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Anyone with colonic inertia also have small intestine inertia??

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Posted 10/4/2008 9:24 PM (GMT 0)
 

My friend Lori had surgery to remove her colon on September 8, with the small intestine attached to the rectum. In the hospital she had about 5 bm's a day, but as time has gone on she is having nothing but severe spasms and gas pains and hardly having any bm's at all. She is on strong painkillers and says it feels like labor pain! I feel so bad for her, after all she's been through already. Her doctor had told her to take no laxatives or anything until he saw her, so we're hoping something like Miralax or a muscle relaxer might help. Or how about that med Motilium?

She has an appointment (finally!) this Monday with her surgeon. I hope he has a solution for her!  Have any of you had this small bowel inertia, or known someone who did, and if so, can anything be done?? 

Post Edited (KAP) : 5/21/2009 5:47:10 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 10/5/2008 1:43 PM (GMT 0)
KAP--Sorry, I cannot help you with your question, but I think you should check out the threads by topic and somewhere around page 10 or 12 you'll find ones on Colonic Inertia. Some of them are in regards to your question. Remember, just because you have the same diagnosis, doesn't mean you will have the same outcome. I have CD and many of us have/had different problems with the diagnosis. I would always recommend a doctor who is a SPECIALIST with your diagnosis...just because someone will treat you, doesn't mean they are the right doctor.

I hope you find those threads helpful and I am sure someone will be along with more help...
Posted 10/6/2008 12:13 PM (GMT 0)

Hi KAP,

My daughter had CI,and had her colon taken out...but during this whole process they were doing testing on her small intestine also,to see if there was any problems...turned out that there was,and we had to have more s/x,to remove some of small intestine and go to an illeostomy. She did not go even w/ medicine,after they connected her small intestine to her rectum..but they also found some problems w/ rectum...but like OHIO76 said everyone is different...but the doctors should do testing on small intestine,rectum etc...before the s/x. Also I know of some people that still have to take some forms of laxitive even after operation... We love having the bag though...but we tried everything else b4 we went to this...If you have any more questions  about anything you can e-mail [email protected]

Krista & Takera

Posted 11/9/2008 8:36 PM (GMT 0)
idea  Hi KAP, I am sorry that your and your friend Lori are suffering. I had my entire large intestine removed and had my small intestine connected to my rectum on August 27, 2008. I am remembering this day well because even though I am going through cramping and extreme discomfort the pain of 8 years of suffering with Diverticulosis, constipation, colon polyps, and IBS/GERD. You name it and I have dealt with it when it comes to diseased intestines. I had some of the same symptoms that your friend is having since he surgery. My doctor performed a procedure that stretches the connection site of the small intestine to the rectum. Apparently it is common for this site to constrict and narrow. My doctor did a Sygmoidoscopy and this was a non-invasive technique. There was no cutting or opening me up so I call this non-evasive. They performed this through my rectum. I was sedated and what she did was once she got to the connection site she used a balloon type of instrument and stretched it open. I went from a connection site size 3mm to a 20mm. I make a difference in the gas and digestion department. Now I don't have nausea/vomiting. I am able to drink all my massive amounts of water and not feel like I am filling up a water balloon waiting to burst. I continue to have cramping and I am on mild pain meds. I no longer suffer from constipation. As for my advise to you..... HAVE THE SURGERY!! It is a rough recovery as you know what your friend is going through. Just know that everyones body and pain level is different and not living in-and-out of the hospital is a blessing. I have suffered for the past 8 long years with intestinal dysfunction. I continue to pray for strength. I remind myself that now I am in the healing stage so I will get better. Keep us all posted with your decision. Having an awesome doctor/specialist is the key to success!

                                                                      Ramamoorthy's Friend.....................

Posted 11/14/2008 8:35 PM (GMT 0)
Hello Ramamorthy,
Thanks so much for your post. Yeah, it's really rough for Lori right now and I worry for her so much.
So you had the surgery recently as well. I'm sorry you're in so much pain, too, after the surgery! And sorry to hear you've gone through so much for so long. I told my friend about how your doctor stretched the connection site. Her doctor has pretty much said she is "fine" (even though she only poops once a day and has severe pain without the muscle relaxer she takes) and has released her. Really angers me!! Anyway, I'm really glad the stretching helped you with some of your symptoms. Are you taking anything for the pain you're still having? Like I said, muscle relaxers (Flexeril is what Lori is taking) can help immensely. I am hoping you feel better every day, and I thank you for the encouragement to have surgery. I'm just not sure about it.... really scared, after what I've seen Lori do. I'm scared I may have the inertia in my small intestine as well, like her, and still be sick like I am now b/c I can't get the waste out of my body. I'm praying a lot about what to do.
You hang in there and keep taking it a day at a time! Hugs to you.
Posted 12/25/2008 12:37 AM (GMT 0)
I have both colonic inertia and small bowel inertia
you can email me at: [email protected]
Posted 7/1/2013 2:00 AM (GMT 0)
I have had 43 surgeries on my small intestines. If you want more info, pls email me at [email protected]. Or call me at 803-317-9901. Hope I can help :)
Posted 4/12/2017 9:18 PM (GMT 0)
Hello, I'm new to this thread, I see the last post was in 2013, but hoping to connect with others with colonic inertia. Currently I'm going through lots of tests and being worked up for subtotal colectomy. I wanted advice from others. I'm 51 years old, have had constipation since childhood. magnesium stopped working, senna stopped working, miralax never worked, Linzess works. Enemas sometimes work but partial. It got worse a year ago and i'm in constant pain, almost, but have to do enemas all the time. I have heard pros and cons about the surgery. would like to connect with others going through this and hear some advice.
thank you
Posted 4/13/2017 12:50 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Tracey,
I have colonic inertia and like you, constipation got progressively worse over the years. I'm 63 and knew I had to exhaust all the medication routes and whatnot before what I thought might be a colon "resection". As it turned out, because of the pelvic floor problems and whatnot, I had to have an ileostomy. I was to the point that I wasn't having a BM but every 10 days or 2 weeks at which time I was miserable. The sitz marker test showed that what should have gone through my system in 34 hours, took over 135 hours.

I had the surgery on 2.2.17. They left the large bowel/colon in place. I have a loop ileostomy which theoretically could be reversed, but with the pelvic floor issues, I am sure it won't be. I was released after 3 days but had to be readmitted two days later because of projectile vomiting, pain and dehydration... I guess due to an ileus. There were blockages in each bend of the small intestine. The surgeon was concerned that the slow/inertia might also be in the small intestine but it may be because of the time it takes for everything to wake up. Getting everything under control was pretty miserable but two weeks later I was finally able to come home and recuperate. I'm already very happy with the surgery... in fact, I'm astounded to realize what should have been going through my digestive system, including toxins. Likely because of age and whatnot, the recovery is taking a little longer that I originally thought. Still, so grateful to not have to do so many enemas, suppositories etc.. It's quite a learning curve and a new way of life but I'm looking forward to being able to be even more active that I was before the surgery.

I hope you're able to find some relief. I have met some amazing people and have been humbled by the help and support I've received. If I can do even a part of the same for you, I'd be delighted.

Keep in touch, Vicki
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