I had NO idea I'd ever have this diagnosis. so I was pretty shocked to find this out at my age of 47.
I've had constipation problems on and off from having abdominal surgery to have a total hysterectomy two years ago. I had to go back into the hospital for emergency post op the few days after being home from the hospital.
I wound up having such pain and vomitting that I thought I was going to die. It wound up being a partial obstruction of the small intestine. they made me stay in the hospital for four days with only fluids for the first 4 days. I didn't realize how the body wants to chew something solid after only having liquid forms. like jello, plain broth, no tea and no coffee. I begged for a cracker once my appetite finally came back and that was a sign my intestines were healing. It was like being starved to death. I realized then how I always took for granted and never thought what people go thru with intestinal disease. I have more compassion and understanding now when I hear someone suffers with it.
so two years have gone by, I have very large BM's on certain days which make me shocked it's comging from my body. the past few months my stomach has got bloated to the point I look four months pregnant. I am not overweight but am considered underwieght for my height.
I always had a stomach of iron and can eat like a truck driver. so this is why I'm shocked my dr is telling me I have IBS. spastic colon.
I wound up going to the ER again a few weeks ago for severe sharp pains that ran from my upper abdom. and then would shoot down to the appendix area. they thought I had a gall stone. they did a Cat Scan and saw that i was filled with feces up to my chest. I had no idea because I had been going to the bathroom with huge bm's but I always felt like I'd have more to expel but felt like something was blocking me.
I didn't know that just becasue I was going to the bathroom that I was empacted with feces. If I had a problem one day not going, then that would start off a cycle again. I didn't call my dr and thought I was just having minor problems. I'd eat a green apple before going to bed, I ate loads of cherried which always helped as a cleansing and peaches work too.
I think they're natural cleansers. but after awhile, they stopped working for me.
my report of the ct scan was sent to my gastro dr who told me over the phone what to take. he told me to take senekott, plus metamucil, and mirilax. I didnt' not take all the recommened things but am taking a colon cleanser that works great without having the effects of horrible gas. I don't want to become dependent on the senakott because my general dr just told me hte other day it's not safe to take it long term. he told me there's a new medication he just read about last month and that it's FDA approved for pateints who have IBS and that it's safe for the colon.
I was also diagnosed after having a colonscopy in 2006 with a pigmentation of my colon. it's from taking too many laxatives. which I wasn't taking at all but was on a routine of taking bowel cleansers. there's a certain product that's in the laxatives that was also in this bowel cleanser that was said to be safe.
we have to be very careful to read what the ingrediants are in a any over the counter product. they can damage the colon.
they say after time the black pigmentation can go away if the person stops using laxatives.
I am now here on the IBS board which suprises me that i have this at such a later part in my life.
I have a problem with my spine and have spurs on it thinking maybe this was causing pressure on the nerves and maybe effecting me not being able to totally expel the bms'.
I didn't know that having IBS meant having constipation. I only thought it was when you have constant diahrea many times a day and that it's caused by stress.
so I'm learning new things here and if anyone has anyother suggestions for the constipation, please feel free to offer advice to me.
I have to call my gastro dr to let him know how I'm feeling and doing since using the products he told me to use.
what kind of tests do they perform for IBS? he's only verbally talked with me after reading the radiology report.
I just want this to end and go away. I'm so vain about by swollen belly and I know this is a sign I"m filled and need to get it out. it is toxic and I know it can make a person feel sluggish and tired. I was always wondering why I was always feeling so yucky and horrible by the time work was half way thru the day. all I want to do is go home and go to sleep.
so having IBS can make you feel so tired too?
I'm learning. thanks for letting me come and share my story and experience of having IBS.
Linda
The following user gives a hug of support to NY 1009: codymom (04-08-2011)
I too was dx with an impaction a few years ago. However, I did not have large BM's like what you have described. I had daily movements but it was more a combo of soft to loose several times a day, always leaving me feeling not quite emptied. I too was surprised when the GI doc told me I was F.O.S!
He gave me two options for thorough emptying. The first was similar to the regiment you described except he recommended Magnesium Citrate which stimulates movement without the cramping of other laxatives. It is often used to prep before colonoscopy. He told me to stay away from Metamucil (which I had been taking for years) because it is an insoluble fiber made from psyllium husk which is very harsh for IBS C.
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The second recommendation was to have colon hydrotherapy. This is a treatment that will cleanse the bowel naturally and thoroughly without artificial stimulation and helps "remind" the bowel what it's supposed to be doing. I went with this treatment because after years of using laxatives and (like you) colon cleansing products, I felt it was time to try something more natural. I was thrilled with the results and really never felt better than when I was undergoing these treatments.
My GI guy advised staying away from OTC cleansing products. They will encourage dependency as they are artifically stimulating the gut and eventually the colon will lose it's natural muscle tone and "forget" how it's supposed to function. Any product, even "natural" ones, that stimulate BM's will cause the dark discoloration of the colon. I have it too.
well thank you bellyblues for your reply and for your story.
I had a feeling just from reading others experiences that my dr was making a mistake for telling me to metamusil. I heard that some experienced gas from it, which I do not want. plus the fact that if I continue using laxatives, my body will forget how to go on it's own and I'll become dependent on them. which is not what i want to happen.
why on earth would he have suggested me to take the senakott when he already knows I have that discoloration of the colon. he probably didn't have my chart in front of him when he read my report to me over the phone. I cant' think of why else he'd make a mistake like that?
I dont need the miralax at the same time with senakott because that senakott is already making soft stools. that's what the mirilax is supposed to do.
anway, my tummy is much flatter today like it used to be. I've been taking 3 senakotts' at night before bed and I have three movements in teh course of the morning, which is the way I used to go before.
if only it would continue doing this without having to take anything.
I'm afraid I won't be able to afford the cleansing threapy that you've suggested.
people here in NY are greedy and charge tons of money for any type of alternative therapy.
if there's a way I can do this cleansing myself, I want to know if I can learn it.
I'll have to start researching this and I'm grateful to you that you brought this info up.
Combining senokot and miralax seems extreme to me as well. I have not used miralax but many posters have had success with it. I am also not familiar with it's active ingredients and don't know if it contains a stimulant. This might be something you want to explore before taking it. Senokot however is a laxative and not something I would want to be taking every day.
Darkening of the colon is not anything to worry about. A GI doc would not typically be concerned with this.
The treatments I mentioned are not terribly expensive and many clinics that offer this procedure will accept insurance if you are referred by a doc. Trust me when I say that the "do it yourself" cleansing products are really not good for someone with IBS.
Living in NY, you should have many alternative clinics to choose from. You might want to make some calls to see if they accept insurance.
wow bellyblues,
I'm shocked that insurance companies are covering holisitic practices.
usually they don't.
I couldnt even afford the $50 copays they wanted me to pay for physcial therapy for my arthritis. I never went.
it sucks when you have insurance and you still can't afford the payments.
I'm hoping it's just not a fly by night thing that people make money off of innocent people.
I'm very leary of new things. people who are suffering and have no alternatives will try anything. well not me.
I also know that melanosis coli is nothing to worry about. that's what my gi dr told me too.
I feel guilty everytime I take the senakott's now. I finally find something that really works without cramping and now I find out it's not good for us.
go figure.
I woke up this morning with cramps in my legs like a squeezing in them. I'm wondering if the laxativs are causing this too happen? leaching out potassium too much you think?
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