Is this "normal"??

[Nixie128]

Sorry it's long.. I'm so lost with all this and really feeling overwhelmed right now.. So I had quite a long week, with not a whole lot of sleep. Monday I had my small bowel series xray where I had to drink the barium garbage. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I was gone from home for about 12 hours each day, and not really getting more than 5 hours of sleep each night. I didn't do anything too strenuous or anything. But tonight physically I am having a lot of problems that I haven't really experienced like this before. My legs and feet have swelled slightly.. I'm physically exhausted and in a lot of pain. My guts very angry!! Urgent bathroom trips, but struggling to actually go to the bathroom. I still apparently have the barium in me which I'm fairly certain that should be gone by now. I'm staying hydrated as best I can. Here's the thing, I'm not on any medicine for my crohns...hell, I don't even have a doctor to treat my crohns anymore.

I don't believe I'm in ER pain or condition, but I'm also the girl that was in 10 out if 10 pain (no joke) with an abscess the size of a golf ball between her bum cheeks for 6 days with ZERO pain medicine, and refused to go to hospital and instead went to a walk in clinic!! Haha (they sent me to hospital lol) So what do I know really, I'm not a good judge of if I'm in ER condition or not. I can't go to the bathroom, but I have the urgent feeling I need to. And when I do its very little and extremely thin... Like a pencil. My stomach has been tender and swollen quite a bit since before the barium drink on Monday but now it feels even worse. I'm overwhelmed and slightly frustrated. I hate feeling this way. Any advice?

 

[danieldresen]

You NEED treatment... This is tenesmus. It is only going to get worse... heck, I would run to the ER myself. There is an ointment called Recticare that can help with the burning bum pain, and maybe a clinic can get you tramadol for pain, but ultimately, you need treatment. I have an infusion Tuesday, so I am trying to hang tough... feeling like you do now... Might look into CBD oil soon. I am a 15 in pain... yep... past the point of breaking down and I am a guy here. It is probably not barium you are seeing but... mucus from a fissue or fistula. Welcome to the wonderful world of your immune system hating you... crohns sucks. As for swelling... it can cause that too... my knee does it frequently.

 

[Cross-stitch gal]

How are you doing? Did you happen to head into the ER? From your description, I hope you at least got yourself checked out. Please keep us updated.

 

[scottsma]

Please get checked.!!! None of us like to go to the Hospital / doc .but you could get REALLY sick if you ignore this.The very fact that you have posted for advice tells me you're concerned......You won't get a gold star for being brave.

Best wishes and please keep us updated.

 

[happy]

Nixie128,
Just a thought if, you haven't sought any help yet...
Barium can be extremely constipating and very difficult to pass. I suspect that you may have a partial blockage from it--and the pencil-like stool is what is by-passing the blockage. If this is still happening-- I agree that a trip to the ER is required to make sure you don't end up with a complete blockage.

 

[Nixie128]

I haven't gone to the hospital yet, the pencil thin BMs have kind of been my normal for a couple months. I'm still very bloated and overall not feeling the greatest but I think it's getting better. I see my family doctor Monday morning to find a new gastro doctor and I will notify her of the thing BMs etc. I just hate that I don't have a gastro doctor to speak to about all this and get their advice. Trying to eat safe foods and trying to drink mostly liquid. Hoping that will help a bit. I have no clue. No doctor has given me any real information and I'm getting fed up. I only know what google is telling me... So I get nervous and have a million questions.

 

[Nixie128]

You NEED treatment... This is tenesmus. It is only going to get worse... heck, I would run to the ER myself. There is an ointment called Recticare that can help with the burning bum pain, and maybe a clinic can get you tramadol for pain, but ultimately, you need treatment. I have an infusion Tuesday, so I am trying to hang tough... feeling like you do now... Might look into CBD oil soon. I am a 15 in pain... yep... past the point of breaking down and I am a guy here. It is probably not barium you are seeing but... mucus from a fissue or fistula. Welcome to the wonderful world of your immune system hating you... crohns sucks. As for swelling... it can cause that too... my knee does it frequently.

Thank you for your reply. I never even heard of tenesmus.. So that was very interesting. Thanks! I do have a fistula already, been there since July 2014,causing me a ton of issues. I'm still passing barium because it's completely white/grey,tgats the only reason I know it's barium. But it's getting better. This morning it wasn't nearly as white. Whew. Lol. I see my doctor on Monday and hoping she can help me a bit