[Guest]

All my life i've battled irregularity and I've thought of it as constipation. For me that meant I would skip 2-3 (maybe 4 on really bad occasions) days, get cranky, take a lot of Metamucil, increase fruits/veg/water and then I'd be fine.About a month ago I started having different bowel movements. I will go every day, but the amount is **dramatically** smaller. I started feeling "backed up", which is a very claustrophobic feeling. It also felt as if everything was dried up. I started having problems sleeping because I felt very full and bloated. I wasn't having a lot of gas. 1 week went by like this, 2 weeks went by... 3 weeks... I was taking Metamucil, then Citracel. I kept thinking the problem was going to resolve itself. Finally, last Sunday my husband gave me an enema. NOTHING CAME OUT!!! (Okay, a little water came out, but nothing else.)I got really scared. I've only had a few enemas in my life, but boy have they worked... no question in my mind.I made an appt with my internist and fortunately was able to see him on Monday. I had to endure lectures on getting enough fiber, etc. etc. As if I was a 2-year old. I can actually recite the amount of fiber on a lot of cereals and I've been very good about eating a AT LEAST 5 vegetables/fruits a day, plus drinking 10-12 glasses of water. I exercise 5-6 times a week. I tried to tell this to the nurse and doctor, but they acted as if I just wasn't eating right.They doctor prescribed Miralax and told me I would have relief in 1-2 days. 2 days later and I still had the same pattern... Now 5 days later and I still can't sleep at night because of the intestinal bloating, rumbling, etc. In the morning I don't feel as bloated and I'll go a tiny amount. The only difference now is that I don't feel so dried up.I'm feeling a lot of pressure and am now having the worst gas. It feels like there's a rubber band around my colon somewhere. I started wondering if I had an obstruction of some kind, but I don't have sharp pains, no bleeding, etc. When I describe it, it sounds like constipation. But it feels more serious than just constipation.I've got appointments wih my gynecologist next week to get an ultrasound (my internist recommended this). I've had 2-c-sections and was wondering if there was some scar tissue from those that could be interfering with something.In the meantime, I'm the CRANKIEST I've ever been in my life. This problem is so pervasive that it's all I can think of. I'm eating All-Bran, have increased fruits/vegetables, drinking lots of water, have cut back a lot on the caffeine (didn't drink a lot anyway), still on the Miralax. I don't feel like exercising, but I can do it. In fact, I don't feel like doing anything now. I'm pretty scared.Any thoughts?

 

[Guest]

Hi - I am new, too, so I have less to add than the others who have been here longer, but I can give you a little bit of my experience: I also cannot go unless I take an enema. I don't much feel like waiting this out for I-don't-know-how-long, so I take an enema. Now for my experiences - when you take the enema, lie with our hips elevated slightly so the water can go "up-stream" into the transverse and ideally, the descending colon. If you are just having clear water returns, possibly the reason may be that the water is pooling in the sigmoid. Put the water in very slowly so it will not balloon the sigmoid. I take a quart, (which is not enough, but it's the size my bag is) so to get all the way around the colon, I take the tip out after the water has gone in, and I roll to the right and left and even onto my stomach to try to get the water distributed.I hope this helps. Laur