Constipation

LegacyUser

Going unregg'd cos I'm bleedin' scarleh! Ah no, my story is quite unique and I don't want people to link my username.

I have this sometimes dull, sometimes sharp, throbbing pain on my right side, along from my belly button, little bit lower down. Right where my appendix is! In March 2009 my new GP (I moved counties) saw me and wasn't happy, I had a high fever, nausea, vomitting, couldn't keep water down, but had these symptoms for a week. Eventually he sent me to hospital (suspected appendicitis) who admitted me and did all the tests under the sun. They found fecal impaction, but rather than on the left side/bottom of the tummy (where they'd normally find it), it was on the right side - around where my pain is. They gave me enemas and laxatives to clear me out, kept me hydrated with IV fluids and when they were happy the impaction had cleared, they discharged me. They also gave me a diagnosis of mesenteric adenitis.

All was okay for another while. Still got the pain regularly, but never to the extent of going to the doctor with it. Until August 2010 when I got the familiar wave of severe pain, nausea, vomitting, fever... the works. Went back to my GP, who, knowing my history, was hesitant to send me to hospital. A) because he wasn't convinced it's my appendix and he knows how phobic I am about the place - major needle/blood phobia. So he observed me for a day or two but when there was no improvement it was back to hospital I went. Again, they admitted me. Again there was impaction. I was unable to keep down anything, it was pure bile that I was upchucking. They pumped me with laxatives, kept me nil by mouth, but it took 5 days for the impaction to clear. They diagnosed me with a muscle thing in my tummy. Gave me difene and sent me home.

I'd never had an issue with my bowels, but given I'd been admitted to hospital twice in just over a year I started to take notice. I had never taken notice before - it was just a given. I still wasn't having a problem though - I'd go once most days, sometimes twice, but always 7/8 times in a week. Maybe more. Still getting the bad pains in my tummy.

Then in October the constipation started. I didn't go for a few days so I didn't really think anything of it, just kinda ignored it and hoped it'd happen. I didn't really feel the urge to go either. I just felt so lethargic. Really like that ad for sennokot!! So after nearly two weeks I went to the chemist who gave me dulcolax to take, took it on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday - no effect. So I gave in and went to the doctor. At this stage it'd been over two weeks and I was in so much pain. He gave me a prescription for Movicol (the most disgusting thing on earth) and told me to take the impaction dose - 8 sachets in 1L in 1 hour and to see how I got on, and 3 sachets a day thereafter. On the Wednesday I had a small BM, which wasn't the best result. So I went back to him on the Thursday. At this stage bloated doesn't begin to cover it. I was in so much pain. He added in lactulose and sennakot. And then on the Friday, as he so politely put it, the bottom fell out of my world.

I'm a fairly active person before anyone mentions exercise! I have training 2 nights a week, matches at weekends, go for walks up local hills a few evenings a week. I drink in excess of 2L of water a day (excluding the sachets!!). I get my 5 a day in. I try to only eat wholemeal rice/pasta (if I cook it it's brown, if I eat out it's whatever they have), wholegrain cereal, brown bread, healthy-ish diet (the odd splurge on the weekends), don't over-do it on the drinking...

We spent the next few months working out the best combination of medication, and found that a small dose of lactulose and 3 movicol a day kept me regular-ish - maybe 3 BM a week. But then that stopped, and all of a sudden it was back to 2, then 1... then I noticed bleeding when I went. Now I never had to strain to go, and my stools are very loose - more like diareah rather than constipation in its consistency - so I didn't expect piles or anything. Went back to the doctor, unfortunately the guy I normally saw was on holidays so I went to another doc within the practice and he examined me and said there was no stool in my rectum, which after a week of no poo-ing was unusual. He added fybogel into the mix and referred me to a specialist.

So 3 fybogel, 3 movicol, 3 x 15 mL lactulose a day. And still only 2 BM a week. The specialist I saw diagnosed me with IBS-C (constipation dominant IBS) and put me on nerve stimulators for my bowel as he suspected possible nerve damage. Initially there was a small improvement but then I started getting very loose stools and a LOT of undigested food, and little or no notice as to when I needed to go. Car journeys were a nightmare. So my GP cut me back to 2 movicol, 3 x 5 mL lactulose and 3 fybogel to see if that'd help. I was going every 3 days at this stage. But it was really distressing. I was still in pain, still badly bloated after eating and by 9 pm I'd look 9 months pregnant.

Then, even though I was going regularly-ish (every 3 days), the fever and nausea came back with a bam and I had the worst experience I've ever had in a toilet. I'll spare the gorey details, but it was gross. This was on the Sunday and I went to my GP on the Wednesday. Work committments meant I couldn't go earlier. He rubbed my tummy and based on my history, the description of the episode, and I guess his 7 years in medical school, he diagnosed impaction. He wanted to send me up to hospital again, but as I hadn't started vomitting he said he'd leave me until Friday to decide. So I took the impaction dose of movicol and on the Friday I went! He cut out the fybogel as he's afraid that mightn't be helping. He thinks that the problem is higher up my GI tract, in my small intestine maybe rather than the large intestine, especially given the pain and the location of the previous impactions.

So I'm back to the specialist tomorrow. I'm interested to hear what he has to say, and if there's anything else that can be done. I'm sick of feeling so crappy so much of the time. I don't think I've had a pain free day in over nearly 2 years, and some days the pain is so bad I'm stuck in bed with it. My daily routine is a joke because of the restrictions with taking the different sachets of drinks (with/without food etc).

Does anyone else have any experience?!

Sorry for long post...

TL;DR: I've bad constipation, laxatives don't work, any ideas?

irishh_bob

unreg_pain wrote: »

Going unregg'd cos I'm bleedin' scarleh! Ah no, my story is quite unique and I don't want people to link my username.

I have this sometimes dull, sometimes sharp, throbbing pain on my right side, along from my belly button, little bit lower down. Right where my appendix is! In March 2009 my new GP (I moved counties) saw me and wasn't happy, I had a high fever, nausea, vomitting, couldn't keep water down, but had these symptoms for a week. Eventually he sent me to hospital (suspected appendicitis) who admitted me and did all the tests under the sun. They found fecal impaction, but rather than on the left side/bottom of the tummy (where they'd normally find it), it was on the right side - around where my pain is. They gave me enemas and laxatives to clear me out, kept me hydrated with IV fluids and when they were happy the impaction had cleared, they discharged me. They also gave me a diagnosis of mesenteric adenitis.

All was okay for another while. Still got the pain regularly, but never to the extent of going to the doctor with it. Until August 2010 when I got the familiar wave of severe pain, nausea, vomitting, fever... the works. Went back to my GP, who, knowing my history, was hesitant to send me to hospital. A) because he wasn't convinced it's my appendix and he knows how phobic I am about the place - major needle/blood phobia. So he observed me for a day or two but when there was no improvement it was back to hospital I went. Again, they admitted me. Again there was impaction. I was unable to keep down anything, it was pure bile that I was upchucking. They pumped me with laxatives, kept me nil by mouth, but it took 5 days for the impaction to clear. They diagnosed me with a muscle thing in my tummy. Gave me difene and sent me home.

I'd never had an issue with my bowels, but given I'd been admitted to hospital twice in just over a year I started to take notice. I had never taken notice before - it was just a given. I still wasn't having a problem though - I'd go once most days, sometimes twice, but always 7/8 times in a week. Maybe more. Still getting the bad pains in my tummy.

Then in October the constipation started. I didn't go for a few days so I didn't really think anything of it, just kinda ignored it and hoped it'd happen. I didn't really feel the urge to go either. I just felt so lethargic. Really like that ad for sennokot!! So after nearly two weeks I went to the chemist who gave me dulcolax to take, took it on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday - no effect. So I gave in and went to the doctor. At this stage it'd been over two weeks and I was in so much pain. He gave me a prescription for Movicol (the most disgusting thing on earth) and told me to take the impaction dose - 8 sachets in 1L in 1 hour and to see how I got on, and 3 sachets a day thereafter. On the Wednesday I had a small BM, which wasn't the best result. So I went back to him on the Thursday. At this stage bloated doesn't begin to cover it. I was in so much pain. He added in lactulose and sennakot. And then on the Friday, as he so politely put it, the bottom fell out of my world.

I'm a fairly active person before anyone mentions exercise! I have training 2 nights a week, matches at weekends, go for walks up local hills a few evenings a week. I drink in excess of 2L of water a day (excluding the sachets!!). I get my 5 a day in. I try to only eat wholemeal rice/pasta (if I cook it it's brown, if I eat out it's whatever they have), wholegrain cereal, brown bread, healthy-ish diet (the odd splurge on the weekends), don't over-do it on the drinking...

We spent the next few months working out the best combination of medication, and found that a small dose of lactulose and 3 movicol a day kept me regular-ish - maybe 3 BM a week. But then that stopped, and all of a sudden it was back to 2, then 1... then I noticed bleeding when I went. Now I never had to strain to go, and my stools are very loose - more like diareah rather than constipation in its consistency - so I didn't expect piles or anything. Went back to the doctor, unfortunately the guy I normally saw was on holidays so I went to another doc within the practice and he examined me and said there was no stool in my rectum, which after a week of no poo-ing was unusual. He added fybogel into the mix and referred me to a specialist.

So 3 fybogel, 3 movicol, 3 x 15 mL lactulose a day. And still only 2 BM a week. The specialist I saw diagnosed me with IBS-C (constipation dominant IBS) and put me on nerve stimulators for my bowel as he suspected possible nerve damage. Initially there was a small improvement but then I started getting very loose stools and a LOT of undigested food, and little or no notice as to when I needed to go. Car journeys were a nightmare. So my GP cut me back to 2 movicol, 3 x 5 mL lactulose and 3 fybogel to see if that'd help. I was going every 3 days at this stage. But it was really distressing. I was still in pain, still badly bloated after eating and by 9 pm I'd look 9 months pregnant.

Then, even though I was going regularly-ish (every 3 days), the fever and nausea came back with a bam and I had the worst experience I've ever had in a toilet. I'll spare the gorey details, but it was gross. This was on the Sunday and I went to my GP on the Wednesday. Work committments meant I couldn't go earlier. He rubbed my tummy and based on my history, the description of the episode, and I guess his 7 years in medical school, he diagnosed impaction. He wanted to send me up to hospital again, but as I hadn't started vomitting he said he'd leave me until Friday to decide. So I took the impaction dose of movicol and on the Friday I went! He cut out the fybogel as he's afraid that mightn't be helping. He thinks that the problem is higher up my GI tract, in my small intestine maybe rather than the large intestine, especially given the pain and the location of the previous impactions.

So I'm back to the specialist tomorrow. I'm interested to hear what he has to say, and if there's anything else that can be done. I'm sick of feeling so crappy so much of the time. I don't think I've had a pain free day in over nearly 2 years, and some days the pain is so bad I'm stuck in bed with it. My daily routine is a joke because of the restrictions with taking the different sachets of drinks (with/without food etc).

Does anyone else have any experience?!

Sorry for long post...

TL;DR: I've bad constipation, laxatives don't work, any ideas?

i sympathise with you and while ive never had constipation as severe as you describe , it can be a problem for me as im permanently on painkillers for chronic pain which contributes to the problem , ive had to take movicol on occasion but never more than two per day and only ever for very short periods , i take prune juice every morning however and eat a high fibre diet , brown bread , museli serial , i avoid eating ice cream and chocolate and i exercise as best i can

cltt97

That sounds awful! You poor thing. I do get constipated on and off and I most certainly know the 9 months pregnant bloatedness, but I don't have the symptoms you have and my digestive problems are thyroid related. But I wonder is there any chance you could be coeliac or lactose intolerant? I'm wondering about the undigested food. Have you ever tried exclusion diets? I.e. leaving certain foods out and see how that affects the system? What does help me a bit here and there is if I take acidophilus/bifidus tablets. There's also a quite good book called "Hard to Stomach" which describes/deals with a lot of problems of the digestive track and some advice on how to go about it. I hope you find a solution, all the best!