Bowel obstruction

How can you tell if you have a bowel obstruction? At times I feel so bloated. I take miralax every day but I don't go poo every day. It's like I get clogged and then the damn breaks loose.

At this moment it feels like a bout of diverticulitis is coming on.

I have a partial stricture caused by Crohn's. My symptoms were bloating at first, then gurgling intestines and finally pressure and vomiting every week or two. My bowel movements became a once per week thing instead of every three days or so. Mine is in the small bowel so a colonoscopy didn't detect it, so a CT scan revealed it.

It took about three months from when the bloating and gurgling started until I started vomiting.

The following information is what happened to me personally, but I am not a doctor by any means.

With my obstruction I was severely constipated for months. Also the pain got more and more severe. When it became blocked I was on the floor in excruciating pain for up to 30 minutes at a time. I finally went to the ER after puking and the puke became extremely painful, hot like fire, and also it had been a couple days since having a bowel movement.

A lot of the time I would be in a ton of pain and I could basically feel like the food was struggling to get through the narrowed area. Once it got through the narrowed part of my intestines, my stomach would make a gurgling gassy noise and the pain would subside, only to begin again within a matter of sometimes just ten seconds.

If your pain is excruciating, go to the ER. If you have a steady throbbing or pulsating pain for days on end, go to the ER. Don't make the mistake I did by dealing with it (toughing it out for too long) and ending up having to get surgery. You want to avoid that. Obstructions are very dangerous. At the very least you can get pain relief from the ER. They will also get you a CT scan and blood work and you get to find out the results quickly. From their they will know what to do.

Thank you both for your relies. I see the family doctor tomorrow.
I definitely have the gurgling thing going on. But I don't eat much a tech meal because of fullness and nausea. Something is going on bowel wise. Just not sure yet what it is. Before seeing GI doctor my bowel movements were maybe, maybe 3-4 a month.