Intestine Twisting

Has anyone experienced this problem after surgery?  I have been having some problems and my doctor seems to think this is what it could possibly be.  I am having a CAT Scan tomorrow to find out for sure but I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and how it was resolved and what the recovery time was.

Thanks,
Kristy

What are your symptoms?   

For quite some time now I have had horrendous pains right in between the lower part of my rib cage (gall bladder is gone).  It feels like someone is stabbing me.  These pains can go on for 20 minutes, 5 hours, one week, with no way of relief.  At first, I thought it was gas pains but no over the counter products or prescription products would work.  While I am having these pains I do not have gas but rather I am non-stop belching, and I mean belching.  About 3 weeks ago I went through a period of about 8 days where the pain was non-stop and I didn't go to the bathroom either for 8 days.  It comes and goes with nothing obvious to me as to why.  I went to my surgeon and he seems to think this is what it may be and that is why he is sending me for the CAT Scan with Contrast.  However, I have read that unless my intestine is twisting at the timee of the scan it wouldn't be recognized????

Yes... I was going to say that what I have read of this (no personal experience with it), it is hard to catch on any diagnostic test.

Keep on your doctor to find an answer... even if it means exploratory surgery.  Complications such as this can be FATAL... you need to be your own best advocate in getting a solid answer to your pain.

~wendy

this is EXACTLY what I had. I was close to dying when I got to the ER they told me I was very lucky. The VERY NEXT TIME you feel the pain CALL AN AMBULANCE. Do not drive yourself there.

This is VERY serious. I thought it was gas also. I kept taking gasX. It is exactly the same feeling as the stabbing shooting pain of gas.

You need to go to the ER within minutes of feeling the pain. Do not worry about your schedule or inconvenience or anything--call an abulance. When I was waiting for the ambulance, I was throwing up clear liquid--I was told that it was my digestive juices.

Please don't wait. IT IS NOT GAS.

Hi Kristy,
Yes, I have been going through something simular to you. I do have the stabbing pain that can last minutes, hours days on end. I have had several tests, C-Scans MRI's and the only thing that shows is that I am full of stool in my intestines. The last time they did the C-Scan I was in the middle of an attack and still nothing showed other than stool. I do not want to have another surgery, so I put up with these pains when I have them. My PCP has given me a
rx for the pain that I can use and it does help. Sorry I am not sure what it is and the bottle is in my desk at work, I carry a pill case in my bag with a small supply to use if needed.  It is fustrating because I do "go" 2-3 times a day.
my surgeon and my PCP (husband & wife like having a tag team lol) thinks that my colon is not working the way it should so I am having a back up in my intestines and this back up is what is causing my pains. I can put up with it for now, shear will power cause some days I am bent in two for hours on end even with Rx.  I hope they have a better answer for you and that thy can help you without surgery.
I will keep you in my prayers.....Laurie

It just kills me when things are so obvious... sigh ( I am talking about "obvious" to your doctor, not you)... you are having twisted bowels sweetie!! THAT is why you are backed up and in pain! 

I notice you are "BELOW GOAL."  This happens a LOT to those of us who get "too skinny" or below goal and then get some rebound.  When we loose a LOT of weight too quickly, we lose all the fat that cushions our intestines and keeps them in place.  When all that fat is gone, it creates "voids" in the intestines and causes our bowels to move around like "snakes in a snakepit"  They kink, unkink, kink, unkink.  After FOUR years of this I finally found someone who would tell me the answer other than you are "FOS" (full of ****). 

This will NOT show up on any test... even when it is happening.  The only way to find this or fix it is by exploratory surgery.  I know surgery sucks, but believe me.. it is BETTER than suffering everyday and to make it feel like it is "all in your head." 

Sure enough, when they got in there.. they found I had a "hernia" (void) in the Mesentary/Petersen's space.  They also cleaned up some adhesions/scar tissue that was pulling on some of them and causing them to kink. 

Your colon is working.. it is just getting kinked!!! 

the clue is "BENT INTO TWO".. as in .. "the fetal position" even with RX!  Demerol wont even touch this pain!

I have been pain free now for a year thanks to a surgeon who would listen to me.  He "tacked" all my intestines down so now they don't move around so much.

Please don't ignore this anymore.  We just lost someone here on this site who died from twisted bowels.  I can almost GUARANTEE you that this person had the same symptoms!

Wow, a doctor  just told me the exact same thing.  But I don't ignore the pain, its too intense.  I go directly to the emergency room, and I'm admitted because the blockage is immediately spotted on a simple x-ray .  

Laurie, Please keep on top of this. I was having bowel movements up until the morning of my surgery.

RIGHT AFTER THE SURGERY I FELT A MILLION TIMES BETTER!! And it was such a simple surgery--he just had to snip the scar tissue that was strangling my intestine.

Please don't rule obstructed bowel out--it was detected on my CT scan. Drugs didn't help me either, and I was doubled over in pain so many times just like you. Even on the cruise I was lying down so often from pain. The obstructed bowel surgery (which was FIVE WEEKS after my tummy tuck) saved my life.

I had an obstructed bowel which I think is the same thing--or that maybe twisted intestines can cause an obstructed bowel. From what I understand, your intestines are like worms in a baggie--when they jiggle around they sorta' jiggle back to normal, so you have to get the CT scan while you are in pain and they're not back to normal. I kept thinking I was having bad gas pains, and then I went to Princeton Medical Center via ambulance in the middle of the night and had a CT scan and it detected the obstructed bowel and I had surgery within the hour.

I was feeling okay after a week from surgery (back at work). Ask your surgeon if you should wait until you feel the pain to get the CT scan, because you don't want to have it when it won't be able to see anything...

Jill