Question?

Can someone tell me the difference between a blockage or an obstruction and the symptoms. Talked with my regular doctor about maybe having a blockage and she didn't agree or disagree with me on it. I don't understand what the difference is.

Hi Margie - Not sure about that one as I have had neither. But I assume a blockage is a total blockage where nothing gets thru and you have vomiting and nothing passing out the bottom. And obstruction maybe is a partial blockage?

Perhaps someone else can offer more insight.

- Amy

Hi Amy,
Well I am having problems at both ends. With the swelling in the abdomen, that is what is making me question the obstruction or blockage.

I'm no expert, but it sure sounds like the same thing to me. And both are not good. An obstruction is usually very painful. And you will have no desire to eat. When I had mine, I knew something was very wrong - I kept wondering if I should go to the ER. When the pain got really bad that night, I went.

Hi I had a blockage and the pain got very intense and a bit higher up than my Crohns pain, and was vomitting and not wanting to eat, I went to the hospital for a colonoscopy and a barium meal and was told I had a blockage and they booked me in for three weeks later ( as the surgeon only operated on a Wed, and it was xmas the week later and new years day the week after that), the pain then eased a little, but when they opened me up it had burst and I was a week from death because of all the shit going into my body so please get this checked out. I didnt have any swelling!

I don't go to see the new GI until the 16th of this month. She said that is as soon as I could get in to see her. Ya gotta love these docs playing with our lives the way that they do. It has been a couple of weeks since discharge from a 3 day stay in the hospital and still vomiting, diarhea and the abdomen so distended that I look like I am going to pop a baby out. Seriously, this is horrible, and now losing weight, not a lot, but about 3 lbs though in the last couple of days.

Not sure, I just had 12 inches of small bowel removed Feb16th and the surgeon said I had a partial blockage, which means the intestine was swollen and blocking flow of stool flowing through, I was pretty sick, leaking stool from the body is a bad thing, as I was throwing up with back and chest pain. Since surgey I feel great and am going to hit the gym for light cardio! Surgeon said just don't over do it! good luck. Billy

Margie, if you are still having vomitting and diarhea, you really should think about going back to the ER. You need to be really careful not to dehydrate!!! Can you drink Ensure at least for nutrition? Can you keep anything down?

- Amy

The GI doc before wanted me to drink at least a couple of Ensure a day, but it started playing havoc on my liver so he said to stop it. I vomit at least once or twice a day, now not really having any appetite, I find myself forcing the food just to be able to keep some nutrition in me. I feel like I am going crazy with all of the symptoms of Crohns coming out now that I never had before. I now have the itching, skin problems to the point where I feel like I am going to scratch myself raw, along with the mouth sores on the outside of the lips and also the canker sores inside my mouth. What is going on here. I am so confused about what to do and what is an emergency and what is not anymore. Is it just all in my head or am I in a major flare right now?

I have had similar symptoms and my dr said that it was a blockage. I had incredible pain, vomiting, no appetite etc. Usually happened in the middle of the night, I would wake up due to the pain, when I started vomiting I knew it was time to get to the doctor. When I went to the ER they would give me an injection of morphine, buscopan and something for the nausea. After a couple of hours it would pass, but I would still feel like I was hit by a truck for a while. It happened a few times at the end of 2009, and I thought it was just freak occurrences, but I ended up at the start of 2010 having surgery due to a mass of inflammation, so I am thinking the blockages were just the start of a flare, although I feel ok most of the time. I think the best thing you can do is just try to keep up your nutrition with ensure, then see what the GI says. Good luck and I hope you feel better soon :ysmile:

I wake up most mornings crying from the pain that I constantly have. I think that the distended abdomen and what ever is going on is now screwing up my bladder too. Starting to get pretty scared here