# Intestines feel bruised?



## fancy_pants

Okay, I have checked out a lot of the links about IBS that people have posted and they say that one of the criteria in diagnosing IBS is that the pain goes away after a BM...but mine doesn't...It often feels as though my intestines and insides in that area are bruised after a BM or an IBS flare-up







...They are sensitive to the touch and also to clothing...Is this consistent with IBS? Do any of you ever feel that way?


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## NancyCat

Funny you should describe your pain/discomfort as a bruise. I have the exact same pain/issues. I hurt after pooping just as much as before I go. Especially if I go alot. My intestines often feel like they are twisted over toward the left and if I touch the area it is painful just like a bruise. I saw my gastro in Oct and as she felt my stomach I told her where it hurt when she touched. She didnt seem to think it was unusual, just commented "oh it hurts you there." She is an IBS expert, trained at UNC. Sometimes it hurts across about 2-3 inches above my navel.Sometimes it hurts to wear something with a waistline and I'll need to unbutton the top buttons of a skirt. I believe those 2 areas are common for IBS pain. It is frustrating that so many people with IBS get pain relief from a bm. Occasionally I will get the same relief BUT the pain/discomfort usually comes right back. I think its from spasms, after I poop the spasm doesnt relax as it should, at least it feels that way to me.I know that people with IBS "feel" pain more than normal people and that our bowels spasm irratically often for no reason. Wish I could help more but know youre not alone. Glad you posted. Feel free to pm me anytime


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## fancy_pants

Thanks for the help...I have been so frustrated with the "bruised intestine" thingy after reading all of those write ups about IBS...my pain doesn't always go away after a bm (in fact, hardly ever does)...and seems to stretch on and on, like it has this time...but I haven't noticed it in one specific area...kind of feels like the lower stomach mostly...like the whole tract is bruised...I really appreciate it Nancy...no medical insurance=no GI specialist...and on my other post in the general IBS forum, newbie with questions/rant, I talk about the problems that I have had with other doctors...from the time that I actually did have insurance...sorry, rambling again...but thanks again!


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## peggy06

Oh thanks Ms Fancy Pants and Nancy... I too have no insurance and that sort of bruised feeling pain. Last year I sprung for all manner of tests (am still paying for them off my Visa) and was told that I have a really long and very twisted colon and I should consider myself lucky that I haven't had problems sooner (I am 60).But, I nearly always feel like a small horse has stepped on my lower right abdomen. (The right side is were my colon is seriously twisted). And I am glad to find out that I am not unique in this area. I was starting to be concerned since no one else had mentioned it - most seem to have more cramp like pain. Thanks again... And Happy ThanksgivingPeg


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## NancyCat

Fancypants-I may have read your post about dr's, not sure. I had an experience many years ago with who I will call the gastro from HELL. It is so hard to find a doc who "gets it" about IBS. I'm lucky that I now go to an IBS specialist (who just came on board where I go). Even though she can't necessarily fix my IBS or change it drastically, she validates it and my symptoms which really helps me mentally. Its so hard with insurance restrictions even for people who do have insurance but I'm sure its even worse if you dont have it.peggy-My neighbor has what is called a redundant colon, tons of extra feet of it. She said the dr's were amazed at it. She had a bowel obstruction and had to have surgery to remove 5 ft of her colon but STILL has plenty left, more than is normal. She doesnt have IBS and luckily for her did not develop it from her surgery.


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## peggy06

Nancy -Yes, my doctor said that I too have an amazing extra long colon. Apparently on the decending side it just has one extra loop. But, the on right side the excess is all twisted and kinked around. And gas gets trapped over on that twisted side. When it is bad I can actually see different tennis ball size lumps. And for variety, I sometimes get general puffy overall bloating. But, still more to the right side. The doctor said that surgery would be not considered as long as nothing gets blocked. And being a surgery coward with no insurance - that is fine with me.Thanks again Peggy


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## fancy_pants

Boy those tests are expensive aren't they? Never mind I had to wait until I was hospitalized to get mine run...but the doctors didn't know what to do with them...I swear, I am so grateful I moved, because I wouldn't have gone back to a group of doctors in that town again...I have never had so much trouble with them in my life! Although, I do look younger than I am (28 but sometimes look 18) and I feel like this is a hinderance in trying to get them to understand me? But I have a new job that I start on the 6th which comes with really good insurance (from what I understand) and hopefully, I can find a good GI doctor down here...Thanks for all the help ya'll







P.S. Sorry about your colon peggy...doesn't sound like very much fun...


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## NancyCat

Try and remember that we are consumers and DR's work for us. They can be very intimidating sometimes, especially if you are restricted as to who you can see. I swear if they were put in the postition of being in our shoes for just a week (even a few days)I wonder if they might change their tune and attitude.


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## fancy_pants

God I wish them being in our shoes would help...I can never get the medical help that I need, cause I feel like no one ever takes me seriously...Like when I had a small bone in my wrist that was broken...I went to the ER and my General Practitioner the next day and both x-rayed it and said there was nothing in the x-rays...but I kept having pain and swelling in that area for over a year, and after I had a CT scan on the area, they discovered I had INDEED broken a small bone, and it had developed into osteo-arthritis and now I have lost at least 20% of the use in that hand...Doctors can be such fun, can't they? Know that was a tangent, and unrelated to IBS, but just trying to illustrate a point...Thanks for the insight...I appreciate it...I'll just have to try and be fierce when I actually to get back to the doctor...


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## Melke23

can you call this IBs. I have bruised feeling pain around lower abdomen, which doesnt seem to go away , it moves around to left, center and right. I have normal bowel movement, but just the pain is driving me crazy. I take Bentyl for spasm with no effect.Dont get me started about my doc, he is complete arogant. If any one have any relief or medical tip, please.


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## painboy

Tedtesf-Have you tried hyoscyamine. It is an antispasmotic. It helps me with the cramps and the tightness. I usually take it 30 min before a meal. BTW if your doctor sucks, dump him. I have had to go thru a few docs myself. Some are just not going to be sympathetic (or competent for that matter). As far as Docs go my dad is one and even he gets an attitude with me. It's like if the tests are negative then there can't be anything wrong with you. He even suggested that maybe it was all just in "my head." He asks me how I am each time he calls asking if I am still having problems. Like it's just going to go away. Must be something they do to them in med school.


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## Katrina

I have met a few off doctors but I guess I got lucky..my doctor now is always open to suggestions anyways.From talking to others I think I also got lucky because at the time I was diagnosed the hospital was running an IBS clinic( first of the kind in the country) and research into IBS and diet and other connections.It was explained to me that the colon walls are thinner and weaker than normal colon walls and the more they spasm the thinner and more worn they get..this is why you get the bruising and pain feeling afterwards when the stomach calms down.similiar to when you pull a muscle with the exception that the muscle is constantly pulled(?)I use buscopan which is also an antispasmotic but only when I have a flare up with the cramps.


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## Guest

This is so intersesting and reassuring as I posted a very similar thread (though I can't for the life of me remember where!!!). Yes, I too have this sort of dull, bruising (rather like a mild period pain) after a BM which goes away, often as the business of the day/work/kids to school etc kicks in and you kind of forget about it.


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## SpAsMaN*

Quote from Katrina:"It was explained to me that the colon walls are thinner and weaker than normal colon walls and the more they spasm the thinner and more worn they get.."I don't think it is possible that the walls are "thinner" than normal.Maybe weak but not thinner.Maybe i would beleive that if it is from a genetic background and that you have it at birth but anyway,it sound unreal.Do you have a link for that?These days,i just beleive what i see on the net.


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## Katrina

I don't have a link for it..just on how it was explained to me by a few different doctors. I think the thinner comes from all the spasms or more a term sort of like when your skin stretches. The bowels do the samething when yuo block up in one spot while you spaz in a different spot..


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## mika92

Wow, this thread is super old, but this is exactly how I feel when I'm in pain. The bruising pain along with a burning pain in my thighs. These two combined are absolutely terrible, I just want to be drugged out or unconscious, neither of which would be conducive or possible. I wish there was something I could do to make the pain go away, sometimes I literally feel like it's ruining my life!


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## lifeisahorrorstory

I get that feeling off and on. It will feel so sore. One time it was so bad since I had my period which is severe I was crying wishing I could black out.


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## Maegwin

Yup, I get that. The aching can last for a couple days with me like I was kicked in the gut several times and my intestines are bruised. Sometimes my guts feel really sore an twisted, usyaly on the left side. I have to wait until it subsides before I can eat again which can sometimes be a day or two. Yes, my IBS has recently caused me to lose 15 lbs and I wasn't overweight to begin with. It just hurts too much to eat sometimes.


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## mika92

I know the feeling. I don't even know if it's food that triggers it anymore, because sometimes I'll barely eat for fear that it'll bring on pain and the pain will be just as bad, it'll still progress to worse. It's definitely what keeps me on the underweight side, that's for sure


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## Maegwin

I just tried to complete a stitz marker test but had to quit three days in. The pain got too bad. My guts are gradually clearing out now and they feel like a marching band trampled over them.

Sometimes, after a big bowel movement when I've been constipated for awhile, I get really tired. Even if I wasn't straining hard or anything, the laxatives do most of the work. I just get so tired I have to go lie down and then I'm out, in a deep sleep, for a few hours.

Have you ever experienced this? Sometimes I lose mobility in my hips as well, like my legs are numb and I can barely move them. If I try to walk I stumble and bump into things. Wierd stuff. Ever feel that way yourself?


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## Shanel

I have this all the time during/after a flare. It's awful. Feels like I've been punched in the gut.


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## Anne Harmon

i have carsiond tumors in my stomach they cause lower intestines to bloat and burn


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## spazzy

Hi, all....

I know this is a fairly old topic, but it really does apply to me. I did post in the "Gas" part of the forum about having this sore, bruised feeling in the left side and I think it is related to eating too much fiber when I had collard greens for dinner a few days ago. Honestly, I did not have a clue that collard greens can cause so much gas, bloating, and constipation!

It's been a few days, and I am still sore on the left side, where the descending colon is located. When I press on it, it is sore. And when I move, it is sore. Kind of feels like you feel when you have sprained a muscle or something, but it's in my intestines, not a muscle.

I also have felt bloated, like I will feel whenever I am constipated. Since I have IBS-D, I am rarely ever constipated. But every time I am constipated, my intestines feel bruised and sore. The whole lower abdomen will feel sore.

I also just discovered today that taking Alka-Seltzer can make a person constipated. (Who knew?) And I've been taking Alka-Seltzer daily for a couple of weeks now. They help with my sinus problems and congestion, but I'm not going to take any more.

As for what you said about having the soreness go away after a BM, I have the same problem you do. The pain isn't going away, even after having a bowel movement. I thought it would, but it's still sore as can be. It's so uncomfortable.

I really didn't know if other people ever felt the same degree of "bruising" and soreness that I do, so I'm glad to find out that I'm not alone! But I'm sorry for any of you who deal with it. It's really uncomfortable. I can't figure out why the soreness is there in the first place......does anyone know? Is it from the stretching of the colon due to gas? Or due to constipation?

I definitely do think all of my trouble started this time just because of the excess fiber from the collard greens. My body just can't tolerate that much fiber at one time. I have learned a valuable lesson.

If anyone finds out any info related to this bruised, sore feeling, I'd be very interested to hear about it. Thanks so much.


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## happysnapper

when my body FINALLY decides to have a clear out, on the really bad occassions when i have cramping i get this too, and no, it doesnt go away after a BM, and infact it can feel bruised for a few days afterwards!


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## spazzy

happysnapper said:


> when my body FINALLY decides to have a clear out, on the really bad occassions when i have cramping i get this too, and no, it doesnt go away after a BM, and infact it can feel bruised for a few days afterwards!


Thanks, happysnapper. I wondered if other people had the same experience. Right now I have been dealing with the soreness and a feeling of being "full" for 4 days. I tried magnesium citrate today around noon, but nothing substantial really happened. I did have to go to the restroom about 8 times, but it was just like colored water coming out. I honestly am so tired of this uncomfortable, sore, bloated feeling. I do feel better after reading your post, though. I think I may go to the drug store to buy a different laxative and hope it works. I won't be too surprised if the bruised, sore feeling hangs around a few more days.


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## Megan Frizelle

I was diagnosed about 25 years ago with IBS. I have been fortunate enough not to have had a bad bout of this for many many years. However I have had a very bad attack lately.

I just wondered what is the best thing to take to help with that "bruised" feeling after an IBS attack?


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