colon spasms

[Sue357]

Hi.  I had a colon resection on Jan of 2008.  Long recovery, not as short as I thought it would be.  Here is my question/problem:  I had a colonoscopy in Dec. of 2008 and was told that I have a hypertrophic colon ( thickening of walls) due to all of the episodes of diverticulitis that led up to the surgery.  Now I am experiencing what my doc calls spasms.  Horrible pain and bloating.  He prescribed Bentyl, which works sometimes, but other times I have to rely on pain meds ( at night).  I have not been able to find much info on this issue.  Would love to hear from anyone else in the same situation. Thanks  Sue

[Matthew007]

Yeah it might turn out all my problems might be related to low potassium blood levels, evertime i've been to a ER room they said it was rock low but I didn't think anything of it until now... but i'd get checked if it's cheap just in case.  A bannana a day is a good idea, you could do that with 5-htp supplements in the grocery store to help calm the gut..help you sleep and with potassium and water you could help the muslces calm down.

you're welcome :)

[Sue357]

Thanks.  I didn't know that about potassium.  I eat a banana a day plus take Centrum Silver, so I think I am okay. Also, now I know why I keep coming up with IBS, online, when I try to research spastic colon.  I remember a long time ago a doc telling me that I had that.  Take care and thanks.

[Matthew007]

yw :) yeah.. I mostly use emedicine (and spastic colon and IBS online are basically the same thing)

another idea with help from your doctor is to check your potassium levels.. and maybe eat more bannanas or supplement them.. lack of potassium can give you muscle problems in that area *shrugs* (just an idea)

[Sue357]

Thanks.  I am going to google that as I have not found much internet stuff on spastic colon, usually just ibs.

[Matthew007]

ah i'm sorry  :S hopefully you have insurance for all that..(I don't sadly) but yeah last time I was in the ER room they gave me anti-pain shot..and wow I had no idea how much pain I was walking around with.

Least you don't have diverticulitis.. :S that's bad stuff that will lead to more surgery's (that's where you have wayy too much pressure on your colon)

Yeah the colon.. i've heard the same story from Gi's that if for example you lack sleep or you are stressed in life that it can affect your bowel habits and start muscle spasms..  usually you get the same drill, Fiber..water..exercise..stress free.. blah blahblah.. so they'll probably try to put you on antidepressants (which i hated) to help build 5-HTP and help your gut/mind ignore pain or lower the pain threshold I guess.. that's worth a try (I just hated those antidepressants..).  I don't think they totally understand how spastic colon happens..but you could google 'emedicine spastic colon' and read some of the articles so you know what your doctor is basically going to lecture you about.

Hang in there :S

[Sue357]

Hi.  I have heard the same things about Miralax.  I think that is why docs like it.  I have not had to use it for a while.  I spent today at the er, due to the spasms.  My hubby took me.  They did  blood tests, etc. as well as a ct scan and saw nothing out of the ordinary.  However, I did find out I have a small umbilical hernia, which is probably from my surgery:  hand assisted lapro.  So..... it seems like a waste but at least I can take some peace of mind from it. That is, no diverticulits was seen and no other infections.   I was told to follow up with gi and also given a script for Vicodin.  She cautioned against that, tho, due to the constipation and how addicting they are.  She also explained a bunch of stuff about how our colons tell our brains we are in pain and something is wrong, even when it's not.  Doesn't stop the pain, tho. lol. Also, I need to take the Bentyl and  talk to my doc about pain management if that doesn't work.  Anyway, thought I would share.  I still don't understand how this whole spasms thing works but know I wish it was gone.  Thanks so much for all of your help.  

[Matthew007]

keep working at it though.. go for walks and light exercise..stretching if you can..try and find the right amount of either fiber/miralax mix that works but doesn't make you fixed to a bathroom...whatever as close to natural fix you can get so your colon gets trained to work as close to normal as you can..

:S good luck with that hope we both get fixed and get our lives back

[Matthew007]

totally, seems like the longer I am sick the more anxiety plays a part..like just being afraid to even go out or go to the doctors office or drive alone... even going to the grocery store is a challenge now (with my nausea).  I know exercise and just doing it will help me get through that but also good health also helps as well.  Hard to not be scared going places without having a bathroom near.  That's a hard part..because like for me i'm semi-ok at home doing chores and such but if I need to go somewhere that's when the nausea/pain kick in and i know it's a battle to talk yourself into not being stressed, because once you start going downhill you just need that security blanket again (anxiety)

so yeah I know how that is.  Exercise is the only way I know how to beat that and i'm trying to do as much as I can with my nausea.

I hear miralax is like super not bad on your system..you're basically changing the system to instead of sucking out water to add water to your stool (sounds gross but true..) and the research I did on it was, it's long term safe..so I've read online with other users that mixing the two (miralax and citrucel) together is pretty safe and that's what most users do.  Also i've heard peppermints help calm muscles and such.. peppermint tea as well.  Now the anti-spasmotics that's a totally different story and i'd be worried about long term use.. that'll just teach the colon to take a vacation and never want to come back sort of deal but I wouldn't be worried too much about miralax.. just finding the correct amount to help you balance it out and you'll be good to go I think.  But everyone is different.  Also avoiding gas creating foods also helps avoid pain...

everyone is different.  IBS s u c k s.

[Sue357]

Thanks.  I try to get a lot of fiber in my diet.  I take citrucell as well.  I have used miralax in the past and it really works.  I try not to use it if I don't need it as I don't want to be dependent on it.  Have you noticed anxiety, stress affecting your symptoms?  There seems to be a connection with me, since I had the surgery.

[Matthew007]

yeah that is the problem with taking antispasmotics...they cause constipation..I was doing citrucel with miralax mixed together trying to get things going :S

sphincter of oddi is a small muscle near your bile duct (near the liver).  I'm not an expert on it but normally it stays open unless food is passing by then it closes.. but by injury or who knows sometimes it'll lock up as a muscle by staying shut and cause your liver/pancrease to back up causing major nausea, abdominal pain...  At the same time without having bile or pancrease enzymes releasing to help you digest food you usually have major constipation or IBS issues...it has the same vague symptoms of having a gallbladder attack or problem so it's vague and very hard to diagnose but usually something to check if you have your gallbladder removed and still are having serious problems (like me).  I'm not sure if that's my problem but the doctors are leaning towards it and i'm hopefully going to be tested for it.

I don't blame you for not taking the medicine...your colon is very trainable..what you do to it via diet or meds will train it to work certain ways so by using anti-spasmotics I *think* (my personal opinion) it just creates a lazy colon or a colon that just doesn't think it needs to work at all anymore (so I agree i'd avoid it as much as you can put up with..but also hit the fiber/miralx to ease the pressure off..)

[Sue357]

Thanks for replying.  What is spincter of oddi dysfunction?  Also, what were your symptoms?  The thing that bugs me about bentyl is that one of the side effects is peristalsis.  I am so afraid of lazy colon and having another surgery.  I know I am not taking the med as I am supposed to because of that.  I take one every couple of days.  It causes constipation, too.

[Matthew007]

no problem :)

yeah it's an older drug (one of the oldest and cheapest ones) I still use it, the current name is clindinium & chlordiazepoxi and I was told the name is "librax"

I don't have spasms (least I don't think so).. the doctors thought i did have IBS/colon spasms to explain my left sided pain... so that's why they gave it to me and i noticed it helped a little for me especially at night.. but I think I have sphincter of oddi dysfunction.  It helps relax muscles (all antispasmotics do) so it helps relieve pressure on my bile duct valve in theory.  Also helps me get some sleep since it makes me a little drowsy (but not bad) So i just take one before I go to bed.  It doesn't make me as groggy as a sleeping pill the next day.

But in your case, I know there's many different types of antispasmotics when I was doing research on it..I was one that would make my throat so dry it made me more sick (can't think of the name) but if I remember right there's like 3 or..5 diffferent types of anti-spasmotics so you could either ask your doctor if you could try something different.  Wouldn't hurt you at all since you need them.

[Sue357]

Thanks for responding.  Do you suffer from colon spasms too?  I have never heard of that one, librax.  Are you still on it?  

[Matthew007]

i've heard there's like..many types of anti-spasmotics... the one i used was librax (it's an older one..might be the same one you're taking) it didn't make my throat dry and just helped me sleep.

That is awful though i'm very sorry.