I hate my gastro!!...

[HorseLover!!]

I'm really quite frustrated now, my x-rays showed there is stool in the bowel and my doctor says that I'm constipated, I know when I'm constipated because I put on weight, I haven't put on any weight in fact I've lost weight I've gone from being 56kg to 51kg which isn't right and also I get pain 10mins after eating I also have pain in the middle above my belly button and to the right underneath my ribs constantly feel dizzy, sick and have lost my appetite, does anyone else think this is constipation or is my doctor being ********?? :ybatty:

 

[Axelfl3333]

Hard to argue with an x-Ray.have you tried upping your fluid uptake my clinic nurse told me to try that it helps to move things along also a suggestion from the same person eat a small piece of one of your triggers(melon)for me,it worked at the time I was almost a week without going,not a good week.good luck

 

[DustyKat]

Hey HorseLover...:ghug:

I don't think your doc is being a ******** as such but I can see why it wouldn't be hard for you to feel that way if you don't like him!

As Axel has said, faecal loading on an X-Ray is pretty obvious and many of the symptoms you describe...pain, loss of appetite/nausea (can then cause weight loss), dizziness...certainly can be caused by constipation and it can become a catch 22. You feel unwell so you eat and drink less and this compounds the problem and increases the severity of your symptoms.

I understand that this may not be your usual reaction to constipation but your reactions can change over time based on what is happening with your bowel. Don't fall into the trap of dismissing something because it isn't how it happened the time before. The changes that are happening now may well be reflective of how your disease is changing.

Take all into consideration and do what the doctor is suggesting. Document everything, and I mean everything, and be your best own advocate. Be ordered and concise. The doctor may well be right but if he isn't then you will have tried what he suggested and will have evidence of its failure that can't be denied.

Dusty. xxx

 

[LodgeLady]

Last spring, I had a bad flare up (prior to being diagnosed Crohn's). Went to ER, had relapse a month later, vomiting, pain, D, etc. Saw my GI, did a CT scan, I had stool in my entire colon!! I was also losing weight. So no, I don't think your doctor is a fool. It can and does happen. Why? It can all be a part of Crohn's. All Crohn's is not "D". I was so thankful I did not have a bowel obstruction. This was the lightbulb that went off, and from further testing, got my diagnosis.

Try to be open minded and know that not all symptoms are going to be the same with Crohn's. You need a good relationship with your doctor.

 

[HorseLover!!]

Thanks you guys I feel better, I've been down this road way too many times now and its just annoying that it just keeps on happening all my doctor does is gives me laxatives to take 2 a day, I take them and after about 2 weeks there's no change

 

[Niks]

Definitely sounds like signs of Constipation. There are lots of different laxatives, maybe the usual ones you take just aren't enough. It maybe worth getting back to your Doctor and seeing if there is something else that may work better.

Good luck xx

 

[UnXmas]

It's worth remember that weight fluctuations are not a good way of assessing constipation. There are too many other factors affecting your weight.

How often are you having bowel movements and do you have to strain to have them? Have you had symptoms that suggest impaction and overflow? (This is where your bowel gets so blocked up that you end up having "overflow" diarrhoea as only the liquid stool can get past the impaction - so your symptoms would be feeling full and bloated, maybe with stomach pain, and passing only small amounts of diarrhoea.)

There are many different kinds of laxatives and stool softeners. If none of the pills help you with constipation, you can try things like micro enemas or suppositories or a rectal catheter.

Since your X-ray showed enough stool in the bowel for your doctor to think you're constipated, you can be pretty sure that there is indeed stool impacted in your bowel. The question is whether that is what is responsible for your symptoms or whether you have something else going on and the X-ray findings were just coincidental. Have you had other tests to investigate other parts of your digestive system or tests on your colon that pick up more than X-rays can? If your doctor's not managed to find another potential cause of your symptoms even after sufficient testing, the best thing to do would probably be to keep trying different laxatives, stool softeners, etc. and try to solve the impaction problem and see if that eases your symptoms.

Unless you have serious bowel motility problems, the constipation should respond to treatment. It might take a bit of trial and error to figure out which laxatives work best for you, but there are some very strong ones out there, so something should help! Which kind of laxatives have you tried so far?