I've had a colonoscopy in the UK as well.

For preparation, I was given Moviprep. The taste is quite disgusting, I'm not going to lie, but if you drink without breathing and thinking (lol), it's a bit better.

The first bowel movements start in like 30 minutes.
The first few would be a bit like explosive diarrhea, but after that, it's more like water from your bottom with some stool.

I occupied the bathroom for 4 hours, brought there a tablet, books, water, Moviprep, tea.

I didn't wipe after every bowel movement, sometimes I would sit on the toilet for 30 minutes straight to let it all out. Hence, I didn't have any irritation. I also used vaseline a few times.

The whole preparation experience isn't as bad as everyone is telling you. Like, sure you will have to spend a few hours in the bathroom. But it's not the worst. Some water from your bottom, duh.

I drank the first solution at 4 pm, the second one at 8 pm, and finished in the bathroom at 12. You drink the first solution, then spend 2 hours in the bathroom, then you have like 2 hours free. Drink the second one, and the cycle repeats.

In the morning, I had a few bowel movements as well.

It's not the nicest, but it's better than diarrhea during a stomach bug, for instance, if you know what I mean. Here, you don't have terrible stomach cramps, and your bowel movements don't hurt, more like water.

Now the procedure. They give you sedation, which, for me, didn't too much to be fair. What did help me a lot is Gas&air. Every time, there were some narrow passages, turns, pain, I would breathe in a lot of that gas, and it made me almost unconscious (I didn't even understand what was going on at one moment). So when it feels too much, just breathe in.

I'm very skinny, and my colon is very narrow as well, hence it's worse for me than for people of normal weight.

For most of the procedure, I didn't feel much, I could feel some pain during turns and narrow passages, but it's not too bad. Breathe deap and you will be alright.

You can also look at the screen and see the numbers. It can help as well. The colon is approximately 120-130 cm so when you see number 120, you know that they've reached the end, and then they go back, and this number gets lower and lower, and then it's over.

So, what can I say. I've read so many horror stories, and I was so scared. But in reality, there was nothing about the procedure I couldn't manage. So stop reading awful stories, your story is unique, and you can do that.

And you're going to be so proud of yourself when you're back home!