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sphincter of steel...

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Posted 7/14/2008 7:17 PM (GMT 0)
Ok, sorry for the title of thread but I couldn't resist..... But yes, that is my claim to fame...... I can hold it in for hours- smiling and talking as sickening pain and pressure shoots through my mid section - always waiting until I get home for release.  (Old story:  bodily functions treated as almost shameful or rude in childhood causing something like a "shy colon")

I have done this for years and years including during UC flares.  In fact I think it was from such long practice of endurance that I was able to experience two unmedicated labors with barely a whimper. 

The few accidents I have had was during the night when nocturnal diarrhea was still a new thing.  But basically, well, I use the spincter of steel to keep everything in its place until I'm in a comfortable space which usually means home.

However, 5 weeks ago I had fistulotomy (kyptonite!) which involved an incision through my sphincter muscle and well, to be blunt, now gas just arrives at my formally secure exit and hardly slows before loudly blowing on through..... No Matter Where I Am. 

Obviously I find this very embarrassing. Also I am having some leakage which is also disheartening.  Also, like murphy's-law-icing-on-the-cake,  I have been feeling well enough to get back to running regularly but find that toward the end of my run I am having some urinary incontinence as well.  And I kegel! 

Honestly, I just had to whine about this.  I hate losing control of anything and I can't imagine bringing this up in pretty much any conversation I have had recently with family or friend...so thanks for reading. 

 

Posted 7/14/2008 11:18 PM (GMT 0)

thats funny - your description of sphincter of steel.  I was the same exact way before UC.  I would hold back poop for hours while at work waiting to get home before going.  I even would not go for days when traveling to new places (new bathrooms).  There were very, very few places I was comfortable pooping before UC.  I think it became an unconsious thing.  My body just sorta shut-down colon-wise when leaving home, but once I'd get home it was like someone flipped a switch and suddenly I would have to go.

Posted 7/15/2008 12:09 AM (GMT 0)
wow i'm jealous! when the urge is there, i need to find a bathroom asap
Posted 7/15/2008 1:01 AM (GMT 0)
omg... it doesnt matter where i am, who im with or whats going on... if i need a can, get outta my way.
i can go anywhere really.
not one of those shy people at all.
much to my husbands dismay, i usually forget to close the door. hehe.

although, knock on wood (lots of woood), i have not yet had an accident!
i have magickally always made it to the toilet.
so, i would like to take a moment and thank my sphincter for its role in this matter.
thank you.
Posted 7/15/2008 11:34 PM (GMT 0)
hey madabs, I unfortunaely do not have a sphincter of steel, nothing like it! I wish though. But- how did the fistulotomy go? Is it closed? I still have mine- we just upped my Imuran dose to 150mgs/day to see if that has any effect. If not, the only other options are surgery or live with it...

Posted 7/16/2008 5:25 AM (GMT 0)
I don't have a sphincter of steel, but I usually can get to a can. Only once did I "blow up the briefs."
Posted 7/16/2008 1:12 PM (GMT 0)
Jars - ROF**** Never heard that term . . .I love it!

Madabs - I feel your pain, my family instilled that there was no acceptable bodily function that should be shown in public, they were so bad about it that to even sneeze you were supposed to leave the room. I hope you can get things worked out. . .keep going with the kegels, they do help. After delivering my son I couldn't sneeze or cough without incontinence, I kept kegeling and I can cough and sneeze with the best of them. . .just give it some time those muscles seem to take forever to get into shape.
Posted 7/16/2008 1:48 PM (GMT 0)
Well, having the sphincter of steel actually caused me a lot of pain, but it certainly had is advantages! I guess that is why I am bummed out my sphinster muscles have weakened from surgery. As for the bathroom habit repression from childhood - I thought I was the only one.

Eva Lou - I'm 5 weeks post op and surgeon says at least another four weeks to go yet - the wound still looks huge to me, but doc says it is doing good. It is still sore, but nothing like the fistula before the surgery. Don't you have a RVF? I didn't think they could operate on those. I am very lucky because my fistula was anal-rectal and was not too high for surgery.

Peanut Mom - you must be a much better kegel-er than I because I last gave birth eight years ago and if my bladder is full I still have to cross my legs before I sneeze.
Posted 7/16/2008 2:09 PM (GMT 0)

It is an RVF, & yeah, they can operate.... however, it's a major pain to do & there's no guarantee it won't just re-open! hence my hesitation to rush off to the surgeon. I really have no idea how they operate on one to make it close, but my GI tells me the surgeon who would have done my proctocolectomy is a genius at operating on fistulas. Wow though, good deal for you!! I'm so jealous. I will keep taking the higher dose of Imuran for 6 motnhs or so, & if it's still there then go talk with a surgeon. Maybe. I also keep thinking if I ever have to have surgery due to the UC, I can have it taken care of then. Speaking of kegels, I never do them, but have discovered some loss of ability to hold my bladder since my UC has been around. I always figured the straining & pushing one does during a flare has to affect the muscles to hold your urine in also. I don't have accidents or anything, even when I sneeze!!!, but I can't hold it as long as I used to be able too. Maybe it's just geting older.

Posted 7/16/2008 11:59 PM (GMT 0)
skull I had to laugh about this post because last night I went out for a 9 mile run....4.5 miles out 4.5 back. Problem is..when I reached 4.5 miles away from home that 'all too familiar feeling' comes over me...nowhere near a bathroom and I found myself praying to God to keep everything intact til I got home. Consider how hard it is to squeeze the cheeks while sitting still...imagine the feet thumping on asphalt! I knew if I slowed to a walk it would take twice as long to get home to a bathroom. I made it home..through the door...and I felt sick the rest of the night. On a good note I ran the full 9 miles..but as a result my guts were killin' me from testing my 'sphincters of steel' haha
Posted 7/17/2008 12:05 AM (GMT 0)
madabs, you are hillarious. What is a fistulatomy? Is it common with uc?
Posted 7/17/2008 1:44 PM (GMT 0)
Mellie, I feel your pain.  Running makes me have to go too!  I get up extra early on running days to empty myself out before leaving the house. Doc says to take immodium before going out to jog, but I haven't tried it yet.   Sounds like you had a great run!

bellski, a fistulotomy is surgical precedure to correct/remove a fistula (an abnormal tunnel that has formed between organs or between organs and skin.  they can form in many place on the body).  In my case, I had a fistula that formed a channel between the skin near the outside of my anus and my rectum. The surgeon cut along the top of the tunnel to open it up or "let some daylight in" as I say.  That was the fistulotomy. Fistula's are uncommon but not unheard of complication of UC, but are much more prevelant in those with Crohn's Disease - as least throughout the digestive system. 

Posted 7/17/2008 2:38 PM (GMT 0)
I have to say "Hat's off" to both of you for running. . . .I can't even think of trying to run! A brisk hike with my 27 pounds of son in a back pack pack and my 2 dogs is almost more than I can take! The thought of moving the pace of that hike up to a run terrifies me!
Posted 8/26/2008 9:18 PM (GMT 0)
I am a new member and I think my surgery was a fistulotomy. I had it on June 26 for a complex horseshoe fistula which means it goes from one side to the other. The surgeon put in 3 draining setons, 1 cutting seton and did a mucosal advancement flap. My question is how long will it take to heal and can an abscess re-occur?
Posted 8/26/2008 10:26 PM (GMT 0)

You'll likely get more replies if you pose your question over at the crohn's forum since fistulas are crohn's related and there's a lot of experianced crohnies with fistulas over there.

:)

anik45 said...
I am a new member and I think my surgery was a fistulotomy. I had it on June 26 for a complex horseshoe fistula which means it goes from one side to the other. The surgeon put in 3 draining setons, 1 cutting seton and did a mucosal advancement flap. My question is how long will it take to heal and can an abscess re-occur?

Posted 8/26/2008 11:20 PM (GMT 0)
My sport is golf, and in early 2007 I had a "suburethral sling" put in (outpatient surgery) because every time I drove the ball I had a little urine leak so had to wear an incontinence pantiliner. It was not a big deal (compared to the UC), but the surgery worked and it's a lot more comfortable without the liner.
I assume my bladder is tiny and weak because it never needed to build up size or strength! Or maybe it was just age-related; I never had children.
I tell my golfing buddies who are used to my stopping at the course bathroom every time that, now that I know about the gluten problem and my system is calmer, I might even grow a bladder by next summer...let's hope.
Posted 8/27/2008 12:15 AM (GMT 0)
My maiden name is Steele. My sphincter however seems to be made of cardboard.
Posted 8/27/2008 11:23 AM (GMT 0)
Madabs,

You crack me up as well as make me jealous. Prior to my UC dx, I was very active, but now when I get that feeling, I can resist once, twice, maybe three times before sudden impact. Running, walking, biking all jar things loose, which started leading to shortened exercise sessions, and now I can't barely squat down to pick things up without the urgency hitting me. You mentioned Immodium, and I tried it, but after a copule of days it caused me the worst cramping and abdominal pain I've had. I'd be willing to give you the rest of my bottle if you want to try it out. I won't be using it anymore...lol!
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