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.
|
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
Especially EHEALTHy
Joined: 13 Jul 2005 Posts: 12985
Thanks: 3
Thanked:0
Posted: 01-22-08 18:10pm
I'm sorry... your problem is way beyond
what we're capable of helping with!!!
|
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?
|
Tylanas
Especially EHEALTHy
Joined: 13 Jul 2005 Posts: 12985
Thanks: 3
Thanked:0
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.
|
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
Especially EHEALTHy
Joined: 13 Jul 2005 Posts: 12985
Thanks: 3
Thanked:0
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.