bowels impacted

[ScottS]

for a 3-4 days i had no result during my bowel program, so i was obviously very constipated. 2 nights ago i had a high fever w/ tons of spasms, but about 4 hours later my temp came down and all spasms stopped. the next morning there was still no bowel result, and in the early afternoon i had the same fever problems and nausea. plus, my urine was very, very dark no matter how much water i drank. after trying an enema, i only had a small result. a few hours later i tried again and had huge amounts of stool, mostly liquid. and my urine cleared up significantly. another enema about 30-45 mins later produced liquid stool again, but not as much. the third enema didn't do much at all. overall, about 2-3 days worth came out, but i'm still having problems and my belly is still firm. i was told to try magnesium citrate (which i just did), and if that didn't clear me out to go to urgent care or ER. is there anything else i can do?

my bowel program is every morning, and has been fairly irregular for the last 2 weeks, but this is far worse than anytime i've had problems before.



"Today I will do what others won't, so that tomorrow I can do what others can't."

[This message was edited by ScottS on 07-09-04 at 02:40 PM.]

[SCI-Nurse]

The right term is impaction or obstipation, for what it's worth. If your only passing liquid stool, there's more to come. The magnesium citrate is a good idea but if you don't get any results, what your really need is an x-ray of your belly to see whether you have a big lump of hard stool stuck somewhere. That's what they should do in urgent care/ER.

Good luck.
RAB

[fuentejps]

corect me if im wrong sci nurse, but 3-4 days isnt long at all.

[SCI-Nurse]

It depends on how much a person has been eating, how well their bowel care has been going before that point. They could still have quite a back-log, so to speak, even after 3-4 days.

RAB

[ScottS]

Originally posted by SCI-Nurse:

The right term is impaction or obstipation,

yes, i realized the mistake about an hour after posting, when i was already transfered to bed...oops

well, this morning i had more of the same liquid result, and lots of it. but i still don't feel quite back to normal and my belly is still a little firm. is it going to be a bad idea to repeat the mag citrate, or should i wait an extra day inbetween?

i'm still not eating much, but am regaining some sense of hunger, and sticking to mostly soft foods right now.

RAB, when you say that "if i'm only passing liquid stool, there's more to come" do you mean that i'll see some formed stool at the end of this problem? how will i know when i am through with this?



"Today I will do what others won't, so that tomorrow I can do what others can't."

[spaceboy]

i do my program every 3-4 days, depending on what i've eaten. nurse, is this unhealthy?

"The essense of greatness is the perception that courage is enough." R. Waldo Emerson

[SCI-Nurse]

The less often you poop, the more susceptible you are to colon cancer. Most able bodied people poop more often than every three to four days, although I've known a ton of SCI folks who prefer that schedule for the convenience of not having to do a bowel program every day. So your pattern is fairly common but it might not be the healthiest possible.

ScottS, if your just passing liquid stool, I'm highly suspicious you have some hard formed stool up there that hasn't made its way out yet. But the only way to know that for sure is with the x-ray I mentioned earlier. You can repeat the Mag citrate pretty much anytime you want.

RAB

[rdf]

So what's best to decompact? I seem to be impacted...I was told this after a ultrasound and x-ray to check out my kidneys...which are in good shape thank god.

How best to alleviate the impaction?

It's pretty bad, and I need to clean it out. If someone can't get it done by themselves (Im gonna try, but might not get it all), where would somebody go to get cleaned out? An enema by a colon therapist? Can't find any here...I read where it can become life endangering, and need to get it done. I need to know what's best...I'm taking stool softeners, but they're not doing the trick.

I pass stool every day, sometimes twice a day, but I think I'm way backed up and got behind somehow.

thanks for any advice

[SCI-Nurse]

I am not sure you need it but. You just need to empty out the colon or the lower part of your intestinal system. And that is where the impaction is or might be.
You might try a fleets enema or if you think you need more, use the Enemeez which has special ingredients in it.
To empty out the top part & get it moving you have to take a laxative.
Mag citrate is certainly one of the strongest.
Increasing fiber and stool softeners on a regular basis might be better to keep things moving.
Drink more water.
IF you do have an impaction it is removed by applying lubricting jelly and removing the impaiiton with your hand. YOu continue to all is removed.

An Enemeez is really good for removign large bolus of stool that sem impacted but are not too large to be passed. Good because of the lubricating solution.

CWO

[jadedcowgirl]

Scott And RDF,
Guys I had the same problem for a while, I started drinking distilled water and it worked great. Worth a shot.

[Buck503]

Miralax, Miralax, Miralax. I promise it will clean you out good.

[Frankie]

Here is a question, can being compacted cause tightness and frequent spasms to the stomach and abdomen area? This may be my problem as well. I’m a t-6 but when I get my stomach spasms it literally looks like I have abs.

I’ve been experiencing this problem for a few months. I move my bowels regularly but I have a lot of discomfort in my lower stomach area… Looks like I’m pushing my stomach out.

Can impaction be the cause of this?

[SCI-Nurse]

Could be an impaction of jus part of the process of defecation with SCI.

Some people swear Miralax is a miracle.

Zelnorm for some also with irritable bowel, spasms, pain etc.. with no impaction -if it really bothers you.

CWO

[rdf]

Thanks all. I'll give the miralax a try, and buy some distilled water.

In another forum on the web I found that if someone is constipated a long time, or impacted, the colon is stretched out and takes a year or two to regain its elasticity.

Does anyone know if this is true?

[SCI-Nurse]

I tis all muscle type tissue. Made to change shape, get larger or smaller when needed.It is normal to the size of the stool which may be larger than before the injury.
It shouldn't be a problem and peristalsis, the movement down, still continues. To stay impacted and possibly stretched to the max would take a while.
I think its called megacolon when the impaction can't move because it has been there so long and gotten too big and an obstruction occurs and there can be problems. It doesn't happen overnight. That is why the importance of a good bowel program!

CWO

[Shaun]

A good dark beer like Guiness...2-3 the night before,it works better than anything ive ever tried.

[rfbdorf]

Instead of Miralax use the generic, polyethylene glycol. The generic is still surprisingly expensive, but substantially less than Miralax.
We've found that half the suggested dose per day is about right for my wife.
- Richard