Hi,
I didn't know where else to put this ,so I hope it gets seen here. Also hope it isn't too out of line for this forum.
I have developed some troubling bowel problems recently. I have, excuse me, rectal pain, abdominal pain, and well, there's no nice way to put this, rectal leakage,(sorry). All of this is pretty awful and has me almost house bound.
I should mention that I have had IBS for years, but never with these symptoms . I have a small rectocele, but none of my doctors feel that could be causing my problems.
So far I have been to my GYN, a rectal surgeon, my PCP and today, a Gastroentorologist. Nobody seems to have a handle on all of this, and it is getting discouraging. To add insult to injury, the doctor I saw today was quite brusque, I thought. He, along with the rectal surgeon want me to have a special MRI which measures how the colon and other organs are working together. This would be okay except that it can only be done in a closed MRI and I am very clostrophobic. Also, the way the test works is they put some sort of goop inside the rectum,(sorry again),and then take pics while you try to squeeze it out. So, not only am I worried about the clostrophobia, but also about all that squeezing, given that I have a cystocele. Seems to me the worst thing I could do would be to strain to push out goop! When I told the doctor about my concerns, he seemed annoyed and didn't really want to listen,(same reaction I got from the surgeon). He also told me to take a lot, and I mean a lot, of fiber(to bulk out the stool and stretch the colon), and Imodium,(to calm the spasms). He said that would help ,but it would take months and months. Seems counterintuitive to me to take Imodium as that generally causes constipation, which is the last thing I need. I also told him that with my IBS, fiber actually makes it worse, but he was not interested. I said I have a referral for pelvic pt ,but he said that without a diagnosis, that would be a waste of time, so back to the MRI!
All of this has left me feeling very down. My IC has not been too bad until recently. I think the bowels are irritating my bladder and I'm sure the stress isn't helping either. Sigh.
Anywho, thanks for letting me rant.
If anyone has any input about any of this, I would really appreciate it.
Laurie
I didn't know where else to put this ,so I hope it gets seen here. Also hope it isn't too out of line for this forum.
I have developed some troubling bowel problems recently. I have, excuse me, rectal pain, abdominal pain, and well, there's no nice way to put this, rectal leakage,(sorry). All of this is pretty awful and has me almost house bound.

So far I have been to my GYN, a rectal surgeon, my PCP and today, a Gastroentorologist. Nobody seems to have a handle on all of this, and it is getting discouraging. To add insult to injury, the doctor I saw today was quite brusque, I thought. He, along with the rectal surgeon want me to have a special MRI which measures how the colon and other organs are working together. This would be okay except that it can only be done in a closed MRI and I am very clostrophobic. Also, the way the test works is they put some sort of goop inside the rectum,(sorry again),and then take pics while you try to squeeze it out. So, not only am I worried about the clostrophobia, but also about all that squeezing, given that I have a cystocele. Seems to me the worst thing I could do would be to strain to push out goop! When I told the doctor about my concerns, he seemed annoyed and didn't really want to listen,(same reaction I got from the surgeon). He also told me to take a lot, and I mean a lot, of fiber(to bulk out the stool and stretch the colon), and Imodium,(to calm the spasms). He said that would help ,but it would take months and months. Seems counterintuitive to me to take Imodium as that generally causes constipation, which is the last thing I need. I also told him that with my IBS, fiber actually makes it worse, but he was not interested. I said I have a referral for pelvic pt ,but he said that without a diagnosis, that would be a waste of time, so back to the MRI!
All of this has left me feeling very down. My IC has not been too bad until recently. I think the bowels are irritating my bladder and I'm sure the stress isn't helping either. Sigh.
Anywho, thanks for letting me rant.

If anyone has any input about any of this, I would really appreciate it.
Laurie
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