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Getting ready for an upper GI series: why, getting ready, the day of, and after
For anyone who has an upper GI series coming up (the x-ray test where you drink barium), or whose child does. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK, part of the NIH) says a doctor uses x-rays, fluoroscopy and a chalky liquid called barium to view your upper GI tract. This page passes on, by name, what NIDDK says: why doctors use it and what it can show; your health, your medicines, pregnancy, and children; nothing to eat, drink, smoke or chew for 8 hours before; what happens during the test and how long it takes; and the light stools, the risks, and when to get care right away. It builds the words to say and the questions to ask, and prints a card for the fridge.
Right now
- Trouble breathing, a swollen face, lips or throat, chest pain, or fainting? Call 911 (ours).
- After an upper GI series: fever, no bowel movement within 2 days, unable to pass gas, or severe pain in your belly? NIDDK says to seek medical attention right away.
- Not sure whether to take a medicine, such as one for diabetes, while you cannot eat? Ask the doctor who ordered the test. Do not stop or change a prescribed medicine on your own (ours).
- It is all too much, or you are thinking of ending your life? Call or text 988, any hour (ours).
More help
- The belly, on this site: Heartburn and acid reflux · Peptic ulcers · Indigestion · Constipation · Getting ready for an upper GI endoscopy · An upset stomach: find the right page.
- Getting there and getting ready: Rides to care · My medicines list · Symptom diary · Get ready for your appointment.
- If the news is hard: When the doctor says cancer.
- Care and costs: When you need a doctor and can’t pay · Medical bills.
- In a crisis: Help right now (988, 911). All our free tools.
An upset stomach, and not sure this is the right page? The pages on this site for throwing up, diarrhea, heartburn and constipation, on one list.
This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). No doctor or nurse has reviewed it. The facts were read on October 17, 2026 on NIDDK’s Upper GI Series page (NIH) and its Spanish version, both last reviewed in August 2016 and saying the same things (one line of the Spanish page’s list breaks off after “cicatrices o”; the English page says “scars or strictures”, and our Spanish follows it); the cards also point to NIDDK’s Upper GI Endoscopy, Acid Reflux (GER & GERD) in Adults and Peptic Ulcers pages. The numbers (8 hours before; about 2 hours, up to 5; cramping and bloating in the first hour; light stools for several days; no bowel movement within 2 days) are NIDDK’s. NIDDK gives no x-ray dose, so neither do we. Ours: 911 for trouble breathing, a swollen face, lips or throat, chest pain, or fainting; asking ahead which medicines change while you cannot eat, above all for diabetes, and never stopping one on your own; mentioning any past reaction to barium or an x-ray dye; asking for the time to stop; planning for a long morning; asking how to flush the barium out and who tells you the results; the card; 988 when it is too much; health centers when money is tight; and the order of the steps. What we left out: barium brands, laxatives, doses, and clinical pages for providers. This page saves nothing and loads no trackers.