Anybody ever had to drink barium sulfate?I have a CT scan tomorrow and I'm scared of the whole thing

[Walleye]

Thanks in advance for any advice

[A HERETIC I AM]

1. I have but it's been years

It didn't make me nauseous or anything, not that I can recall, anyway.

You'll be fine. They won't want to poison you till after the bill is paid!

[Walleye]

4. Thanks for the laugh, I needed that

[montanacowboy]

2. I just took my sister for one last week

she was pretty worried too, but afterward she said the worst part was drinking the barium. They gave her a light sedative and bingo, she was out of there in about 30 mins and said all the worry was for nothing.

[Walleye]

3. Thanks, I am a chronic worrier over this stuff

[Yonnie3]

5. I have, long time ago

Nothing much to relate.
It seemed like a lot to drink, but I managed.
No side effects as I recall.

[Walleye]

6. Thank you, fingers crossed

[Yonnie3]

30. Anticipation is usually worse than what happens n/t

[BittyJenkins]

7. I did many years ago.

It tasted like chalk. Plug your nose and you will be fine.
Cat scans generally go quick. I have had lots of those.
Good thoughts coming your way.

[Walleye]

19. Thank you

[wcmagumba]

8. I Had the barium with one a few years back not fun but not bad...

I'm getting another CT scan tomorrow also, but no barium, looking at kidney stones...agggh....

[Walleye]

11. Good luck I know how scary it is

[multigraincracker]

9. Not that bad.

I didn’t have any problem with it

[Walleye]

10. Thanks, I'm getting anxiety attacks

[underpants]

12. Vodka goes with anything.

[A HERETIC I AM]

14. ....

[Walleye]

21. Might make a good white Russian

[Marthe48]

13. I had one or two

I can't remember why. I might be confusing CT with MRI. I got something like a milkshake the first time, and it wasn't bad. I had another, years later and years ago, was looking forward to the shake, but I got a lemon lime kind of ade. The staff was very informative and took me step by step through the process, both times, and check on me as I was drinking the barium. The ct itself wasn't bad. if you have trouble, ask for a cloth to cover your face. My cousin had several, and she got claustrophobic in one, so she started getting a face cloth. She said it helped a lot.

Good luck with your CT. Hope you get a good report.

[Walleye]

22. Many many thanks

[LakeArenal]

15. I had one. Gross to drink.

For me…. Very solid …um…#2 for a bit.

Not better or worse than getting prepared for colonoscopy.

Edit: Talking the barium thing. Not the CT thing.

[Walleye]

23. Thanks

[Marthe48]

28. I noticed the added weight

I was a bit startled! lol

[mitch96]

16. As a tech I did many many Barium studies.. Like most have said it has the consistency of chalk.

If it's for a GI series you will have to drink a few cups. Most places now used a flavored version but you can't get away from the thickness. It helps with the diagnosis.
Think of it as a bad milkshake.
Drink lots of fluids afterwards as it can constipate some people..
I never lost a patient to a GI series...
If it's for a Barium Enema don't worry you wont taste it...
m

[Walleye]

24. Not an enema, yet, thank goodness. Thanks for the advice

[50 Shades Of Blue]

17. I always have to hold my nose to to be able to get it down.

No matter how much time they give me to finish it, I need every second because I can only take a small sip at a time, I just find it so unpalatable. But one time I was in the waiting room with a woman who someone managed to guzzle hers down real fast. That was not a good idea.

[Walleye]

26. Thanks, they want me to take it at home two hours before I come in

[mitch96]

32. Drinking it that far in advance it seems like they are looking at your small bowel..

Maybe the lower part of your small intestines..
It seems the opposite of how we did it years ago. Back then you would come in, change and stand before the fluoroscope. Take a few sips and the MD would take pic's of you swallowing. Then they would lay the table down with you on it (free ride Woo Hoo!!) and have you drink some more while taking pics. Then you would drink some more and then wait ½ hr. Take a picture. Wait another ½ hr, take a picture. Do this this till you see the end of the small intestines.
With you drinking the barium before hand it seems it would speed up the process..
m

[Walleye]

34. Well this is to check out a chronic pain in the lower right abdomen near my old appendectomy scar

It could be any damn thing I guess

[mitch96]

62. Maybe looking for scar tissue? Abdominal adhesions? That would prevent all the guts from having

a good time together...Like you said, who knows.
Have you had a CT scan yet?
m

[Walleye]

63. I had one on my lungs and chest a couple years ago

They inject the contrast agentfor that

[mitch96]

64. "They inject the contrast agent for that" Yup the doc's like their contrast.. Gives you a warm

fuzzy feeling.. or a hot flash where you aren't expecting it....
The contrast shows the blood vessels in the chest very well.
Rules out many "maybe's or could be's"
If "they" don't see anything on the small bowel series they might order the Ct.
More drinking involved but not as chalky. Maybe contrast maybe not..
And so it goes...
m

[RKP5637]

18. I had that years ago and I don't recall anything bad about it. The one I had

tasted like a milk shake.

[Walleye]

31. Cool, I got my fingers crossed

[judesedit]

20. It's just chalky. Stay perfectly still during your scan. I had to do it all over again

cause I moved. That's the hardest part for me...staying still lol.

[Walleye]

27. Good advice thanks 🙏🏻

[judesedit]

68. You can do it. Don't worry. Keep us posted.

[Walleye]

69. I drank the stuff, not too bad, waiting to be called for the scan🤞🏻

[judesedit]

70. Glad that part's over with. Hoping for a good outcome for you

🤞🙏 Now to wait for the results. That is the hard part.

[halfulglas]

25. I had a couple abdominal CTs in 2016 and it was a lot to drink but no trouble

Drinking it or ill effects from it. On the other hand, I had a CT last month and they gave me the 3 pint size bottles of a commercially bottled, name brand thick very very sweet vanilla barium to drink at specific times. I had no trouble drinking it except it was way too sweet. However, I had to stop on the way home from the test and run into a bathroom in a supermarket for the beginning of 3 days of diarrhea. Since I gradually got over it, I didn't even report it to either my doctor or the radiologists. So just make a plan for yourself knowing where there is a place (or several places since it took more than once before I got home) you can stop if necessary.

[Walleye]

29. Thank you

[Irish_Dem]

33. I had to do that last year.

I was a bit concerned since I am a gagger and picky about food taste etc.

But it was fine. No problem.

Didn't taste great but I got it down with no fuss, no muss, no mishaps.

[Walleye]

35. Thanks you are boosting my confidence a little

[Irish_Dem]

38. If I can do it, anybody can. :)

[2naSalit]

36. A long time ago.

It was awful.

I got sick, literally puked, because the barium was flavored with mint to which I have a serious allergy but was unaware of at the time. It made me sicker than I was with whatever it was that I was being tested for. I have negative experiences more often than not so I avoid doctors for most of my ailments. If I can't figure it out on my own, then I'll visit my doctor.

You should be fine, just take the stuff in medium sized sips. I remember it well, it was kind of like mint flavored pepto bismal.

[Walleye]

37. Well this is supposedly vanilla flavored, it looks like it's only about 12 ounces

[2naSalit]

39. You'll be fine.

Vanilla is a good flavor, like I said just take sips, gulps could make you gag.

[Irish_Dem]

41. I have to gulp, if I sip, it hits my taste buds and I am down for the count.

[Irish_Dem]

40. It is way less than a colonoscopy prep?

Where it seems like gallons of awful tasting fluid.

I would do the barium over the colonoscopy prep any day.

[Jerryatric]

42. I did the barium xrays then the CT scan a few months ago.

I expected the CT scan to be the same, but instead of drinking two small glasses of barium, they handed me two big bottles, like twenty ounces each, and said to drink them as fast as I could and they'd be back for me in twenty minutes. It's "vanilla flavored" now, but it isn't easy to drink all that. I managed to do most of it. Make sure you take some kind of laxative to get rid of that stuff afterward, barium is what they made linoleum out of and you don't want that stuff to harden up inside you.

[Walleye]

43. Thanks, it looks like I have about 12 ounces and have to drink it two hours ahead of time.

I think they said I have to drink something else right before hand

[Jerryatric]

52. Twelve ounces is definitely doable, lol.

It's not that bad and the actual scan didn't last as long as they told me it would, they allow extra time in case you move and they have to do it again. It's definitely easier to drink that than the test where they make you eat lumpy oatmeal.

[Walleye]

53. Well that one does sound terrible,

[Jerryatric]

54. That one is called a gastric emptying study. The

internet told me they give people scrambled eggs and toast with radioactive dye in it. But not here, they said too many people are allergic to eggs so they use oatmeal. Plain, no sugar, no butter, lumpy, hard oatmeal and they have no sympathy when you're trying to eat it, but you keep gagging even though you try really hard not to.

[Walleye]

55. Yikes!

[bamagal62]

44. I did it a month ago.

It’s pretty awful stuff. But, take your time. DON’T chug it to get it over with. I think I had an hour to drink 2 large bottles. Use the time they give you to drink it. The scan takes about 3 seconds. So the only bad thing about the procedure is the BS tastes awful. Again, drink it spread out over the time given.

[Walleye]

46. Thanks, good advice

[Duncanpup]

45. I'll be holding you in my thoughts Walleye.

[Walleye]

47. Thank you very much, I appreciate you, Duncanpup

[PortTack]

48. Yes...it not so bad! I've certainly had worse

[Walleye]

49. Thanks 🙏🏻

[Progressive dog]

50. There are lots of worse things

Doesn't hurt, doesn't taste horrible and you fell fine after the test. At least that was my experience.

[Walleye]

51. Thank you, feeling a little better with all this support

[canuckledragger]

56. I think I had a barium scan once to figure out stomach troubles I had.

No problems drinking it or anything...but was warned to stay near a toilet the next day because it doesn't break down and runs right through you...

[Walleye]

57. Got it, that makes sense. Thanks

[Deep State Witch]

58. It's Not That Bad

I had to drink it for a CT scan last summer. Honestly, the worst part was chugging two bottles of the stuff. It was chalky. But nowhere near as bad as colonoscopy prep! That stuff is the worst!

[Walleye]

59. That's good I've had a couple of colonoscopies, it's terrible but I got through it

[Jerryatric]

60. Drinking a gallon of colonoscopy prep is way worse than any

amount of barium. If you could do that with no problems, you'll do fine with the barium. I'll be thinking of you and sending hugs and good thoughts your way!

[Walleye]

61. 🙏🏻🙏🏻

[mitch96]

65. "colonoscopy prep".. I remember the stuff we gave the patients was called "Go Lightly"

It was neither... It's meant to clean you out quickly and sometimes forcefully.
m

[Warpy]

66. It's not terrible, but it on't make your day, either

It's sort of like a thick milkshake when you can't taste much of anything because of a cold.

Just make sure you take a laxative the night after the scans. To make sure it's all gone, take one the following night, too. Retained barium is bad news, you want it all gone.

This stuff is one of the oldies but it is one of the best ways to evaluate things like swallowing, gastric emptying, and lower GI obstruction. Just give yourself the runs afterward to get it all out of your system. You'll thank me for this.

[Walleye]

67. Thanks, really appreciate the advice