So sorry about the obstructions Janice, 

I have a personal rule for obstructions (this is Not medical advice, this is my personal way of doing things after some experience)...it is my 24hr rule.

I wait out 24hrs...usually I am NPO for the duration because anything that I try to keep down including pills or chewables or ice chips comes right back up with the associated horrors of waves of pain, nausea, labour pains etc...

I can't take anything unless it is injectable.

I roll around on my yoga ball, bend & stretch and reach for the stars, walk, climb and put heating pads on my back and abdomen.

I keep active until it passes. 

I have been hospitalized twice for ileus and gone to ER once for pouch obstruction.. for the partial ones I just stick to warm fluids, heating pads and keep massaging and walking.

It has worked for me thus far but may not work for you.

Good luck 

Sharon

ps. I am having a CT next week to find the  cause of them...not a bad idea if you keep getting them.

S

Thanks so much. I am going to ask for a CT scan as well. I am interested in the cause of the obstructions. Very helpful. Thank you again. 

In the distant past I followed a similar strategy to Sharon and attempted to walk it off.  My doctors told me walking assists motility, inactivity does not.  I did manage to walk one obstruction off, which honestly I believe was caused by taking too much imodium while on antibiotics- this was post takedown.

Thank you for your response. I'm not feeling much better, so I may just have to go in. 

Good luck and keep us posted Janice.

Sharon

I have had partial obstructions periodically for the past 3 years.  My pouch is 20 years old.  I have an appt. with Dr. Shen at the Cleveland Clinic in June.  I've had CT scans, small bowel follow through and they cannot identify a problem.  I'm wondering if your CT scan showed anything?  I'm hearing that there is another test similar to an MRI that can be done.  I do the same thing to self-treat: NPO, heating pads, then move to warm liquids, try to keep moving.  Sometimes the pain is so severe I almost pass out, so I lay on the floor to avoid falling and hitting my head.  My obstructions have always started in the morning.  Does anybody else have them at the same time of the day?  I also find I have to drink a LOT of water all the time now.  I hope by now you are feeling much better.

I was admitted with dehydration. The obstruction resolved. I had a CT scan which was negative. Thank God. I am not aware of an MRI as a new diagnostic tool. I can empathize with that unbearable abdominal pain ��. My obstructions always happen in the overnight which makes it even more frightening to me. Like you, I drink constantly. It seems like a full time job at times! I am feeling better, thank you. I wish you well. Keep us posted. 

Hi all,

I'm 38, and in year 17 with my J-pouch, and have battled with chronic pouchitis and obstructions the entire time.  I'm on Cipro for life (or until it stops working), 500mg twice a day.  I throw VSL#3 in the mix when I feel like I'm slipping with just the Cipro.

Last year, I was feeling brave/stupid and I tried to get off Cipro... wound up with something like 16 obstructions in 10 months, of varying severity.  Definitely the most I've ever had in one year.  With so many opportunities to experiment, I believe I've come up with a playbook for obstructions that works pretty well for me.

The first thing I do when I notice the old, familiar pains (which always begin around my ostomy scar, for me) is to take a 0.5mg Xanax.  It relaxes the small bowel, and also takes my mind off unhelpful, paranoid ideas like needing emergency surgery in a matter of hours.

I also make a b-line for the Grape Juice.  For me, it works wonders, and can resolve some partial blockages in an hour or less.  It also usually gives me the runs for the next 24 hours, if/when it works.  It's pretty indiscriminate about what it's clearing out, and when!  On occasions this has even lead to some night leakage.  But after 17 years, I'd rather sleep on a pile of towels, and deal with some shame/clean up than deal with 1 more minute of pain.

I also try to get down some VSL#3 or kombucha or something else with probiotics in it as soon as I start feeling pain, since both help to move things along, but both result in major gas, which means even more pain, if I wait too long.

If my pain is mild enough to walk it off, I do that.  Massaging areas around scar tissue seems to help, too.  This is not comfortable, soothing massage, mind you: get in there and try to physically break things up.

If the abdominal pain is too much for walking, and a heating pad is nearby, I get that going right away.  

I find it helps to lie on my stomach as much as possible, and on my back as little as possible.

If you have access to a pool, I strongly recommend using it.  Baths can help, too.  Messing with gravity seem to confuse some obstructions into cooperating.

If the pain gets to be too frequent/too much, I take Tylenol, and avoid any narcotics at all costs.  They definitely slow everything down.  While the temporary narcotic relief is instant and significant, it almost always results in a three-day ordeal for me - usually with a trip to the hospital involved - when maybe it would have been only 12 hours at home.  DO NOT TAKE  IBUPROFEN FOR THIS - irritating your stomach and esophageal lining aint' worth it.

Usually by this stage, it's all or nothing, and either the Tylenol works, and I can ride it out, or the vomiting kicks in.

That, for me, means hospital time.  Vomiting and/or fever is where I draw the line, and it's necessary to rule out anything more serious.  Sometimes, if I have no fever, I'll wait just a little bit to see if the vomiting helped at all before hitting the ER.  I've definitely cleared more than one obstruction, just by bringing everything up.  Your body will be able to tell pretty quickly.  It's kind of like that final vomiting session of a 24 hour flu, where you lie on the bathroom floor, feeling weak, dazed, disgusting, and somehow great, all at once.

On my really bad obstructions that have lead to ER trips, I used to fight that NG tube tooth & nail, begging for more time to let it pass, to keep trying IV fluids, and asking to guzzle CT contrast (which is super-hydrating, and has resolved some of my blockages in the past), all the while relying on morphine for the pain, and compazine for nausea.

But now I hold out as long as possible on the morphine, and try to get them to do the NG tube ASAP.  The sooner it's in, the sooner my obstruction clears, and the sooner that bastard NG tube comes out.  Putting the tube in is a weird, scary, and uncomfortable experience, and the discomfort of having it in (especially when you have to get up and try to move around) is awful, but if your surgeons/gastros know you well, they'll listen to you (to some degree) about when you feel ready.  And if they pull the tube too soon, then you just have to send another one back in.  Which is discouraging, but at least you got 15 minutes of freedom in there!

I have no idea if any of this will work for any of you.  I sincerely hope it does.  Battling this shit is awful, painful, expensive, and frequently depressing.  But whenever I have to do it, I just remind myself:  these surgeries did not even exist 15 years before I needed them, and I'm lucky to be here.  My J-pouch is my best friend.  An erratic jerk?  Most definitely, but still my best friend.  Science is amazing, and in time, maybe there will be answers and easy solutions for all of these spin-off ailments that give us the blues.

Hang in there, everybody.

MRE is thought to be a test potentially as comprehensive as a CTE but without the radiation. I hear thought that the radiologist who does the reading has to be experienced so caveat emptor as always.

Great advice here from all of us who've battled obstructions -- we are certainly not alone - but it's just so scary when it happens..again.  Hope you are doing better - as you can see, many people out here care for you and your well being.  This site has been a life saver for me - I feel so much less alone.  Thank you to all of you wonderful people.  Please feel better soon.

My husband has had a few..He waits it out now.  Works itself out after 24 hours. Pressing on the stomach..lots of fluids.  I will never forget that first one(a few months after he got connected), he went to the ER ( he had eaten an apple with the skin on).  We went before he got the referral from our primary we were so worried.  When I got hold of the doctor, he was pissed that my husband ate the apple.  He asked why.  I was like 'I don't know', just say it is okay for him to be here! They were going to operate (with no one really knowing what a j-pouch was) when he finally got 'un-obstructed' .  What a scary night that was...

I have had several obstructions and they are very painful.

try grape juice

My strategy has always been find some grapefruit (or grape) juice, and pray (not necessarily in that order).

I have been obstructed many times in the last 30 years but always managed to get my self back to work. I have only needed one emergency operation for an obstruction and have suffered thru many surgeries so many that my xrays cannot be read now and many doctors have said they would never attempt a surgery on me again as I have a 'volatile' abdomen ...

Why I am writing because I have suffered 4 obstructions in the last 6 to 8 mths and I haven't had the strength to go back to work full time since my 2nd of 4 obstructions. Can anybody offer insight on why I have become so weak since. I am on multiple healthy solution from health food stores but still feel so run down and unable to function like I used to. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

One possible reason for being extra run down could be low Vitamin B12 levels.  I've had my pouch since 1999, but only found out last year that j-pouchers are extra-susceptible to B12 depletion, because most of it gets absorbed in the last 2 feet of small bowel - which many of us no longer have!  

My energy levels and ability to heal faster bounced back considerably after doing B12 shots for 6 months.

Anemia and low iron are also frequent j-pouch side-effects that can contribute to serious fatigue.  Maybe do some bloodwork with an eye toward these relatively easy fixes.  

Good luck, and feel better!

I can't begin to tell you all how much I appreciate the responses and all the knowledge that is shared. I don't feel like I have bounced back since my admission in March. As you know , it's always one day at a time. I take monthly B12 injections because of the ileum involvement. Sometimes I feel like being me is a full time job.  I appreciate being part of this group.  Sometimes I still feel really scared. 

Hang in there

i am 8 years out and every day is a challenge