I have been having digestive problems consisting of bloat, wind, pain under ribs on the right and nausea. I sometimes get constipated and take laxatives as I take alot of codiene for a neck injury. It seems to be more persistent and just wondering if anyone had any ideas about it. It happens every few days I get diarrea and then all this pain. Worried.

Mel

Im not sure what it would be, but i wouldn't live with it like that, it soudns like no fun whatsoever. However, you can take Ginger capsules for the nausea, I will tell you from my experiance, it does temporarily relieve the icky feelings...and it is an herb so there are virtually no side effects. The pain on yur right side under yur ribs sounds kinda like gallbladder problems..so i would make an appointment w/yur dr. hope u feel better soon
~Shanny

I would go see a gastro doctor. It sounds like there might be inflamation or just due to the codeine. I was on darviset for pain, and I had to take the laxactives. This just made it horrinble. I know pain hurts, but its better than being in horrible pain. I also have crohns disease do i have to go to the bathroom no matter what. I would try to stop the codeine for a week or two. See, how you feel. If not better go see a gi.

Hi Mel
Your symptoms sound gallbladder related to me. Those are the exact same things that happened to me. Its an awful feeling. I take a lot of 800mg ibuprofen and it never even dulled the pain. It seemed like by the time I went to bed at night I was 3 sizes bigger from the bloating.
I would go get checked if I was you. I went to my regular GP who sent me in for an abdominal scan where they found gallstones. Of course I went from October to March before I realized that I should have this checked out. By that time I couldn't stand the pain any more.
keep us posted


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Sudzie

Hi,

It could be that you have gallbladder problems from where your pain is and you should get this checked out just in case, but it does sound as if a lot of your problems could be a direct result of the constipation.

Unfortunately, Codeine is well known for its constipatory effects. Some people who have stomach problems with diarrhea will take codeine, because it will help their stomach pain and their diarrhea all in one go, because is makes them constipated.

Is there any way that you could reduce your intake of Codeine and have you tried any other remedies for the neck trauma? For neck trauma, sometimes treatments such as acupuncture, physical therapy and chiropractic are better for relieving pain rather than taking analgesia. If you have had trauma, then at some time you need to move the affected part and get it mobilised, or you could just stiffen up and end up losing mobility. Acupuncture is good, as when trauma is suffered, you do get stagnation of Qi and Blood at the site of the trauma and this is what causes the pain. If this Qi and Blood Stasis is moved with treatment, then healing is quicker and the pain will be less.

Also, the use of laxatives is not a good idea. This will make your bowels become reliant on them and in the end, you will not be able to have a BM without their use. If you are really constipated, then use a couple of glycerine suppositories instead.

You should start adding Metamucil to your diet. This is a water soluble fiber supplement and can be taken safely twice daily and should help relieve your constipation. Also, increase your water intake. You need to drink at least 2 litres a day and this should help to moisten your system and get things moving. If your stools are hard, add a stool softener to the Metamucil such as Sodium docusate. If you still can't have a BM, then use glycerine suppositories and not a laxative.

Make sure that you eat good all round diet with plenty of fruit and veg. Prune juice is also good to drink and will help get your bowels working.

The bloating that you have probably means that you need to re-colonise your gut bacteria. To do this, either start eating some live yogurt to take Acidophilis caps. Keep them in the fridge and don't take them with hot drinks, as heat kills bacteria. Take them on an empty stomach twice daily. These contain Lactobacillis and other bacteria that are the good bacteria that live in the gut and it will help to put them back. Bloating occurs sometimes due to this.

Anyway, try some of these suggestions to see if they work and try and cut down on the Codeine if you can.

Good luck