Bowel Problems, New to this Board, Need Help!

[amb063081]

Okay let me give you some background, sorry it's long. I've always been regular with my bowel movements, I almost always go twice a day if not three times, until about 3 weeks ago. I noticed that my stomach was bothering me for about a week and it felt like I was getting a kidney infection so I went into the doctor. He asked me a bunch of questions and one of them was have you been constipated at all and I said actually yes, I then realized I hadn’t gone in almost 2 day's. So he pushed on my stomach which was all tender and he said that I was really backed up and that was probably causing my other problems. So he suggested I take milk of magnesia one tablespoon twice a day, so I tried that for a few day's, but every time I went it was like I had the runs, so I called him back again and he said to cut back to one tablespoon a day and to do a enema because he figured with me being backed up that part of the stool might be too hard to pass. So I went home and did that, and it kind of hurt inserting it but I managed, but not much came out besides the liquid. So I started taking Metamucil and eating more veggies figuring I needed more fiber. Waited until about 2 weeks after my first visit and was still having problems, now I was passing some thin stools but didn't feel like I was done but I couldn't push any more out, and sometimes I felt like I had to go and I would get really bad stomach cramps, but I would just sit on the toilet and couldn’t go and I was in pain, the cramps hurt really bad and my back hurt. It seemed like if I don’t take the milk of magnesia I couldn’t go at all. I was also getting really bad gas pains in my stomach, I would pass some gas but not enough, and my stomach has been making a lot of gargling, and bubbling noises and just the last two day’s I have been having thin stools that are kinda of tan in color, I wouldn’t say they were actually white but close, I never had that before. So I called the doctor back again, and he said to try one more enema which I did and nothing. So he scheduled a catscan of my stomach, which I did this past Tuesday. I got a call from him yesterday and he said everything was normal, and that he wasn’t sure what else to do besides send me to a gastroentrologist which I have a appt. tomorrow morning. I guess what I am wondering is, has anyone else had these problems, and what did it end up being, I’m nervous to go to the specialist tomorrow, I’m not sure what to expect. So anyone that can shed some light on my problems would be appreciated.

[twisten]

A colonoscopy is the best diagnostic tool for diagnosing bowel problems. Be careful with the enemas as they can cause more problems if your colon is inflamed. Your doc sending you to a gastroenterologist is a good thing. The list of causes of your bowel symptoms would be pretty long so personally I think the best thing to do is to see the GI and find out his/her opinion on what is happening. Good luck and let us know.

[brazilman]

Hello:

If you are going to the specialist tomorrow, then listen to what he or she tells you to do. And provided that it is not too agressive an approach, you might choose to follow his or her advice. Apart from this, I would, if I were
in shoes, do the following:

Stay two to three days at home. Try to get a leave of absence from your job, or do it in the weekend. This must be a period for yourself. Relax and sleep as much as possible, preferably in the dark. Don't exert yourself in any way. Try not to get very excited in any way. Forget about all your problems, if any, for a while. Rather than watching TV or video, read a good book. If you are not feeling too tired, go for a stroll, if possible in nature. During this period of time, you will have only one kind of food for your three main meals. A vegetable broth or a creamed soup. You can prepare it yourself: potatoes, carrots, celery, leeks, etc... In order to make the soup, cook the veggies until they are very tender and then press them through a sieve. Don't use a blender. You must eat something that requires very little chewing and very easy digestion, because your digestive system may be in need of a rest. Don't eat anything in between. Lie down and rest if feeling dizzy or having nausea.

After the two-or-three-day diet, resume your normal eating, but try to have three healthy meals a day (no snacks) with plenty of animal protein and little raw foods. Avoid raw fruit for some time and all dairy.

See if this makes sense to you.

May you be better again soon.

JC