I have had numerous laps and scopes for endometriosis and adhesions. I am in major pain every hour of every day...so I want to share what relief I have gotten for any of you.
I take Ultram ER and Amitiza. With this combination, I am to get 24 hour pain relief and not have to worry about the bowel obstruction (even after to resections). If it does become an issue, Miralax for several days does help or an over the counter stool softner.
It takes a while to realize the relief and it's difficult to endure at first. But, I can tell you that it is relief. If I miss it, within about 18 hours I can start really feeling what it doesn't allow me to feel..thank God.
Kelly
WendyEbbe3@aol.com wrote: Caryn, Who's your Dr. and where from? I've been existing for two years now and I can't do it much longer. I appreciate any help you can give me. The Mayo Clinic won't even take me as a patient they say they can't do any more for me than is already being done which is pretty much nothing but putting me on drugs and screwing up my liver and then end up with even more problems so yeah it's time for surgery again but I won't let these butcher's here gut me with the laparotomy. Wendy
Original Message Subj: Re: Abdominal Adhesions Date: 6/4/2008 9:19:53 P.M. Central Daylight Time From:carynlruzich@comcast.net To: adhesions@mail.obgyn.net Sent on:
Deanna,
It could very well be adhesions. They start out feeling like a kink or a knot. Pain can radiate through your back or up your back depending on where your adhesions are. They eventually will feel as if they're actually strangling your insides. Most times, I can't stand to wear pants unless they are really, really loose. Form fitting clothes are out of the questions for me. I can only stand 'being dressed' for a few hours without feeling discomfort. I feel like my insides hurt a lot of the time. Now some of what I'm feeling could be visceral nerve damage from having so many surgeries. In essence, I'm feeling my insides which you're not supposed to feel. But because of nerve damage, I do feel my insides. I learned about that after several different trips to a pain clinic. For me, pain medications isn't even an option which makes dealing with this extremely difficult. Pain medication only slows my diges! tive tr ack which will end up causing a bowel obstruction. It's really a vicious circle.
I am living proof that you can learn to cope. About every two years I have to have a laparoscopy. Luckily I was turned on to an excellent surgeon who is a master of laparoscopy. He actually pioneered the lapro technical for the removal of the gall bladder. I can't even count how many open surgeries I've had and they are what causes the most damage in terms of adhesions. At least with laparoscopy, the incisions are small so theoretically, the adhesions should be small or less. I just had surgery again about 6 weeks ago and already I feel them back. Not bad, but back.
Unfortunately for us docs don't have much to offer. It's really a crime. Your lucky if they offer pain medicine. I've been to University hospitals, Mayo Clinic, etc. I recently heard about a new liquid adhesive that was developed in Germany and is now being tested. If only they could find a way to turn off the healing process that feeds adhesions. My mother had adhesion problems 40 years ago, so it's not a new problem. I suppose it's due to people having more surgeries than ever before. I know a big chunk of health care goes into treating these things, if only they'd put their money into finding a way to stop adhesions in the first place, it would be a better investment.
Best of luck to you,
Caryn
>-------------- Original message --------------
From: "IAS Admin (Tracy)" <tracy.joslin@adhesions.org>
> Sender: michels96@msn.com (Deanna)
> Subject: Abdominal Adhesions
>
> Hi, I just happened to run across this forum while googling adhesions. I
> don't know if I am suffering from this but I can only assume at this
> point. A little history- I had my gall bladder removed in 2004. I have
> been stented 13 times in my bile ducts between 2002 and 2007. In 2007 I
> had to have my lower lobe of my liver, the upper head of my pancreas,
> and my entire biliary tree removed. 2 separate openings were made in my
> small intestines to re-attact the remaining liver and pancreas. This
> was a horrible surgery recovery wise but I was beginning to see the
> light at the end of the tunnel. My problem now is! that I have this
> uncomfortable feeling that my intestines are trying to twist. Pain
> level 4 out of 10. It was happening maybe 2-3 times daily but now it is
> happening about every 15-20 minutes. Occasionally when it happens pain
> radiates up to my left shoulder and it feels as though someone is trying
> to rip it off. I have not called my dr. yet out of stubborness, but I
> was wondering what kind of symptoms other suffers have had. Please
> help!! Thank You, Deanna
>