Abdominal injury near stoma, unexplainable pain.

Since getting a ileostomy I have found that there are a lot of things that are different. My wife and I used to horse play a lot before getting this so one night we were horse playing and she lifted me off the ground from behind(right on around the ileostomy).  I happened to be brushing my teeth at the same time and I couldn’t tell her that it was a bad idea. All I could do to try and protect it was to bare down and just try my best to stay on the ground. I was not successful and I ended up in the air. She put me down immediately when she realized how much of a bad decision that was. Flash forward to almost a year later; and I am still in debilitating pain. My GI,primary care, and the surgeon who did my initial ileostomy surgery are at a lose as to why I am in pain and have done as much as they can for pain .  I have had several ER visits and my last visit to the ER resulted in me taking Lyrica. Taking Lyrica to test a theory I shared with my GI and an ER doc which was to test to see i was dealing with nerve pain.  At first this worked like a miracle I had been waiting for. This eas however short lived.  I am now taking 150mg of Lyrica (3x a day) only for it to not be working for more than (10mins) then it’s back to debilitating pain that has me crying all day and night. I have referrals for acupuncture and a few other referrals. Ultimately I have been left to do research and try to find some answers on my own. I am coming here hoping that maybe someone would have some theories. To describe the best way I can what I am dealing with; it feels like my stoma is a knife holder and that a knife is in it. My ileostomy is on the right side of my stomach . I have debilitating pain also piercing through the upper right quadrant a few inches away from the stoma. I have been wearing a hernia belt since the injury. I use heat and ice packs all throughout the day. Car rides are extremely hard as well as just about everything else. Talking too loud hurts, breathing deep hurts. Expanding my diaphragm at all is excruciating. As a singer I have still been able to sing but not at full capacity. Not able to professionally record at the moment. I have expressed to my doctor that the Lyrica is proving ineffective and I and still waiting on a response. I am not the giving up type, I need some answers.

i can  imagine the pain. welcome to yur new friends.

tell the wife to lay off the steroids.

just kidding.

horseplay is fun. just gotta be more careful.

did u have any scans done?  cat? mri? etc.

just off hand could it  be a cracked rib? pulled groin? .you got yur research cut out for ya. the scans might show something.

taking that medicine clearly isn't helping. u tried the nerve route..what about muscle route?  muscle relaxers?  

when a muscle tightens in my shoulder it brings me to tears. it locks up. heat and ice helps a little.  but IBD really screws up the body in many ways. dont overlook that fact.

blessing. help or advice is on the way. 

 

Have you had your gallbladder checked out? Also have you had a CT of the area where the pain is? I have been having abdominal pain for several months now and they have determined through tests that my gallbladder is dysfunctional and I have 3 hernias along where they did the incision to remove my colon and place my ileostomy. For me it was determined that these two thing are the reasons for my pain.

Lee

Thank you so much for your comment, I wasn’t sure if this was a real thing. Good to know it’s real🙌🏼 I have had X-rays and cat scans and mris. They have shown no abnormalities.  Yes I agree the medication route did not work out. I have been referred to a muscle specialist (forgot the correct name for it).  I have been taking flexeril and that does nothing for the pain either. Definitely needs some deep exploration.  
i just wish I had at least 30mins a day of relief. My crohns is under control which is something they blamed for the pain early on. 

Would the gallbladder be visible on the cat scan? If so I believe all my organs have been ruled out as the problem. 

 

Hi Fly,

  Sounds like you have some peripheral nerve damage/neuropathy going on. Your gastro and surgeon can't help you with that.......you'll need to see a surgeon who specializes in peripheral nerve damage repair. I really don't know anything more about it, so can't make any specific recommendations......other than make sure you get at least 3 opinions before you take any action. You usually only get one shot with nerve repairs......so make it count!

;O)

Hi Fly you didnt say if when you have output there is pain although it sounds like its constant, what i,m getting at is internal scar tissue or adhesions that a person gets after surgery also caused by crohns.

It isn't done in a typical CT there is a special injection they have to give you and also something you have to drink. The injection moves through your body in such a way it makes you feel like you have to pee or are peeing but you aren't it  is just an effect of the injection.

Lee

Yes the pain is constant, the pain does seem to intensify with output though.

That’s exactly where my research has brought me too. Seems like an even longer road to healing is ahead. Just trying to stay strong for the journey. It has been a tough year dealing with this. I just need my doctors to catch up in getting me the right referrals. I feel like I have to go through the motions with trying acupuncture. I have had it before to try and help with crohns before I had the ileostomy surgery. It didn’t help that much then. I have a little faith that it may help I’m just not ready to have that wiped out feeling along with being in the pain still. 

It sounds like the cat scan with contrast. I have had that as well as a couple of mri s. 

Sorry to read about your pain trouble.  Pain just wears us down.  I tend to think it's a nerve issue.  I'm thinking somehow a nerve was damaged when you were picked up.  Nerves take a long time to heal, if ever.  I hate to say that. 

I had throat surgery in 1983.  A sensitive nerve was touched in my neck.  My left vocal cord has been paralyzed ever since.    Seek out nerve specialist doctors.  Get 2 second opinions.  If it is nerve related, there might be a way to electronically stimulate it to stop transmitting pain signals or surgery might be indicated.