Question: Severe abdominal pain associated with bowel movements
I’ve been having severe abdominal pain associated with bowel movements it hurts so bad at times I loose my breath and it takes over 30 mins to finally have a bowel movement and it switches from constipation to diarrhea and I still don’t get relief it began when I was pregnant with my second child and its been going on for about 2 years I also developed severe anxiety and insomnia around the same time and have had high blood pressure and I don’t know if its connected and I don’t know what to do
HI..
actually anxiety and blood pressure ahs no direct relation to your abdominal discomfort.
anxiety in long term can cause high sympathetic activity though, causing irregular bowel habits.
but pain in abdomen should not occur even due to anxiety.
i suggest you take pro biotic tablets daily to normalise your gut movements.
if this doesnt help, get usg abdomen done and consult a gastroenterologist
thanks
the condition reported here is most probably a syndrome called irritable bowel syndrome.i recommend you to be relieved of the anxiety as its is not a dreadful condition and if you find it more devastating and disturbing your routine life,you should do the necessary tests after consulting a doctor and be confirmed about that there is no organic disease…thankyu
It sounds like you have a couple different things going on here.
1) Severe constipation: Pregnancy is a very common cause of constipation, and generally it takes women many months to become regular again. Medications, especially antidepressants, narcotics, antipsychotics, tums, and some blood pressure medications can cause constipation. The worse case scenario would be a mass or tumor in your colon blocking stool, or you had nerve damage to your colon during labor. You may need to see your doctor to have him manual disimpact your colon. In the meantime, I would recommend: increasing fluids, increasing fiber (such as bran, vegetables, fruits, or whole grains), regular exercise, do not avoid the urge defecate, take miralax or psyllium daily, and a probiotic. If you do not have any kidney disfunction, you should take milk of magnesia daily until your have soft bowel movement. You can also try suppositories or enemas. Occasional constipation responsive to simple measures is harmless. Your goal is to have a soft bowel movement every day. The best time to move bowels is in the morning, after eating breakfast, when the normal bowel transit and defecation reflexes are functioning.
2) Diarrhea: You are probably having alternating constipation with diarrhea from overflow of colonic stool. Chronic constipation with irregular and incomplete evacuation results in progressive rectal distension and stretching of the internal/external anal sphincters. As you habituate to chronic rectal distension, you may no longer sense the normal urge to defecate. Eventually, soft or liquid stool leaks around the retained fecal mass. The treatment is the same for constipation – you need to disimpact your colon.
3) The pain is probably caused by an anal fissure which is a small tear in the lining of the anal canal. It is usually characterized by a knifelike tearing sensation that is worse with defection. They are usually caused by constipation. The treatment is the same for constipation. You may need to get some lidocaine gel or nitro gel from your primary care doctor.