Barium Meal?

Has anyone had to do this? I'm getting the UGI and small bowel test tomorrow morning. The doctors only explained what the drink was like and what they're going to do. I want to know what to expect though =/

stay very, very close to the bathroom!

oh delightful. for my two test i had to do two things

1) eat a meal of eggs and toast enhanced with barium and drink two cups of water. easy easy. no worried

2) i stood for part and layed down for part of the next test. simultaneously drinking liquid barium through a straw. hopefully you have a strong stomach. it isn't pleasant but it's bareable, really. just suck it up and drink it slowly. it will be like a thick chalky cardboard tasting milkshake. i drooled alot.

how long did it take you?

the barium test took all of 15 minutes.

the other one required me to sit under some xray type machine for an hour after i ate the barium eggs and toast.

The barium "milkshake" is nasty. Tastes okay for about two sips... and then you realize how awful it is, and how much more you have to drink! Just drink as much as you can - sometimes half of it is enough. The eggs with radioactive fluid are easier to eat - they just taste like eggs. My advice is to chug, if you know how - nice to know it has a practical application besides helping me drink beer! I now have the ability to plug my nose and shotgun a barium shake.

All in all, it's not so bad, and hopefully they'll be able to find what ails you. Good luck!

sorry to hear that you have to go through that.  it was hell for me.  people say it was just the pressure that was uncomfortable, but i thought it was painful.  i couldn't move at all.  is what you're getting the xray for your intestines? i got that and they had to stick a pump up my rectum, sorry if it's graphic, but it's the truth. the technician pumped the barium in my large intestines and move me around the table to take pictures of my digestive system.  the barium is what highlights the intestine so it becomes visible in the photos.  you're also going to be exposed to radioactivity but that's actually the least of the worries.  yes, be prepare to let it all out after the procedure.

as for the prep, i don't remember too well but i had to fast and then drink something that acts like a laxative to clean out the intestines.

It doesn't sound like you will be eating the radioactive eggs.  The barium SB follow-thru is where you have to drink the barium and this can be pretty nauseating.  The test is painless, minus drinking the barium.  The doctor will x-ray you has you drink the barium and may give you something to swallow that causes gas bubbles (this made me vomit).  After that, you will drink the rest of the barium and they will take pictures about every 15 minutes to 30 minutes until it reaches your large intestine.  This is really all depending on how fast your body digests food...hence the reason your having the test. 

Mine took 4 hours, some people are quicker, some are as slow as 6 hours.

Good luck...post your results :)

Well I didn't get the eggs. lol. I had to chug the barium shake because I almost brought it back up. It wasn't that bad, but I didn't feel right with that stuff in my system. I did make my poop look kinda white-ish, didn't make me have to go to the bathroom like I thought. I got my results back and they said nothing was wrong with my small bowel. Now I have to wait until July to see a pediatric GI specialist because my insurance won't let me go to a regular one =/

This sucks.

Aww, Hbomb! That test didn't show anything for me, either. I'm sorry you have to wait so long- specialists often have 6 month waits between appointments. It blows.

What are your symptoms? There are a multitude of other tests you can take, and sometimes doing your own research gets you moved up the testing queue a bit. I found that when I asked if they could schedule a particular test, they were happy to schedule it, but if I left it to the doctor, he was just like, I don't know, wait and see.

Insurance shenanigans piss me off - it always feels like no one wants to help the patient get better.

Well, my mother refuses to drive 45 minutes to a specialist my doctor recommended because she doesn't think there is anything wrong with me and she "doesn't have time". My doctor that I see has no clue what she is doing and is very rude (state insurance doctors are the worst), so I can definitely relate to the whole "wait and see" thing. I was looking at the different GI disorders, looking for my symptoms, and I found one called Hirschensprung's Disorder (HD) that fit most of mine. I get horrible pain after a while without going, and I can only take laxatives once a week because I have to dedicate a whole day to it, so since I have school during the week, it involves spending my saturdays or sundays at home or my fiance's house. He has been so patient and kind with me through this past few months where this constipation has been getting worse. I have been getting horrible acid reflux to the point where I hiccup acid in my throat for hours after eating. I feel the need to go sometimes but it won't come out, and if it does, it is small and hard and painful. It has been almost 4 years since I have noticed my constipation problem and 1 year of major pain. I get bloated and sick to the point where I don't even want to eat. It is hard for me to swallow pills now because of taking laxatives every week, they make me sick. Ugh, long post, sorry for the rant. I'm just sick of this whole thing and want to be regular and feel better and find out what the hell this is.

Aww, Honey, I know what it's like to have the fam not support your health. My parents never took me to the doctor, with the end result being that my health problems escalated to a crisis point by my mid-20s, since I thought you weren't supposed to complain about not feeling well! Fortunately, my fiance is a hypochondriac, and makes me get everything treated :)

Why don't you call the new doctor and ask them if you can get any tests in advance of your appointment - ask them what they think is appropriate. But there are a couple of things you can do on your own until then.

In re: constipation, bloating and acid - maybe start by treating the acid first. Can your regular doctor phone in a prescription for daily acid reflux medication? It makes a BIG difference - I didn't think I needed it, but man did it help. If they won't prescribe, take Prilosec over the counter. If it's not working, take 2-3 pills of prilosec a day (it's safe, a GI doctor of mine told me to do that before they would put my on prescription strength stuff.) You are making extra acid for a reason, and if you treat the acid, that reason may become apparent. I was doing it because my gallbladder wasn't working.

Bloating / Constipation - have you ever been tested for a wheat or dairy allergy? A lot of people experience bloating and IBS because of gluten or dairy intolerance. You can go on a gluten-free diet for a minimum of 2 months to determine if living gluten-free makes a difference. But you really have to cut out all gluten, not just less, and if you mess up for a day, you have to start the 60 day count all over (I did it a week in - I had no idea that soy sauce is brewed with wheat. You need Tamari!). Also, take one thing out of your diet for two months, then the other, not both at once.  It's the old control /variable of a science experiment - if you do both at the same time, you won't know which one made a difference.

But make sure you do reduction / allergy diets with doctor's permission / oversight (esp. if you are a teen.) They are not easy to do even for two months, and should only be done to determine if you have an allergy. And even if you don't have food allergies - I didn't - at least you can report that to the specialist when you go in July so they don't waste another 4 months making you go find out ;)

You know, I think I will call the new doctor and see, but I don't have the number, my mother does. So that'll be interesting.

As for the acid reflux, I can't swallow pills anymore unless it's a laxative, and even that I have trouble with. Would tums do it? I can chew pills. I am not sure why I got acid reflux, but they found it on my small bowel xray and it made perfect sense.

I know I am lactose intolerant. I get horrible gas and a stomach ache anytime I eat dairy. When I used to not be constipated I got diarrhea. I don't know if it could be gluten. What has gluten in it?! Do I just ask the doctor if I should do it?

Hmm, pills used to make me mega-nauseous, too. That, I just had to man up about - alot of my meds are in pill form. The only alternative when you have digestive issue is to do under-the-skin injections, and they are generally a very last resort (I do one a day.) Tums are short-term effective, but very mild. Maybe if you can just try to swallow one prilosec a day. I take my pills with a bite of food immediately afterward; that takes the nausea down a bit. But if that's not an option for you, ask your doc if there is a liquid form, maybe?

Gluten is in wheat, rye, and barley. The entire glutenous grain list is as follows:

• Barley
• Bulgur
• Couscous
• Durum
• Einkorn
• Emmer
• Farina
• Kamut
• Spelt
• Tritical

• Farro
• Graham
• Matzoh Meal
• Rye
• Semolina
• Wheat Germ
• Wheat Starch

Well I called my doctor's office today and left a message. Now I have to wait! I hate waiting lol.

But thank you so much for all your advice, I couldn't thank you enough.