5 to 3 days before your VCE
Video capsule endoscopy of the large bowel
Please follow these instructions carefully to help make sure the images are the best quality possible:
5 to 3 days before your VCE
- Keep taking all other medicines as usual
- Drink lots of fluids, try to have 2 litres (about 8 to 10 glasses) each day.
- Check what you can and should not eat or drink.
Food and drink you can have 5 to 3 days before your VCE
You can eat or drink:
- Well cooked, lean beef, lamb, ham, veal or pork
- Fish, shellfish
- Chicken or turkey
- White rice, noodles or white pasta
- Cereal (such as cornflakes, or Bran)
- White bread (or toast)
- Rich Tea or other plain biscuits
- Eggs (boiled or poached)
- Butter, margarine, cheese, cottage cheese
- Milk or cream
- Potatoes without the skin (boiled, creamed, mashed or baked)
- Soya and tofu
- Gravy made from stock cubes
- Sugar or sweetener
- Clear jelly
- Clear strained soup or clear stock (no solids in it and not pureed)
- Chocolate and sweets (without fruits or nuts)
- Water, including flavoured water, cordial, fizzy drinks
Food and drink you should not have 5 to 3 days before your VCE
Do not eat or drink:
- Fruit (fresh, dried or canned)
- Brown rice or brown pasta
- Hi-fibre breakfast cereals (such as porridge oats)
- Pulses or lentils
- Hi-fibre, multi-seeded, 50/50 or wholemeal bread
- Vegetables
- Nuts or seeds
- Roasted, deep fried food (such as chips)
- Crisps
- Jam
- Red jelly
- Red or purple cordials or fruit juice
- Alcohol
Stop taking any medicines that contain:
- iron (this includes any supplements you buy from a pharmacy or shop. These might list as ingredients: ferrous, ferrous sulphate, ferrous fumarate, and Sytron, Floradix®)
- Buscopan®, mebeverine or Colofac®
- keep taking all other medicines as usual
- drink lots of fluids, try to have 2 litres (about 8 to 10 glasses) each day
- Check what you can and should not eat or drink
If you take codeine or morphine and are concerned about being able to stop, please talk to your doctor.
These drugs affect the gut and if the instructions are not followed it could affect the procedure and results.
Stop taking medicines that contain:
- Imodium® or loperamine
- codeine or morphine
- keep taking all other medicines as usual
- drink lots of fluids, try to have 2 litres (about 8 to 10 glasses) each day
- Check what you can and should not eat or drink
Resource number: 5264 /VER3
Date published: March 2023
Review date: March 2026
