Any Idea's On How To Get These Guts To Work Again?

[Maxine]

Kind of scary given the family history, but not to worry, still scheduling the colonoscopy---- .

My guts are kind of worrying me a bit, and I'm wondering if I should have an endoscope along with the colonoscopy, and maybe a CT scan of the rest of my insides. I'm always bloated, on and off constipation, and I get full so easy------(but that comes with POTS----right?). However, these can be symptoms of a more serious matter---right?

By now you all know my family history of cancer, particularly coloncancer---my brother, and my uncle--(mother's brother), and we don't know where my mother's cancer started, only learned she had terminal cancer two days before she died. Her wishes were to be cremated----so we will never know where HER cancer started. My uncle died two weeks after my mother died.

Sometimes my food sticks, but to me this feels more like a problem with my spine issues----I just have trouble swallowing, and choke on liquids at times. It seems to be worse in the morning, and I have to take my welllbutrin when my husband is there because I'm afraid I'll choke on it. My neck and whole spine feels like a tooth ache in the morning, then gets better for a while until I start moving around more, then more pain, and more neurological deficits---like=numbness, tingling, walking gait, and later in the day my speech slurring. My speech slurs earlier if I'm more active earlier in the day.

I just learned on my visit to my orthopedic surgeon that I have desiccation of my T-8, and he said that pain I'm having in my mid back that spreads into my abdomin is from that. I told him I feel like the wind is knocked out of me when that hurts.

It hurts a lot when I first wake up in the morning, and when I move around much. I wonder if that could be causing my blowel motility issues to get worse. Last week my bowels seemed to have stopped working, and last week my pain in mid back and abdomin got worse. I keep wondering if I ate something that slowed me down. I have that diverticuli in small intestine, and my guts are very sensitive to different food textures. My guts were doing fairly well too....

I did eat some yogurt the week before, but that is supposed to make your guts work better. Could a mid thoracic spine problem mess up my guts more? Has anyone suffered any serious problems with their mid spine.

Maxine :0)

[Jaime]

I feel your pain. I am looking for similar answers. Yes, your T-spine can cause bowel and urinary problems including constipation. I am a dietitian. If you are having swallow problems, you should have a modified barium swallow. This looks at the actual swallow. They can tell you if you need modified texture foods or thickened liquids and then they work with you to help get your swallow as close to your baseline as possible. This is important because the food may actually be going into your lungs which creates problems like pneumonia. Your doc is able to order this. Some docs try and ignore swallow issues, but it's important to ask him to order that test. Your swallow problems are probably not from your T-spine issues (not a doc just speaking from experience with my patients). My pelvis has recently become very unstable and lax and I think it is causing an anatomical obstruction. I am having a lot of issues trying to get someone to do something since I am at risk of rupture. I have no bowel sounds and have not been able to have a BM in quite some time. I take miralax which is OTC or prescription and that is supposed to naturally increase the parastalsis or movement of the intestines without the cramping that a traditional laxative causes. Since you have diverticulosis/itis I realize that you can't eat most of the fiber-rich foods since they have seeds, husks, skins, etc. on them. Some of my patients mix benefiber in a drink of their choice since they cannot eat most fiber-rich foods. Probiotics(lactobacillus, bacteria in activia yogurt) are good the the GI tract as well and can be found in many new yogurts and in a pill form. Again, speak with your physician to see if these are recommended. I do know a woman who presented with GI symptoms and it was actually a problem with her spine. I don't know if that helps. Anyone who has additional comments on how to get motility started again or has an experience with physical obstruction I would really appreciate the help also because this is miserable!

Jaime

[dizzygirl]

i hope that you diong better today.. and feel better too..

love and hugs

dizzaloo

[Dawg Tired]

Umm... Coffee?? It makes my guts work better - also works for Hubby.