Intestinal Disorders Forum - Digestive Problems, Pain, And Subsequent Insomnia
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Digestive Problems, Pain, And Subsequent Insomnia

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emo

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Joined: 10 Jan 2008
Posts: 10
Digestive Problems, Pain, And Subsequent Insomnia
Posted: 01-10-08 18:46pm

Two years ago, I tried to have a bowl movement, and although some stool did come out, for some reason it felt like some stool was still stuck in my colon. Ever since that fateful night, every time I have a bowl movement, I feel as I cannot fully eliminate my bowels. no longer how long i sit there, how hard i push, i cannot eliminate the stool from my bowels (colon, most likely). Ever since then, it's hard for me to tell when I have to have a bowell movement, and when I do, I never feel like I'm finished, or refreshed.
No doctor has been able to figure out my problem.

I want to keep this brief. So, facts:

- Before this digestive problem happened, I was only sleeping 3-4 hours a night, for about a month straight.

- Before my problem started, I was under a LOT LOT LOT of anxiety and stress for year after year after year leading up to this bowel problem.

- I am allergic to gluten, dairy, sugar, eggs, the universe, etc etc etc, but I stopped eating EVERYTHING i was allergic to (very dilligently) for like 6 months, and that didn't help at all, except I did feel *slightly* better after going off of gluten (which i did a month before going off of everything else), though the problem of not being to eliminate the stool from my bowels (or the illusion of stool stuck in my bowels), remained.

- While urinating, i feel more relaxed, and rectal area feels better.

- When i take a bath, my rectal area feels better, and i feel more relaxed.

- i am chronically fatiqued and depressed

- The discomfort and pain caused by the feeling of having something stuck in my bowels makes it so i never feel relaxed, unless I am taking methadone or klonopin (which i just started recently).

- I was diagnosed with lyme disease and bartonella, but am being treated for bartonella with sepra and revampin (spelling), and im almost done with the month + trial, and i feel worse than when i originally went on it.

- most docs dont think bartonella could cause my problems

- when i dont sleep all night, or i dont sleep very much, my lower gut / rectal area feels worse, and my perpetually runny nose gets even worse.

- when i get out to exercise and start running around, the constant sensation of feeling like i have to have a bowel movement almost goes away enntirely, though i can still notice it a little bit.

- this bowel/digestive problem originally started about a week after i baseball season ended. i was in high school, and i played three sports, all year round, and we ran and exercised a lot. then basbeball stopped; i didnt exercise for a week, and this problem started on that forementioned night when i tried to have a bowel movement. I have tried exercising daily for weeks, or a month even, but the problem does not go away.

- my bowels and mood both feel significanly better (though the feeling of never being able to completely evacuate my bowels remains) when i take klonopin (which is in the benzo drug class; it's like valium, or any of those others).

- the feeling of never knowing when i will have to have a bowel movement, and always sort of feeling like i have to go, prevents me from participating in any outdoor activities, or from having any type of social life. i lie on the couch and watch television all day long, and i have been doing so for the last four months, since the pain and discomfort has increased.

-the first time i took klonopin was because i have fear of flying, and i had to fly to europe. i took about 12mg over the course of 10 hours, and i fellt great; i didnt even notice my bowels; i fell asleep right as the plane was taking off. when i woke up on the plane, i still didnt even notice my bowels, and when i had to have a bowel movement on the plane, i didnt even care. this feeling lasted another day, but the feeling of always feeling like i have to have a bowel movement came back to me the next day. i was still in better spirits that normal, but the sensation had returned to my bowels. about five days after that, my bowels started getting even worse than they had before.

-before i ever took klonopin, i could usually eat, have a bowel movement about an hour later, and - although it didnt feel like id completely eliminated my bowels - i could still go out and do activities because i knew i wouldnt have to have another bowel movement until i ate again. so, i would go out and just not eat, and id be fine to do stuff. about a week after taking that huge dose of klonopin, i would eat a meal, have a bowel movement, but i would feel worse after taking the bowel movement than i usuallly felt (preklonopin) after taking a bowel movement. instead of having to eat again before having another bowel movement, i would have to have another bowel movement three hours later, despite not eating anything, and then another one three hours later, despite not having eaten anything more. all this time, it felt like there was a warm, boiling type feelingbelow my belly button, and since that say, whenever i feel that wya, if i push hard down on my belly button or abdomen, it feels really sorry, and if i push my hands back and forth over my stomach, roughly, like kneading dough almost, i can like liquid moving around in my intestins, and grumbling, et cetera.

- now that i dont have the freedom of eating, having a bowel movement, and not having to worry about having another one until i eat again, i can barely leave my house at all because when i do have bowel movements, they ussually take about 30 minutes (mostly because i never know when im done having a bowel movement, because it always feels like i have to go more, so even if nothing more seems to be coming out after 10 minutes, i still have to push for another 10-15 to make certain that nothing more is coming out, and then wipe). no one wants to have a 30 minute bowel movement in public. i cant go on a date if theres a possibility of that happening. i cant join a sports team. etc etc.

- I am scheduled to see a motility specialist, have a urinary test where they stick cameras and tubes up the whole in me p***** while im conscious. im getting a spect scan for my brain because...

- i suffer from a lot of depression and anxiety, and they wwant to know what kind of anti-depressants would be best for me

-im having a cat scan of my spinal cord to see if i have a tethored cord

-I got tested for the viruses that cause chronic fatique

-i went to a pelvic floor physical therapist who says my pelvic floor muscles are slightly tighter than normal, though not significantly.

- I will probably try SOMA in the near future to see if muscle relexants help my bowels work better

So.

My questions:

******What else should I be trying?******

******What do you think I have?*******

******What other tests should I be doing?*******

******If my problem is all caused by stress, what drug or herb would completely relieve me of stress for a long enough period of time for my bowels to go back to normal?*******

******If my problem isn't caused my stress, what is it caused by?*****

******If no one can figure out the cause of my problem, are there at least any drugs that will help me eliminate my colon when I have a bowel movement? Every time I go to the bathrom I know, 100% positive, that, even though I push as hard as I can, there is fecal matter still in my colon, that will not come out******

******Are there any drugs or herbs, other than opiates, and benzos (like klonopin, valium, etc), that will help me with either pain, euphoria, or insomnia?***** (besides 250mg ambien, which doesnt work for me because im in too much physical pain for somethng that weak to put me to sleep most of the time)

******Although Im certain the problem is that stool is getitng stuck in my colon, could it be possible that it's getting stuck in my upper intenstine, and not my colon? Even though it wont come out, and sometimes when I push really hard, just a little drop of stool will drip out of my anus, could it be that that the stool is trapped in the small instestine? Or maybe the sphincter (spelling...? i mean whatever seperates the small and large intestine) isn't working properly? maybe it's not letting the stool through like it should? Because when i am having a bowl movement, I can feel some stool stuck somewhere in my intenstines, and I will push, and push, and push, and no matter how hard I push, nothing will come out. Then, all of a sudden, I will something kind of let go in my intestines, and then a bunch of stool will come out really easily, but then it will hold up, and ill push hard, but nothing will come. and then something just lets go, and it all comes out, very easily. Could it be that the whole that connects the small and large intenstins isn't opening and closing like it should be? And why would that happen? And what drug would help it function normally?*****

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. IF YOU HAVE ***ANY*** SUGGESTIONS, AND ***ANY*** ANSWERS TO ANY OF MY QUESTIONS, PLEASE ANSWER. MY LIFE IS WASTING AWAY, AND UNTIL SOMEBODY MIRACULOUSLY FIGURES OUT WHATS WRONG, OR AT LEAST HOW TO HUSH MY SYMPTOMS, THE WORLD WILL KEEP SPINNING, TIME WILL KEEP TICKING, AND MY LIFE WILL WASTE AWAY.

PLEASE HELP.
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emo

New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 10 Jan 2008
Posts: 10

Posted: 01-11-08 01:04am

please please please help!
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Tylanas

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Joined: 13 Jul 2005
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Posted: 01-22-08 18:10pm

I'm sorry... your problem is way beyond what we're capable of helping with!!!
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emo

New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 10 Jan 2008
Posts: 10

Posted: 01-24-08 02:21am

POSSIBLE GOOD NEWS!
A pelvic floor physical therapist was able to recreate some of my "needing to deficate" feelings by sticking her finger up my rectum and pushing on different points in my pelvic floor muscles. according to her and yet another doctor who examined me today, i can only relax my pelvic floor muscles about 50%, which could be contributing to me not being able to completely eliminate my bowels, or could be just giving me this constant uncomfortable sensation even when my bowels are completely empty.

has anyone else experienced this?

and are there any medications MUCH stronger than SOMA that maybe are more pelvic floor specific that can help relax those pelvic floor muscles?
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Tylanas

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Joined: 13 Jul 2005
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Posted: 01-24-08 10:07am

What did your doctors say was the next course of action? I assume they didn't just stick a finger up your butt and go "Ha, look, you have tight pelvic floor muscles!"

I would assume that doing anal kegals would teach you how to relax those muscles again.
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emo

New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 10 Jan 2008
Posts: 10

Posted: 01-24-08 13:12pm

yes yes of course i am going to physical exercises and therapy with this pelvic floor therapist, but - what are kegals? and its still going to take months of exercising and physical therapy to fix the root relaxation problem of my muscles. until then, it would still be nice to get some relief with DRUGS. Any suggestiosn?

Right now im taking opiates for the pain. if you could give me an alternative muscle relaxant type thing, mch stronger than soma (cuz soma did nothing), then i could go off opiates!
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Tylanas

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Joined: 13 Jul 2005
Posts: 12985
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Posted: 01-24-08 13:19pm

Kegals are exercises where you squeeze the muscles down there, and then release. I have NO idea what soma is. The only soma I know of is a fictional opiate in the book Brave New World that is used to keep the population high and happy!!

Your doctor is the best person to ask for drug advice.
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Tham

New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 15 Feb 2008
Posts: 7
Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Posted: 02-15-08 09:48am

It's possible you may also have IBS, since this is stress related.

Drugs like clonazepam (clonopin) may even worsen that, since
they may interfere with the bowel nerves.

Have you seen a gastroenterologist, or colorectal specialist ?

Your local health food store usually has fiber formulas which
contain greens, enzymes, probiotics and fiber, which may help.
Formulas which contain L-glutamine, N-acetyl glucosamine and
gamma oryzanol are also helpful for IBS.

Renew Life makes a whole range of formulas which are helpful,
such as Intestinal Bowel Support, Intestinew, Intestinal Bowel
Soother, and several good probiotic formulas. You can find
them in health food stores. I can't give the links here since
I'm not sure if the moderators allow it.

I've also been having lots of problems with hard bowel movements
these few months. I have to push real hard in the toilet, and then
not that much comes out either. The stools are lumpy and hard
like small marbles, but not that hard. I used to be able to push
even harder stools easily in the past.

I think my anus has narrowed somewhat (stenosis) since my
hemorrhoid surgery four years ago, even though the surgeon
said not really. So I wonder if this has contributed to the current
problem. I think I may also have a peristalsis problem, or a
stretched colon from the prolonged constipation. I also have
lifelong IBS.

I'm going to have to see another surgeon or perhaps a
gastroenterogist one of these days.

Take care.
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