sitz marker test

I am new here .. not really sure where to put this post .. anyway

I was dignosed  with IBS for many years ,, I have never been too sure it was a correct diagnosis but with no other answers ..i took it.

I have had multiple abdominal surgeries ..and since the first one from an exploratory lap/gangrene infection in female organs... i have been constipated so bad .. all my surgeries componded the issue .. i think my colon nerves were hurt and my colon just doesnt work well anymore.

I have been in the ER because of severe left side pain ..ct showd my colon was filled to capacity on that side and the rest of the colon..yet i had no feeling of bowel movement. I was sent to a gastro doc and he ordered a colonoscopy .. it too a full week of clear fluids  - laatives - Moviprep and enemas to clean out.. previously i had been on 3 laxatives a day.

The doc said my colon was tied up in knots - significant loops and totuous colon,, he said it was very hard to get through but did.

He said afterward he wanted to do a sitz marker test which i am on day three of the capsules ,, i have had movement .. i think because of the bowel prep 4 days prior to this test .. but no rings in stool .. (can you even see them?) i go for my xray thursday. He thinks i have colonic inertia.. i think so too.  During the past couple of days on these capsules my stomach is distened and painful .. also around my belly button and upper right side hurts bad. Could this be caused from the marks?

and wondering .. if you have a bowel movement on this test can you see them come out??

I hope they find the problem soon .. have been ill with this condition for way too long! ppl always ask me when i am expecting lol .. so embarrasin to go anywhere..

Thank you for your reply and thoughts - I am on day 3 of sitz marks - tomorrow will begin xrays.

Yea I thought it was a little early to begin these but ... just doing what they asked me to.

i still feel like the laxatives i had before the colonoscopy are still working and should have waited a couple of weeks at least.  I did have CT scans both with and without contrast earlier last month  - so he had an idea of what was going on before the colonoscopy.

He told me before he began he believes it is colonic inertia. I just hope i dont hae to repeat this mark test.

Wondering what the other tests are about  for CI ?

 

No i haven't had any of the tests you listed .. i have only had ct scans - colonoscopy -and now the markers ... he told me there would be more tests coming up so maybe those are the ones he will have me do.
I think he is pretty confidant in his diagnosis so far due to former studies i have had in the past.. all of which would say large amount of stool - redundant bowel.
I was prescribed Amitiza ..but have not taken any yet due to the colonoscopy and now marker test.
I have no idea what i am facing to tell you the truth.
Just beyond ready to feel good and not look 9 months pregnant and in pain.

I just had my first xray for te sitz marks - they told me nothing afterward - except i was through for today. No mention of how many markers were seen or not seen. She said they would call me if more xrays are needed only. So wondering am i done or not? Maybe they will call ..
I am 49 i have suffered for many years .. since 1980 that i know of after a surgery - i had gangrene from an infection - had my left fallopian tube - ovary - appendix - and small part of my colon removed.
I have been told i have IBS for years - but have have multiple obstructions and hospitalized once for that.. Every xray - barium study - ct scan etc.. always have come back redunant colon and large amount of stool in colon.
Recently my left side fely like it was going to explode sharp severe pain!! they gave me another ct scan and it said the same thing .. they gave me pain meds in a iv and prescription - sent me home.
my Dr then sent me to a Gastro doc..and he ordered a colonoscpy - before he began he said he knew what was wrong but had to do the colonoscopy first .. my colonhad so much looping and twisting that he had a very hard time technically getting through but did finally. Then he ordered this sitz mark test - 5 days afterward began the 3 day sitz marks.
SO Ready to feel normal again .. i look like i am pregnant most the time.. ppl ask me when i am expecting lol i always say .. I HOPE any day now!

thanks - yea it has been a journey.
could be adhesions although i am not certain.
i will let you know about the xray.
Was your condition similar?

they usually need only one xray 5 days after swallowing the capsule. if after 5 days more than about 80% of the markers are still in, it's abnormal. in healthy intestines the markers should be out after 2-3 days. its also depends on where the markers are located in the colon. if they are all gathered at the rectum, then that means the colon is working ok, but there's an outlet disorder - problem with the rectum only, but if they are scattered throughout the colon, that means the whole colon doesn't function.

i had colonic inertia too. it started when i was 20 yrs old. i didn't have any abdominal surgeries. i didn't have any kind of surgery at all. it was just that on age 20 my colon decided that he was tired and stopped working. i just stopped having bms on my own. it went on till the age of 36 till i finally had a colectomy w/ileo-rectal anstomosis. that was on Aug 2009. it didn't work and i still was very constipated and very miserable so i opted for an ileostomy. very happy with it and feel the best i've felt in 17 yrs. maybe if i had the colectomy sooner, it would have been more successful and i wouldn't have needed a bag, but anyway, the bag is not so bad at all, i love it.

thanks. my drs said i should try the loop (temporary) ileostomy to see if it helps. i have severe anismus, which means the puborectalis muscle that holds the pelvic organs stays tight when it's supposed to relax during a bm and thus blocking the stools from passing. i tried lots of biofeedback treatments and they didn't do anything for me. i can't expel anything from the rectum on my own. for some reason drs all over the world have this theory that creating a loop ileostomy may give the rectum/pelvic/puborectalis a rest for a while and it then may start to function right. i wish that were true, but it's bull! anyway my drs offered a temporary ileostomy, but i knew there was no hope my rectum will ever start functioning again, so i asked for an end ileo (permanent). but they don't usually go for an end ileo at first.

now that it's been more than 7 mons since my ileo op, i can tell that my rectum will never work again, cuz ppl with temp ileos have mucous discharge from their rectum/pouch at least once a week, some ppl have every day, some of them even several times a day (an ostomate friend of mine goes 6-7/day). well it's been more than 7 mons and it hasn't happened for me yet. nothing comes out of my rectum on it's own. right after surgery i waited for 6 weeks. nothing happened. not even a drop of mucous came out. i just felt my lower abdomen and rectum are going to explode, very painful. the kind of pain that wakes you up at night several times (every 30 mins-hour) and no pain meds help with that, cuz they don't change the fact that my rectum is exploding with mucous. so i tried an enema, but even enemas don't help much. it's just too discouraging. so i'm saying this, cuz this only proves that my rectum/puborectalis is not relaxing and never will.

just to correct you, removal of the colon is called colectomy, not colonectomy. at least i never heard anyone calls it colonectomy.

another problem i have is that my small intenstine is also very slow. i'll hardly have anything coming out to the bag if i don't drink lots of prune juice + pear juice (fresh squized - has also a laxative affect). i mostly eat only a soft-liquid diet, otherwise the juices won't work well and it gets really painful when the stools buids up in there. but yes, even tho i still have issues, it IS still so much better than before the colectomy and ileostomy surgeries. at least now prune and pear juice are helping a lot, which before didn't move anything for me. this is the best i can get i guess and i'm thankful for that.

i'm sorry if my story may scare you, but let me reassure you that not everyone ends up like me and most ppl with colonic inertia have a normal small intestine. but the pelvic floor, that's something that does go along with colonic inertia. you must make sure they do all the tests to find out whether your small inetstine and rectum are functioning ok, which means do a motility test of the small intestine + the tests i listed for the pelvic.

up untill the age of 20 my bowels were totally healthy and i would have at least one huge bm a day. i could eat anything i wanted and my bowels were functioning great. i don't know what caused my bowels to cease working all of the sudden at the age of 20, and drs have no idea either. they have some theories of a hormonal imbalance (b/c it's mainly a women's disease) + a nerve damage. but they are really not sure of anything at all.

the waiting is the most aweful part..... believe me, i know. hang in and please keep me posted on that. you'll have to mention to your dr that you felt the prep for the colonoscopy was still working during this test.

you can read about my surgery in this link:
https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=33&m=1566733&p=4

generally, if you google "total colectomy part 3" (1 and 2 are hard to find), you'll get the thread where all the girls with CI are. there's a whealth of information there to help you learn about this disease, the surgery and it's outcome. it is a LOT to read, but it's priceless info that no dr can give you, but those who went through it themselves. you can go on and read part 3 till i think 36 or something like that. now they started a new thread, but they called it "total colectomy 2.2011". anyway, the link i gave you is part 25 where i had my colectomy. it's on page 4. reading those threads you'll learn that most women had much much better success than me. me, unfortunately, i am at the bad side of the statistics, so don't let my story scare you.

hope you're hanging in and pls keep me posted.

thank you for your kind words. they don't usually remove the rectum if it is not diseased and only just doesn't function. besides, they thought i may want to go back and close the stoma, so they can't just remove right at first. third, removing the rectum is a very complicated surgery and involves many complications, b/c it's in the pelvic floor and the pelvic is a very delicated area, esp for women.

unfotunately, with CI it was proved that by removing only part of the colon is not enough and usually those who had only part of it removed didn't have good results from it and had to go back to remove the rest of it.

your births were tough, i hope your pelvic floor still has a chance. the problem is usually not with weakness, but just the opposite - too tight rectum, or a prolapse, rectocele that causes an incomlete evacuation or inability to evacuate at all. hope the amitiza gives you some relief, at least for now.

have a blessed day!

was your xray 5 days after swallowing the first capsule? i don't know where the markers were located in your xray, but 64 is way too many, esp considering the colonoscopy's prep was still in your system. you must mention the prep issue to your dr, i'm sure he'll realize how bad the result would have been if you hadn't had that prep in you. hang in and keep me posted on your dr's appt.

Hi Kaylin and Welcome!

I didn't have the traditional sitz marker test like everyone on this site as my gi does a very in depth study of the whole gi track and the markers.  I started with a barium burger study followed by swallowing a capsule with 50 rings.  My dr then took pictures with a special image machine he has every day except Sundays until the rings were through your colon.  I continued to take 4 capfuls of miralax, 4 tablespoons of lactulose and 2 amitiza every day throughout my testing because like you my previous colonoscopy preps took 10 days to go through my system.  My dr was unable to perform my colonoscopy a couple of times due to the delay of the preps.  Even with taking the laxatives I still had rings in my small intestine 3 weeks later when my dr finally stopped the test.  I had a large pouch where stool gathered at the cecum and many strictures throughout my colon.  I ended up with a subtotal colectomy in July of '08 and it was the best thing that ever happened to me!!!!!  I had a very successful surgery, great recovery, and healing.  There have been a few bumps along the road but mainly due to dr (other) issues causing me gi problems.

There was never any problem with me having that many markers in my system and I really never knew when they all finally came out because back then I would go 2-3 weeks between bms and then they were only pellet like even with all that medicine.  So don't worry about the markers, they won't harm you.  If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them for you.

I wish you the very best!

Judy

Hi Kaylin,

I wasn't in a lot of pain from my surgery but like you I've had many abdominal surgeries and have a high tolerance for pain.  My surgery was open due to all of my abdominal surgeries (didn't dare to do lap for fear of adhesions/scar tissue).  I had an NG tube for one day, an epidural following surgery for pain control (absolutely the BEST!!!) plus it helps to keeps the intestines from "falling asleep" after surgery, 2 drains, a catherer while the epidural was in.  I was in the hospital for 5 days and out of work for 6 weeks.  My bms were extremely loose at first and about 20 a day then went to 8-10 by 6 weeks then by 9-12 mos 2-5.  At the 2 yr mark about 2 a day.  I stay on a low residue diet due to having extreme diarrhea when I eat fresh fruit; haven't tried fresh veggies, seeds or nuts.  Have never had an accident, blockage or complication and love that I had this surgery!!!!!!

Yes I did go back to work after 6 weeks but it honestly took my body almost a year to completely heal.  You REALLY have to take care of yourself and LET people do things for you and rest.

I wish you the very best and a very, very SUCCESSFUL surgery!!!!

Judy

Kaylin,

Most drs take into acct all of the abdominal surgeries one has had; I had 4 bikini cut, 3 laps & 1 open before my colectomy so my surgeon wouldn't even try a lap surgery even though it is one of his specialties and I'd had lysis of adhesions/scar tissue 2 years earlier.  Honestly the NG tube was the worst part of the surgery and I've had them before so it wasn't like it was anything new, they are just sooooo uncomfortable!!!!!!

When you get closer to surgery let me know and I'll help you with questions to ask your surgeon as well as things to get ready for home and the hospital.  I've helped many people on here and it's nice to know what makes this surgery easier from beginning to end:)

Judy

I just got in from my appt.

The Dr. told i have CI - the sitz test results were ..

25 ringlets over the right lower quadrant (cecum) - 8 ringlets project over the upper right quadrant .. the left upper quadrant has 26 ringlets. The left lower quadrant has 4 ringlets.

Mind you i was still feeling the effects of laxatives from a colonoscopy 5 days prior to this test..had that not been an issue this test would have been worse.

He shook his head and said .. i dont know what else to do .. he lowered the Amitiza to 8mg and wants me to take Miralax..

He said he is going to refer me to a surgeon after i meet with him in 4 weeks.

He discussed total colectomy with ileostomy .. alot of that went over my head of what he was saying ... but basically he says that is the last resort but i am just about there.

So one month of a medicine that makes me sick at high doses  - i havent tried the 8mg yet ..he also gave me compazine for nausea.

That was my appt .. any thoughts?