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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 7/31/2014 5:01 PM (GMT 0)
I was diagnosed with Crohn's about 2 years ago (strictures) and am now in remission.

However, I've been having problems with frequency, urgency, abdominal pain, and loose stools. I get diarrhea if I go off my meds (bentyl and Imodium) for even a day.

My doctor ordered an MR Enterography of my small bowel to make sure my Crohn's wasn't back. Everything looked normal, but it said my colon was impacted.

I understand that you can have liquid diarrhea when you are impacted, but that's not the case. I have been having formed stools. It seems impossible that I am impacted.

Please give me any feedback, I'm confused and trying to figure out what is wrong with my stomach right now.

Thoughts?

Posted 7/31/2014 7:10 PM (GMT 0)
I'm confused about what exactly was done.

Were you taking immodium and bentyl at the time you had the MRI?

I had some issues maybe similar to yours (soft stool, upper GI pain, irregular bowels) and an abdominal CT showed that my bowel was full of stool. DRs tend to call a slow bowel "constipation" even when the stool is soft.

I don't know how an MRI would identify impacted stool specifically. Is it showing that there is a chunk of tool stuck at some point in the bowel and the rest of the bowel above and below is empty?

Posted 7/31/2014 7:40 PM (GMT 0)
Imodium and Bentyl were taken the day before the MRI, about afternoon time.  I did the 6 hour fast before the MRI and did not take any medications the day of.

I received a call that said there was a note on the MRI results that said my colon was full of stool and impacted.  It was vague and I was surprised they specifically said impacted rather than just constipated.  I'll have to ask my doc for more information.

It just confuses me that I have been regularly going to the bathroom, even with meds, and am somehow "impacted".

Posted 7/31/2014 9:10 PM (GMT 0)
I would not focus on the word impacted and instead think about the slow bowel.

I changed a couple of things to improve this (and by the way I have never taken immodium or bentyl, both of which slow the bowel).

First I adopted a gluten free diet. This essentially eliminated the soft bowel stool problem.

While working on the slow bowel my GI recommended I use miralax. I tried the recommended dose and had terrible diarrhea. I experimented and ended up taking about 1/4 capsule daily to keep things going but I still didn't like it. I then opted to forget miralax and I added psyllium instead. This bulked up my stool and got me going almost daily.
Posted 8/1/2014 2:57 AM (GMT 0)
sometimes when my guts are shifting to a new normal, i'll feel constipated but still be passing formed stool. i picture it like a traffic jam due to lane closure. cars still get through and behave normally once they're through the jam, but while it's in the jam it's not behaving normally. so maybe that part is impacted, but once the poo gets past it it gets passed normally.

or maybe not. i dunno.
Posted 8/3/2014 1:36 PM (GMT 0)
This happens to my son quite frequently. He can be pooping but be impacted. the name of the game is getting ahead of it. We do a full clean out on him and then maintain. He is on elemental nutrition for 90% of his nutrition. It has no fiber so it is very constipating. He does better with regular exercise that includes using his abdominal muscles.
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