You have been prescribed Plenvu as a laxative to empty your bowel in preparation for your colonoscopy. It is important you take all the preparations to ensure the bowel is clean before the examination so the endoscopist can examine it thoroughly.
- 7 days before, stop taking iron tablets, such as Ferrous Sulphate or Ferrous Fumarate.
- 5 days before, stop taking stool bulking agents, such as Fybogel or Laxido.
- 5 days before stop eating nuts, seeds and seeded breads. These can clog the colonoscopy equipment and the procedure may not be completed successfully.
- 3 days before, stop taking constipating agents, such as Loperamide or Codeine Phosphate.
- If you take blood-thinning medications, please inform the pre-assessment nursing team for advice.
Dietary advice before the days leading to the procedure
YOU MUST START YOUR LOW-RESIDUE DIET 5 DAYS BEFORE YOUR COLONOSCOPY.
If you are a vegan/vegetarian, please swap suggested items with suitable alternatives.
| FOOD TYPE | FOODS ALLOWED | FOODS TO AVOID |
| Bread, cereals and grains | Refined breakfast cereals such as: Rice Krispies®, Coco Pops®, Weetos®, Frosties®, Cornflakes®, Sugar puffs®, Ready Brek®. Products made from white flour, for example white bread, white pasta, crumpets, English muffins, wraps, pitta bread, bagels. Well-cooked white rice, rice noodles, egg noodles, white noodles. Plain naan bread, plain chapatti, poppadoms. Rice pudding, semolina, tapioca, plain couscous, polenta. | Wholemeal cereals. Cereals containing nuts, seeds or dried fruit. Muesli, Fruit and Fibre®, Shredded Wheat®, Bran Flakes®, Crunchy Nut Cornflakes® . Any bread products or biscuits containing coarse grains, seeds or nuts or dried fruit such as multigrain bread, seeded batch, rye crispbread, rough oatcakes, hobnobs, muesli bars, flapjacks, teacakes, scones, fruit loaves. Brown rice, brown pasta, quinoa, pearl barley. |
| Meat, poultry and fish | Soft, tender, minced or pureed meat or poultry without visible fat and with skin removed such as poultry, lamb, beef, pork, veal and ham. Plain tofu, textured vegetable protein, seitan, Quorn®. All types of eggs. Fish without bones such as cod, salmon. | Tough, gristly meat or skin including pork scratchings. Fish with bones like sardines or with edible bones like whitebait. |
| Dairy products, fats and oils | Limit all types of milk including nut and plant-based milks to no more than half a cup a day. As an alternative to dairy, try soybean milk or soybean ice cream, for example Tofutti®). | Cheese containing dried fruit, onions or nuts. Yoghurts or fromage frais containing fruit pieces, dried fruit, nuts, seeds or cereal. |
| Vegetables | Well-cooked or pureed root vegetables such as carrots, parsnips, turnips or swede. Tomatoes without skins or seeds such as tomato juice, canned deseeded tomatoes, passata, tomato puree. Well-pureed hummus, lentil soup sieved to remove skins. Vegetable juices or soups – sieved to get rid of any seeds/skins. Avocado Mashed potatoes or wellcooked potatoes without skin, for example jacket potato, boiled potato, gnocchi. | All vegetable stalks, skins, seeds and peel. Sweet corn, broad beans, runner beans, mange tout, sugar snap peas, sweetcorn, spinach. Raw vegetables such as peppers, radishes and celery, tomatoes, cabbage, leeks, onions, lettuce, spinach and salad leaves. Firm beans and pulses with thick skins like kidney beans, baked beans, haricot beans, borlotti beans, soybeans, puy lentils, mushy peas or chickpeas. Potato skin. All curries made with legumes or pulses, such as lentils or beans. |
| Fruits | Fruit juice or smoothies (no seeds, pips, skins or piths). Cooked or stewed fruit without skin. Melon, banana. Canned pears, peaches or apricots. Canned citrus fruit with no pith, skin or pips, such as mandarins or grapefruit. Pureed fruit or fruit coulis (sieved). | All dried fruit. Any fruit skins, pips or seeds. Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackcurrants, gooseberries, passion fruit, pineapple, kiwi, mango, apricots. |
| Desserts | Custard, ice cream, milk puddings. Clear jelly. Plain cakes Vermicelli (seviyan / plain kulfi). | Coloured jelly, for example red jelly. Ice cream containing fruit and nuts. Cakes, puddings and pies containing any of the following: wholemeal flour, dried fruit, nuts, dried coconut and any fruits you have been advised to avoid. |
| Drinks | Fruit and vegetables juices with no bits. Smoothies that have been sieved or have no seeds in. Water, soft drinks, weak tea and coffee, herbal te | Fruit and vegetable juices or smoothies with pulp and seeds. |
| Others | Clear or strained soups. Sugar, honey, golden and maple syrup, seedless jam, marmalade. Dark, milk and white chocolate, boiled sweets, marshmallows, toffee. | Chocolate with fruit or nuts. Nuts, seeds, coconut and desiccated coconut. Marmalade with peel, jam with seeds. |
Acceptable fluids include:
- Water
- Tea and coffee (no milk)
- Clear soup, for example, Consommé that contains no solids
- Fruit juice without pulp, for example, orange or lemon squash that is diluted (not red or purple in colour)
- Clear fizzy drinks, for example, lemonade, Lucozade, tonic water, cream soda, soda water
- Bovril/ Oxo
- Lime cordial
- Herbal teas (no milk)
- Clear apple juice or white grape juice
Plenvu tastes better if taken cold from the fridge. You may find it easier to sip with a straw instead.
One day before your colonoscopy
- At 7 am, eat a light low-fibre breakfast. No nuts and seeded breads.
- At 1 pm lunchtime: Eat a light low-fibre lunch. No nuts and seeded breads. No more solid food after lunch.
- At 4 pm, prepare Dose 1 as shown below.
- Sip the Plenvu from 5 pm and finish around 6 pm.
- You must drink a minimum of 500mls of extra clear fluids.
- No milk should be consumed during your preparation.
- Only clear fluids allowed – see above for permitted fluids.
You will start to feel the effects within 2 hours of the first/second dose. It is important you do not eat after the recommended time; however, PLEASE KEEP DRINKING CLEAR FLUIDS to prevent dehydration. You may experience stomach cramps and diarrhoea during the preparation; this is normal. However, if you experience severe stomach pains or vomiting, take the preparation more slowly until these feelings stop. If the symptoms continue, seek medical advice from your GP or contact the Endoscopy Unit. Whilst taking bowel preparation, stay near a toilet to prevent accidents. We strongly suggest you do not go to work when taking this laxative.
On the day of your procedure
- At 7 am, prepare Dose 2, sachets A and B as shown below.
- Sip the Plenvu from 7 am and finish around 8am.
- You must drink a minimum of 500mls of extra clear fluids.
- No milk should be consumed at all during your preparation.
- Only clear fluids allowed – see above for permitted fluids.
After completing the bowel preparation, it is recommended you keep drinking clear fluids to prevent dehydration.
Remember, you can keep drinking clear fluid until two hours before your colonoscopy. Clear fluids are non-cloudy or transparent drinks such as water, herbal tea, black tea without milk, black coffee without milk, clear soup such as Bovril, diluted cordials (not blackcurrant) clear apple juice without pulp, etc. You can also suck clear-boiled sweets or mints.
Summary
| First 500mls of Plenvu (Dose 1) one day before the procedure. | ||
| Stop eating but continue to drink clear fluids | 1 PM | |
| Sip the first 500mls of Plenvu between | 5 pm-6 pm | |
| You must drink a minimum of 500mls of extra clear fluids | 7 pm-8 pm | |
| Intended bedtime | 10 pm | |
| The second 500ml of Plenvu (Dose 2) on the day of the procedure. | ||
| Sip second 500mls of Plenvu between | 7 am-8 am | |
| You must drink a minimum of 500mls of extra clear fluids | 8 am-10 am | |
| Preparation completed by | 8 am | |
If you have any questions or would like further advice, please contact the Endoscopy Reception:
- Monday to Friday 8am – 6pm
- 0203 058 9083 / 0203 058 9068
- or NHS 111 after 6pm