This just in! Constipation IS a symptom for me anyway! LOL!

[sunflower]

Just need to vent a little. I have been dealing with constipation off and on for several years. Always to be told by my doctors that it cannot be a symptom of Crohn's. Well, they finally caught the cause in action Friday!!!

I had gotten so constipated that I couldn't even pass gass. So GP put me on a powerful laxative and I took for several days. It did help, and also caused lots of bleeding. Scheduled a hysterectomy for Tuesday July 5th and Colonoscopy on the Friday before.

It turns out that my constipation is not functional. I have a stricture forming about halfway through my colon. Things back up in front of it, dry out, then finally push through. Since there is nothing behind it, it sits and dries some more until enough is pushed through the swollen area (it is about 10 com long) to force it out. How is that for an interesting "twist"?

Trying Cort enemas and working on getting the insurance to cover Rowasa enemas. For some reason they don't want to cover those. If no relief soon, will have to do Prednisone (I HATE THAT STUFF) and consider surgery. Ugh. 48 years old and for the first time surgery is loominga s the best alternative.

Worst part is - I have had a "spot" that has bothered me for YEARS. Since before I got diagnosed. I used to joke about the "spot" because I could feel every inch of stool passing through there. My stricture is NOT in that area. I have been begging to have that "spot" removed for a long time. It is the part that usually flairs and causes me problems. It hurts there most of the time. Of course, that is NOT what they will take now if I need surgery. Isn't that the way it goes?? LOL!!

 

[kekemonster101]

I have the same issue. I have certain spots where it feels like stool stops there for a minute or two, and has trouble passing through. Then, finally, sometimes I will feel relief and it will pass. An interesting note is that I feel like I build fever when stuff starts getting blocked up, and when it passes, the fever immediately starts going down. I feel the change immediately, and even have these weird neurological symptoms as well. Occasionally I will feel a change in concentration or blood pressure/heart rate, and I will know that in 2-3 seconds I'll always feel a rumble near that strictured area. I think it has something to do with the nerves there, which makes me really believe that the gut can have a profound effect on other areas of the body that are completely unrelated (recently shown to be true with gut bacteria and things like depression)

Surgery isnt as scary as you think. When its all over, you might feel a lot better. With me though, it seems that after a while, one of my narrow "spots" moved to the area where I was reconnected. Depending on how far that "spot" is from the strictured area, maybe they could just remove the whole thing. An extra few inches couldnt hurt, right?