hi

i was dx'd with colonic inertia, pelvic floor dysfunction, megarectum and rectal hyposensitivity. i had biofeedback for a very long time and while it did help a bit with pfd, it unfortunately did nothing for my RH. balloon retraining can help with RH. you might want to give that a try. my biofeedback PT worked with me on it but it didn't help me. i was a tough case.

here's an article on RH. scroll down to "treatment" to read about balloon retraining.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3479250/

i had to take both stimulant and osmotic laxatives in order to get any kind of urge and have a BM, especially with everything else i had going on.

very long story short, i finally ended up with an ileostomy.

good luck if you try the balloon retraining. it's worth a shot.

 

I'm assuming doctors would not call rectal hypo a demable cause for a bag

 

that all depends on how severe your condition is.

if you're unable to have a bm and are refractory to mediciations (constipation meds, laxatives) then ostomy surgery would be medically necessary. it's a surgery of last resort.

 

Did you deal with it by just giving your self diarrhea all the time?

 

i took laxatives. my stool ranged from very soft to somewhat runny.

the laxatives gave me the urge to go but for me it was not an uncontrollable urge, like you get with D.

 

Hybo, do you take anything daily to help you go or no? If so, what have you tried so far?

 

I'm taking 2 scoops of miralax 3 250 docusate sodium it had to be Bristol 6 or 7 for me to feel anything. If it's harder I can't feel it. And I have a fissure so I have to stop forcing it

 

yes, straining is bad. it's also counterproductive. it locks up the pelvic floor muscles and makes even it harder to get things out.

i don't know if this will help you or not but here's a good utube video on how to have a bm without straining. it's important to do what she says and "make your waist wide" and push from there--not from your rectum.

also--have you tried elevating your feet? elevating the feet on something like an overturned waste bin, step stool, large shoe box or squatty potty helps straighten out the anorectal angle to allow more complete evacuation. you might have to experiment to get the right height. i first tried a step stool, then a large shoe box and finally bought a squatty potty.

 

Yea I've done all that but if anything is a Bristol 5 or higher I get no urge at all. I have a stool for.my.feet.

 

And I do as that video.does but again no urge makes it hard to get poop out reguardzless of what it is. I can go 3 days without pooping then I just force something out in fear of being backed up. And it will be a lot of stool that comes out (aka I should have had a urge but I am.not)

 

sounds like it might be helpful for you to take a stimulant laxative daily like senna, dulcolax or intestinal formula #1, etc--something that will give you the urge and help move things out so you don't get so backed up and have to strain like that..

 

By.saying the urge you mean diarrhea correct?

 

no i do not mean diarrhea. by "urge" i mean the urge to poop.

 

thats my issue I dont get any type of urge. unless its diarrhea or just above it

 

right--that's why i took stimulant laxatives. they gave me the urge. i also took osmotics so my stool was soft and sometimes a little runny. fortunately i did not get an uncontrollable urge like you get with full out diarrhea--i didn't have to run to the bathroom or anything like that. it was just an urge.

have you tried any of the constipation medications out there like amitiza, linzess or trulance? they might help.

i tried and failed all the C meds that were available back then so my gastro docs told me to take laxatives daily so i could go and also so i didn't develop an impaction.

 

wow docs dont really help much with this do they

 

well, unfortunately there's just not much they can do, actually. there's the balloon retraining but that doesn't help everybody. and there's the constipation meds and then laxatives if those don't work. but yes, there's not much the docs can do for those of us who suffer from RH. it's a miserable way to live.

 

Do you enjoy life better with the bag?

 

oh yes--it's given me a better quality of life.

 

How many docotors did you have to see before they offered it to you?

 

i told my gastro doc that i wanted the bag and he referred me to a colorectal surgeon and the CR surgeon agreed to do it.

 

I'm taking 2 scoops of miralax 3 250 docusate sodium it had to be Bristol 6 or 7 for me to feel anything. If it's harder I can't feel it. And I have a fissure so I have to stop forcing it

I've used both of those in the past.

I recommend you try this (click on below link to read):

https://www.ibsgroup.org/forums/topic/239065-finally-a-product-i-can-recommend/

Keep us posted if you try it. You should. Good luck!

 

I'm still trying to figure out how you get a urge with rectal hyposenitivity.

 

Okay, let me back up here: Do you now or have you ever had chronic constipation, or just rectal hyposensitivity?

 

Just rectal hyposenitivity. I started with a fissure but it wasn't healing. They did a defegraphy on me thinking I wasn't shitting right but found no issues. Then they did a balloon test. I could not feel it they do me with rectal hyposenitivity. I only know when I have to poop when i have really loose stool.