I know this is really gross, and will probably be very long, but I just have to put it out there. I have had chronic constipation most of my life. It has gotten progressively worse over the last few years, to the point that sometimes I wasn't able to go for weeks at a time. I had tried every over-the-counter and diet things that were available. I finally went at the beginning of this year to a GI doctor, who kind of took it not too seriously but did put me on a medication that seemed to be a real help for many months, until my body seems to have gotten used to it now, and it doesn't work all the time.
My daughter has a disease called Hirschsprung's Disease, which she was born with. It is congenital and causes the nerve endings in the colon to not work properly. This was 25 years ago, and I had to fight hard to get her treatment since little was known about this disease then. At the age of 2, she had part of her colon removed and reattached, but she has also still had problems off and on for most of her life. But now she seems to be mostly able to manage it.
I moved recently and had to find a new GI. Well, this one I like better, and she is taking this seriously. She wants me to have a colonoscopy and biopsy, which I have put off (I am 54). She also said that I probably have also had Hirschsprung's Disease my whole life, undiagnosed since it wasn't known when I was young, and I didn't have good medical care at different times in my life. Instead of the colonoscopy I did a Colo-Guard test which came back negative, but my new GI is pushing hard. I told her I would consider it.
That was before this weekend. I had a bad bowel blockage in 2010 that had me calling 911. It was one of the worst experiences I've ever had in a hospital, with doctors and nurses who basically made fun of me and manually broke up a softball size stool. Well, on Friday I hadn't gone poop in about 5-6 days so I took a laxative, even though with my constipation medication, Trulance, I'm not supposed to have to. Usually this happens lately every 4-5 weeks.
I started having the worst cramps and pain and trying to go to the bathroom. I knew I was going to pass out from straining my vasovagal syncope, which has happened before. I also knew that if I went to the ER I was going to have maybe the same type of reaction I had before. The blockage was so large there was no way to do an enema, but I did do a liquid glycerin suppository min-enema, which of course didn't work because it just makes it slippery, but the stool block was still too large to pass. I finally bit the bullet and decided to do what I knew would happen at the ER. I used my fingers to go inside my anus/rectum and break up the blockage myself. So gross, I know. But I was desperate. It hurt so bad, and took so many tries, and bled so much. After many tries I was able to finally break it up enough to get it out, and the laxative I had taken, combined with my Trulance, started the diarrhea, which continued into yesterday. And I was exhausted for the rest of the day and all day yesterday, with no appetite but knowing I had to at least eat some soup so I would have something in my body so maybe this wouldn't happen again too soon.
On top of the possibility of having Hirschsprung's disease, every psychiatric and other medication that I am on has constipation as a side effect, which just makes things worse. And when I was inpatient in the psych hospital at the beginning of this year, they put me on lithium, which I had an extremely bad reaction to that immediately sent me into hypothyroidism, which also causes constipation. So I just can't win. And my Trulance doesn't seem to be working much any more.
So I have finally decided to call my new GI tomorrow and get the soonest appointment as possible and tell them it's an emergency. I will do the colonoscopy and biopsy and see if she wants to change my medication. But I don't know how long it will take to get in to see her. My first appointment took almost two months. I'm hoping now that I've had my first appointment and if I tell them it's an emergency maybe they can get me in sooner. I have to do something. I'm so scared of this constant pain and worry.
How does this have to do with my bipolar and other mental health issues? Well, first, all of my medications definitely contribute to this. Second, having this constant physical pain and cramping and nausea has brought me back to a place of bipolar depression and severe anxiety. And the medications I'm on aren't working so well, anyway. But they are better than nothing. I can't sleep or eat. I feel horrible physically and mentally.
I guess that's all I have to say. It's gross, I know, and I'm sorry. I just had to get it out there, so if you read this, you are probably disgusted, or maybe you've had some of the same issues. Thank you for letting me get this off of my chest.
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