GaviLyte-G for Bowel Preparation User Reviews (Page 2)

• TheRuns
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 30, 2018

"Let me start off with the taste, It wasn't good, but it wasn't bad either. The first half went down fine. It worked almost immediately for me about a 1/2 hour, then the faucet was opened full flow. No bad cramping, no bloating. My doctor wanted me to spilt the dose and that is when the problem of drinking it down got to my head I guess the taste wasn't what my body was craving for at 3am. I was about to give up drinking it all, but found my way, I remembered my daughters Capri Sun drinks were clear and sugary, I'd take a sip of that before I guzzled the Gavilyte than a large sip after worked. Now off to get scoped, YAY!"

• Eara
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 5, 2019

"I drank 4 liters & the cleansing stopped after about 3 hours . During my colonoscopy the doctor told me I was not completely cleansed for the procedure, he made me feel as though I didn’t follow the directions for the medication & I did. And after 3 days I can still taste it in my mouth."

• Cryin...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 28, 2017

"Just finished my seventh 8 ounce glass and threw up a lot. My gag reflex is so bad now, I can't drink the eighth glass. I need to finish the other half of the solution 6 hours prior to my colonoscopy. I'm crying. This stuff is horrible and disgusting. I gagged on the fourth, fifth, and sixth glasses too. I'm dreading the second half of the container. Nothing helps. I've had a colonoscopy before, and the prep wasn't this horrible. Do not let your doctor prescribe this."

• Milo
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 19, 2018

"My bad experience is not so much the taste or reaction from the GaviLyte, but that it didn't work and I've had to reschedule the colonoscopy. Not a good thing. The only reason I can imagine why it didn't fully do the job, might be that I drank it too slowly... taking 3 hrs to down 64 oz., then doing the same thing the following morning. Wish I had referenced this site earlier."

• Klg
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 8, 2016

"Used it for a bowel prep before a hysterectomy. You have to drink it fast. I got distracted with the first glass and drank it too slow. Got off to a bad start. I had horrible stomach bloating and pain while I was drinking. It took about 2 1/2 hours for me to start going. My bum is on fire but I am mostly clear and just liquid coming out. Also made me very nauseous. There has got to be a better way."

• NeilT...
• September 11, 2017

"Mixed with chilled lemon (clear) Gatorade in the gallon jug provided by pharmacist. Dosed as told 8 x 8oz glasses ever 15 minutes twice; once early afternoon and once early evening as my colonoscopy is early morning. Total sixxteen 8oz glasses consumed. Would have rated the product a 10 if not for some minor taste/texture issues. It worked for me in 1 hour on both cycles. Last movements 3 hours after dosing produced clear results. I'm ready, hungry and heading to sleep. Drinking some additional water all day to offset possible dehydration not addressed with Gatorade."

• Anonymous
• June 21, 2018

"Okay. I’m giving it a 10 because it was immensely effective in my experience. I was fasting 5 days prior (eating twice daily barely) and I am underweight. I couldn’t fathom having endoscopy with a colonoscopy the same day, so it ruined my appetite anyway. This drink is horrible by itself. I need a catcher with it; clear Gatorade worked for me. The drink started to work after one glass. I have little to no side effects. The obvious one is diarrhea. SURPRISINGLY, I have no abdominal pain. I feel like vomiting, but it ends up being only gas. My advice is to eat light and get zofran. I think without zofran I couldn’t drink this without vomiting."

• Devan...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 28, 2017

"So I just turned twenty a few days ago and I'm having an endoscopy and a colonoscopy on the same day. I have to drink this medicine I was suppose to take is at 4 but it took me til six just to down a cup and a half it made me sick and taste so bad I cried while I'm taking it. I just finished a third cup and it's 11:30 at night. The taste is vile. Hasn't affected me yet and EVERYTIME I drink it I feel like I'm going to throw it back up. "

• Sjogg...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 5, 2019

"First of all, I have Sjogren's, and it affects my mucus lining in my intestines. This is the second time I have used it. The first time it was for only one night and morning. It took almost 4 hours to kick in. I was not clean enough, but the GI doc cleaned me, and all was well. This time, I contracted MRSA in March. The ER doc gave me Clindomycin (antibiotic) to rid it, but it caused C. Diff. Was on Vancomycin for six weeks. GI doc wanted to see what else might be going on up there. This time, needed to fast for 2 days (clear liquids) and take 8 liters (2 gallons) of the stuff. This time, after taking half the bottle, the solution did not kick in for 10 hours. Thankfully, it has kicked in. Being constipated, I do not ever get diarrhea, so it is coming out in clumps. I do hope I get through all this okay. Taste to me is not that bad, but taking it four times.... ugh."

• ETano
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 8, 2018

"I was prescribed gavilyte-g with electrolytes for bowel prep before a colonoscopy. While it seems like it would be hard to chug down a gallon of laxative, it wasn't that bad. I mixed it up with the lemon flavor packet and put it in the fridge the morning before I was going to use it. That evening I started drinking it. I simply poured 8 ounces in a cup and drank it every 15 minutes. The taste was not bad at all. It wasn't thick or gritty like some people have described. I had no nausea or cramps at all what so ever. I just simply had diarrhea for most of the night. Side note: The colonoscopy procedure was a breeze as well. The only complication I may of had due to the prep was a very high blood pressure at the time of the procedure which I had to recieve beta blockers in my IV for. My blood pressure was the highest I've ever seen it. (I also have hypertension and take 2 blood pressure medications. Maybe they weren't absorbed due to the prep.)"

• Anon
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 3, 2023

"The solution itself is much more tolerable with the flavor packet. Without the packet it tastes like weird salt water. I could not complete this preparation due to the nausea and stomach pain it caused me. After almost finishing half of the prep I ended up throwing up stomach bile and could not drink any more of the prep. After half an hour the GaviLyte started to take effect immediately. The flushing process was not painful at all and if it were not for the taste, I would have completed it."

• Nickn...
• August 26, 2019

"Works fine but why does it have to taste SO BAD? The flavor packet did nothing. I've been adding lemon juice and choking it down that way. I wish I'd heard about the crystal lite trick before I started!"

• DBano
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 3, 2021

"First let me say that my low rating is because this didn’t work for me. I have to go back for a second colonoscopy with a different prep. It was moderately effective in that it made me go to the bathroom but not soon enough. Nothing happened after my first dose. It wasn't until half way through my second dose that it started moving things, so I wasn’t cleaned out in time for my colonoscopy. Maybe the medicine, maybe me, can’t say. What I will say is that the Crystal Light was a huge help! I used the lemon packet and the Crystal Light and I kept a green Jolly Rancher in my mouth while drinking. I also found that a lemonade chaser helped a lot too. I have a very hard time with liquid medicine of any kind so I was really dreading this. It’s still unpleasant but the JR, CL, and lemonade made it possible for me."

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 31, 2022

"I used Gavilyte for my Endoscopy w Colonoscopy prep & it wasn’t as bad as I thought! I added Crystal Light lemonade powder to it which really helped the taste, by the time I drank my 4th glass I was in the bathroom! But only a couple times I had to use the bathroom because it came out clear after the 3rd time going!"

• NC PA
• October 1, 2019

"Mixed per directions one gallon of water with prep, day before procedure. Drank as directed. Experienced chills but it worked to begin cleansing the bowels. Directed to stop all fluids by midnight. Stopped taking blood thinner five days before (for AFib). At 1:30AM had an AFib event. Phoned the hospital and was phoned back by the doctor. Had to take the blood thinner and abort the procedure. Only second ever AFib event and it was a side effect of this medicine that threw my electrolytes off. (I drank other clear liquids during the cleanse and was not dehydrated.)."

• Smoix
• April 10, 2018

"It tasted like drinking salt water through a radiator hose. I think the taste depends on the degree of oxidation, either of the bottle or the PEG-3350. PEG 3350 is the ingredient of Miralax, and in my experience is tasteless. I think this oxidation is what accounts for the differences of opinion on the taste. The expiration date on the bottle is 11/2020, 2 years, 7 months from today. I wanted to suggest to the company that they fill their bottles with nitrogen gas to prevent oxidation, but their "contact" link is bogus. 4 Liter bottle containing, 236g PEG-3350 22.74g Sodium Sulfate, Anhydrous 6.74g Sodium Bicarbonate 5.86g Sodium Chloride 2.97g Potassium Chloride"

• Angel
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 1, 2018

"This stuff tastes horrible! Trying to gulp it down but it has a sweet flavor to it. Was worse when I tried adding the lemon flavoring packet that came with it. Thank you for the chicken broth suggestion!! This helped to drink the broth before and after each glass. Can’t wait until this over!!"

• ANB
• Taken for less than 1 month
• September 22, 2020

"Currently writing this at almost 1 am the day of my endoscopy and colonoscopy. Haven’t even gone to bed yet and I will probably be pulling an all nighter most likely. Mixed the formula and refrigerated it around 1pm. 5:30pm I started drinking the mixture 16 oz about every 20 minutes until I drank half of the jug. Started having the runs about an hour and a half after starting drinking it. It’s slowed down but I’m still going about once an hour. The first few hours I was going 3-4 times an hour. Pretty much cleared out. Liquid is neon yellow and basically just water. Have to do the other half of the prep at 3am and I’m dreading it. The taste isn’t as horrible as people say but the nausea and bloating can be pretty brutal. Hoping I can get at least a nap in like an hour or two. Going to be a ruff night and day today running on zero sleep and being up over 24 hours."

• Joey
• January 25, 2021

"Surprisingly, the taste was not nearly as bad as I had expected. My biggest fear was that I COULDN'T drink it. The taste is a bit like salty water. What I'm having trouble with is drinking 96 ounces in 110 minutes. It's a lot of liquid in a short time. Otherwise, the experience isn't nearly as bad as I had anticipated."

• Susie
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 15, 2021

"This was the most horrible tasting stuff for my 3rd colonoscopy prep. I divided how many cups I had to drink every 10 -15 minutes and bought a cup at the dollar store to throw out when finished. It gave me gassy pains and did not do a good job. Fortunately, I was not rejected for the procedure. I did the split prep and felt so lousy I laid in bed with my clothes on. I got up and had a big splat in the toilet when I think I should have been finished until 4 AM for part two. At 4 AM I vomited up my first cup of the second half of the split prep. Now what was I supposed to do? I got about 4 more cups down and that was the best I could do. The Go lytely stuff is much better. I did not try the Crystal Lite but after drinking a laxative, I couldn't leave home. Drinking a gallon of Miralax another time did the best job. I will never take this as a prep again. It was so bad."

• Aceman
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 20, 2022

"I was instructed and did 3/4ths the night before and 1/4th the day off finishing 3 hours before the procedure time. However, you'd probably want to talk to your doctor about doing 2/3rds the night before and 1/3rd the day of your procedure. You are talking 17 glasses (8 ounces) total. Doing 12 glasses the night before was literally 2 glasses too much. 10 glasses was my limit by that point I had had it, so if I were to do this again I'd ask the doctor if I could do 10 glasses the night before and 7 the day of. You'd just have to start earlier (about 5 hours instead of 4). You could always keep going the night before after 10 glasses to get to 12 if you were tolerating well but this gives you the option of not trying to drink so much the night before. Get the crystallite individual lemon flavored packets--the directions say one pack for 16 ounces but say 24 or 32 ounces--as little as possible to mask the flavor."

• CalKi...
• September 14, 2022

"3rd routine colonoscopy. Received this product from Kroger pharmacy. This was by far worst prep experience .Lemon flavor ok, getting it down ok , but esophagitis all night, bloating, pain, nausea, vomiting x 8 with pink color.I did not vomit until after all prep down.The clean out was good. I never had this with prior."

• Med2j
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 25, 2020

"This GaviLyte-G drink is horrible and I’ve had my share of horrible tasting medicine. Even when I hold my nose I can still feel the salty tingle on my tongue as I drank this. The thickness is what makes it worse. Thicker than water but not as thick as milk. I honestly would have preferred to fast for an entire week than drink this stuff. I am not able to stomach the second half of the dose and I’m choosing not to torture myself even though it will affect my procedure."

• Jin
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 5, 2024

"A little over a month ago, I had my 1st colonoscopy with PlenVu prep. It's supposed to be easier, but it was super gritty and INTENSE. I HATED the taste and surprise! It made one of my kidneys VERY unhappy. I had to go back for a second colonoscopy, and they switched me to GaviLyte. The nurse warned me how awful it was, so I was dreading it. I DID NOT use the flavor packet, mixed it up with room temp bottled water and stuck it in the fridge. When it came time to drink, I poured 64 ounces in a fancy glass pitcher, fixed up a cold cup with a straw for small servings. Had some yummy ginger ale and took a tiny sip that I held in my mouth and then downed the glassful, following with another sip of ginger ale I swished around in my mouth. Honestly, it was so much better than the PlenVu horror. Much less intense, and it doesn't really taste like anything. I drink A LOT of water all the time, so maybe that's why 64 oz didn't matter to me."

• Mike
• July 17, 2024

"Preparing for a colonoscopy is not a pleasant thing. However, the experience I had with GaviLyte-G was acceptable. I pre-prepared the solution in the morning with added lemon flavor and placed it in the refrigerator. As per my doctor's direction, I took 2 Dulcolax at 2PM, then drank half the solution between 4 & 6PM. At 6PM, I took 2 more Dulcolax and drank the other half between 2 & 4AM. Based on the cleanliness of my colon, I would give GaviLyte-G a 10. It's not easy to drink; however, necessary if you want to have a successful procedure."