Diet and Health FAQ

Tagged As: Hyperactive Bowel Sounds

Question:
how do you know when you're having an obstruction?  I came off of pred last week (my doctor put me on it because I had scar tissue from a previous resection and inflammation in the terminal ileum area (what’s left!))... And now I have been constipated for four days. Barely able to go... feeling nauseous and crampy. And it radiates to my back.  I’ve never had an obstruction before so I don't know if I should be really concerned or not.  I’m going to the doctor this afternoon, but I don't want to go back on prednisone. Not ever. especially not after only being off for one week and two days the pain and nausea come and go and while my stomach is making a lot of noise, I guess this is good because hypoactive (rather than hyperactive) bowel sounds indicate an obstruction.

Answer:
Believe me you'll know. I'd never had an obstruction or surgery until this year. I had severe cramping, inflammation, nausea, vomiting and fever. I didn't have a bowel movement for five weeks. Apparently, or so my doctors say, a person can go without pooping for almost 8 weeks without too much risk of severe complications such as infection such as toxic shock. I ended up having surgery to remove a stricture that was causing my obstruction. However, if you are like me and you are used to frequent bowel movements or diarrhea, than this is abnormal. What I was told by both my colo-rectal surgeon as well as GI is, do not try laxatives or enemas. If you have an enema, it may push stool too far back and cause a tear in your intestines. Laxatives work on the colon only so if your having problems higher up, they are useless. I was told not to panic (which is really hard not to do). I was told to try a stool softener such as Colace (generic name - docusate) or Senekot. You can also try (which I still use to stay regular) Duphalac (lactulose) which is a powder that you can put in any liquid or sprinkle on food. It's tasteless and I usually put it in tea or herbal tea because it dissolves faster. Try both those options which are both over the counter meds (I have used 500mg of Colace as well as three packets a day of Lactulose in the past few months to stay regular). It should rectify the problem. It does say on the Lactulose that you shouldn't use it if you had recent surgery or have crohn's disease but my doctors said it was okay. Adjust it until you get to normal bowel movements. I wouldn't worry too much. Things should fall back into place with these options. However if they don't within the next 7-10 days, there is cause for concern. You should probably see your GI as soon as possible