Strange Couple of Days

I usually get lower back aches with blockages and pouchitis.  For what that’s worth.  The rest of it…not sure.  If you’re having a lot of gas and swelling it could be driving some of the back pain although I’d think you would also feel it more in your abdomen.  Other things like gallbladder issues can cause back pain and gas etc, so do you have a gastroenterologist you could see if it doesn’t start to resolve?  They can do some ultrasound real quick to try to pinpoint the issue.

My GI is in another province.  I re-located for work in September so my GI referred me to a GI in my new province.  The problem is that the new GI is about 4 hours away as I am in a rural area.  I am not sure if there is a closer option.  I am scheduled for a Gastroscopy and Pouchoscopy on April 27 with the new GI.  In the meantime, I suddenly got these rough symptoms about 3 days ago.

Don't get me wrong, I always have issues.  But for the past 3 days, my lower back has reached its peak.  It aches around the clock with pretty good intensity.  To coincide with that, I have had way too many bowel movements and gas.  It seems that there is definitely something off.  My rectum is very sore from the quantity of them and also the having to push a lot of them out.  This is even though I use a bidet toilet 90%+ of the time these days.  In fact, the way I have felt lately, I make sure I am where I can use one most of the time.

Could this be a partial blockage?  I had this same type of thing happen a few months ago with my back but I don't remember all the exact details of the symptoms I had along with it.  I am not really sure what a partial blockage would entail.  All I know right now is that my lower back pain is about as bad as it gets right now and I have been having an excessive number of bowel movements and extreme gas, to the point of soreness.  A lot of these bowel movements also sometimes require more work which might suggest there is something causing that.  Since I substituted morphine for codeine the a couple of evenings ago, nothing has improved.

A partial blockage doesn’t tend to lead to an excessive number of bowel movements, though the output can become more liquid and the unrelieved pressure can increase the frequency of (mostly unproductive) attempts.  What is the consistency of your output, and is that a change from your usual consistency?

Output is similar, maybe a little harder.  When I took the Morphine just the one evening (two times), my output looked mostly undigested.  It was like passing a lot of little marbles.  It has since returned to more normal.  The thing is that I am having to work harder to have it come out.  The other thing is that at the end of each bowel movement, the really loud motor-like sound of gas is extraordinarily loud.  There is more pain than usual in the rectum. 

I am not trying to sound gross or nasty but another thing is that I really tend to plaster the toilet bowl with diarrhea and need to often clean it following each bowel movement.  The loud gas / diarrhea really blasts it all over the bowl and makes a real mess.

No different than from doing the dishes.  If you leave some plates / bowls with sauces etc. for a few hours or more, they can be way more difficult to clean than looking after it right away. 

Not sure what I would do without my bidet toilet and / or my hand-held bidet.  It makes a world of difference.

I agree with Scott, at least from my own experience a blockage or partial blockage feels very different from what you’re describing.  In fact the issue is usually that gas is NOT being passed.  For me blockages come with awful abdominal pain, moderate low back pain, little to no bowel movement that’s only liquid if at all, nausea, and bloated abdomen.  

What you’re describing sounds more like an irritated intestine of some kind, possibly with the irritation/inflammation driving back pain, which I’ve also experienced before.  I’d guess that the harder poo might be more from narcotics which tend to slow things down and dehydrate a bit.  

Thinks like kidney stones can cause intense low back pain but I don’t think they typically cause GI issues.  Still, it would be a good idea to get checked out beyond the scope procedure.  Surely there’s a local doctor that could ultrasound you for kidney or gallstones or offer other suggestion?

If it was me, I’d start drinking a lot more water, include some hydration mix or similar to get your hydration up, go easy on the food, plain bread and rice and soup etc, try to move and walk to move things along, get a loved one or pro to massage your back for pain relief, get a hot pad on, and see if things calm down.  And go see a doctor.

Good luck!!

After about 3 days of horrible back pain and worse than usual bowel movements, everything seems to return to normal.  This pretty much verifies the fact that whatever it is that is happening with my body - it is a systematic issue, not a mechanical one...

I went from feeling like I couldn't do anything without horrible aching pain to my usual everyday way of life!

Can anyone help me figure out what Judy happened with my body?  Or am I a headcase??!!

Glad to hear you got better.  I think it’s going to be pretty tough for anyone to figure that out for you.