Long read, please help - Constipation, Impaction, Bowel Obstruction or something else?

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This may be long and I apologize for that but I've been on a weird roller-coaster of uncertainty for the last 2 weeks. I really appreciate anyone who takes the time to read this. I am a 31 year old female and I am really concerned with what's going on with my body and was recently told that I am impacted.

I am going to start off with how this all started in hopes that it makes more sense. Before all of this I felt perfectly fine and wasn't having any issues. No constipation or anything that I was aware of.

This all started when I went out 2 weeks ago to do some shopping and visit my sister. I got home really late and noticed my right foot was completely numb. I had recently bought some new boots and immediately chalked it off to that. The next day I woke up and I felt ill. My foot was still extremely numb and I had nausea, diarrhea, stomach cramps, headache, fatigue, hot and cold, muscle soreness and an erratic heart beat that often jumped well over 100 bpm when standing up.

The next two days I had all of those same symptoms in addition to heartburn, reflux and pain or pressure in my lower right abdomen when laying down. However, the numbness in my foot did subside to just one toe.

On day 4 I again had all those same symptoms in addition to constipation and instead of hot and cold, I was having hot flashes. I also still felt that pain or pressure in my lower right abdomen. It bothered me so much that it was difficult to find a comfortable position while trying to fall asleep. I was twisting and turning a bit trying to get comfortable and then I suddenly heard a loud hollow pop in my lower back but eventually fell asleep.

On day 5 I still had all of the same symptoms. I again was trying to get comfortable in bed while trying to fall asleep and I again heard that loud hollow pop in my lower back but this time it was worse. The pop caused numbness in my right leg, leg tingling, muscles weakness, chest pain, lower back pain and upper back pain.** I also had a very painful cracking in my upper spine that had happened on occasion in the past but it was worse than usual. I did not feel okay and I begin panicking because I couldn't get my heart rate down and my leg was so numb. As a result, I wound up going to the hospital. While I waited to be seen in the hospital room the majority of the symptoms caused by the back pop slowly subsided but my heart rate was still pretty high. They did a MKG and an x-ray on my lower back. They said my heart was fine but I did have an unusually high heart rate and then I was diagnosed with "Spasm of lumbar paraspinous muscle" and was prescribed Tramadol and a muscle relaxer. The doctor also noted that I had impaction. Something I've never dealt with before and was extremely shocked to hear.

On day 6 I had all the usual symptoms including the chest pain, lower back pain, upper back pain and there was a tingling or numbness in my upper back. I did my best to ignore it all and take the medication they had prescribed but it didn't seem to help much.

On day 7 the usual symptoms were still occurring in addition to a numbness in my left arm, chest and upper back. These symptoms went on for days while I scrambled to see a doctor but it was the weekend so I had to wait.

Over the weekend the same symptoms persisted in addition to more pains in my abdomen and I stopped eating because I was worried that it was only making matters worse. I tried laxatives, stool softeners, fiber pills and even an enema and nothing helped! It wasn't until 3 days later that I found a doctor that would see me. (I don't regularly go to the doctor and hadn't been to one in 10 years, when I had my child).

On day 11 I finally got seen by a doctor, he got the x-rays and information from the hospital, listened to my heart and asked me about my diet. I told him I am currently doing keto and without any proper examination he told me that is the cause of the impaction. He told me to stop eating and start taking 3 doses of Miralax a day with Gatorade and drink plenty of water.

Over the next few days I started getting more pain and numbness in my right thigh and leg, lower back and upper shoulders/back. The pain in my leg is by far the worst though. It all starts with a numb feeling and then a shooting pain down my right leg. The first day that this happens it was only down to my knee and happened when I laid down to sleep. The next day (last night) the shooting pain was all the way down to my calve. It's getting unbearable and I'm having so much difficulty sleeping. There's also been burning sensations in my right abdomen that sometimes wraps around toward my back and also down my thigh. I know this could all be due to the impaction irritating a nerve as the doctor keeps saying but I feel like the pop in my lower back is much more significant of a reason than the impaction. I am now worried it may be sciatica based off of the symptoms and the occurrence of my back issue. I fear that the constipation or impaction is only a symptom of a much deeper issue.

I've been researching non-stop trying to figure this out. I even thought it may be due to internal shingles because I had shingles about 4 years ago

So we called the doctor and spoke to him about it and he prescribed me antiviral medication and gabapentin but no actual confirmation that it could be internal shingles. Out of all of the medication I've been prescribed I'm only taking the antiviral because I know many medications can further constipation.

I am now on day 4 of taking the Miralax and haven't eaten in a week, I am sooo hungry and I'm losing over a pound a day and everything is only getting worse. I feel like it's all trapped in my upper right abdomen area at the top of the ascending colon. I feel like my stomach slightly protrudes there and if I press it gently there is a pain and the feeling intensifies at night after taking the Miralax. I also rarely and barely feel the urge to go and I'm so worried it's going to turn into bowel obstruction and at this point I am afraid to continue the Miralax but I also know if I stop, it definitely won't get better. Every night I fear I won't wake up. I was up and down out of bed all night trying to go to the bathroom because I could feel pressure building in my abdomen but I couldn't go at all, not even gas and when I would try to push I could feel a pain in my right abdomen and I'm afraid something is going to rupture.

I just don't know what to think anymore and maybe it's just my anxiety getting to me but something doesn't add up. There has to be a cause to this impaction because like I said, I've never had issues like this before.

This all has been going on for 2 whole weeks and it's currently the weekend again so I'm waiting until Monday to see my doctor again.

Had anyone dealt with anything like this before? Is it possible for this to just be impaction or could the impaction be a symptom of a bigger issue like internal shingles, sciatica or maybe even something else? Should I continue taking the Miralax or stop? I just don't know what to do anymore.

I apologize for this being so long winded and I really appreciate anyone who takes the time to read this and possibly give some answers or information on what could be going on. Thanks in advance!

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2 Replies

  • Posted

    Hi I am not an expert on anything but have recently come across a cure for my bad constipation that I would like to share, I had bad constipation for about a year and was getting worried because I had started seeing blood in my poo, anyway I tried a few things and nothing worked until I started eating 1 banana every day, its been around two years now and I had never seen any blood at all and I hardly ever get any constipation, I'm not sure whether its the sort of slimy texture of bananas that does it but maybe so ? I hate eating them but still have one every day, I hope this helps someone, All the best, Michael.

  • Posted

    p.s. I only eat yellow ones, I believe green ones can actually cause constipation.

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