total colectomy!?!

My BFF was on high doses of morphine due to nerve pain from an accident where he wa**** by a drunk driver. His doctor cut his dosage to the point where he had withdrawal symptoms, nausea, vomiting, sweating etc. he went to the ER and they did not figure out that is what was going on. They suspected the flu go figure. The two of us figured it out. They don't care about people with chronic pain, it's a one size fits all fix to just cut the meds without understanding the consequences. I honestly believe congress has no business interfering between a doctor and patient. Not to say there aren't too many opioids prescribed, but they need to look at each person individually not a blanket fix.

Personally I don't get it all opioids make me sick, so I have zero interest in them.

Have you tried

..1).Enzymes such as meat tenderizer with bromelin or papaya...(mccormicks is a brand name that has no MSG, try on eggs..this alone helps my digestion, gas, immensely. Nausea can be caused from the constipation alone. or from surgery complications.... must center on getting this moving asap.

2.)adding oily vitamins... CoQ10, D3, E...( these helped my DH with similar constipation issues. he also used generic colace(3-5 daily) and senna when he was on stout pain meds)...Have you tried oil retention enema? put oily enema in against wall fo lower bowel, hold for 30-60 min if possible, to clear plug.

3.)..mag citrate...600mg to begin..with K2(once daily) can help.. with preventing bone loss and with utilization of what is in your system already...It will also help the body to reabsorb any calcifications occurring on the mesh and put back to bone/teeth.. from early research...is its function.They have not determined how yet.

4.Very warm prune juice- I would start with 2-3 oz. followed by one cup of ho****er.. helped my DH, w/.holding pain meds for a couple of hours until bowel awakens. It made for a painful 2 hours but could get them back on schedule in that same day. safely.

haope this gives you something to try... later

Where are you? I live in Houston and would go to Methodist in a heartbeat. We have relatives who work there and my mother is currently being treated for cancer there, but overall in every category they are one of the best hospital systems in the country.

I hope you find relief soon.

I'm in Lubbock. I'm not saying Houston is out of the question but would rather go to Dallas if possible, as riding in a car that far is near impossible with my back and my husband really wants to go with me, so flying 2 people to Houston would coat more than we could spend right now.

Thanks for the recommendation, though!

Turtlgurl,

I would say the post blow by HALAB is probably closer to where you need to go... Your nausea will persist until the bowel is clear. The nausea is a primary symptom of constiaption. Warm liquid will help things move down... cold will slow motility.

Full bowel will/can also add to back pain, esp. lower, the nerves can become compressed.. Pain meds definitely slow the movement.Once you get your colon clear, your back pain, especially any lower may not be as acute.

I would swap to low residue and try to get as muchas possible- liquid proteins... there is a bone broth protein I have just begun seeing advertisements for... says it comes in no flavor chocolate and vanilla..

You need protein for healing...You are also dehydrated, if your fluid intake is that low...I get it, nausea means can't get it in...so must use all measures to get those intestines cleared...

You absolutely must use enemas, can warm -organic food grade(coconut-Olive)cooking oil and use it, insert against the wall of intestine, as high up as you can get it. Hold it for 30 min to allow it to soften, and then deeply massage bowel and expel.... laxatives, what ever it takes.

You can NOT wait for an appointment.. I have seen people die from impacted bowels. When bowels are clear you can use hydration formula rectally to help rehydrate using the enema kit. go to your search engine...and put in "DIY hydration formula".

Any formula that can be given orally can be given rectally. Any vitamins/meds given orally can also be given rectally. Pleasant no, but possible. lay on left side to insert into rectum whether enema, or meds.. pull knees up to reduce motility, for meds to be absorbed, allow retention enema to be absorbed. If trouble getting movement after oil retention can follow with warm tap water... to tolerance. If low bowel motility will not be as hard for you to hold...as for someone with normal or hypermotility.

This is long - so read at your own risk.

I am so sorry you are dealing with all of that. My issues are not there yet but I do have IBS-C. And I am also on painkillers (some opiates, some herbal, some Tylenol)

The large does of opiates probably contributes and creates the issues. The IBS is most likely secondary, due to low gut motility.

When food does not travel fast enough through out digestive truck - that creates a situation that can promote bacterial overgrowth in a small intestine. Some bacteria can cause irritation of the gut and severe diarrhea, while others - i.e. the metan producing bacteria can cause more "paralysis" of the gut muscles, slowing things even more and causing more constipation.

At the same time the bacteria produce gas from undigested and un-absorbed part of the gas gets trapped between layers of food (a few days worth accumulation). Since the gas can't go down or up - it gets trapped in small intestine and it can cause very very severe pain. I've been there way too many times screaming with pain in a middle of the night. The pain attack could last 5 min or 10 or 30... or I could get multiple attacks withing a short time.

I was also trying medication, teas, etc etc.. not many things worked. Finally I discover infor about SIBO and IBS connection. That could explain so many things. (google SIBO)

So it was time to treat it. It took me a while to find a gastro who is familiar with SIBO and treatments and who is also open to help me as I am trying to find new ways to deal with it.

But I was lucky. I experimented things. Finally, after a long time I found what is working for me. But i really have to do it every day, or i get backed up anyway and have to go on liquids for a few days to clean things out.

At the beginning I did the following:

1. diet - diet to limit SIBO - very low on Fodmaps foods. First month I was almost fanatical about it
2. Clean the bowels, do what ever I had to do, including a lot of miralax,minerals, viatmions and enemas/ colonics (or high enemas)
3. Once the bowels were clean I started eating low FODMAP foods, all cooked, nothing raw, very low fiber, very easy for my body to absorb. i.e. moist chicken with carrots, summer squash (with seeds removed) and little bit of celery, with chicken bone broth , cooked in a pressure cooker for at least 30 min. I would add a nice pat of butter to my cap of warm (not hot ) soup and ate that 4-6 times a day, as much or as little I could.
4. Then once my body would tolerate that (3-4 days) and I stopped having runs (once the guts are empty and clean - they may have the tendency to overdue it, and run a few more days - it is for me a delayed reaction.
5. at the same time I added daily enough miralax to have things going, less if my morning run was very runny, more, if I had to struggle.
6. I also use magnesium citrate (400-800 in my morning vitamin drink) then up to 1200 mag oxide before bed.
7. I don't take iron because any iron constipates me and gives me cramps.
8. I take 2-5 grams Vit C per day. Acidic type vit C helps moving the bowels.
9. Right now I am on 3-4 capfuls of miralax first thing am in my coffee. Plus all that magnesium.
10. I try to add more fat to my diet to help glide things through.
11. I try to avid fiber - fiber for my condition = constipation and gas.
12. I avoid most fruits - either too much sugar(banana, grapes etc) or fiber (i.e plums, apples, etc) but my body tolerates now (2 years after first treatment) up to 2 cups of berries per day.
13. I try to follow IF (intermittent fast) type eating protocol. I try to eat only in 8-10 hours window during the day and not eat for at least 12-14 hours in any given 24 hours. But I push a lot of liquids during the "not eating " hours. i.e. I get up at 6 am, have 16 oz coffee, black, with a few drops of stevia and 3-4 capfuls of miralax. After that I have 16-24 oz of tea. Green or black. Then on my way to work and at work I sip on my mineral water: vitamin packet mix + magnesium mineral mix + hydrolyzed collagen (to help healing my small intestine)+... (it depends what I need to add more)
14. I drink more water, tea, et****il lunch. i have lunch, then I wait 30 min and start sipping again... I need more liquids to push the food, to "wash" the small intestine. I eat "second lunch. I drink some more ... I eat early snack/dinner , I eat late dinner around 7-8 pm. I drink more liquids before bed. When I get up in a middle of the night - I drink some more...
15. The coffee -tea- I love hot. But very hot drinks burns my intestine. I learned to drink it just warm enough. Same with soups. or hot meals. My insides had been damaged. i am trying to heal them, very hot meal may hurt it more.
16. when i am under the stress - I want to eat, and eat foods that are not good for my gut. When I do -I suffer. Unfortunately - I still make mistakes. Over the last 3-4 years- I am slowly healing. My body is more forgiving...and I was able to incorporate more foods in my diet.
17. Once in a while - i use antibiotics and diflucan to reduce the SIBO and candida. Then I have to take a lot of $$ probiotics to rebuild the good bacteria where they belong- in my large intestines.
18. Unfortunately - as i am learning SIBO can be managed - but it is extremely difficult to eradicate.
19. I get little better each time, and my newest "i need hard drugs again" point is not as bad as when I started 4 + years ago.
20. I was able to reverse some of my allergies, or rather - make then non - detected. i.e. i could not even bee in an asian restaurant where they cooked everything with soy and soy sauce "was in the air" I would start itching right away. My soy allergies testing at one point indicated that I had severe soy allergy-epi-pen type severe. Now - I can go a Japanese restaurant and use some soy (not a lot, and not everyday) without worrying that it may kill me. Dairy - milk and mostly whey is not go. But I can have some hard cheese once in a while. (But I love cheese and I was eating cheese every day for the last 2 months - so I need to stop again for at least 2-3 months all dairy.)
21. The time between my antibiotics treatments gets longer. I have more "normal" life in between. (BTW - I need antibiotics and diflucan ASAP. but it had been 8 -9 months since last treatment)

Clean the bowels, do whatever I had to do, including enemas, high enemas, colonics, etc. As supplemnts I use a lot of miralax, magnesium and potassium and sodium, Vit C (vit C can help "flash" the system - 4-10 grams of C a day) Lots of liquids and for various reasons I sip on chicken broth/ bone broth+ mineral water (use Vit C Emergen-C packets) together with water with magnesium (powder you dissolve in water), etc.

When I use enema - I use warm water enemas, sometimes I may add epsom slat to help relax the bowels. Going to a colonic specialist may help initially.

As for pain meds - opiates- they affect the receptors in the gut. There is medicine that blocks the opiates receptors in the gut - some people love it- others hate it, get severe side effects from them. On eof my docs prescribed them for me.... but after I read the side effects and how they worked - I chose not to take them (my gastro agreed with me). Sometimes I use the pain pills not only for my back pain but also for my gut. so blacking the pain receptors in my gut could leave me in extreme agony.

I tried some medication to reduce constipation (Linzess -samples from my gastro). But not only I need on or 2 of the higher dose, and my insurance does not pay for it - they work on me for a day, 2 max. Then NADA. So- when I travel I can take them once in a while, if I can't use my miralax, but they do not work on me if I try to use them every day.

This is lot.. but it is a summary of my 3-4+ years dealing with the condition.

Maybe this will help you- maybe not... Best luck.