# I'm afraid I'm going to die--help



## RightSide (Aug 20, 2007)

Hi,long-term IBS-C sufferer here.My current flareup is the worst of my life. I haven't been able to poop in three weeks this coming Tuesday. The pain is just excruciating and I have trouble eating food because I get nauseated and throw up. I've tried every over-the-counter remedy including fiber supplements and Miralax and Colace, with no results. I live alone and this is really scary.My current primary care physician is not good; all he ever does is see me for 5 minutes and writes referrals to specialists. I can't wait weeks to see a specialist; I need medical attention now. Should I just go to the Emergency Room of a good hospital? Or beg some gastroenterologist to see me on short notice?It feels like I have an impacted stool and/or a bowel obstruction, and I'm worried I might need surgery. If I go to the hospital, what can I expect in terms of treatment? I don't need to waste time testing whether I have IBS; I already know I do. The question is how to get over this worst flareup of all.Any advice would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance!-- RightSide


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## atrain (Jun 22, 2001)

I would definitely go to the emergency room. At least they can give you an enema to relieve any blockage. You should try go to an colon hydro-therapist and get a colonic. They helped me a lot and are immediate results that works and makes you feel much better. Try a series of these and take magnesium supplements with a higher fiber/flax seed diet. This really helped me.


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## 22395 (Apr 16, 2007)

RightSide,If you are constantly throwing up and can not eat, you most definitely need to go to the emergency room and tell them that you are afraid that you have a bowel obstruction. These are classic symptoms.I had a bowel obstruction 3 yrs. ago, and was turned away from the emergency 3 times before they admitted me. I was so sick that I could not even hold water without throwing up and had lost about 13 lbs. It turned out that I had abdominal adhesions from a previous rectal prolapse surgery, and these had tangled everything up and caused a complete blockage. By the time they admitted me, I was in serious condition and had also started going into cardiac arrest. I was in such bad shape at this time that they had to stabilize me for about 3 days before they could perform the surgery. Also, I was not able to take in any nutrition during the stabilization period. Strictly saline solutions to keep me stable.Bowel obstructions are very serious and need immediate treatment. Yes, untreated these can be fatal. I'm not trying to alarm or scare you, this needs to be taken care of now.Evelyn


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## polly_wanna_cracker (Aug 13, 2005)

Your doctor is an ass. Please get help now. Make sure you make it clear how serious it is.


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## nogo (Dec 18, 2006)

Please go to the ER and get help. You need a new doctor and a good GI. Please write in and let us know how you are doing. I'm so sorry you are going through this. Don't EVER wait that long again! Best wishes. Nogo


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

I'm in the go to the ER/Urgent Care and get this looked at. Some doctors have walk in appointments so sometimes you can get seen right away if you are already one of their patients. You would need to talk to the nurse/patient advocate to get one of those appointments as they will ask questions to see if you really are an urgent care case/need the ER.It does sound like it potentially is a bowel obstruction and you need to have that possibility checked and not just assume this will pass on its own.K.


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## ABNormal (May 24, 2006)

Please go to the emergency room. This is nothing to mess with and keep up posted. Also, CHANGE DOCTORS!


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## RightSide (Aug 20, 2007)

Thanks for your advice.I already tried 26 psyillium capsules per day every day for 3 weeks and all it did was make me even more bloated. I've tried those Fleet over-the-counter enemas too, with no results. The impacted stool, if that's what it is, must be higher up in the colon, not in the rectum, so the enema can't reach it. That's how it feels anyway.I don't think there is any medication that will work. Any chance they could use a sigmoidoscope on me and just ream out that clog?(I'm going to try the ER and see what happens)-- RightSide


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Yikes that is a lot of fiber for no BM. No wonder you are uncomfortable.They can do a more complete enema than you can do at home, or go up in and clear it out. Sometimes it is so bad they have to do something surgically to get rid of it. They may do an x-ray or other scan so they know exactly what they are dealing with.Let us know when you get back how things turned out.K.


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## 13863 (Mar 23, 2007)

I've been to hospital few times when I was desperate, although I never got to three weeks, I really feel for you. I think that I could though, I am that bad. My mom's friend has gone that long before. At the hospital, they gave me tap water enemas, helped a little. I got a colonic on Saturday & am still bloated & ready to go again. But I don't like getting them unless I have to.I highly recommend the colonic. They will probably want to do more than one in a week since you are so backed up. My doctor says it is safe. Other doctors I have been to say it isn't a good idea. They told me to take fiber.But what are you supposed to do when you are miserable? I really think you should try it.Hope you feel better , I am so disgusted with this problem. Just want to feel normal


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## Andr5w (Aug 28, 2007)

Hi,My current situation is similar to Rightside's, and I'd like to add a few questions to the thread. Since I've had IBS, now going on four years, everyone has consistently driven home the reassuring point that further, serious complications cannot develop from simple IBS-C. I have believed them because my symptoms of severe constipation, concentrated in the rectal region and causing intense throbbing lower back pain (rather than frontal abdominal pain), have always resolved themselves without any treatment more extreme than a Fleet oral enema. Now that I'm approaching two weeks without a satisfactory bowel movement, feeling like this episode is another "worst ever", I'm researching problems like obstructed bowel and fecal impaction. As a result, the reassurance I once had is quickly disappearing. How does a sufferer of IBS-C know where to draw the line and head to the hospital? Is anyone here aware of how common bowel obstruction and fecal impaction are for the typical IBS-C patient? The consequences of these conditions sound extreme, from death to lasting GI damage such as "necrosis". I'm confused and very concerned, trying to decide if I should go to the hospital in the next few days. Opinions and explanations would be much appreciated; and especially if they restore my sense of reassurance.Andrew


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

one to two weeks without ANY bowel movement, especially if you are vomiting/have no appetite and can't eat is about where the line is.Doesn't mean there is an obstruction, but when that happens you won't have any BM.Even if it is unsatisfactory as long as you are having BM's means things are moving along, just not the way you want them tbstructions are relatively rare, even if you are having constipated stools a couple of times a week for extended periods of time. An obstruction can even block gases if bad enough so you will stop farting and all bowel noises will stop as well (although you need a stethoscope to determine that)K.


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## Andr5w (Aug 28, 2007)

Kathleen M.,I guess that's reassuring enough. I can deal with suffering through unsatisfactory motility. Mostly I want to be confident I'm able to recognize the signs of more serious problems should they ever occur. I'm not close to feeling so nauseous as to be vomiting regularly, and I still have some bowel movement daily. This statement from Wikipedia's entry on "Fecal Impaction" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fecal_impaction) still has me a little worried however: "Symptoms include chronic constipation. There can be fecal incontinence and _paradoxical diarrhea as liquid stool passes around the obstruction_". My Bms certainly feel like they're passing _around_ matter that has been stuck for over a week; but I have experienced this before and it has resolved itself, it was just IBS and most likely this is too. It's good to hear obstructions are relatively rare. Thanks for the input.Andrew


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## 14013 (Nov 12, 2005)

3 weeks is the longest i have ever gone and i was 15 at the time, it didnt really bother me thogh, i wasnt vomitting or anything, yet this time it has been probably 4 days and i have this awful full feeling that is making me feel a bit nausious, its doing my head in, for three nights now after dinner i get waves of bad pains that last about 30 seconds, then i can go 20 mins get another wave, but the BMs dont come, drank loads of water today only to have little stools. ive not been this uncomfy in a long time now! i worked in a hospital, and was told some of the highest emissions to the ER are from constipation, so dont feel like you are being annoying or being over the top, because they get it all the time.


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## RightSide (Aug 20, 2007)

What is a "colonic"?Here's my situation now. I managed to contact the gastroenterologists who had done my colonoscopy last year. First thing they suggested was mineral oil. So I tried three days of that, living in agony from the abdominal pain--and it didn't work.I called them back yesterday and they said to try GoLytely. And if that fails, go to the hospital the next day. OK, I tried the GoLytely; I drank 2 liters of Golytely this afternoon and got NO RESULTS whatsoever. Nada. Except now I'm even more bloated and in pain than I was before. Now I have both my rock-hard stools and the GoLytely sloshing around inside me. I'm so bloated I look like I'm 9 months pregnant even though I'm a guy.







This Tuesday will mark FOUR WEEKS that I have been constipated without a single bowel movement. From past experience I know that my stool is so big and hard that it cannot make the final turn from the colon into the rectum to be eliminated; it's just stuck there unable to move.So tomorrow morning, I'm going to the hospital and I'll tell them that my gastroenterologist sent me. Now what can I expect? If GoLytely has failed, then we can safely assume that my stool has blocked me up so badly that no laxatives will work. Certainly fiber capsules, Miralax, mineral oil, GoLytely, have all failed. So where do I go from here?What is a "colonic," and can it help? Would SOME kind of enema help (not those little Fleet enemas, I tried those already)?I'm TERRIFIED of surgery. I'm allergic to many antibiotics such as penicillins and cephalosporins and major surgery is risky for me because of the possibility of post-op infection. Do they even do surgery for IBS-C?So that's about where I am; the abdominal pain is more than I can stand and I don't expect to get any sleep tonight due to the pain. I live alone and I'm scared, frankly. If you don't mind, I may post again from time to time tonight, sort of keep a journal. Who knows, it may be my epitaph.







-- Right Side


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## nogo (Dec 18, 2006)

Rightside.....WHY ARE YOU WAITING until tomorrow to go to the hospital. You should not suffer another second. Go to the ER and get some help. This sounds like a serious impaction, if not a blockage. PLEASE go to the ER and tell them how long it has been and what you have done. If nothing else, they will do an enema of some sort to give you relief. Please let us know what you do. I am so sorry you are in pain like this and it would be terrifying to be alone with this kind of pain. It isn't right, it isn't normal. GO TO THE ER!


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## RightSide (Aug 20, 2007)

I didn't go to the ER yet because I trusted my gastroenterologist and he kept trying different laxatives on me; but now he's exhausted all those options.I was trying to decide if I should finish the last 2 liters of GoLytely; my gastroenterologist didn't say if I should just give up if the first 2 liters were unsuccessful (as they have been). But now I think I am going to give up and just go to the ER. The first 2 liters of GoLytely have worsened my abdominal pains without producing any results. So I'm at the end of my rope.I am still wondering if anybody can tell me what to expect. What exactly can they do for me at the hospital, now that all laxatives including GoLytely have failed? What's next? Lots of big enemas? Or (God forbid) surgery??? Will they do an X-ray or other tests?-- RightSide


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## nogo (Dec 18, 2006)

Rightside......I hope you are at the hospital and can't read this until later, but just in case, I don't know what you can expect other than an exam by the doctor to palpate your abdomen and maybe do a rectal exam to see if you are impacted. You likely will get X-rays as well. Surgery will be a last option if all else fails and they are able to work around your allergies to meds with great success. You can't go on like this. It's miserable and dangerous. Please let us know what has happened with you.


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## 13863 (Mar 23, 2007)

Oh wow. I am sorry I am just getting caught up to my post last time.A colonic is a procedure that uses water & pressure I guess to basically suck things out. It like sprays your intestine with water, then when you feel pressure, you let the therapist know & they draw it out. It is sanitary as there is some system to it & they change the tubes & inserts each time. I found it in the phone book when I was desperate years ago. Not to be gross but you can see everything that comes out via a glass window on the machine. The machine is built into the wall & they can adjust the temperature, one lady I used to see could add stuff to the water, herbs I guess.It costs between 65 and 85 generally in my area. One thing that really helps is to massage your tummy while you are getting it, most do this for you.I don't want to be dependent on them, I went to new doctor yesterday & he did not have a bad attitude about them & said that my muscle was tight basically I think he meant, (some technical term but I don't remember).He said that I should not have incontinence problems which is a relief, I had not even thought of it.I have been getting the colonics on & off for years but try to not go for one unless I am desperate for relief.Has helped me anyways.Good Luck.


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## Rubin10 (Aug 26, 2007)

Dear Floridagirl, I've had IBS-C for about 8 years but I could never get courage to do a colonic. Seems like we should not do it at the time of flareups. A had a tooth abcess. Doctor ordered a double dose of antibiotic and since March 07 I cannot stabilize. When I do an enema I see a lot of bloody mucus in my stool. My ? Should I do a colonic despite blood in the stool for I am heavily constipated? I cannot digest any fresh fruits or veggie. This adds to the problem. Thank you for the response.


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## Dr Rusy Bhalla (Sep 14, 2007)

You are in acondition called impacted stoolsPlease take Glycerine enema 6 hrly till you do not need it anymore.See [Edited - please do not post links to websites you own or are financially affiliated with, thank you, the moderators] for more details on your condition.Call if you need more help


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