Ok i usally post in the lupsus forum, and the attention deficit, and now in depression and anxiety forum. I have lupus like symptoms but no dx, i do have a dx of severe IC interstitial cystitis. which is severe infalmmation of the bladder and is painful, but lately I have noticed besides urinary incontinince i am experiencing bowel incontinence, not real bad but its there, so my gyno uro refers me to colorectal dr, where I went today, and never want to go back. Had to do enema, I dont have constipatioon actaully the opposite. He did some air blowing exam which absoultley killed me. Long story short all was well except loss of muscle tone. He is disregarding that I have s-1 s-2 and l-4 and l-5 damge in my back, say nothing he can do about that, but I feel its realted to bothe ic and whatever I got going on. All he would say is I have mild bowl incontince and to take fiber, I already eat alot of fiber, and have very loose stools, how is this gogin to help? ANd I have gas problems, he says he cant help me there either. So I have no Idea what I have, do I have IBS??? he didnt say, I typical have 4 or 5 loose bowel movements a day, not direah but real lose, I have alot of gas, an dI thinks its becosue I do eat so many vegatable, drink water, etc, I try to eat helthy, having a hard time to very hard core exercise as I am in to much pain, but I am walking amile or two each day, and I strech at night, I work part time during the day with children and am getting a good bit of excerise there. So I am trying to do the right things, the fiber sample he gave me has citrus in it, I cannot even have cirtus due to the ic, the only hting that he seemed helpful for was he is gogint ot set me up with phsical therapist for pelivic floor dysfucntion, so that is good, My gyno-uro, wants me to see a pain mangement speicalist as well. I like the gyno uro, he is really trying to help me, and not just blow me off like the colorectal doctor did. Colorectal doctor wants me back in 3 months. My question is what do I have, IBS or what, usaully have loose stools, some bowel incontince and the IC, I have lots of gas, what does this sound like, IBS, or Chron's. not even sure exactly what Chrohns is, I jsut want to know where I fit and where I can get advice, as I didnt get much fromthis doc. Any thoughts would be appreciated, thanks ....***Take Care.....Sheryl***
SERENITY PRAYER: "GOD GRANT ME THE SERENITY TO ACCEPT THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE; COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN; AND THE WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE........
Hi Sheryl, Having 4-5 loose stools a day sounds like more than the average person and I would almost want to say at the very least you have IBS. The urgency and incontinence can go with it as well and a lot of us suffer from that from time to time. Is the incontinence an every day thing? I get it when I am having very loose stools. I always make sure that I have extra underwear and wipes just in case. How long have you been taking the fiber? I almost want to say that you need to find another specialist as this one doesn't seem to take your concerns seriously and can't even give you a dx of at least IBS. I'm no doctor but your symptoms seem classic to me. Have you thought of seeing another doctor, maybe a GI specialist?
Hugs, Des
Co-Moderator ~ IBS Forum
"Sometimes I'm afraid, and I don't feel that tough...But I'll stand back up" - Sugarland
Hi Sheryl, welcome to the IBS forum! Dbab is right, maybe you should look for another doctor. If you feel you aren't being helped then don't settle for less. Find someone who will listen. You do sound like you could have IBS, however, only a doc can say. You should probably be tested for several things before your doc settles on IBS. I wouldn't worry about Crohn's just yet. Almost all Crohnies have lots of pain, diarrhea and blood in their stool. Hang in there and you'll get to the bottom of your woes.
Co-Moderator for the IBS Forum
Thanks you so much, I feel so much better knowing that is probably not Chrohns, as I do not know too much about it, I do know its pretty bad, and I dont want to have it, well I dont want IBS or IC either, but I know the Chrons is known to be very bad. NO I do not have blood in my stools, so that is very good. Oh I have been tested for many things over last 2 or 3 years, I have lots of numbness in hands arms legs and feet, so been to neuor, mri of brain fine, nerve condcution on hand fine, buthe is damage at the s-1 s-2 and l-4 and l-5, leadin gme to think some nerve damge especially when I am walking along and my leg just goes num for no reason. Ms ruled out becasue mri normal, lupus is a possibilty but tests are negative at this time, had some psoitves in the past. Been to infectious disease speicalist becasue I have a fever constantly of around 99 to 101, he discovered I do not have an infectious disease, but slighltly elevated crp wich can bring up my temp. So I know I got immflammation going on somewhere. Have always had back and nee problems since birth. Rheum said fibro, but he never even tested trigger spots, infectious disease doc did test and said I dont have fibro. Gyno-uro who right now is my biggest hope does thnk fibro possible IBS, and endometriousis, He knows I have lots fo ovarian cysts, and uterine fibroids too. He will probalbly send me to a gastro when all is said and done. I am 36, when I was 17 I had an ulcer of the duodenim, wouldnt that put me in the IBS class, as I know enough that it incluse the entire digestive tract correct? I do have ome pain, but not like you describe a Chrinie would have, my pain comes mostly from pelvic area, and lower back, but not so much from rectum, maybe I will cramping occasionally, lots of gas though, flatulence and beching, (nice huh!!) rectum i a little irratated from going so much, but creames help that. Again thanks so much for the info, I feel I shall continue to visit this forum as I have a hunch I have the IBS, but will know after gyno refers me to gastro, and pain speicalist. I hope eveyone here has a good day, and as pain free s possible...Love...Sheryl***Take Care.....Sheryl***
SERENITY PRAYER: "GOD GRANT ME THE SERENITY TO ACCEPT THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE; COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN; AND THE WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE........
You say that you go numb in your legs sometimes due to nerve/back problems. Seems to me like that may be causing incontinence. I would think if you went numb in your anal area, those muscles would relax without you ever knowing it. And your bladder problem may not be helping. I have read that urinary tract infections can lead to vaginitis, and visa versa; everything's so close together, down there, I would think it would be easy for problems in one area to cross over to another. People with Crohn's can have their ulcers cross over from intestines to urinary tract; maybe your IC is going the other way?
You definitely should see some more doctors because you may have IBS or you may have something else that's messing up your bowels. I would start with the problems you know you have--nerve compression/damage, IC, etc. Then see if you can see a lupus and/or fibromyalgia specialist (my mother has that) and when you are satisfied that those things are under management, if you still have bowel problems, then see another G.I. about the IBS. Hopefully you will clear that problem up when you clear up your other ones and you'll have one less thing to worry about!
You might want to see if you can get your stools to stop being so loose; maybe a diet change (fiber can cause gas and passing gas can lead to accidents). I would think that it would be easier to control a larger, more solid stool than a small, watery one. Be easier to clean up at any rate. Try taking some Caltrate 600 w/ Vitamin D (or generic equivalent). That's helped a lot of us on this forum and isn't limited to just people with diagnosed IBS. The calcium absorbs excess water in the intestines, leading to more formed stools. That particular brand is recommended because it has the right balance of calcium and magnesium; too much magnesium and it won't help your loose stools/diarrhea. Calcium also soothes an inflamed intestine (inflamed from eating the wrong things or too much bile or allergic reactions--I don't think it would help with ulcers or really bad imflmmation from serious diseases much). You might want to start out with one pill a day, and work up to 3 if needed. You also mentioned you like to eat healthy. I have found that dehydrated banana chips are constipation-inducing. If you can't take the calcium or don't want to, try some banana chips. Half a bag from the grocery store will plug up a normal person. Start with less than that! Hopefully by making your stools more solid, you'll have better control of them.
Kerimom, that sounds like a plan at least more of a plan than rectal doc gave me, only htng I am allergiv to bananas, but if I werent I would be eating them all day, becasue I love them. I can try the caltrate thought, Withthe IC I cannot have ctrus tomatoes, carbonation, caffiene, ( but i have to have that first cup) but honselty the caffien doesnt bither as much as the citrus and tomatoes. I have seen rheum not happy with him need a new one, but have to get referal, neuro blew me off too, says not enough damage to warrant anything, ok, so where does that leave me??? My gyno uro is really caring for my whole body, where as the rest are saying well that is not my dept, so I dotn care about the rest of you just your this or that. But gyno uro really trying to help, he is gogint to refer meto gastro, and pain mangement speicalist, not sure what they do, but i will find out soon. I will be see a phsical therapist for the pelvic floor dysfucntion on the 22nd, for the pelvic pain, and incontinecne and also for th bowel incontinence, also the urge and frequwncy with the bladder. So far I haev no utis, or infections thanks GOD!! My question, is what do they do for you during the physical therapy for these area, I know this a touchy subject, but the rectal doctor didnt even tell me, I want to know what I am in for for, and what will the pain manegment specialist do??? Sorry for so many questions. Thanks again for all who replied and helped me, I really aprreciate it. thank you...***Take Care.....Sheryl***
SERENITY PRAYER: "GOD GRANT ME THE SERENITY TO ACCEPT THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE; COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN; AND THE WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE........
Hi Sheryl, It sounds like your moving forward which is really good to hear. Staying away from the direutics (sp?) seems like a good idea but I hear you about the coffee. I can't kick it for anything. Its really good that you have at least one doc that really cares, it seems like he is really feeling for you and has a good bedside manner. Its so hard to find a doctor because you don't know what they are like. I don't know about the therapy however I do kegals myself which is what my GI recommended to me so I try to do a little each day to keep the muscles working. It is supposed to work your pelvic and your rectal muscles to keep them from getting weak which is why a lot of people lose the control. Use it or lose it I guess. Keep us updated on your progress.
Hugs, Des
Co-Moderator ~ IBS Forum
"Sometimes I'm afraid, and I don't feel that tough...But I'll stand back up" - Sugarland
I would think that the therapy would consist of things like pelvic thrusts--where you lay on your back, knees bent and you lift your pelvis up off the floor, then back down again--and maybe some butt-cheek clinching. I'm sure there are more, but those two things are actually part of lots of aerobic classes. Butt-clinching is recommended for anybody who wants to tone their butt, and it can be done while sitting in a chair in an office. By clinching up all of your butt muscles, you'll automatically tighten your rectum--which is what they are wanting to work on with you. Oh, and something I read in a magazine as a therapy for people who have bladder control problems is to start and stop your pee. If you have good bladder muscle tone, you should be able to start peeing, stop completely and then resume it, at will. You have bad muscle control if you start and can't stop it at all until you are empty. It was recommended that all women, especially, try this exercise occasionally when they go to the bathroom because women are more prone than men to lose bladder control and especially so after childbirth. I do it when I'm at home sometimes just to prove that I can, lol. Never hurts to work those muscles. If you have difficulty with starting and stopping completely, then you should try and do it every time you go to the bathroom.
Don't feel embarrassed by this: a lot of women who have just had babies have to have this kind of therapy because childbirth can make you incontinent in either or both areas. I don't think it will involve any sort of touching by the therapist; it should all be activities that you can do on your own and you will almost certainly be asked to do them at home as well as at therapy sessions (where you will be supervised to make sure you are doing it correctly).
A lady I worked with, her husband had to go to a pain management specialist because he had terminal cancer and bad knees/back to boot. The pain specialist managed all of his pain medications and watched how he was walking and corrected his posture and had him carry his cane in another hand and that really helped him walk easier and with less pain. I would think that your pain doctor would want to do something similar, probably ask you about how you sleep and what your bed is like, etc. and tell you things to do to make your back better. His pain doctor even took over his non-pain medications and coordinated between the multiple doctors he was seeing, setting up his other doctors' appointements and everything. I don't know, though, if this was something that she routinely did for all of her patients, or if she did it for him because he was in such bad shape and needed help keeping up with all of his different problems. She was some part doctor and most part pharmacist; most doctors only know those medicines which affect the thing in which they deal with, but she had an extensive knowledge of all medicines and regulated everything from his pain meds to his heart and blood pressure meds to his fluid pills to his cancer treatments; she knew about it all. Which was very necessary given the number of pills he was on at once and the fact that he was seeing so many different doctors for so many problems.
Has anyone suggested a chiropractor to you? You said the regular back doctor didn't think surgery was necessary. That kind of only leaves adjustments as an option to help correct your problem. My fiance has a bad back--had surgery to remove a disk, but he didn't really get any relief--and he ended up at a chiropractor for whiplash from a car accident. The doctor--who was a friend of his--talked him into letting him work on his back and after just the first adjustment Stuart said he felt so much better. He was able to stop eating ibuprofen for breakfast every morning. The chiropractor figured he had never healed correctly from the surgery and that's why he never got any relief. If you think you might want to go to one, you really should get someone to recommend you to one. Fooling with the back is tricky business and a chiropractor who doesn't know exactly what he's doing can really mess you up. Ask your doctor or family members and see if they know of a chiropractor who has done a really good job. Stuart didn't want anyone messing with his back because he was afraid they would make it worse, but the chriopractor did such a good job on his neck, he decided he might be good enough to help his back. He still has some lower back problems, but it usually only bothers him when he's aggrevated it by too much physical activity, sitting in one position--driving a car--for too long, that sort of thing. And when it does bother him a little heat and a couple of ibuprofens fix it--not the 8 pills he used to have to take every morning.
Thanks Keriamom, took me awhile to absorb all your post, kept rereading. I need more help with pain end of thing then the incomtnince, I am hoping for pelvic pain relief from this. Rememebr the JaneFonda work out tapes in the 80s, well in about 1982 I was 13 or 14 they made us feel the burn, we did those but lifts and swueezes,a nd I never forgot them I do the every night, plus I have a speical kegel exercise exerciser I use every da, I do the urine stoppoing and starting thng too, its helps, but incontinecne isnt my biggest problem but its is a problem and I am doign all those exercises then some for back too, Gyno said something about biofeedback and tens units ect, dont know much about that, but if it will helpwith pain, hooray. i cannot take any nsaids of any type, have had ulcers, and it eas up my stomach. I do alot lower back exercises, helps some. I agree with Sturat sitting to long car sleeping, standing make worse. I would love to go to a chiro, bit dont hink my insurance will cover it, I have gone in the past and i loved it, helped a great deal, my reg doc, is a DO, but his adjumensts leave me worse, he pulls and twists, but never cracks I need cracks,. But I will try real hard to find one one my insurance, where ther is a will there is away, please pray I find one. i need to learn a little more aout the biofeedback, and the tens unit, hoping these will help wth pain. Hopefully pain mangement speccialsit will help too, thanks again for input and help, I will keep you posted, thansk again....***Take Care.....Sheryl***
SERENITY PRAYER: "GOD GRANT ME THE SERENITY TO ACCEPT THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE; COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN; AND THE WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE........
Aloe vera gel, just like mentioned in roadtrip's post, helps tremendously with ulcers. I honestly thought all insurances covered at least 1 visit to a chiropractor a year. ??? Read through your plan closely and we'll be here praying for you. I really hope you get the help you are seeking. Tackle 1 of your ailments at a time and hopefully you can have them all under control soon. You said it right "Where there's a will, there's a way."Co-Moderator for the IBS Forum
You are right, and truth be know if your back is in alignment and working right the rest of you usally will fall in line too, back problems can be a culprti of many ailments, just takign care of the back may make a world of difference for me, Iw ill research again in my insurance, form the past wehn I could actually afford to go to one, it made a world of difference, i will let you know what I learn, thanks for the support and a lsitening ear, it much appreciated...Love...Sheryl***Take Care.....Sheryl***
SERENITY PRAYER: "GOD GRANT ME THE SERENITY TO ACCEPT THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE; COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN; AND THE WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE........
Ok i usally post in the lupsus forum, and the attention deficit, and now in depression and anxiety forum. I have lupus like symptoms but no dx, i do have a dx of severe IC interstitial cystitis. which is severe infalmmation of the bladder and is painful, but lately I have noticed besides urinary incontinince i am experiencing bowel incontinence, not real bad but its there, so my gyno uro refers me to colorectal dr, where I went today, and never want to go back. Had to do enema, I dont have constipatioon actaully the opposite. He did some air blowing exam which absoultley killed me. Long story short all was well except loss of muscle tone. He is disregarding that I have s-1 s-2 and l-4 and l-5 damge in my back, say nothing he can do about that, but I feel its realted to bothe ic and whatever I got going on. All he would say is I have mild bowl incontince and to take fiber, I already eat alot of fiber, and have very loose stools, how is this gogin to help? ANd I have gas problems, he says he cant help me there either. So I have no Idea what I have, do I have IBS??? he didnt say, I typical have 4 or 5 loose bowel movements a day, not direah but real lose, I have alot of gas, an dI thinks its becosue I do eat so many vegatable, drink water, etc, I try to eat helthy, having a hard time to very hard core exercise as I am in to much pain, but I am walking amile or two each day, and I strech at night, I work part time during the day with children and am getting a good bit of excerise there. So I am trying to do the right things, the fiber sample he gave me has citrus in it, I cannot even have cirtus due to the ic, the only hting that he seemed helpful for was he is gogint ot set me up with phsical therapist for pelivic floor dysfucntion, so that is good, My gyno-uro, wants me to see a pain mangement speicalist as well. I like the gyno uro, he is really trying to help me, and not just blow me off like the colorectal doctor did. Colorectal doctor wants me back in 3 months. My question is what do I have, IBS or what, usaully have loose stools, some bowel incontince and the IC, I have lots of gas, what does this sound like, IBS, or Chron's. not even sure exactly what Chrohns is, I jsut want to know where I fit and where I can get advice, as I didnt get much fromthis doc. Any thoughts would be appreciated, thanks 
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