Re: Hello fellow Adhesion Suffers

From: Christine M. Smith (smithy@maine.rr.com)
Tue Apr 20 10:27:24 1999


At Tue, 20 Apr 1999, wrldtrvelr@aol.com wrote: >
>First I wanted to say how wonderful it is to have such a forum!
>
>About 1 year ago last January..I started experiencing abdominal
>pains...and after about 8 months of testing <ultrasounds, CT Scan,
>Barium X-rays, etc.>..the doctors werent coming up zero for the source
>of pain. Finally I submitted to a lap...and low behold...abdominal
>adhesions! Which is VERY odd...because I don't have Endo and NEVER had a
>surgery!!
>
>So it seems somewhere along the line I must have had an internal
>infection that caused my adhesions...and I had surgery in August 1998 to
>have them lyced..and well, they are back full force...8 months later.
>
>So I deeply sympathize with everyone dealing with this problem...and I
>have been basically been told to deal with it and avoid any more surgery
>unless absolutely necessary that it will only in the long run complicate
>the problem...and cause more adhesions.
>
>So far, I am functional to work and my pain level is tolerable...my only
>hope it that I dont get worse...because if I stay the same... I think I
>can deal with it. Pain meds only made me groggy and I found that I
>wasnt comfortable being on any drug for a long period of time.
>
>So since my surgery, I have been on a major health kick. I have lost 33
>pounds...just to get my body in a better general health.
>
>Oh...I should say that my colon is adhered on both sides at my hips...3
>inches of colon on my left and 4 inches of colon on my right.
>
>My adhesions behave very oddly...some weeks I dont have pain at all and
>dont feel them pulling whatsoever. I basically feel normal like they
>are not there.
>
>Then other weeks, they are burning, pulling and send pain down my legs.
>When I have the need to go...I can feel my colon struggle and pull and
>my stomach turns..
>
>Has anyone else experienced this "off and on" problem? I wonder why
>sometimes I feel fine and other times..they kick it...I have been
>wondering if keep notes and try to attribute it to foods I am eating or
>my cycle...if I can see a pattern or not.
>
>Any thoughts anyone?
>
>Does anyone know if adhesions keep on growing and adhering more and
>more...or once they grow and attach, they stop??
>
>Thanks everyone.

Hi!

I would say that I'm about where you are. My pain isn't so on and off as you describe, but there are definitely periods when it is worse than other times. It seems worse after I've eaten (about 1-2 hours after) and this makes sense because when you eat, peristalisis starts up, which moves the muscles of the entire digestive tract. I have found that if I take 600 mg ibuprofen three times per day I can keep the pain tolerable. This is a lot of anti-inflammatory drug though and I wonder how long it can be kept up. Arthritis patients do take this much over a long period of time. Haven't discussed this with my pcp yet, haven't gotten to that yet.

I would think the adhesions wouldn't continue to form if the inflammation wasn't still there, but then the attached adhesions is probably enough to cause inflammation and keep it flared up. Also, since your bowel moves as it digests the food, the situation can change as a loop of bowel can change position and perhaps get caught under a band of adhesion, then maybe work its way out at a later time. This could account for pain at times but not at other times. My pcp has told me that he has seen patients come into the ER with an "acute abdomen" and be fine hours later.

I have had adhesions around my sigmoid colon for probably 20 years and another small bowel adhesion probably since surgery 12 years ago, yet they waited until 1997 to cause any trouble. Figure that one out!

Chris S.


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