RN Advice: I’ve Joined the Club Update

So 2 months ago I wrote about my experience with my screening colonoscopy.  While I was able to alter the prescribed clear liquid diet to foods that work for me, I was not able to change the actual prep or anesthetic used.  As I write this, I am now 11 weeks out and am still detoxing the effects of the sucralose and anesthetic.

I knew going into this optional procedure that I would experience a few weeks of detoxing but thought since I was in excellent physical health prior that it might take me only 4-6 weeks and I would be back on track.   Well…… now 11 weeks out and I am still experiencing inflammation with joint pain, neck pain, congestion, cravings, bloating and changes to bowel habits to name a few.

What I have learned is that we just don’t know how pharmaceuticals affect us; whether it is medicines used for dental work, antibiotics or even over the counter medicines. While my anesthetic was a very fast acting drug and the effects of the drug were gone within minutes of stopping the infusion, how it is metabolized in the body is really unknown.  Does it stay in the cells or change the cells prior to releasing and being expelled? How long does it take to do this? Are these symptoms that I am experiencing from the anesthetic or solely from the sucralose in the bowel prep?

What I do know is that it really doesn’t matter.   It is what it is.  It doesn’t matter what is causing the inflammation and symptoms.  I still have them.  The physical symptoms are irritating to say the least but what I dislike the most is the attention that my body and mind requires when I am in this acute detoxing state for so long.  To keep the emotional roller coaster in check and stay in a good head space with this amount and length of physical pain, my attention to my SELF-CARE is at an all-time high.  This means spending a lot of time MEDITATING, RESTING, and overall paying strict ATTENTION to my body, mind and emotional needs.  What does your self-care look like?