Cauda Equina

[Luedeenee]

For anyone who has Cauda Equina, is it possible these are the symptoms you have?

1. You go many days without having bowel movement, and after a week and a heavy bloated feeling, you must take something and enemas are common to be able to pass anything. Diet is good. Oatmeal, fruits, etc.....

2. Sometimes the ability to have a bowel movement comes and goes. When it comes, when you try, you have burning down the back of your legs?

3. Gas for some reason still passes through, but no solids.

4. When things aren't moving, do you hear stomach churning, or does it stay quite?

5. When you urinate, does it take a long time to get the process going, and when it starts, is it very small stream and you have to keep trying to get it started again and again?

6. Do you leak urine at times in small amounts? Where I work, I thought it was sweat since my clothes stay wet. But since I have come home, my pants will get wet, and I am cool. I realize now it is urine.

I am trying to figure this out. I had a bad fall from a loading dock, falling off backwards with my foot caught in pallet. The doctor is not listening to me when I tell him of my symptoms. He never writes it down in his notes that I have said a word about it. I hope someone can give me some answers.
Luedeenee

[ladybug8372]

i mentioned my problems to my dr...he blew me off and said that it wasnt common to have "constipation" with ruptured discs. i had read about this Cauda Equina...and thought it sounded like me. i didnt remember the name of this...i just figured that if i mentioned my bowel problems, that he would say that it was common.....and i didnt remember the article that i had read, so i forgot to mention it to him.

i have had bad bouts of "constipation" since the end of june. cant seem to get my bowels straightened out. i have to "potty" daily....however...i cant go without the use of suppositories....and sometimes thats not enough....i have used stool softeners, helps sometimes...mineral oil....helps some, but not all the time....i have gone through more bottles of phillips milk of magnesia in the last few months than i have in my entire life. sometimes when i use the medications..."it" comes out normal looking.........sometimes like true constipation.....sometimes thin and short strips. i have increased my fiber tremendously....taking supplements as well.....nothing seems to be working. i also started eating the activia yogurt last week. i am trying my last resort of drinking water...something i HATE...but i know that my skin stays dry...so am hoping that my insides are dry too, and that thats all that it is.

its almost as though something is "blocking" it....i can feel "it" building up in the lower part of my belly. if i let it go for a day or so without using anything.....i then swell up like heck!! sometimes when having bm's i cant feel it comin out....i think only a touch has come out...look down in potty....and wow...didnt know i had used it that much!! sorry if TMI...but am wondering if this is the same thing happening to you??


sometimes when i have bm's....oh my..the pain in between my buttocks!!! feels like someone is taking a pair of pliers to my lower spine and squeezing like heck!!!

if all of this doesnt get me to "normal" by the time i see another neurosurgeon next month...i am going to bring up this "medical term" and see what he thinks about it. i have NEVER suffered this much with my bowels.

by the way....i have a ruptured disc at L-5....nerve has been displaced...not just pressed on.

[carol632]

Cauda Equina manifests itself by either an inability to urinate or pass your bowels, or the opposite...having no control over them. Early CES is a possibility since you are leaking urine.

I think a dr. who blows a patient off like that should be replaced. CES is nothing to play with and these symptoms need to be taken seriously and investigated. Sometimes simple nerve impingement can be the cause, but it's important to find out. I had a fusion in Feb. and since that time, my bladder gets extremely full before I even realize I have to go. Then sometimes, I have to strain to fully empty my bladder. I have spoken with my doctor and he says this isn't uncommon but to watch and be alert.

Please, both of you need to see someone who will take you seriously. CES is caused by the compression of nerve at the base of the spine.

Carol

[Chris54]

I have urinary retention and sometimes leakage that I don't feel. I also have bowel retention where the stool has to be manually removed. If I do go, there is no feeling of the stool passing. Some doctors claim it is all opiate pain med related. I have been diagnosed with entrapped nerves in the lower lumbar for the urinary part and nerve damage that caused the diminished use of the sphincter muscle in the bowel by two different doctors. No particular nerve mentioned in either report. My surgeon swears that that this is not CES and no damage was done to any nerves during surgery. I had a double fusion in 2005 and awoke from the surgery with both symptoms. I also had saddle anesthesia after surgery. This according to some is also a sign of CES. My leg pain returned approximately 2 months after surgery. I need further surgery on entrapped nerves at L4, L5, and S1. CES is nothing to mess with. If you feel you are having symptoms go to the ER and have it checked out. Better to be wrong than sorry. The damage can be permanent. Hopefully this is not what is causing your symptoms.

[ladybug8372]

The dr that I saw was just for a second opinion. I mentioned my problems, and he said that it has nothing to do with the back. Thats its either due to inactivity, lack of fiber, medications, or not enough water. Inactivity...Im not as active as I used to be...but still move around. Fiber...I have increased my fiber intake..not only using Fiber Sure, but also eating Raisin Bran for awhile now. It used to be that if I got constipated, one to two days of Raisin Bran, Id be back on track. I am not taking any medications. I drink water here and there, definitely not enough...but I started yesterday drinking 60 ounces a day....so gonna give that a shot while waiting for my appt to be made with the neurosurgeon.

I cannot go to the ER with this situation, as this is a workmens comp case. As long as I stay on top of things and dont let myself get compacted....I think I will be ok til I get the appt with the dr. Nerve damage??? well...thats totally out of my control.....due to WC, I havent had a dr since June....up until the one I saw last week...which he isnt my dr....just for a second opinion and recommendations. so...more waiting for me to get a dr. So, theres nothing I can do. Im out of work and cannot afford to rack up bills that WC should be paying for, so my only option is to try to keep things as under control as I can. If things havent improved by the time I see the other dr, I am going to printout the info on CES and tell him that I believe that I have it.