# Sitz Marker Test, Anybody



## Rose (Mar 25, 1999)

*Hi All,*

*I have sever C. I am definitely laxative dependent. I can't "go" without a laxative. I have tried everything, Zelnorm (which I still take once a week, because it helps to clean me out.) I feel gross afterward, but it at least I know the "Stuff" has come out. Linzess, which works one day and causes severe pain and gas if I take it 2 days in a row, so I have basically given up on that. Anyway I have had this problem for more years than I care to count. However, I always had the "C", bloating and gas but no pain. Over the past several months, I am in pain everyday. It doesn't matter if I "go" or don't go, the pain is there, mostly lower left side. Oh yeah, I also have Diverticulosis and have had several attacks of Diverticulitis, which makes me end up laying down in a fetal position with heating pad for at least the first 24 hours of the attach. After that it is just bad pain for at least 5 days until it passes. In any case my GI doctor ordered a Sitz Marker test, which I began yesterday. I have to have an x-ray next Tuesday to see where the markers are. The problem is during this 5 days I can't take any laxatives at all. It's only been one day without my laxatives and I am totally miserable. How am I going to do this until next Tuesday. I will probably explode by then or keel over with pain. Has anybody else who depends on laxatives taken this test, and if So , How did you get through it without the laxatives.*

*thanks,*

*Rose*


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

Hi Rose

so sorry you've been going through so much for so long and that linzess isn't working too well for you. it's miserable isn't it.

i 've had chronic constipation for over fifty years--since childhood. for years my various primary docs kept telling me it was ibs-c but i kept feeling there might be more to it than that so i finally got a referral to a gastro doc and i told him i wanted to take the sitz marker test. and yes it was very scary because by that time i too was stimulant laxative dependent. plain osmotics alone had quit working on me, enemas no longer worked etc. so i suspected that i had slow transit problems and i wanted to find out for sure.

and yes it was very difficult . i didn't have a bm the entire time. and of course the gastro wanted me to eat as normally as possible, too, throughout the test because going off solid food and going onto a liquid diet--like i so desperately wanted to do would not give an accurate test result.

and of course it's very important to stay hydrated throughout the test. drink lots of water, soup, etc.

my desire to have this test and the thought that yes, although it was wretched and painful it would not be going on forever--"just" five days--got me through it all. i really worked at thinking positive and taking one day at a time. it really is a very worth while test to have because the placement of the markers yields a lot of info as to just what the problem could be. my markers showed slow transit plus there were a lot of them in the rectum and sigmoid colon which also indicated outlet problems. so that prompted a defogram which showed a vaginal prolapse, a rectocele and pfd.

and indeed it was all worth it because after the test (which is in itself a bit of a story) the gastro told me to "take what i need to go". and the primary doc quit bugging me about taking laxatives.

good luck! you can do this!!! wishing you all the best, annie


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## oceannir (Mar 6, 2012)

The thing that I wonder is what is the point of the transit study if you know you won't go?

The transit study has 3 days as the normal transit range, although I suspect 3 days is still fairly top level of normal. If you arn't going to go in 3 days then its clear you will fail the test.

I just don't understand why the doctors insist that people who clearly have very inactive colons take the torture test for a week? To me it seems they are almost saying they don't believe you.


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

right, oceannir--they are saying they don't believe you. at least that's how it seemed to me.

that's why i wanted to do the test--to prove to the gastro and my primary that i had slow transit--and, as it turned out, other problems as well-- so they would quit insisting i had ibs-c and should just treat it with fiber, water, miralax (which didn't work, even in large amounts) and exercise . i did these things for years and none of it helped me.

and oh yes i do so agree with you. there should be a better way. this wretched test shouldn't be necessary.

i would hope that if someone became severely impacted and had to abort the test early that it would be taken into consideration and also provide a dx of slow transit without having to finish the test.. which is what happened to me. impactions can become serious. on the afternoon of day four i started retaining urine and finally went to the ER around 10:30 pm where they pumped a liter and a half of urine out of me, gave me the sitz KUB x-ray and the ER doc told me to go home, abort the test and do a cleanout immediately since she said i would not be able to urinate until i got all of that stool out of there.

if i ever have to take this test again--which i suspect i may have to do since i now have another gastro who "wants all his own tests"--i will definitely show him copies of my sitz and ER reports and discuss this with him. i will NOT take this test again and allow myself to get so impacted. if that happens again to me i'll get the x-ray early and stop the test.


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## Corydalis (Apr 27, 2013)

I don't know where all you guys are, but here it's an insurance issue more than what the doc actually has to say or think. I mean you have to jump through the hoops like some kind of circus animal before you can get a treat- which would be some gosh dang help! Even tho' come folks should have a pass on some of these tests, depending on the kind of insurance they have, they are required to put you through the battery of tests anyway, and then in other cases where one of these steps could actually help someone, their insurance will not go the extra mile so it gets skipped. Our health care is not about helping people anymore, it's about appeasing the insurance beast. The exaggerated cost of medical things has gotten so out of control it made national news, that something is severely wrong with our medical industry, the way it prices and charges so astronomically! Something has to be done. When the medical field gets back to having healing at the heart of its motives again, then we can hope for some relief.

I had the marker test too, and I don't know if it really proved anything. I have C also, but C does not always mean that you do not go for days on end (which I am so sorry for you folks who suffer that, I can only imagine how awful it must be!) but also that the stool itself is hard, compact and takes much effort to get out, even on a dayly basis, I suffer hemorrhoids alsmost constantly. I use psyllium, it helps but not always, and most fiber foods that get other people going don't do a thing for me. So even tho' I go every day, I still have C, the marker test could not show that, because I go everyday I was not impacted. Perhaps it rules out a twist in the gut or a narrowed area.

Best wishes all, this is a tough cross to bare.


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

corydalis--oh i agree with you 1000% on the whole health care/insurance issue. and yes--the hoops we have to jump through. been through plenty of those myself. endlessly.

currently i am STILL waiting on insurance approval to be "allowed" to continue with the biofeedback/physical therapy which, based on all my tests, both my gastros and my colorectal surgeon said i should have. insurance did grudgingly agree on paying for the bio/pt evaluation and one visit but now they're balking at any more. which doesn't surprise because because from what i've read and heard many insurances do not cover bio/pt treatment for constipation/ pfd. it's still considered experimental by many insurances and it is not always successful either. and of course it's so expensive that i can in no way afford to pay of pocket.

and oh yes you're right about the constipation--sorry you're having such a struggle on a daily basis.it's miserable isn't it. yes--it is a cross to bear. a challenge, as they say.

take care--wishing you all the best. and wishing-- for all of us here in the usa --for a major health care/insurance miracle and also a constipation treatment miracle! (well, a girl can have her dreams..lol)


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## Rose (Mar 25, 1999)

*I can't thank all you who replied enough. It is now Sunday afternoon and I have two more days until I go for the x-ray. This is hardest thing I have ever had to do. Whoever said we are put through this torture, because our Doctors don't believe is "right on". I know my doctor thinks my problems are all in my head. The severe pain I endure everyday is NOT in my head. It's in my gut, and I can't live like this anymore, which is why no matter how horrible I feel right now, I will get through this just to prove her wrong. I have passed tiny amounts of stool every day, but i feel horrible. I swear if I had a gun , I would shoot myself just to be put out of my misery. I think I have some kind of blockage. At this point, I feel like just having my whole colon removed. I am in agony, but I will somehow make it to Tuesday. I will post what my results are and what My Doctor is going to do. If she is going to do nothing, but tells me to continue taking laxatives or whatever I need to go, I am checking myself into the emergency room and staying there until somebody tells me what the hell is wrong with me, because if I to live like this for the rest of my life, I just as soon not live anymore. I have no enjoyable life anyway. I am just a burden to my husband and and family and feel like a useless person. I really have had it with this afflicton, and nobody understands, unless you go through it yourself. Unfortunately for me, I am the only one of my family and friends who lives with this torture, so nobody understands and I feel so alone. Thanks, again to all who responded.*

*Rose*


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## annie7 (Aug 16, 2002)

HI Rose yes it is wretched, having to go through this horrid test and i agree with you--no one should have to go through it.

and it's NOT all in your head. this test will prove that. and it should give the gastro a clue as to what's going on. maybe outlet problems aren't letting enough stool out? placement of the markers will show that.

you're almost there!! only one more day to go! hang in there!

you are a very brave woman dealing courageously with a very difficult disease--difficult to endure, difficult to manage. please don't be too hard on yourself--please be kind to yourself. you are not useless or a burden. yes it is very hard when family and friends don't understand. both hard and lonely too. but we're here for you! you are not alone. please feel free to pm me anytime you want to talk.

wishing you all the best. annie


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