Ugh. Upper GI x-rays in a couple hours or so.

[Akoto]

Never had them done before. Amusingly, I am a hospital phobic, but what everybody’s made me fearful of is the chalky barium drink!

Diagnosed with my second chronic condition, unfortunately, but at least it isn’t fatal. The x-rays are the last part of a few tests we’ve done to knock off big swaths of other possibilities, for safety’s sake, but I scored a really good GI who was 99% sure on the first appointment.

Ah well. Life dealt me a lousy hand in the health department! Wish my luck that this doesn’t take the possibly five hours they say it could!

[Laffy Kat]

1. It'll be fine.

The barium meal isn't so bad. It's much better than the barium procedure on the other end!

[Dave Starsky]

4. Like drinking a five-pound milkshake...

As opposed to having a shotput up your ass.

[safeinOhio]

2. You'll be out. Only seems like a minute and

you won't feel a thing, well a little buzzed.

[Laffy Kat]

5. I don't think they knock you out for this one. nt

[safeinOhio]

6. My doctors do.

[Laffy Kat]

7. You sure you're not thinking of an upper endoscopy?

For a barium swallow (esophagram) they have you drink the contrast and then watch it go down with fluoroscopy, so you're usually strapped on a special table standing up and then the table is titled horizontally. You need to listen to what the rad tech tells you to do. It's not painful, just yucky.

I work in radiology and we do these all the time. Not sure how it would work if you're not able to listen to the techs.

https://www.emedicinehealth.com/barium_swallow/article_em.htm

[safeinOhio]

9. I think you are correct.

[Fla Dem]

3. Be over and done with before you know it. But good luck.

I've got a dentist appt tomorrow. Removing old filling and putting in new one. Now that's torture.

[yellowdogintexas]

12. my sympathies; I am having a bad root canal reworked on Monday

I am not looking forward to that in the least.

I knew this was a bad job when it was first done, but never felt enough pain to be too concerned. Turns out I have a pretty heavy duty infection going on under that tooth. I would not know about it except for my observant hygenist at my last dental cleaning. I had this little ridge on the gumline on the cheek side and turns out it was a fistula for the subtooth infection.

I am glad I'm not in pain but it sort of seems like there ought to have been some discomfort to justify all this surgery and $$$$

[geardaddy]

8. I have my colonoscopy next week.

I've had them before. In fact I had an upper endoscopy and colonoscopy in one session. My wise ass doctor said they like to the colonoscopy first, but "don't worry, they'll wipe of the tip before they stick the scope in your mouth."

[LuckyCharms]

10. No problem with the drink. It is not as chalky as you think.

They will probably serve it to you cold. It is really not too hard to drink. Good luck.

[Akoto]

11. Thanks for the posts, everyone.

The test itself was pretty much a breeze. As expected, the drink was gross, but I got through the process.

Unfortunately, it seems barium doesn't agree so well with me. I'd been warned and warned to prepare for constipation issues and so on, when my reaction was decidedly the opposite upon getting home. Not exactly a great afternoon. Called my gastro and he said it was a common reaction, though, and that things would return to normal now that the barium is leaving my troubled GI tract.

Some small silver lining in that it wasn't entirely unworthy of suffering. We confirmed that I do not have Crohn's Disease, which ticks one more serious problem off the list. We also discovered that I have severe acid reflux, even though I can't actually feel it, so that's one more pill to add to my morning regimen.

Eesh.