Cramping during flair up! Help!!!

[dresslma]

Hey everyone! Have had Crohn's for 15 years and have been on Remicade every 8 weeks the last 5ish years. I have also had 2 surgeries, bowel resection and rectal abscess. I haven't had a flare-up in a long time but it seems like I am having one. However, something new is happening that I have never had before. I get the urgent feeling that I need to use the bathroom. Once in there I get these bad cramps that induce me to strain and push to try to go. Once started, these spasms continue causing more strain until I feel finished. Once finished though, I get these spasms again no more than 5 minutes after leaving the first time which cause me to run back. I go a little more until the spasms stop. Does anybody else have these spasms and cramps inducing strain like you have to push to use the bathroom?

I have an appointment with my doctor to discuss a possible increase in my rate of dosage or other options. I had a colonoscopy in Decemeber and my GI said everything looked ok so I am not sure if this is just a flare up or if there is something else going on. I also notice a good amount of blood in the toilet after using the bathroom as well. Just looking to see if anyone can give me an insight into this.

 

[Cross-stitch gal]

Hi. Wish I had better insight on this for you. I don't have cramps, but I do have pains when I have to go which result in straining and I too see blood majority of the time. My times out of the bathroom can go from a few minutes to a few hours. I too am in limbo as far as trying to get me back to normal so to speak. Hopefully you'll have some better answers soon. Take care.

 

[Jennifer]

The part that's concerning me about your post is that you're seeing blood rather than the spasms. Blood screams flare to me. When is your appointment with your GI? Do they know that you're losing blood?

 

[mikie16]

oh my god the cramps man...its like your gut catches on fire and that's what causes the most of my accidents, its as if the cramp forces me to go, even when i don't want to and holding it is not an option, i haven't found anything to help and I'm literally cramping as i type , Humira is barely helping balsazlizide disodium, well idk what that is even supposed to do, and I've gained 50 lbs from prednisone and it started to affect my heart, I actually had a mini-heart attack, I'm lost

 

[jldowney]

I just spent 3 weeks in the hospital over this same thing. I have Chronic Ulcerative Colitis and proctitis. I get what the doctor told me they call "Rectal Spasms". I describe it as dry heaves rectally. I run to the bathroom thinking I need to go, but no stool, only blood and a whole lot of pain. When I was in the hospital they would ask me 1 to 10 what is your pain right now, I would say a 20. They began giving me Dilaudid by IV 1mg for break through severe pain and .5 for mild pain. The IV Dilaudid would kill the pain instantly, however it is a narcotic. I have been out of the hospital for about a month now and still take the Dilaudid in pill form, 4mg about every 6 to 8 hours. The only time I have severe pain is during these episodes of Rectal Spasms. It's like your body is involuntarily trying to force you to go, but there's nothing to go. One thing I have realized is that it is a great thing during these times to have a little gas. If you pass gas during this time, you know you are at least opened up and not blocked, at least that is how I look at it. I am also using this stuff called Proctofoam. It is a foam that you inject into your rectum (for me about 3 times a day) and it does seem to help with this problem. I am also taking 1600 mg asacol 3 times a day and I take Prednisone once a day in the AM. Let me know if I can offer any other of my experiences on this.