What does a stricture feel like?

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My stricture caused me to have little to know appetite, because things were getting backed up. I vomited every time I ate, and when I did eat and things started moving through it was very painful. It also hurt very bad when that part of my stomach was pressed on.

I had a CT scan which showed extreme wall thickening that the doc said could only be from a stricture, then I had a small bowel follow through.
 
A stricture or obstruction is like Hell on Earth!
I couldn't even talk n'er mind walk! Projectile vomiting & explosive diarrhea, uncontrollable. I thought I was gonna blow up!
I've never experienced pain like it, worse than childbirth. It was diagnosed when the doc palpated my tum and he had to scrape me off the ceiling. I think you'd know about it if you had it! If so, get to A&E pronto xxx
 
Stricture can be extremely painful indeed! A full obstruction is hell on earth.

Partial obstructions can also be like a good taste of hell. Vomitting, the big D, fever can occur. A full obstruction can cause perforation of the bowel, and a big emergency indeed!
If you think you have one....off to emergency is my best advice!
 
Thanks for the replies. The reason I asked was because I'm currently having debilitating upper quardrant left sided pain. It comes in waves where I cannot walk, talk, etc. It feels as though having a bm will help so I'll sometimes try that but it doesn't usually help. I then (and this is embarrassing) get stuck in the restroom unable to move from the pain. And then as quickly as it comes...it dissipates. Sometimes it lasts for hours, with 5 minute breaks...other times it lasts for maybe just a half hour. I've gotten it both after eating and in the morning prior to eating anything. I am still having bowel movements (mostly d) so I know it's not a full obstruction. I've had a history of inflammation causing a narrowing in the small intestine so my food was backing up as a child...and I would throw it up. It was treated with Pred and NG tube liquid diet at the time. But I don't remember if I had pain like this then, and I'm not throwing up everything I eat. Only throwing up sometimes...sometimes with blood in it. I'm pregnant though so the doctors are hesitant to run any tests or perscribe any meds. I feel like if it is a stricture I'd have to wait until it's a full blown obstruction before they do anything about it. I have run a low grade fever off and on for over a week now.
 
I'm sorry you're having so much trouble :( *hugs*

We also have a thread where people have posted accounts of obstructions which you can read here.

I would like to mention that strictures alone can be asymptomatic. If the narrowing isn't severe and causing other complications, you may not know you even have one.
 
Could it be a stomach ulcer if it's upper abdominal pain and your throwing up blood? Definitely warrants a visit to the doc especially as your pregnant. Don't be fobbed off with they can't do anything throwing up blood is not normal and needs investigated
 
archie said:
Could it be a stomach ulcer if it's upper abdominal pain and your throwing up blood? Definitely warrants a visit to the doc especially as your pregnant. Don't be fobbed off with they can't do anything throwing up blood is not normal and needs investigated
Click to expand...

I'm leaning towards a stomach ulcer as well but not entirely sure obviously. I put a call into the GI yesterday but haven't heard back anything. I've been to the ER for this already, the OB & went to GI last week. No one seemed too concerned about it. It's pretty frustrating to be dismissed when you feel so terrible but the lack of care is another post in itself.
 
Thanks for posting that thread. Everyone's accounts sound Exactly like what I've been experiencing. Currently im not having the waves of pain at the moment so I'm hoping that's a good sign? Just not sure how they would DX me being that I'm pregnant and can't have any imaging tests besides an ultrasound
 
Dont think so...it can effect the baby. So an ultrasound could pick up on a stricture or block age you think? I thought that the intestines weren't visualized by u/s...if they are I'm kinda wondering why on earth they haven't ordered me one!
 
Because it's not a very good test for it and requires some specialization.

What are the indications for ultrasound of the bowel?

Bowel ultrasound is a specialised test which is performed by an experienced radiologist. It is a relatively new technique, as the bowel is not routinely included in an abdominal ultrasound examination owing to difficulties in assessment, largely attributable to the reflectivity of intraluminal air.

Ultrasound can be used to detect areas of inflammatory bowel disease, in which the patient will have thick walled bowel loops with increased Doppler flow (vascularity). These findings are non specific, and are shared with other bowel pathologies, but can guide the need for colonoscopy and biopsy to make a histological diagnosis. Ultrasound may have a more important role in assessing the location of active disease in the patient with known inflammatory bowel disease. It has the advantage here of being non invasive, without the risks that colonoscopy carries, particularly in actively inflamed bowel. Ultrasound can also assess for complications of IBD, such as colections.

Ultrasound (for this indication as well as others) is of limited use in obese patients, although those with inflammatory bowel disease are often thin. The colon may be less well visualised than the small bowel. Strictures are also more difficult to detect. Contrast enhanced ultrasound can increase the sensitivity of this technique for active disease.
Click to expand...
http://www.gastrotraining.com/category/gi-radiology/ultrasound

But if that's all you can do, then it might be better than nothing. I'd ask in the parenting forum what kind of tests are safe for pregnancy. It's not something I know much about, sorry :(
 
Thanks David. I called the GI office again and still waiting on someone to call me back. This is rather annoying I have to say.
 
Nurse called me back...said my WBC was high, I'm anemic, & sed rate was high. Said it sounded like I needed to go to ER for IV hydration but can't do much since "there is t really anything safe during pregnancy" and we're at a crossroads. I'm annoyed.
 
That's just crap! They really should start you on some other meds for your Crohn's if you are that bad off!

I hope you get some hydration and start feeling better!
 
Thanks manzy unfortunately They're wanting proof that I have IBD and aren't wanting to treat anything without a scope...which they're making me get permission for everything from my OB. I'm literally goin back and forth between the two. I'm feeling a little better so I'll try to tough it out a little while longer before going to the ER
 
I had an ultrasound done why they were first diagnosing me. Sure its not the best but it should definitely show a mass if there is one.

Also as a side note, sometimes going to the ER can give your GI a kick in the rear to get something done and sooner. If you do have an obstruction then I imagine its affecting the amount of nutrients your baby needs as well as yourself.
 
Thanks everyone for the support. I'm trying to hold off on going to the ER of at all possible until hubby is off work. The waves of pain haven't come nearly as frequent today. I did start throwing up again this afternoon which I noticed included everything I had eaten this far like perhaps the food is sitting onmy stomach too long...something I've had trouble with before during flares.
 
Certainly your nutritional status is important for both you and your baby. How far are you along in your pregnancy? If it's 12-20 weeks or earlier then it's a bit trickier, but if you're mid-late pregnancy then other tests/xr's aren't so bad (a prem baby delivered at, say, 30 weeks, will have XRs/scans etc for their own needs as required)
 
ellie....I'm currently 20 wks. I ended up going to the ER and they transferred me to a larger hospital and admitted me. Still don't know anything but I imagine I should get some answers while I'm here. I began throwing up a great deal of blood and currently not keeping anything down.
 
Thank goodness you are in hospital, at least they will DO something and the specialists will surely know what they can do at your stage of pregnancy.

I sincerely hope things turn around for you very soon.
 
Txarmywife, sorry to hear you are going through it. Strictures & Obstructions are no fun @ all & its like walking around with a ticking time bomb inside you with a stricture, knowing it can go to obstruction @ seemingly any time. My last stricture I could feel virtually the whole time, a nagging dull pain from my lower rh side to my groin. Thank goodness its gone. I wish you well & hope they can do whatever needs doing quickly for you.
Best Wishes
Grant
 

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