Blockage??? How do you handle it?

Hey guys,

I had some severe pain LRQ on Friday morning but it eventually went away. Friday evening it came back, eased off a bit and was gone when I first woke up this morning. Tonight it came back with a vengeance for about 4 hours and it is just now easing up. I am still having output (but its more liquid the last two days), my stoma is larger than it usually is and I think my tummy is larger but not hard. I am not vomiting and I do not have a fever. I occasionally feel weird....dizzy and like I just do not want to eat....

I took a warm shower, changed my bag and made the cut out larger than usual so Freddie has some wiggle room and took 2 tablespoons of Milk of Magnesia. It worked and I had some liquid out put. I still have intermittent pain. I plan on switching to liquids only for the next 3-7 days and continue taking the Milk of Magnesia twice a day until this pain and bloated feeling ease.

I thought I would try that and try to wait until my May 16th appointment with my doctors.

Does this sound like a good plan to you all? When do you know you are in trouble and should get to the ER? Or should I just go liquids Sunday and call the doctors on Monday.

I am so confused. I thought the colostomy would alleviate this stuff......😯

Thanks for your help!
Clo

Well, I don't have a stoma anymore but how I tackled suspected blockages isn't much different to now. Basically, stop eating, drink plenty of hot liquids, lie down and search for a position which relieved the pain and gently massage my stomach to try to get things moving. A shower with water as hot as you can bear it and the jet aimed at the painful area can also help. In general heat on the affected area is soothing. If I'm lying down on the sofa I sometimes place a cup of hot tea on my abdomen. But if you're prone to nodding off, deffo don't do that.

I'm not sure if taking the Milk of Magnesia is a good idea. Seems to me anything which is a laxative may just make the pain and bloating worse.

Unfortunately having a stoma doesn't stop blockages from happening - I wish it did :/ That said, with a colostomy you should have more wiggle room for eating fibrous, indigestible stuff than somebody with an ileostomy, just because the stoma is that much bigger. If it keeps on happening I would get tested for Crohn's, just in case it's inflammation which is causing a narrowing.

Thank you NCOT and Benny....

I walked all Over the house, drank lots of hot beverages, took a hot shower with the stream power blasting my tummy, laid down and massaged and prayed and then cursed and prayed some more.....and finally itbroke free. Thank Goodness!!!!

I ate 3 Lima beans-chewed each one 50 times and assumed I would be safe....... Nope... The next day Freddie didn't work at all and he was really trying....
No more beans for me!!! Scared the living s.....daylight outta me!!!!

Thanks again for your suggestions and saving me an ER bill! !!

Clo

Benny,

Yea.....I knew better. I just kept thinking it was only 3. They were all eaten separately and chewed...but it still happened. No more beans for me.

My girlfriend came over with some home and beans. She put them in a food processor, added bunch of water and then drained them....and they were still like sludge when she sat the watery bean broth in the mesh strainer....it got all backed up and they would not drain. (She's big on visuals)

No more beans for me! (She did the same thing to show me the husks in corn and peas...) spoilsport....Lol

Hey, Thanks for your response and suggestions!
Clo

Clo

yup, if you can stomach a glass of wine- that helps- just 1! Then clear liquids. Walking, bending, not eating... I've had 2 actual blockages, not partials, & didn't go anywhere except to bed. By the time I had coffee the next AM, they were cleared. One hurt really bad, one not so much. You can massage the area around the stoma too, that helps pop stuff out.