Posted 7/29/2013 5:11 PM (GMT 0)
Single stricture at the terminal ileum here.
Most of the time it was relatively painless. But I could feel a sense of pressure there, lasting anything from a few seconds to a few minutes. Then it would be relieved with a gurgle, more pressure, more gurgling, etc. until everything had passed through the stricture.
Occasionally it would develop into something more acute. It would begin with feeling quite ill and bilious, with a temperature. The pressure would increase in intensity and was constant - no gurgles to relieve it. At the same time, I would have these excruciatingly painful, wave-like cramps. Eventually, the blockage would slowly resolve itself, with intense, massive gurgles I could both hear and feel.
The whole episode would take anything from a few hours to a day and was immensely gruelling. But such obstructions were relatively rare.
I have a stoma now, but when the surgeon said don't eat mushrooms, she meant don't eat mushrooms. I'ma be throwing stuff out of the window if this current uncomfortableness, which is uncannily similar to what I felt with a TI stricture, is due to anything other than an unfortunate food choice.