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 March 02, 2011, 11:59:10 AM
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Jr. Member
Posts: 13
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Hi, first let me say that I'm glad that I found this forum. After all the uncaring, dismissive and incompetent doctors I have encountered, I feel like I'm living with my disease all alone. So, an online support group like this is welcome at this time. My story:
I am a 60 year-old male. Two years ago I had bowel surgery--a colon resection to remove cancerous polyps. I recovered from the surgery and the cancer had not spread. I was slowly getting back to normal, but 8 months later I started to experience constant nausea, abdominal pain, indigestion and urinary urgency. I visited my doctor and over the course of the next year was referred to one specialist after another to find the cause. I've had more blood, urine and stool tests than I can count, a gastroscopy, a colonoscopy, an abdominal x-ray, an ultrasound and 2 MRI's. This is what came up in all those tests:
acid reflux
hiatus hernia
h-pylori bacteria
blastocystis parasite
I was prescribed numerous drugs for those conditions, with no improvement in my symptoms. And in at least one instance, I had a severe reaction to a drug that temporarily affected my vision. I have also tried all kinds of herbal remedies, but they haven't helped either. I exercise and eat a very healthy diet. Acupuncture offers temporary relief, but I still wake up every day with crippling abdominal pain. I have also lost 40 pounds in the past year--I was 170, now 130. And in the last couple of months, I have developed more symptoms: itchy skin and tingling and twitching of my legs, feet and other areas. I am tired, irritable, anxious and depressed most of
the time and I have had to stop working because of the chronic pain. And I am also sick of going to the hospital emergency, to the labs for tests--and most of all to the doctors who tell me that "it's all in my head". Would they say that to me if I were having a heart attack?
Any thoughts you might have would be welcome.
Thank you,
Joseph
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August 17, 2011, 12:26:46 PM
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Jr. Member
Posts: 13
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Hi Samantha,
Thanks again for your words of encouragement. I'm trying to cope, but it's becoming more of a challenge. It's been three and a half months since I haven't had a bowel movement on my own, without an enema. The enemas are not eliminating as much waste as they did at the beginning, and I'm forced to take laxatives just to liquefy my stool in order for it to drain down into my lower colon. The enemas are also screwing up my electrolytes, so that I am dizzy and fatigued most of the time, my muscles and joints ache and it is getting more difficult to urinate. I hate having to do this to my body just to pass a bit of diarrhea! And I'm continuing to lose weight because of my small food input. I've lost my appetite anyway, because I feel nauseous most of the time, and the build-up of impacted stools in my bowels causes me constant pain and discomfort--particularly in the rectum where there is enormous pressure from the stools trying to pass through an impenetrable barrier.
I have found a new doctor--a proctologist and colon expert, who is very kind and sees me once a week. He has done two rectal exams which have shown no abnormalities. At this point I have not convinced him that this is NOT a case of simple constipation. All he has recommended so far is eating more food and taking Metamucil--which has only made my situation worse. Like every other doctor I have seen, if it doesn't show up on a test, he believes that the problem is caused by my emotional state. And I repeated to him what I have said a hundred times before: MY DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY WERE CREATED BY THE ILLNESS, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND!!! Still, I will stay with this doctor for now, because at least he's willing to pursue
my case. I'm also seeing a homeopathic doctor who has given me all kinds of remedies. They haven't helped the bowel issues so far, but some of the remedies have managed to calm my nerves, so at least that's something.
Aside from the daily physical pain, I am finding it more difficult to cope with the emotional pain of being cut off from other normal human beings. Almost all of my friends are on vacation now, sightseeing, eating in restaurants and enjoying life. I envy them all and everybody else who is able to enjoy the normal activities that I used to take for granted. I am even jealous of my dog when he wolfs down his food and when he has a poop in the park. I hate sunny days. I hate being outside and watching people who are smiling and laughing and moving about without pain. Even though I feel isolated and alone, a part of me feels more comfortable being inside with the curtains drawn so that I don't have to witness the rest of the world enjoying themselves. I know that a lot of people--including many in this forum have offered words of encouragement in learning how to cope with chronic illness and pain. And I wish I were one of those brave, stoic people who managed to get on with their lives despite debilitating conditions. But I fear that I'm NOT one of those people, that I'm not as courageous as they are. I still have a strong memory of who I used to be--a person full of vitality who enjoyed life, who loved to eat, who laughed all the time. And it's that memory that causes me the most pain of all, because it's a constant reminder of the sick and frail invalid that I have become. Will I ever feel well again, I wonder? Will I ever even be able to enjoy a meal again? I guess it will take a miracle, but I have given up believing in miracles. Okay, that's enough self-pity for one day.
Joseph
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August 17, 2011, 04:30:52 PM
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Jr. Member
Posts: 13
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Hi alltimatehelp,
I was prescribed a number of medications for my GERD, but nothing helped. I adjusted my diet to eliminate acid-forming foods and that helped somewhat. The acid reflux comes and goes, and thankfully I haven't been suffering from it for the past three months. I never had a problem with constipation in my life--not even after my bowel surgery. The problem with my bowels and the inability to pass stools-- other than with a enema, started a few days after my barium swallow test. It felt like there was an obstruction, but I have had 4 abdominal x-rays to determine whether there was hardened barium left in my intestines, but the tests ruled that out. I also had a colonoscopy and that showed nothing either. But I will add that the gastroenterologist who performed the colonoscopy rushed through the procedure because he didn't believe I had anything other than ordinary constipation. He also dismissed the fact that I wasn't thoroughly cleaned out due to my inability to properly empty my bowels, even with the strong prep solutions I had to take prior to the procedure. He also minimized the fact that my colon had become dilated since my previous colonoscopy. My GP thinks that possibly I had an allergic reaction to the barium which caused my colon to constrict and narrow. I was prescribed muscle relaxants and sedatives to help calm the muscles and nerves of the colon, but they did nothing to improve the problem.
I also want to state that if I had followed the advice of the indifferent gastroenterologist and other various doctors in the ER, I would probably be dead now. They all recommended that I take laxatives, eat a lot of nutritious food and add fiber to my diet. For someone experiencing normal constipation, that would probably be sound advice, but none of them were listening to me when I said that I had some form of obstruction or constriction, that I always have the urge to have a bowel movement, but that the stools would simply cannot pass through. And so I adopted my own survival strategy, which is to eat a liquid diet, have small amounts of solid food and give myself regular enemas. It's far from ideal, but it's 3 1/2 months since my last
spontaneous bowel movement and I'm still alive. And that's no help to the doctors who have either done nothing for me or caused me harm. I should have taken the advice long ago from an Aunt of mine who lived to 101 years old and who was never sick a day in her life. She said:
"If you want to stay healthy and live a long life, stay far away from doctors, hospitals and drug stores."
Joseph
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August 17, 2011, 08:43:18 PM
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Jr. Member
Posts: 32
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"If you want to stay healthy and live a long life, stay far away from doctors, hospitals and drug stores." = yes, I think it is a wise advice, but unfortunately there are cases when qualified medical help is necessary anyway. We all live in real world, and we have to be ready to fight for our health if something is going wrong.
There are several possible reasons which could cause your constipation/bowels problem. I'll give you four reasons most often encountered in my practice:
- First, it is just simple muscle disorder of large intestine (dyskinesia), when muscles has blocked or overblocked. Usually it can be cured easily with minimum efforts.
- Second, the problem is in the peripheral nervous system (PNS), exactly in the autonomic nervous system (ANS or visceral nervous system) which controls GI receptors & motoric functions (peristalsis) of the bowels. Some nerves and part of spinal cord may be affected in this case.
- Third, it may be due to some dysfunction of the small intestine and duodenum.
- Fourth, the bowels problem is connected with your stomach disorder (this case requires much efforts to get rid of). This is possible because the stomach functional system has huge influence on the status of the whole GI tract, including bowels.
By the way, when I experimented with my body, and checked some intestine disorders on myself, I remember I've tried to reproduce the constipation condition and I felt my bowels "got stuck", or in other words my bowels were like "dead" for about a week. Very similar that you said - "obstruction" and no movement. I had to eat a liquid diet (juices, yogurts, etc.) too until I fixed it.
If it is not a "functional" stomach problem that causes your bowels disorder, I think it is possible to make your bowels to start working properly.
Anyway I can say more definitely about your diseases and their causes only after my diagnostics & analysis.
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August 18, 2011, 11:12:58 PM
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Jr. Member
Posts: 13
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There are several possible reasons which could cause your constipation/bowels problem. I'll give you four reasons most often encountered in my practice:
- First, it is just simple muscle disorder of large intestine (dyskinesia), when muscles has blocked or overblocked. Usually it can be cured easily with minimum efforts.
- Second, the problem is in the peripheral nervous system (PNS), exactly in the autonomic nervous system (ANS or visceral nervous system) which controls GI receptors & motoric functions (peristalsis) of the bowels. Some nerves and part of spinal cord may be affected in this case.
- Third, it may be due to some dysfunction of the small intestine and duodenum.
- Fourth, the bowels problem is connected with your stomach disorder (this case requires much efforts to get rid of). This is possible because the stomach functional system has huge influence on the status of the whole GI tract, including bowels.
By the way, when I experimented with my body, and checked some intestine disorders on myself, I remember I've tried to reproduce the constipation condition and I felt my bowels "got stuck", or in other words my bowels were like "dead" for about a week. Very similar that you said - "obstruction" and no movement. I had to eat a liquid diet (juices, yogurts, etc.) too until I fixed it.
If it is not a "functional" stomach problem that causes your bowels disorder, I think it is possible to make your bowels to start working properly.
Anyway I can say more definitely about your diseases and their causes only after my diagnostics & analysis.
alltimatehelp, Thank you for your ideas. Of the possible causes of my constipation/bowel problems that you suggested, you mentioned a few that I have thought of myself: 1) Muscular disorder of the large intestine (dyskinesia). I have been aware that the muscle at times seems to contract. You said that it can be cured with minimum efforts. May I ask you to elaborate on what those efforts entail? 2) Peripheral nervous system. If the problem lies in the nervous system, are you talking about damaged nerves and if so, how can it be treated. 3) Damage to the small intestine or duodenum. This is unlikely, since tests have not revealed any abnormalities in these areas. 4) Bowel problems in relation to stomach problems. I have no doubt that there is a relation, since my stomach problems started after my bowel surgery. However, up until my barium test, I had no problem passing stools, even after 12" of my sigmoid colon was removed. I visited my doctor today and he wants me to take a barium enema, which scares the hell out of me, because I feel that it was the barium swallow test that was somehow responsible for my severe constipation. I said I would think about. Thank you again. I welcome any additional ideas you might have. Joseph
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