# Any tests measure colon spasms?



## JoanneHB (Feb 26, 2009)

Hi all,I have posted before on the kids page. My 10 year old son has had continuous stomach cramps (presumably colon spasms) for 2 months. He has the cramps all the time from the minute he gets up to the minute he goes to sleep.They do vary in intensity and he describes them as waves - small medium and big with big being painful and nauseous he says.The thing is they do not go away at all. They are worse after eating and a lot of activity but even way in between meals and when resting he has them.The paediatric GI says this pattern is very unusual.My questions are:- can cramps such as these originate in the small bowel- at GI motility clinics can the activity (the spasms) of the colon actually be measuredAny info would be greatly appreciated.J


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

I think it is a bit odd to say increased colon activity after meals is unusual.That is the normal pattern in most people. With IBS you often get more pain during the times the colon is most active, and it has increased activity after meals and in the morning.They can measure that activity but it is only a research method, not a general medical test.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1125448...ogdbfrom=pubmed is a study where they look at activity levels of the colon.


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## JoanneHB (Feb 26, 2009)

Thanks Kathleen,I think the comment from our (not so communicationally gifted) GI that this is unusual referred to the fact that my son experiences contractions all the time with no break and that he feels really big ones after a BM which take a while to subside - my son is not so good on waking but the contractions do not go off at any time during the day at all. Also he continues to describe the pain as periumbilical and yet with quite robust probing and prodding from the GI does not react with anything being particularly painful.There is a gradual worsening (big painful contractions faster and closer together) as the afternoon turns to evening. Same every day. The spasms do worsen during eating - but at this stage it seems similar response regardless of what he eats.He does not feel better after a bowel movement but rather has big spasms after one for about 5 minutes or so before returning to his 'normal' spasms.One of the things that has mystified me (and I guess has got me thinking about this whole motility issue) is that before the sudden onset of the present condition my son was perfectly normal and regular in his bowels.Most of what I have read seems to associate major cramping with diarrohea whereas my boy is sort of constipated.I say sort of because the BMs he does are often soft and in lots of little bits but he has no real urgency to go and says that the urge to go is no longer normal - he seems to have lost the ability to effectively expel a BM so its almost like he is getting these big waves but they are somehow not pushing the BMs.Forgive me actually - in this stage (its just been 2 months now) I am still trying to look for answers and not really accepting that there may not be any ..Its just that many people seem to talk about 'attacks' and exacerbations in their IBS whereas my son seems to be in a permanent state that varies very little ..


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