My husband had to get an MRE, MR enterography to look at small bowel. I wonder if that is different from CT enterography? The prep was he had to drink something and then wait a little before the procedure. The lab at the hospital he went to didn't do the procedure very often, so they screwed up with the prep he had to drink and had to do it twice. Felt pretty nauseous and sick afterwards. Make sure they know what they are doing.

I had to get an MRE before surgery, and not to scare you, but I had the worst day. No one properly warned me about the horrible things that was about to occur. I just wasn't fully prepared. I had no idea I needed to drink anything to prep. I found out when I arrived at the hospital. They sat me down with 3 or 4 bottles of this nasty, warm, thick, odd flavored substance and said "drink this". I had some errands to run around the hospital so I was walking around pounding these bottles. Finally, I finished them and then the worst happened, URGENT need to go. I went to the bathroom and they were occupied. I waited, got in, went. Went back to the waiting room. URGENT AGAIN, went again, bathrooms occupied, LOL, luckily I could hold it. This happened literally 5x. Finally, the nurse comes to get me. We walk to the scan room. I stop along the way to go. this stuff I drank unleashed fury!!!! I got to the room, I had to go again. I ran out, bathrooms occupied again. I literally had to run to another toilet. It was so stressful. The barium was like a laxative, omg. Then I laid in the tube. I had to stop and get back up to go again. Luckily, after that time, I was able to lay there for the test. Everyone said it was going to be like 20 minutes but it was at least an hour. If you move they have to start over. One of the most awful days of my life. I do not know if this CT scan you're having is the same at all.

I just had a CT scan yesterday. Actually was kind of a pleasant experience.

The doctor ordered a pelvic and stomach CT. Also, I had both oral and IV contrast. I arrived at 9. I got the contrast to drink until about 9:45, and finished drinking it about 10:10. The contrast did not taste bad at all, I had to drink contrast when I had appendicitis, and that was horrible. This office gave me vanilla silq, which taste like a protein shake. Around 11:20 I changed into the gown, and 11:30, I was given another cup of vanilla silq, then started the scan. They took 3 scans, then the technician came in, and inserted the IV and the IV contrast. They took one more scan, and I was free to go.

When I got home, I had the urge to go, and it was just that once.

Based on my previous experience with CT scans, I was thinking it would be a bad experience. Thank God it wasn't.

ks1905 said...
My GI wants me to go for a MRE and Pouchoscope, and to consider changing from Stelara to another medication. He thinks the Stelara is not working for me with my recent symptoms. I've never had an MRE before, only a CT Scan but those don't really bother me too much.

when is that scheduled for?
I have heard MRE is not bad
just can get claustrophobic
wear headphones for the noise
do you need any prep?

That stinks keith. read my post above for my experience. I had a very bad day. I would imagine it wouldn't be quite as bad for you. i remember when I was running through the halls desperately looking for a toilet, I ran into a man in a wheelchair, and he was very concerned about me getting to the bathroom. It was serious. I read it now and it's funny, but it wasn't. I couldn't have really had a problem in the hallway. The stuff we go through because of this awful illness is really demoralizing.

I've had several MRI scans of the small bowel (think they're the same thing as an MRE - had to drink the contrast anyway) and all but one of them was dead easy. The one where it wasn't so easy was the last scan before my first surgery. Felt sick as a dog after drinking the prep and had to try not to vomit the whole time I was in the scanner. I couldn't quite make it to the very end. Rang the buzzer and gestured wildly - if I had opened my mouth to speak I would have thrown up. Luckily one of the techs got my meaning and brought a bowl to me just in time. They offered to stop the test after that, but like a true hero I volunteered to go back in the scanner for the last 5 minutes.

But other than that, I've never minded MRI scans. The hospital supply you with headphones and you can choose to have the radio on if you want (I always do). I'm a stomach sleeper so I suppose lying on my stomach relaxes me more; I've almost drifted off to sleep more than once. It's never felt like I was in there for longer than about 15 minutes or so.

@ks1905 - I could have sworn you had tried Entyvio, though now I look at your sig I see it's not there. I'll probably be going on Entyvio next. Good luck with the Stelara though - I hope it does help.

Dikid,

Did you ever go for your CT exam? Or did they switch it to something else?

I thought I would leave a response here even though this is an old post in case someone else is ever looking for advice.

I had a CT done two days ago since my GI has been after it for a couple of months now . Had to drink 3 bottles (450ml each) of a Barium Sulfate solution. It tasted like some kind of milky beverage excessively sweetened with sorbitol. They did ask me if I was diabetic or not so I think you get a different drink if diabetic. The drink was initially quite exciting because I was hungry having had to fast 4 hours prior. I had a morning appointment so could not eat or drink anything from the time I woke up. After 1 bottle of the solution, it started to feel a bit nauseating because of the thick consistency (not the flavor). It caused a slight burning /itchy sensation in my chest initially but that subsided half way down the first bottle. All three bottles had to be drunk in 45 minutes in gaps of 10 minutes . From there was led to a procedure room for the Iodine contrast. This was awful because it was so thick and the vein the nurse initially used in my wrist felt like it would burst. I ended up screaming in pain. Eventually she had to use another vein in the crook of my elbow. It is about 15ml so takes less than a minute to inject. Caused a welling up of heat like sensation in my body. Then it was time for the CTE. Donut shaped tunnel. Procedure took less than a minute. There was a nice ceiling to look at. A recorded instruction was played a Couple of times to breathe and hold the breath while it took images and slid one back and forth and then it was done and I could go home. At some point it felt like something was melting and flowing down my pelvis but didn’t notice anything later in the washroom. No change of clothes or hospital gown was provided. I was allowed to keep my glasses on during procedure. No immediate side effects other than a rumbling stomach noises and slight nausea and tiredness once home. My wrist was sore at the place she tried to get my vein. Later in the day passed stool once which was proper Diarrhea. Day 2 again passed one stool which was constipated.

Two strange things happened after the CT. I felt lighter & thinner in terms of body weight and joint/muscle stiffness I was experiencing in the past two weeks before it vanished overnight. Cannot figure why or how... Super puzzling.

Nurse advised to drink a lot of water following the procedure to flush out the contrast so I was urinating a lot at home.

Overall it was a smooth procedure. Won’t want to do it again though because of the drink. It does feel terrible after the first bottle. I think this may depend on what you are given to drink though.

C-Scope prep is so much nicer. Hope this is helpful.

If you have a choice consider costs and if you are not claustrophobic maybe ask for an MRI instead because a lot of radiation exposure happens during a CT.
On an average CT takes 1 hour including the prep time, the contrast injection and the scan.
An MRI takes much longer and your experience will depend on the place you are doing it. I think over 45 minutes for the scan alone so you have to factor in prep time too. Mine place said they would not allow me to bring my own music. Also you should find out about the kind of tunnel they use if it is open or closed. Some places like mine still stick with the old closed tunnel machine for MRIs.