Bowel obstructions and how to resolve them

[acemagic]

Hi guys,

As a long time sufferer of Crohn's disease and lucky recipient of 6 bowel resections, I'm no stranger to partial bowel obstructions caused by a buildup of scar tissue. I've been having this problem for about 6 years now and have been hospitalized no less than 30 times because of it.

I don't know how common partial bowel obstructions are for Crohn's sufferers, but after this many hospitalizations, I wanted to share a strategy for overcoming these obstructions without the need for hospitalization or painkillers.

First off, I want to say that this is the model that worked for me. Everyone is different, so if you have a bowel obstruction and are in a severe amount of pain, go to the hospital.

Okay, here goes...

When I feel a bowel obstruction coming on, I tend to know early in the morning. I tend to wake up with a slight pain in my gut that I can only describe as a slightly burning, "hollow" feeling. almost like I'm hungry, but there's something different about it. If you have some kind of different identifier, make note of it. You can usually tell early on that you're going to have a hospital visit. If left unchecked, and I go through my normal day, the pain gets worse and worse throughout the day and by the end of the day, I'm writhing in pain and need to be hospitalized. The only cure for me was a heavy dose of painkillers and fluids, which made my body finally relax, and the blockage passed. If this sounds familiar to you, I recommend the following:

It's very simple. As soon as you feel your trigger, stop eating completely and drink nothing but water for the rest of the day. It sounds obvious, but it actually took me 8 years to figure this out. Drink lots and lots of water... more than you normally would and after quite a few hours, your "trigger" feeling (in my case, the mild burning) goes away, and that means the obstruction has passed.

I guess I just always figured that nothing could be done and if I had an obstruction, it was going to get worse no matter what. I didn't think not eating would do anything, but it truly has. I've woken up with my trigger feeling no less than 5 or 6 times since I started doing this (about a year now) and not eating, and drinking lots of water has worked every single time.

I used to end up hospitalized about 5 times a year for this. In the last year, I've had zero hospitalizations. So if partial bowel obstructions are a big issue for you, please give this a try.

Thanks for reading and I hope this works for you!

-Adam

 

[ronroush7]

Thanks for sharing. Personally, a little alarm went off in my mind concerning"a heavy dose of painkillers".

 

[Walt]

Thanks Adam,
sorry for your suffering
good sharing and great topic.

I share Ron's reluctance to push heavy pain pills.
If relaxation is a helpful factor...
perhaps other relaxation methods could also help?
Maybe yoga or for some adults medical maryjane?
peace
w

ps
Your personal body early warning may be described as hollow,
but surely a blockage feels over-full?
: D

 

[acemagic]

Sorry guys,

I edited the post. That's what worked for me in the past. I didn't mean for it to sound like I was recommending that!

-Adam

 

[janey27]

thanks Adam for your input..I have also suffered from partial bowel obstructions and there is no pain like it. I had a bowel resection almost 3 years ago to repair what my surgeon said was a twist in my bowel that was causing me to be bloated and very susceptable to bowel obstructions..Every one of my obstructions start the same way and you explained it well..that hungry feeling quickly goes to very painful spasms that come and go for about 2-3 hrs then I start to sweat I almost drown in it. Then I start to vomit ..I dread them and what you say makes perfect sense! when you have that hungry feeling you eat which is the worst thing that you can do..when it happens again in my future I will definitely try it

Hi guys,

As a long time sufferer of Crohn's disease and lucky recipient of 6 bowel resections, I'm no stranger to partial bowel obstructions caused by a buildup of scar tissue. I've been having this problem for about 6 years now and have been hospitalized no less than 30 times because of it.

I don't know how common partial bowel obstructions are for Crohn's sufferers, but after this many hospitalizations, I wanted to share a strategy for overcoming these obstructions without the need for hospitalization or painkillers.

First off, I want to say that this is the model that worked for me. Everyone is different, so if you have a bowel obstruction and are in a severe amount of pain, go to the hospital.

Okay, here goes...

When I feel a bowel obstruction coming on, I tend to know early in the morning. I tend to wake up with a slight pain in my gut that I can only describe as a slightly burning, "hollow" feeling. almost like I'm hungry, but there's something different about it. If you have some kind of different identifier, make note of it. You can usually tell early on that you're going to have a hospital visit. If left unchecked, and I go through my normal day, the pain gets worse and worse throughout the day and by the end of the day, I'm writhing in pain and need to be hospitalized. The only cure for me was a heavy dose of painkillers and fluids, which made my body finally relax, and the blockage passed. If this sounds familiar to you, I recommend the following:

It's very simple. As soon as you feel your trigger, stop eating completely and drink nothing but water for the rest of the day. It sounds obvious, but it actually took me 8 years to figure this out. Drink lots and lots of water... more than you normally would and after quite a few hours, your "trigger" feeling (in my case, the mild burning) goes away, and that means the obstruction has passed.

I guess I just always figured that nothing could be done and if I had an obstruction, it was going to get worse no matter what. I didn't think not eating would do anything, but it truly has. I've woken up with my trigger feeling no less than 5 or 6 times since I started doing this (about a year now) and not eating, and drinking lots of water has worked every single time.

I used to end up hospitalized about 5 times a year for this. In the last year, I've had zero hospitalizations. So if partial bowel obstructions are a big issue for you, please give this a try.

Thanks for reading and I hope this works for you!

-Adam