I went to GI yesterday.I explained to him every since my gallbladder surgery 10wks ago I have been constipated & even impacted twice.My primary care doc has even put me on miralax.Then all of a sudden 2 days before I went to GI I thought I was going to poop myself to death. I had the D sooo bad I was afraid to leave the house. Now today I am so miserable because Ifeel like I need to & barely can. All the GI can tell me is ( I don't know what to tell you, there is nothing wrong with your stomach or your colon.) He acts like it is all part of my imagination! I hurt up around my ribs I believe it is what is called the transverse colon. Then when it gets worse it starts around belly button, then my whole stomach gets rock hard. I am passing mocus & sometimes my stool is pale yellow. Could this pain around (slightly under ) my ribs be gas? I went to GI yesterday.I explained to him every since my gallbladder surgery 10wks ago I have been constipated & even impacted twice.My primary care doc has even put me on miralax.Then all of a sudden 2 days before I went to GI I thought I was going to poop myself to death. I had the D sooo bad I was afraid to leave the house. Now today I am so miserable because Ifeel like I need to & barely can. All the GI can tell me is ( I don't know what to tell you, there is nothing wrong with your stomach or your colon.) He acts like it is all part of my imagination! I hurt up around my ribs I believe it is what is called the transverse colon. Then when it gets worse it starts around belly button, then my whole stomach gets rock hard. I am passing mocus & sometimes my stool is pale yellow. Could this pain around (slightly under ) my ribs be gas?
Hi kyhurst,
I'm sorry that your GI appt didn't go well. Did he say anything about continuing the miralax treatment that your primary doctor started you on? The transverse colon is a very popular place for gas. Have you tried any thing for gas relief such as gas-x?
I'm sorry that your GI appt didn't go well. Did he say anything about continuing the miralax treatment that your primary doctor started you on? The transverse colon is a very popular place for gas. Have you tried any thing for gas relief such as gas-x?
Hugs, Des
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Dx: IBS 1989, Diverticulosis 2004, UC 2005, Sjogren's 2006
Meds: Sulfazine EC 1000mg, Mesalamine Enemas, Chlorzoxazone 500mg, Naprosyn 500mg, Symax SL .125mg, Protonix 40mg, Xanax XR 2mg, Miralax 17g, Supplements
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That is pretty much what mine said. he explained that he meant it is a functional problem not a physical one(even though it affects us physically) That really didn't help much but at least I knew that I did not have any messed up innards so had to look for other options. I would definetly try the strongest Simethecone pill you can find which is Phayzme or the store brand equivilent and I would try some Maalox Max not Plus. I have been having a lot of success with IBD Digestive advantage to help bloating but still having problem with constipation but no pain. I didnt feel the dr. helped at all. I guess to him on a scale of 1 -10 in problems I am a 1 which is probably right now but it wasn't always as I had so much nausea. That is all gone now.
Kyhurst, I think your body is just taking a longer time than usual to get adjusted to not having a gall bladder. That your stool got yellow when you have diarrhea would indicate that you finally got some bile out into it--too much, unfortunately. I think I got about as adjusted as I was going to get 6 weeks after my surgery, but some people can take longer.
That you now seem to want to go between the two extremes makes it more difficult to take something to fix one or the other. You can look into those bile salts I told you about for when you are constipated, and then there is Welchol for when you get the bile diarrhea (you'll have to get your GI to prescribe that).
But I think the best thing you can do for now is to balance your diet. I found for about a month after my surgery that pork and beef made me have worse diarrhea, so I ate no meat except chicken and tried to go light on that. If you can stand to be vegetarian or mostly so for a while, you might want to try that to give your guts a break from digesting the protein and animal fat. When you are getting constipated, you might want to try to add in dairy fats like cream, whole milk and cheese and other good fats, like olive oil and avocados and nuts; the consumption of fat should stimulate your guts to produce more bile so that you will soften your stools back up. Avoid fats when you are getting the diarrhea.
I think the best thing I do for my guts is eat a pretty consistant diet day in and day out. I'll eat the same thing for breakfast every morning for at least a week, usually for several weeks. Lunch is usually soup, salad and crackers with a spread, and I vary the type of soup and spread I eat no more than once a week. Supper is often the same thing every night of the week. My body has gotten used to having the same amount of fat, protein, sugar, carbs, etc. every day, so it keeps my guts from varying too wildly. Luckily I've never wanted a lot of variety in my diet; my mother, on the other hand, would go crazy if she ate the same thing every night of the week. Even if that doesn't sound appealing to you, you might want to try it for a month, just to give your guts time to settle into a routine. At the very least maybe you will establish yourself as solely constipated or solely diarrhea, and then you can treat whichever type you have without worrying about tomorrow being the exact opposite.
That you now seem to want to go between the two extremes makes it more difficult to take something to fix one or the other. You can look into those bile salts I told you about for when you are constipated, and then there is Welchol for when you get the bile diarrhea (you'll have to get your GI to prescribe that).
But I think the best thing you can do for now is to balance your diet. I found for about a month after my surgery that pork and beef made me have worse diarrhea, so I ate no meat except chicken and tried to go light on that. If you can stand to be vegetarian or mostly so for a while, you might want to try that to give your guts a break from digesting the protein and animal fat. When you are getting constipated, you might want to try to add in dairy fats like cream, whole milk and cheese and other good fats, like olive oil and avocados and nuts; the consumption of fat should stimulate your guts to produce more bile so that you will soften your stools back up. Avoid fats when you are getting the diarrhea.
I think the best thing I do for my guts is eat a pretty consistant diet day in and day out. I'll eat the same thing for breakfast every morning for at least a week, usually for several weeks. Lunch is usually soup, salad and crackers with a spread, and I vary the type of soup and spread I eat no more than once a week. Supper is often the same thing every night of the week. My body has gotten used to having the same amount of fat, protein, sugar, carbs, etc. every day, so it keeps my guts from varying too wildly. Luckily I've never wanted a lot of variety in my diet; my mother, on the other hand, would go crazy if she ate the same thing every night of the week. Even if that doesn't sound appealing to you, you might want to try it for a month, just to give your guts time to settle into a routine. At the very least maybe you will establish yourself as solely constipated or solely diarrhea, and then you can treat whichever type you have without worrying about tomorrow being the exact opposite.