Question:
Has anyone had a obstructed bowl

For a week now Ive been having off and on abdominal pain and the pain goes to my back. I thought and my doctors office thought it was just gas. Last night I had a lose bowl movement but it was hard to pass. As I was having the bowl movement, the pain eased off some. But after the bowl movement the pain was the same. When I lie down on the spot that hurts, that eases the pain too. I dont know if this is just gas or something else.    — barfiep01 (posted on May 1, 2007)

May 1, 2007
Hi Patiricia. I am so sorry you are having pain! I had the same pain/symptoms as you, but I tried to ignore them. Turns out I did indeed have a bowel obstruction. Please call your surgeon right away. If you have any doubts, you can go to the emergency room and have an abdominal cat scan. That would determine if there is an obstruction. Please don't wait. A little problem can be dealt with if you catch it early. Pain is your body's way of saying something is wrong. Keep me posted, and good luck! -Pam
   — pjwilsen

May 1, 2007
Hi patricia, Where is the pain? It is common for gall stones to form during rapid weight loss. It is also common for pain from the gall bladder to radiate to the back...is the pain located in the center to the right of the upper abdomen? If that is the case you may have gall stones. I hope you feel better but yes, do get it checked out more thoroughly.
   — SteffieBear15

May 1, 2007
I agree that you need to see your doc. Be persistant! I had a bowel obstruction very early on caused by swelling. My symptoms were vomitting. I could not keep anything down including my own saliva. (sorry to be gross) I had no pain.
   — robinmarra

May 2, 2007
My guess is that you are constipated. I am wondering if you might even be impaced---hard, dry stool that gets stuck in the rectum and can cause loose stool to leak out around it. A bowel obstruction is an emergency. People who have this tend to have very acute symptoms--abdominal pain, abdominal distension, and severe vomiting--some cannot even swallow saliva, and/or vomiting of feces. Try using google or yahoo to read up on fecal impaction and bowel obstruction. If you suspect the later, I suggest a trip to the ER, ASAP. Either way, you need to see your doctor (or surgeon) about this. Take care.
   — mrsidknee

May 2, 2007
Hope you are feeling better Patricia. I have had both gall bladder surgery and a surgery for obstructed bowel. Similar pain, deep inside my stomach and in my lower back .... the gall bladder mainly just pain ....the bowel obstruction was both pain and bloating and my stomach felt very hard, the bloating and hardness was happening about every 3rd or 4th day for a few weeks ... I kept thinking I was eating something that was causing the symptoms ... wrong...best have your Doc check you out just to be safe. Rainee
   — Rainee

May 3, 2007
I had an incident 2 years ago and was in the hospital for a week. I had developed a stricture in my intestine. It's basicly when there is a spot of irritation to an area where there's some scar tissue... the area swells, blocks the flow and is really painful. I was like the other gal who couldn't even swallow my own saliva. I could feel my intestional track kicking into action and moving even that through...then when it hit the hot spot...OH MAMMA!!! They had given me xrays, cat scans and finally, an MRI. My docs opted to keep me in the hospital on iv fluids and meds for a while hoping thatit would resolve itself, and it did. There are probibly other docs who would jump right on the opportunity to remove part of the intestine, but I was happy that mine decided to wait and see. I think there's another name for it, but I honestly am drawing a blank right now... they told me that it can occur at any time post op as a result of any handling of the intestine at all. I guess that makes sense. I was 5 years post op, and haven't had any other problems before or since. Hope this helped!!
   — CharlieGirl

May 3, 2007
Patricia, I did just have surgery for an obstructed bowel on March 30th. I strongly advise you to call your surgeon and ask to be seen as you think you may have an obstructed bowel. You don't want to mess around if you have one. If you had passed stool that was hard, like you were constipated, then you could think it was something else, but with loose stool, you have every reason to think you might need to be seen. Waiting can make things worse, and obstructed bowels can become very serious very quickly. Please see your surgeon, and don't let them talk you out of it. What you can do to help yourself while you wait to see them is take a dose of milk of magnesia. it is awful stuff but it keeps the stool lose and passes it pretty good. If it does not, all the more reason to see them right away. If loose stool doesn't pass well, you need to be seen. Best to you. Patricia P.
   — Patricia P

May 6, 2007
I hope that you've had this looked at by now! I had similar pain and ignored it and wound up in the ER with a ruptured colon and peritonitis. After 2 weeks in intensive care I got to go home with a colostomy bag-which thankfully they reversed a year later...This is not something to mess with! Had I gone in when it first started, I would not have had to go through all that.
   — Arabella