Abdominal stiffness and constipation for a week

[Mscvi]

Hi all,

For the last 5 or 6 days I’ve had a dull stiffness or tightness in my abdomen (lower ribs, belly, back sides). Felt full. I was also a little more bloated than normal and felt v constipated (wasn’t passing nearly as much gas). I went to the doc twice the first few days and one said gastroenteritis and the next said I was Likely backed up (I have now been taking miralax 1x per day and did 1 enema as prescribed)—so i have been eliminating every day multiple times (but had to adopt the squat position) - some of my eliminations seem A little thin but normal brown color (no blood or black). At first felt Eliminations felt incomplete but not as much now. I’m having a bit more gas (still only 25% of normal), bloating has lessened by half but the abdominal distend has not subsided too much. Both docs noted that it didn’t sound like I was having enough gas when they listened. Felt nauseous more in the beginning of the week but could be stress/worry (But can be hard to eat at times). Lost 2lbs but could be bc I used an enema and have been eating much less this week. I recently got blood work done and should know more in a few days. Sometimes feels hard to take a deep breath from my abdomen.

Has anyone ever experienced these symptoms ? I’ve been absolutely terrified — anxiousness is the worst part. I’ll be seeing a GI next month as well to be safe — hopefully get more answers. I guess I assumed the abdomen stiffness and lack of gas would’ve been fixed by eliminating. (Some random factors: my dad had a heart attack around the same time it started and I was also attacked by fleas a few days before—but both situations have resolved.) I’m 34 y/o M in decent physical condition. Thank you in advance.

[CRCAdvocate]

Can you get an earlier appointment with your doctor? Speaking with your doctor may help reduce some of your anxiety.

[Mscvi in reply to CRCAdvocate]

Thanks for the advice so far. So grateful for the replies. I was able to move up my GI appt. to a week and a half from now (Jul 8). Also had a bunch of bloodwork done which the doc said all came back good. So that’s at least relieved some tension. Still uncomfortable but I’ve been able to eat more and more each day this week and bloating/stiffness is ever so slightly decreasing each day (not gone by any means, but makes me hopeful that I may be OK). Have also be eliminating every morning without any lax, have more close to normal gas (had none a week ago). Have quit smoking about a week ago so perhaps that is contributing to some of this (though I only smoked a couple years and very lightly).

[WthrMtsfan712]

Hey, wbiC, I've been taking a probiotic everyday as well as eating a cup of yogurt and am still dealing with a tremendous amount of constipation. I do have some hemorrhoids and some larger uterine fibroids. But, do you think they could really be the cause of why I'm dealing with so much constipation more often than not as well as incomplete bowel movements? Just wondering. Thanks. Because I'm so reluctant to take laxatives, but sometimes people just don't have a choice.

[WthrMtsfan712]

Okay. Thanks for letting me know what you'd do if you were dealing with significant constipation. Because as I wrote, I'm just so reluctant to take laxatives. But, when I'm already doing so much right when it comes to eating a high fiber diet and exercising and not seeing much in the way of results, something has to give. And unfortunately, it does seem as if the uterine fibroids I have are particularly problematic. I just hope I can get treatment for them sooner rather than later at this point.

[Mscvi]

Adding an update:Tightness/stiffness has nearly completely subsided.

Started taking probiotic (thanks).

Hitting 40g fiber/day (some times more).

Having trouble sleeping due to severe anxiety (definitely not helping the gut issues).

Have lost about 7lbs in last few weeks (sounds bad however I’m used to eating 2500-3000cal/day and lifting weights and have recently worked my way up from 1000 to 2000 and light exercise since I began feeling unwell so, progress).

When I started to eat more I’m now getting stomach cramping which seem to sometimes travel around sometimes (Hopefully nothing bad). Saw my pcp in the meantime who put me on 20mg omezaprole to help (belching more than usual).

Had a freak out a couple days back because i drank loads of beet juice one day and didn’t realize it left it a red aura in the bowl.

Still passing solid/brown stool 1-2x day (not super easy but not hard).

GI Appt is in 2 days.

Hoping for a good diagnosis.

[Mscvi]

Update: CEA test level is 1.1. & Going to GI soon to follow up.