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Hold up, bowel prep for ESWL??

Stone Fighter #56ED91Sep 2, 2026👁️ 2.9k❤️ 186

Hold up, bowel prep for ESWL?? — photo 1 — 1 photo · swipe to view · shared via the HydrHealth app

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I’m so lost here. Why would I have to torture myself the day before by not eating? PLUS have myself crapping nonstop before the surgery? It’s blasting a kidney stone! Not a colonoscopy. I had one earlier this year and it was awful. The prep, not the surgery. I DO NOT want to go through that again.

I had an ESWL last October and there was zero bowel prep and everything was 100% fine. They aren’t even going into my colon. Is it cool if I just skip it and tell them I did it?

Comments (6)

Stone Fighter #666C70May 12, 2026

The bowel prep part makes no sense to me. That seems weird, but I did get asked if I had done a specific bowel prep before surgery. Like no?!? I was never told to and I had a PCNL. Per the handout from my surgeon, the liquid diet part usually applies if you’re on a GLP-1.

Stone Fighter #F62B8EMay 13, 2026

Well that’s weird. I had ESWL a few months ago - fasting for anesthesia makes sense but.. a laxative??

Stone Fighter #28C522May 13, 2026

Is this for a kidney stone or a ureter stone where you might be lying on your stomach? I’ve had a bagillion ESWLs and never once had to do a bowel prep. The only reason I can think of is if it’s for a ureter stone.

Marvin1989May 13, 2026

Probably to make the stone show up better on the scans? Idk.

Stone Fighter #98F3B6May 13, 2026

Don't skip it and say you did it, because they'd likely be able to tell once they start on your procedure anyways. Call your provider and ASK why they want this step done. This procedure might be approached differently than the one you had before, and lying to your doctor could come back to bite you.

Stone Fighter #8B892CMay 13, 2026

It helps with targeting if the bowel is clear, but not many people actually need it. I’ve had one bowel prep for a PCNL but none of my other PCNLs required it. That procedure carries a (small) risk of bowel perforation, so it makes more sense there.

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