Sphincterotomy

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So...here is something i havent wanted to discuss but it is something i am going to have to cross the bridge when the time comes. Which will be this october.

When i was in college, i had kidney stones. Bad. It was roughly a month long ordeal maybe even more - since i had to have a stent put in from my kidney to my bladder to pass urine. This was 2014. Just shy of the opiod epidemic.

They prescribed me oxycodone for the pain, and alot of it. And i took them. And after my kidney stone ordeal - i took them. Well. One day i woke up in the middle of the night and i realized i hadn't passed a bowel movement for a week..maybe more. And instead of doing the correct thing, i passed it. And it was the most painful thing i had ever experienced in my life. I had issues with leakage for a few weeks post that, and have not had a non painful bowel movement since.

While i don't suffer from any sort of bowel incontinence - i have tried to have my fissure healed with no such luck. Which leads me to a sphincterotomy.

Im scared to have the procedure since ive heard that alot of people develop bowel incontinence due to it - and it can be permanent. And ive lived with painful bowel movements for six years thinking its the price I'll have to pay for getting addicted to opiods.

Its kinda been the normal - so i dont talk about it much. But im scared - because i know if i have this surgery life is gonna play the biggest joke on me. But i dont know, maybe it will be fine.

Just worried is all.

 

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I had them, got partly the same way as you plus lifting plus off and on chronic diarrhea. Tho stop diarrea i would overload on immodium. Painful BMs. At first they used a cream to relax it to heal. Then Botox but it didnt seem to help. Eventually it healed over with the aid of Fibrovan, now called Endovan. It help dissolve adhesions and after about a month it was just gone. Also gone was abdominal pain from an intestinal surgery as I think they dissolved the adheasions. When i had prostatectomy the doctor was able to do robotic due to minimul adhesions from the intestinal surgery. I think Endovan is made by Komodo Pharmacy in Indiana. A Dr McVeigh produces it. I also was in afib for 2 months before i knew it and no clots!

 

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Hi @Honeeecombs, when I read your post and I saw the word oxycodone and that you hadn't, you know, pooped in a week that really stood out! I've had just a little experience with oxycodone myself and I'm still scratching my head over it. I had inguinal hernia surgery, one on each side a couple of years apart. I saw on the label a warning that it could very likely cause constipation. I was floored. You know that hernias occur right in the area where you push and strain. Of course they suture the rupture in that same area so why in the name of good sense would the doctors prescribe a pain medicine that constipates???:O And the doctor tells you right after surgery not to get constipated! So they prescribe medicine that constipates??? I really don't get it! :O It defies all sorts of logic! Frankly I was afraid to take that stuff. I told the surgeon about my concern and she said to drink magnesium citrate. Yes that makes you go but unless it's been in the fridge for awhile it is extremely unpalatable.
I'm afraid I don't know much of anything about a sphincterotomy. But maybe someone else here does. I can tell you that you have come to the right place so we can help you explore more about this surgery. And if I were you I'd be scared too! Plenty scared. First off find a doctor and a hospital that have had a lot of experience doing this type of work. When you get a little closer to the point of having it done, pick up all of the literature you can about it. A GI doctor's office would probably have something written for us laymen. That way you can have an idea of what to expect all written out in black and white. So I would say the very first thing is to read about it, maybe go online to WebMD or the Mayo Clinic site.
I hope that gives you some sort of guidance. but once again, we will do what we can to help.

 

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Biliveshere...same thing here. I had back problems and got bound up. My mom had hip replacement and the opiods constipated here so bad she eventually spent 11 days in hospital. Then 6 weeks in nursing home because the doctor fractured the hip and only told mom while she was drowsy. Why dont they simply add stool softener or gentle cathartic early on. They are often such dumbasses.

 

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Hi Doug, That constipation can be a nasty business indeed! You would think with hernia surgery or any other abdominal surgery that they would stay away from anything that constipates, especially when they warn you not to get constipated in the first place! :O I would think that starting you on stool softeners etc. right from the beginning would be the logical thing to do. But hey, I'm no doctor....
I guess I can safely say the hernias are now securely fixed and I won't have to bother with them again! (I hope!) But I would have to say the worst part of it was the oxycodone. The second hernia surgery was an open type and I really needed the oxycodone because it was really painful without. If I walked or moved the wrong way the pain shooting into my groin and upper leg was shocking to say the least! I tried to be a hero and just take Motrin for a while but Motrin didn't even touch it. Then I cut an oxycodone in half, once again it didn't do the trick, so I just said, "Oh well," and had my neighbor drive me to the pharmacy so I could get that magnesium citrate. Big mistake to drink it before it was completely refrigerated!

 

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I had the robotic prostatectomy and 20% of them go black and blue. I was in pain less time than i thought except when i walked. Listened to a lot of chamber music. My thumb surgeries were the most painful of anything by 10X. They knew it was and put me on vicodin 10mg , 2 of them 3 times a day. Man, they hurt

 

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Hey honeycombs, try this. Get a plastic syringe and fill with 10ml of solarcain. It is aloe, lidocaine and ky jelly basically. Insert it rectally about 10 to 15 min before a bowel movement. It lubes but helps numb the sphincter a bit for a few minutes. Perfectly safe. Was a life saver for me. I use it daily for inserting catheters. Without it, I'm in tears.

 

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@Honeeecombs Thank you for sharing your story with us. I appreciate your open-ness. Sounds like you should avoid a sphincterotomy. I think Steven1980 has a great suggestion to try, rather than surgery. I think painful BMs sound way better than fecal incontinence. A painful turd wouldn’t be painful for long. Fecal incontinence would be for life, and would likely ruin your life as you know it. I would do absolutely anything to avoid that. I have a friend who has fecal incontinence and she basically never leaves her bed/bathroom. She went from 250 to 100 pounds and aged 20 years in 2 years. I also suggest trying Dulcolax suppositories.

I recently had knee surgery and along with the Vicodin and Tramadol, they told me to immediately start taking both Miralax (a powder) and Colase (a pill). They’re not nasty at all, and work very well. So it seems the hospitals have learned.

If/when you do have the surgery, you’ll need a pain killer. I recommend Tramadol. It’s a synthetic opioid. There’s no high, no potential for brain addiction (though one’s body can become physically addicted to it if it’s taken over years, but that’s true for most medications). Given your addiction history with real opioids, I think a synthetic opioid is a better choice. And Tramadol works just as well as Vicodin. Since I had both, I had the opportunity to experiment. When I needed a refill, my doctor was willing to prescribe either, or both. I chose Tramadol. I think it even works better than Vicodin. Tramadol rarely causes constipation.

If you do have the sphincterotomy, please let us know how it goes. Sounds hellish. I wish you the best.

 

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Hi Honeecomb please do not feel guilty for taking pain meds and getting hooked or having constipation side effect. You do not deserve to suffer as a result! Even if you did take opioid as a recreational drug. Doesn't matter. You took a drug that is addictive either way, leaves little choice.
Please please read the post from Doug about Fibrocan also called endovan. I googled the word endovan it apparently is commonly used to fix internal fibrous scars especially in women's fibroid.
Steve1980 gave you a great idea also.
You deserve to have tried options before surgery.
Doctors don't like us to play web MD but I would try a second option from a doctor if you discuss endovan or fibrovan and stool softners and it is brushed off.
You should get a second option and not stick with one doctor for a surgery in general.
You can check references of doctors by looking onhealthgrades.com and reading the posts

 

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I totally agree with Maymay941. Get at least two opinions about this surgery. I also agree that addiction is not a choice. It’s a brain chemistry disease. Please don’t feel guilt or shame about that.