Bowel pain / codeine: Hi - I feel like I'm... - Endometriosis UK

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Bowel pain / codeine

ladybird7 profile image
11 Replies

Hi - I feel like I'm stuck going in circles. For info - endo diagnosis 2012 by laparoscopy. Endo found on bowels.

I am getting nasty bowel pains really often now for a few months. I take paracetamol & codeine (only 15 / 30mg 2-3 x day) and I have lactulose to keep things moving and it works fine. I get a lot of pain with bowel movement and afterwards. It eases after 30 mins or so. Then it comes back after a couple of hours. So I take more codeine and paracetamol. I'm worried I'm making it worse with the codeine, I don't want to take stronger meds - I used to be on some really strong stuff and don't want to go back there. The pain is nothing like I used to have pre-laparoscopy in 2015 but still I can't cope without some pain relief. Anyway I think all the pain relief I can have will be opiates, I can't have NSAIDs because of upper gastric problems.

Any thoughts?

Ps I use heatmat as much as possible. Wish I could find a portable one. Used to have tens machine but my skin just got wrecked from the pads and tape.

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ladybird7
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11 Replies
Memw profile image
Memw

You poor thing :(

I also am a constant codeine user and I always wonder if it is effecting my bowel pain. I know it causes constipation. I am still able to go but severe pain like you say before and after.

My anethisist for my lap suggested just paracetamol and neurofen, Im yet to try and still recovering.

I hope someone else replies with more help than I

Xxx

ladybird7 profile image
ladybird7 in reply to Memw

I wish I could take ibuprofen, it would help so so much. Alas I can't.

ladybird7 profile image
ladybird7 in reply to ladybird7

Hope you get better after your lap.

Memw profile image
Memw in reply to ladybird7

Thanks lovely, feeling a bit hopeless ATM. It's early days just 12 days after surgery but my bowel is in even more pain than it was before the lap. Hoping it calms down asap!!

ladybird7 profile image
ladybird7 in reply to Memw

Hugs

clairelouise4000 profile image
clairelouise4000

hi ladybird ~(lovely name!) and memw

big hugs

i've had a mixture of pain myself with glandular fever for many months, which makes my pms pains worse. i get a painful bloated stomach, aches and pains all over and bowel problems

i wrote on here a few months ago wondering if its connected to endometriosis, as someone else had noticed a connection with glandular fever

however, i've not come on here since, i've been focussing on trying to reduce stress in my life, still trying but there's more and more studies showing stress is a cause for a lot of pain and getting in a vicious circle worrying about the pain. so easy to do~!!!

go back to basics....try to make your diet more healthy, go for a relaxing walk to your local park or river to enjoy the simple things, birds singing the wind in the trees...

this is an example of positive affirmations that is becoming really popular at the moment, it makes you feel so alive listening to it and relaxing at same time or doing some tidying~!

anyway big hugs again, claire xxx

ladybird7 profile image
ladybird7 in reply to clairelouise4000

Hi Claire

I definitely know that stress has a link. My endo started in earnest the year I was getting divorced in 2011. I had had isolated incidents of severe pelvic pain since I was 17 (1994) but they were so few that they were written off as IBS and stress induced. I had glandular fever when I was 17/18 as well but it was a very traumatic time for me anyway with suicide attempts etc for a different reason. Pain and fatigue and mental exhaustion was all part of one package!

I am now at the happiest point in my life. I met my soul mate in 2014 and we're getting married in October. He has 2 boys who we have to stay every other week so I can relieve myself of any pressure of having my own children. (I wouldn't be able to cope with them, mentally.) My last lap was in 2015 and I started taking Qlaira cocp after 10 months as mirena iud was being a right pain in the butt. This particular pill has been a lifesaver - very little pain for many months. Other ones were useless. Pain has just been creeping back this year and I'm back taking codeine everyday between 1-3 a day.

I moved out of London in 2014 back to Kent where I grew up in a lovely rural village. I love nature, always have. I tried the whole endo diet years ago - useless - made me very unhappy too which just adds problems. I do a fair bit of walking, we have a dog which is great. Proper exercise really gives me pain flare ups though, not great.

Thanks!

clairelouise4000 profile image
clairelouise4000 in reply to ladybird7

ps i don't actually know much about endo, so not sure about the endo diet, but i mean just the general healthy diet , more fruit and veg, less fatty and sugary foods, less caffeine, more water...just the simple stuff

i think in this world its so easy to forget the simple things, i have to keep working on my health, both mental and physical every day i guess~!

clairelouise4000 profile image
clairelouise4000 in reply to ladybird7

pps. if the you tube video is taken down, basically , you type 'i am affirmations' into you tube and they come up =)

clairelouise4000 profile image
clairelouise4000

wow thank you for such an in-depth reply. it's really touched me, as it is so hard for my friends/family to understand the glandular fever. it's nice to know i'm not the only one that struggles intensely with it. well, my doctor said the initial fever should be gone now, but i have never got better, have a very painful throat at the moment, affecting glands, head etc

i forgot to paste the link for the positive affirmation link, for anyone that wants to look; youtube.com/watch?v=_bRqKmj...

good luck with everything ladybird ~smiley face~ ~(my colon button isnt working to actually do one~!~)

xxx

ladybird7 profile image
ladybird7 in reply to clairelouise4000

Anytime! Just take it easy and time will heal you. It's a nasty one, really knocks you doesn't it. Very hard to get family to understand endo or glandular fever! My brother is a doctor and he definitely thinks it is all in my head, if I hadn't been depressed I wouldn't have got it! Interesting because now I couldn't be less depressed but endo has come back! I haven't even mentioned that I'm taking codeine again, I try to hide it whenever I see my family. Not easy when it stabs you in the guts and you collapse on your knees though! Grrr

Thanks & take care 😊, Horatia

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