intended). Just don't eat anything solid or colorful.

I had a colonoscopy last month and did a heavy cardio workout the next day, expecting I'd be fine. I work out every day. The workout felt like my legs were moving in jello.
The prep---time without food, time with only clear liquids, and time with nothing had drained my tank more than I realized.

Just my experience.

I've had 2 'scopings... one 10 years ago, one last year... the first - no problems, no anaesthetic hangover. Second one, again no problems, but a really unhappy hangover which lasted a day and a half. Reschedule would be my call. You don't want to gamble.

I had a colonoscopy last month and did a heavy cardio workout the next day, expecting I'd be fine. I work out every day. The workout felt like my legs were moving in jello.
The prep---time without food, time with only clear liquids, and time with nothing had drained my tank more than I realized.

Just my experience.


Yep. This.

If you don't have a lot of 400s in your area, I'm sure you could reschedule the procedure..?

I had one a few months ago, and don't recall it being a big issue. But one thing is that they told me no driving for 24 hours afterwards due to the anesthetic. I felt fine the next morning, and drove anyway, but just be aware.

And personally, I would probably reschedule for the following week.

I don't understand why you can't reschedule the colonoscopy? Don't put it off too long, but maybe a week or two or three(depending what's open). But if you have all sorts of rides that in one way or another, will immediately follow the procedure....cancel one of the rides. A colonoscopy is important when you are 50+. I had one last June '11 and they found two polyps. Neither were cancerous or pre-cancerous, but were the type that can become either--doc removed them during the procedure. Now I have to have another in 3 years, 2014. If I hadn't gotten the procedure, who knows at what stage they polyps would be if the first procedure were in 2014. Get the procedure, but see if you can reschedule. But I'd be leery of doing a 400K the day after.

Rescheduling is no real problem but at least call unlike some of my patients....YIKES!!

Not sure about your office's policies wulf, but all docs around here, if you don't call to cancel, you will get charged a no-show fee. Of course, even it there isn't fee, one should call to cancel. Besides being polite, it let's the staff know there's an open slot if they get a call-in that needs to be seen soon.

Having had way more colonscopies than I'd like, I think you'll be OK. The anaesthetic should cause not trouble, and the only problem might be the fasting beforehand. But if the procedure is in the morning and you get a good breakfast afterward and eat well the rest of the day, I think you'd likely be OK for the following day. I expect you'd likely be resting on Thursday and Friday anyhow, so I tihnk it would be OK.

Should the OP change his screenname to UpTube?

Sorry........

Thanks for all the info. Re: rescheduling the procedure; I just want to get it done. If I reschedule, it will probably end up conflicting with a business trip or something else. The procedure has priority as far as I'm concerned; family history agrees.

I'll call the office tomorrow and get their opinion. Most likely it's going to depend on how things go with the UpTube, and if there's any snippage.

If needed I can always change from riding with the Louisville club to the Columbus OH club, although I'll feel like a wimp switching from the hills to the relative flats.

Place ego to the side - make sure you make the long term decision, and don't risk your long-term recreational love (or even health) for the sake of one weekend of riding. I am personally very gunshy after my experience, but you get to decide for you.

Can't let this thread go by w/o this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N0w2rORwSc:D

Dr. says no, so no it is.

There are other doctors.

I got scoped a couple months ago and was fine for routine activity the next day, but surely not for a really long ride. Even with an ideal procedure I think there would be nutritional issues going from a completely empty system to fueling up properly for a really demanding event. Wise to put the ride off IMO.

Though some state that they feel fine and don't have the "hangover" effect from the twilight drug, I would bet there are subtle effects that aren't grossly apparent. I really think you should re-schedule the procedure or skip the brevet the next day.

In my opinion, skip the drugs. I always tell them no. I skipped the drugs for my colonoscopy and my angiogram.