Anyone here had a bowel obstruction? (warning potty talk!)

Hello all,

***************WARNING POTTY TALK BELOW!******************

Last Thursday I was starting to not feel that great.  By Friday night I was having battles with nausea and diarrhea.  Saturday and Sunday where spent with aches and pains and a low grade fever.. in and out of the bathroom.  On Monday I took some pepto-bismol to try to make it end...

Monday afternoon the diarrhea had stopped but that's when the nausea hit full force.  Before this I was able to eat lightly and drink water pretty well.  From Monday evening to Tuesday afternoon I was vomiting (as much as a empty pouch can vomit!).  It usually hit every 15-20 minutes.  The spasms made me wish for death.   Because I feared dehydration and I wanted relief from the nausea I went to the doctor and received IV fluids and some meds to stave off the nausea.   

I started to feel better and expected to be on the up and up.  But now I'm having constipation like pains and the nausea won't go away unless I take these pills they gave me.  And the pills are supposed to last 4-6 hours, but I'm finding by tonight that it's only lasting 3 for me.  

I had a high fiber meal today and lots of water.   I can't say I'm in huge pain.  It does come in waves though.. but it feels like constipation or like it did when I was having diarrhea.   The nausea pills make me sleepy, so I have been sleeping a lot today.  But when I'm awake and one the pills I still feel waves of nausea, just not the urge to throw up. (thank God!)

Also, my blood pressure got so low on Tuesday (before I went to the doctor)  that I fainted in the bathroom and hit my head on the wall.   I wasn't hurt but it was embarrassing.   The towel rack help break my fall..but it broke in the process.

Anyways.. I've been researching bowel obstructions and the symptoms seem very vague.  I was hoping to hear from others.  I would think it would be far more painful then what I am experiencing.

I have not had a BM to speak of since Sunday night.    Before all this came about, my BM's have always been regular and perfect.

Anyways.. any input would be greatly appreciated.

I plan on calling my surgeon tomorrow.

-Shakeira

I had a bowel obstruction in June of this year.  I had a surgeon tell me once years before that I would know I had one when I couldn't keep anything down.  That's exactly what happened.....threw up anything I put in and the pain was horrible.  I went to the hospital when I couldn't keep water down because I knew it wouldn't take much to become dehydrated.  If I drank or ate anything -- it came back up within 10 minutes after a lot of pain.  I went to the ER in the hospital and they did x-rays and then a cat scan to see what was wrong.  My obstruction was from scar tissue pushing in on the bowels -- they did lap surgery and removed the scar tissue and the bowel opened up and I went home the next day on a normal food diet.  I WAS VERY LUCKY!!!!

I have a friend who had a bowel obstruction the next month and hers was much more involved.  She had a twisted bowel that cause her issues for weeks before == mostly pain, pain, pain after she would eat.  She would be in horrible pain and by the time she got to the hospital, the symptoms were gone.  Found out later that moving around would untwist the kink, the food would go through and she'd feel better.  Eventually she had the surgery to repair the twist.

Obstructions can kill you so if you think you have one, have a cat scan done to make sure you are okay -- if you are throwing everything up, it makes sense you wouldn't have normal bowels but if you continue to throw stuff up, there is something wrong.  This is NOT normal and be your own advocate and insist on tests!!!!

Three weeks ago I drove myself to the ER believing I had a bowel obstruction.  I had what is known as a Peterson's Hernia (which obstructed my small intestine).  It took 2 days to stabilize me in order to have surgery.  I posted a link a couple of weeks ago how the rny procedure done the old way (limb in back) causes (for some) the small intestine to herniate.  I knew from the moment I left my house that I was racing the clock as the pain was out of control.  The vomiting did not start until after I had been admitted.  The first course of action was to insert an NG tube to try and decompress the obstruction, which for me did not work then the next 24 hours was just letting me upchuck everything so I would not aspirate during surgery.  The low blood pressure 70/50 was the least of anyone's concern at the time.   I would be concerned about the lack of a BM but that could be a result of diet as well.  At any rate get it checked and quickly.  FYI hours after repairing the hernia I was cruising the hospital halls feeling wonderful.

I'm glad you're OK.

You should not have driven to the hospital.  You could have killed yourself or someone else.
I'm sure you are aware of this now but I thought I'd mention it for others reading this post so that they don't think they can safely drive to themselves to the hospital.

If anyone can't get someone to drive them, call 911 and catch a ride!

Obviously a "DUH" moment for me and certainly I am not advocating it.

I've had several.  See signature line.

I will add you as a friend so you can read my profile.

If you had a full obstruction, you would not be able to type on the computer.

It's possible you have a partial obstruction but *to me* it sounds more like a Peterson's Hernia.

PHs and most partial bowel obstructions will not appear on imaging such as CT Scans.  The full obstruction showed on a CT Scan. 

All others were all found by presentation of symptoms, history, and exploratory surgery.

I hope you are better soon!

I had a full obstruction and was on the computer. Screaming, but on the computer-- took 5 days to actually get admitted and have it corrected. Gah! (was treated and released from ERs despite my specifically saying ,"I AM SURE THIS IS A BOWELOBSTRUCTION!")

Run, don't walk ,to your surgeon.

Vanessa ,
Please add me to your friends list,,,I am wanting to read about your anemia as I have it as well
Thanks
Shirley
LOVE KEITH URBAN TOO :) 

I recently was hospitalized with a hernai and adhesions that caused a bowel obstruction.  I had two surgeries within 2 months and was in intensived care for 10 days, in the hospital for almost two months.  I would be very interested in reading your profile and your journey.  I am scared that it will happen again.  I am now down from over 300 lbs to 133.  I am skin and bones and have lost all my body fat.  I cannot gain weight, but at least I have not lost any more.
Thank you for sharing your journey, and I hope you will share.

deb

I had a peterson hernia also. I had a stomach ache about 11 am and emergency surgery by 8pm that night. It became an unbarable (sp?) stomach pain. It took an MRI to see the flip in the intestine. If you have one you will know it! No questions ask. Good luck!