# bowels just shut down..anyone experience this?



## lorilou (May 9, 2003)

dr, has said there is no blockage. now what? I was doing fine 3 weeks ago and then boom... I have no urge to go, feel miserable, have to take 3 or 4 doses of miralax inorder to move stuff. the dr. told me to back off zelnorm as it seems to be not doing anything, add alittle fiber to the miralax, but wants to reduce that too, and walk 5 min. a day. Ive had ibs over 20years, so basically Ill try, but know in my heart it isn't gonna work! anyone ever had this sudden change?


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## jodys (Apr 8, 2002)

I Have, Just seems like recently too. Its almost like my colon is "paralized" NOTHING is working anymore ! NOTHING! I'm wondering if having your colon removed is the solution for this? I dont know what else to do. jody


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## 16279 (Sep 3, 2005)

jodys,If ANY part of the GI system malfunctions NOTHING will work. So you dont go have your colon removed. That is a crazy idea.For example your colon wont work unless your brain processes all the necessary signals and tells your colon to work. Take a fleet phospho soda and if that flushes you out you know your colon works ok.


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## atrain (Jun 22, 2001)

Studpile, I was wondering if you have had an experience with the colon surgery that you speak out on it, or if this is just your personal opinion? For people that need this type of correction it seems that it has help many people. But I agree, it would seem to be a "last resort" drastic measure.


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## NancyCat (Jul 16, 1999)

Been there, done that. I alternate and sometimes all of a sudden its like you have described, my bowels will just shut down. The only thing that gets things moving for me is to drink prune juice at bedtime and even that doesnt always help.I believe in very few select people w/what is termed "colon inertia" some drs will operate. Having said that however IMO and expereince ANY type of abdominal surgery can "trigger" an IBS flare (in either direction)which can last a long time. I wouldnt suggest getting ANY abdominal surgery unless you absolutely have to.


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## 16279 (Sep 3, 2005)

Atrain,I have no experience with colon surgery.What I wrote is just my personal opinion.If you say it has helped many people that "need it" I will have to take your word for it. Isolating the colon as the problem to a 95% certainty will determine whether or not they "need it" (that being colon surgery). For example if you 'SCOPE out the colon and it looks like petrefied swiss cheese and it is determined that it is beyond repair to a 95% certainty with the current state of the art, then and only then may it be said that they "need it". Else you just can't go in and start removing parts of the GI system starting with the colon because of what jodys has written on here. That is just rolling dice. I would prefer trying the fleet soda. If that works then I would assume the colon works just fine.


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

> quote:If that works then I would assume the colon works just fine





> quote:I was doing fine 3 weeks ago and then boom... I have no urge to go,


Just how long you have gone without going?


> quote:If ANY part of the GI system malfunctions NOTHING will work.


Some people do have pan-enteric problems, but many conditions are localized, so this statement is not so.


> quote: So you dont go have your colon removed. That is a crazy idea.


It certainly is not crazy if one has severely impaired colonic transit that is not amenable to medical intervention.


> quote:For example your colon wont work unless your brain processes all the necessary signals and tells your colon to work.


The brain is *not* required for the colon to function. It's only required for act of the defecation.


> quote:if you 'SCOPE out the colon and it looks like petrefied swiss cheese and it is determined that it is beyond repair to a 95% certainty with the current state of the art,


Scoping the colon would show nothing. Only transit time studies or colonic manometry can show defects in motility.I have no idea where this "95%" comes from.


> quote:If that works then I would assume the colon works just fine


Your assumption might be wrong.


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## 16279 (Sep 3, 2005)

Flux,quote:"The brain is NOT required for the colon to function."Hahahaha brain dead but a functioning colon.The brain controls all body functions. The brain connects to the body peripherals (arms, legs, colon, etc.) by means of the nervoussystem. The memory required to store data coming from the colon resides in the brain. All program memory required to processthis data which is sent back to the colon for it to operate properly resides in the brain. This is called a feedback control system for the colon. The brain also processes data coming from other parts of the GI system and feeds it into this control system loop. If this data is in error the colon will not work properly. Obviously stress or hypnosis impacts operation of the colon through the brain. Alzheimers or other dementia processes would impact the colon through the brain if critical memory areas were damaged.


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

> quote:The brain controls all body functions.


The brain does *not* control the gut. The gut has its own brain.


> quote:Hahahaha brain dead but a functioning colon.


That's exactly how it works. Many experiments on the gut are done in gut organs excised from an animal (e.g, an organ bath). They function beautifully all by themselves.


> quote:system. The memory required to store data coming from the colon resides in the brain. All program memory required to process


No, the nerves in the gut contain this memory.


> quote:this data which is sent back to the colon for it to operate properly resides in the brain. This is called a feedback control system for the colon.


There is certainly communication between the brain in the head and the brain in the gut. And the brain can influence the function of the brain in the gut. Most of the feedback mechanisms are in the gut, not in the brain.


> quote:Alzheimers or other dementia processes would impact the colon through the brain if critical memory areas were damaged.


This is false. The memory centers in the brain have *nothing* to do with colonic function (or any body function for that matter). However, the nerves in the gut may be affected directly by nervous system diseases.


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## 16279 (Sep 3, 2005)

Additional Flux boiler plate:The earth is flat.The sun goes around the earth not visa versa.The earth is at the center of the universe.Evolution is a liberal plot.Elvis is alive and will surface on ground hog day.


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## 23504 (Oct 14, 2005)

If the muscles and nerves in the colon are dead (colonic inertia) so that the colon does not function, no matter what the brain says, the colon will not work.also, just because phosphosoda works, doesn't mean the colon works. It is a strong stimulant laxative, so the waste material is propelled along the colon. If you "need" artificial means to void, then the colon is not working properly. Stimulant laxatives are not a test of anything. You need to have the existing diagnostic tests performed to have a definitive diagnosis.


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## 16279 (Sep 3, 2005)

gerwyscag,If the phosphosoda works it means that the muscles and the nerves in the colon are not dead. It also means the colon works when supplied with the soda and that you havent made a case for removing the colon by surgery. The colon may not be working properly but the problem might be in the brain or in another part of the GI loop. Personally I would prefer to "need" artificial means to void rather than risk the surgery to remove the colon risking the mortality and poor success rates associated with the procedure. For example suppose I wake up with a paralyzed arm. Do i say hey this arm doesnt work and go and have it amputated or do i say maybe the arm is ok but i have a clot in my brain that needs to be dissolved to fix things. Now just substitute colon for arm in the above statement.


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

> quote:just because phosphosoda works, doesn't mean the colon works. It is a strong stimulant laxative, so the waste material is propelled along the colon.


Phosphosoda is *not* a stimulant laxative. It's an osmotic laxative.


> quote:If the phosphosoda works it means that the muscles and the nerves in the colon are not dead.


If the colon were actually dead, as in necrotic, it would need to be removed and quickly. You wouldn't have an opportunity to put anything into it to "test" it.Anyway, since it's an osmotic laxative and just forces to fluid to be dumped into the colonic lumen. Fluid will leak out unless the sphincter is shut. Laxatives are a treatment, not a diagnostic tool.


> quote:means to void rather than risk the surgery to remove the colon risking the mortality and poor success rates associated with the procedure.


Mortality from colectomy? Poor success rate for this condition or for any conditon where a colectomy would be indicated?


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## atrain (Jun 22, 2001)

Thank you for your clarification guys, I was wondering if others thought Stud Pile was slightly irrational


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

> quote:If the muscles and nerves in the colon are dead (colonic inertia)


Incidentally, colonic inertia is term that seems to specifically referred to delayed transit in the right colon. It doesn't say what the underlying disease process is. It may be from dysfunctional nerves (neuropathic) or from dysfunctional muscle (myopathic). It's certainly not the case the colon is dead in either case. It, is however, possible to not have any nerves in the colon or in parts thereof, which is usually a disease called Hirschsprung's.


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## Lisab (Nov 11, 2004)

Hi,I've had similar problems in the past, especially before I was diagnosed with pelvic floor dysfunction. I had to poop but my muscles were so tight (as opposed to so loose I lost bowel control) that I couldn't "release" the stool. I was living on enemas. I had two weeks of intense physical therapy at the Mayo clinic, plus therapy on my own afterwards. It took about two months before things were "on track", but I'm on Zelnorm 2x a day and I still have to be careful what/how much I eat. But things are greatly improved from a year ago.


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## 23504 (Oct 14, 2005)

Hi lisab,Glad to hear that your condition has greatly improved. One of the differences is that you have been diagnosed with pelvic floor dysfunction, as opposed to colonic inertia. In one of the tests I took I also had a problem releasing the stool. But pelvic floor dysfunction was eliminated in my case. I also take Zelnorm 2x a day which does nothing except control the bloating/gas alittle. What kind of diet are you on?


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## 23494 (Sep 14, 2005)

This happened to me and let me explain what had happened and what they had to do about it. Makes perfect sense. I had years of IBS, and kept getting repeated blockages. Sometimes very severe, other times it would resolve itself. About a year ago my system simply quit working. Nothing worked, multiple things at once didn't work. Always resulted in a hospital stay and a surgical proceedure to deimpact my colon. Through this proceedures and other CT scans they discovered that while the average persons colon should be about 5 feet long and 2 or so inches around. From all the blockages and constipation, mine had stretched to more than 10 centimeters around (image the size of dialating to deliver a baby) the entire length of my colon. The colon is a muscle that massages it's contents and moves the waste along. Once it has stretched that large it can no longer move or massage anything, it just simply fills all that space up with waste! So, the ONLY solution WAS to remove the colon, connect the small intestine to the stomach and rectum and that is all the body needs to process waste. I'm only 6 weeks out of surgery and I'll tell you the recovery is hard! I don't have bad diarreah although I do go about 5 times a day. Major improvement over the IBS, and they say that your bowels really slow down about 6 months after surgery. Not to argue with anyone but for a Non-medical individual to tell you it's a crazy idea to have your colon removed and that your system can not function without it is simply information from someone uninformed. Good Luck.


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## SpAsMaN* (May 11, 2002)

Bump


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