Rollercoaster stools: Constipated one day and diarrhea the following day

[braveheart]

When I am constipated it is very uncomfortable since I feel all day like I have to do it as soon as possible, but nothing happens.
Then It ends with a huge and very solid poo, and after that I spent two days with diarrhea, going to the toilet 4/5 times a day.
And then, after a few days of diarrhea I am constipated again!!!!

This is very weird and I don't know how to deal with it. It makes no sense to me taking a laxative one day and an anti-diarrhea drug the following day, so I do nothing.

Is anyone experiencing this?

 

[joshw2011]

I used to/still do a little bit. I agree, it's very weird! Now I mostly have constipation, so I daily take stool softeners. Which causes me to have diarrhea, but otherwise I'm unable to pass any stool. And even taking 2 stool softeners per day, I still suffer the random constipation, but it usually sorts itself out after a few hours.

 

[matty]

I went like this a couple of months ago for a couple weeks. I had constipation so bad that i had to use my finger. I had to take metamucil every other day. Then in between i would have d once or twice. That was strange and haven't been constipated since. Been having more issues with d once and awhile.

 

[kllyeve]

I too have more constipation than diarrhea and take 1 stool softener every day. I only get d rarely. The constipation has gotten so bad at times I have to go to emerg to get painkillers. I try to drink extra water, but can't seem to get things on a regular basis.

 

[Nataliekim]

Wow, I'm surprised? I guess I am just to new to all this and haven't learned enough. I thought that with Crohn's constipation was uncommon? From things I've read, it seems they always list diarrhea as a symptom.
Would someone mind helping me out with this?
Nat

 

[kllyeve]

My sister has Crohn's and she never has constipation - her's is always d. It is just so different from person to person.

 

[ThingsHaveChanged]

same here, I think my switching from one to the other is part of why it took so long to be diagnosed, hang in there.
I tried using meds to stop the d then help the c but i ended up chasing my tail, I think that at least imo something more fundamental needs to change for you, all the meds I took seemed to have little effect, till cholestyramine and a liquid diet.
Id probably save the tummy loseners and stabalisers for when you have something you have to do and need a little bit more reassurance other than that id say its probably better to know where your really at than bounce back and fourth between self determined d and c. jut my opinion though, id be curious to hear how others who switch controlled their symptoms.

 

[crohny66]

Hi Braveheart. I suffer from this too, good to know I am not the only one!

I feel bloated and uncomfortable and then I pass a solid poo which I have nicknmed 'the cork'. Once the cork is released the loose poo starts (within the same sitting). The D goes on for a few days and then we start the cycle again. It is worse on the lead up to my time of month because I also experience pain. I always thought it may have been a flare up but my bloods came back normal and the colonoscopy came back with minimal activity. I have just learnt to live with it.

I would love to hear from anyone who has had relief from this.

 

[chinton]

Hello there, Braveheart and crohny66, I have a couple of questions for you both...
1. Do you take any painkillers at all?
2. Do you know if you have any bowel narrowing at all?
3. Have the doctors given you any idea where your disease is most active?

 

[braveheart]

It seems I am not alone with this. Thanks everyone for your answers.
And yes, the CORK is definitely a good name for that solid poo.

Fortunately I've been a little better about this lately.


Here are my answers for chinton:
1. Do you take any painkillers at all?
-I do it in very few occasions, about once in two months.
2. Do you know if you have any bowel narrowing at all?
-Yes I do have so.
3. Have the doctors given you any idea where your disease is most active?
-Small intestine (Illeum).

 

[archie]

Hi i'm glad you posted this as that exactly describes me especially since the resection I feel i'm generally a bit more sluggish. It's maybe not as bad as constipation all the time but certainly hard to go sometimes then the reverse I can't stop going to me it's a bit like IBS which I never had before and like you it's in a cycle of 2-3 days. There doesn't seem to be a pattern in what I eat etc although alcohol definitely gives me the D.

What makes me laugh is my GI discharged me after the surgery and said if I have a change in bowel habit to go back and see him!!! i'd be with him every other day if I did. Anyway I don't take anything for it, I try to eat a good amount of fibre still and I definitely feel better the days of the big D than the 'cork'!!!

 

[crohny66]

I don't take anything for the C and D but if the pain gets unbearable I take soluble panadol. I try not to take anything for fear of getting addicted to pain med but I would say I take something 5 days a month.

I have had a number of colonoscopies where they have used a balloon to stretch a narrowing. The narrowing has always been at the join from my resections.

 

[crohny66]

Oh and I don't even attempt to have a night of alcohol. I would be sick for days and the D would be sooo bad (I haven't made it the loo once and I don't ever want to experience that again!).

Every few months I may have 1 glass of wine and I always ask myself the next day why I did it knowing the effect it has. Sometimes I just don't learn.....

 

[chinton]

Hm. It's a tricky one, but if your disease is higher up in your intestines, you can still get constipation, which really is a horrible combination!