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Adhesion vs Inflammation partial obstruction

Hi Guys

I'm so sorry to bother you but I thought maybe you could help me with a question. This is for any of you that have had past bowel surgery resections have you ever had partial Bowel blockages from the adhesions caused by the surgeries and not Crohn's inflammation?

If so has it taken up to a week or so to fully resolve?
Has it eased off and then recurred after a few days if jumping into solid meals too quickly?

Last Wednesday I had a obstruction and my GI suspects adhesions as recent colonoscopy results weren't too bad. It resolved after a few days but then blocked again last night not as bad as the one last week but still extremely painful.

I'm on Vedolizumab one year now and GI started me on 40mg Prednisone just in case it's active inflammation. Having a MRI once the hospital can fit me in.

Just thought I'd add that around 3 days before the first obstruction I started taking 150mg Co-Enzyme Q10 but I'm not sure that would cause the obstruction as a side effect.


Thank you in advance
 

emmaaaargh

Moderator
Staff member
I've had three bowel obstructions caused by adhesions over the last year or so. They typically took about a day or two before they resolved (never thought I'd feel so relieved to vomit) once I stopped eating anything so it's pretty much become a routine for me to just lie in the foetal position and wait it out when I feel one coming on.

The first time I had one I reintroduced foods a little too quickly and re-obstructed so now I leave re-introducing food until a good while after the symptoms fade. My obstructions usually clear in the evening (weird patterns!) so I wait until the next morning to start eating and start off really slow, usually just a slice of bread with butter as it's so soft.

My obstructions started pretty randomly too. When they first began it had been 5 years since my resection, I went to see my GP and he agreed it sounded like an adhesion-caused obstruction but mentioned that he didn't think it'd be beneficial for me to be in hospital unless it got much worse. I agreed so just sipped Lucozade for a couple of days and tried to wait for the pain to pass. It's immense, worse than I'd ever felt before. I'm always relieved whenever I hear my gut gurgle now because at least it means things are moving around in there!

Sorry this post has been all over the place but I hope it's helped a little! And I hope you recover quickly and that the MRI can shed some light on the situation :)
 
Hi Emma

Thank you so much for your reply. And please don't apologise it is extremely helpful. I hate Crohn's so much! It's so hard to work out what's going on especially when its adhesions vs active disease!!!
Hopefully the MRI will shed some light.

We're your bowels very sore for a few days after the obstruction? My bowels still feel very sore at the site of obstruction a few days on.
 

emmaaaargh

Moderator
Staff member
Don't worry about the questions! I'm happy to help :) I remember my bowels being a little bit sore (not too clear on this, though, since my last obstruction was at the start of this year) but it felt more like muscle ache after a workout, maybe because of all the vomiting. After the obstructions I usually eat solid, but soft, food - so things like basic sandwiches (bread is a pretty big staple in my diet), mashed potatoes, and other things that won't take much breaking down. After about a day of this with no more recurrences of the obstruction I return to my normal diet.
 
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