Undiagnosed Abdominal Adhesions - General Health Message Board

danielm · 09-02-2006, 07:02 PM

Hello everyone, I've been having some real issues lately and I'd like a little feedback if possible.

Just over 18 months back I had major abdominal surgery with the removal of my gall bladder after a series of attacks (with stones). They started by doing it lap, but my gall bladder tore and they needed to open me up. No problems after that, life soon went back to normal.

Flash 18 months later, to approx 2 months back and I came down rather suddenly with some rather serious symptoms...

- Nausea
- Stomach Cramping
- Malaise
- Loss of Apetite

I was taken to hospital because the sudden onset of the symptoms had them thinking heart attack, but apart from an elevated white cell count (14000 at the time) they found nothing.

Since that time I've had the symptoms ongoing and unabated. I've been in hospital 4 times so far, seen 2 different GPs and 2 specialists (both Gastro/Heptoligists). So far I've had :

- Endoscopy (took biopsies - all clear)
- General Abdo CT (organs look good)
- CT Cholangeogram (where they scan the billary tree)
- Head CT (to rule out brain tumor)
- Abdo Xrays (twice - looking for blockages)
- Numerous Blood Tests

The only thing they have found so far is elevated levels on my liver (with a fatty deposit on the liver) and elevated thyroid, but nothing to explain what's causing the symptoms overall. I've been cleared for Hepatitis B and C, Don't have any tummy bugs etc

Right now they have me on a PPI inhibitor to control the nausea (and that works) although the rest of the symptoms are all as prevailant as they were from when this first started.

I rarely sleep well at all and generally feel like rubbish from when I wake to when I sleep. I have lost a good 20 kilos in the last 2 months, mostly because of a loss of apetite and switching to a zero fat diet.

Right now, the doctors and specialists are giving me a cold shoulder on the issue, citing the reason that all the previous tests seem to come back clear. It's extremely upsetting and frustrating and I almost feel like screaming at the docs now I'm just getting sick of being sick.

However, I am wondering that in all these wonderful tests they may have neglected a more simple solution. The abdo pain I've noticed tends to concentrate around where my scars are (and I did get keyloid (sp?) scarring)...

...do I perhaps have a case of Abdominal Adhesions?

How hard is it to see these adhesions?

Is it possible the so called 'fatty deposit' on my liver is actually scar tissue from my tummy? The scar sits immediately above my live so I really am wondering...

However, when I went to the ER both times, they did do Abdo Xrays - would they have seen adhesions without looking specifically for them? From what they told me when I went into hospital, it seemed they were more focused on actual obstructions - not one medical specialist I've seen has actually discussed the possibility of Abdo adhesions with me yet.

Any advise or feedback appreciated - especially from people who have had diagnosed and treated cases of Abdominal Adhesions.

Many thanks

daisy01 · 09-05-2006, 12:08 PM

what did they do about your thyroid?

its just when I was diagnosed as having hypothyroidism, I had actually been admitted to hospital with suspected adhesion related bowel obstruction.
( which I had already suffered 8 months before)

My stomach was greatly distended, I looked about 9 months pregnant.
I was feeling nauseus and was retching
I had a constant pain under my right ribcage
an U/s showed my liver was enlarged but was functioning
I felt like I had flu all the time
My thyroid caused all of this, I am now on medication and feeling great
hope you feel better soon
daisy

Piano0105 · 10-06-2006, 12:38 PM

I am in the process of dealing with abdominal adhesions. I had major abdominal surgery for removal of a large tumor five years ago. After recovery period I was fine. Had annual follow-up CT scans for five years. Last Jan. I was nauseous for about 3 months. Couldn't pin it down to anything. It suddenly disappeared. Then about 5 months later I started having abdominal cramping with a very bloated feeling. Thought I had colon cancer. Doc did colonoscopy but only found 2 pre-cancerous polyps which were removed.

My GP told me I probably have adhesions due to previous surgery. Did some research and found that this occurs in 93% of surgical cases. However, they don't always cause discomfort. I was very surprised to find out they can occur years after procedure. I find I am most bothered after exercising and eating dinner. By the end of the day I'm so bloated I can barely move. I thought it was my IBS getting worse, but I'm pretty sure it's adhesions. I'm scheduled for an appointment with my gastroenterologist to see what he says. Unfortunately, I was told by the doc that these tend to recur even after surgical removal.

Tiler221 · 09-05-2008, 12:27 PM

I had abdominal surgery 10 years ago. I too had the same discomfort, pain it would progressively get worst over the next 2 years, I also had colon tests, CT's etc. I saw a gastro dr. who after the colonoscopy reported he found nothing. . I went to a surgeon who specialty was the abdominal scope. I had the procedure, which is done with a couple small 1/2 inch cuts. The surgeon found I was full of adhessions from previous surgery. He removed all and sprayed the cavity with a narural retardent that is produced by the body, to keep them from growing back. I can not tell you the difference in my life. No more pain.....I hope this helps Tiler221