Hi everyone! I thought I would give you an update since may last post. I have been continuing to struggle with abdominal pain since my partial colectomy for colonic inertia in early December.
Since I tend toward constipation, I tried adding Citrucel with minimal improvement (previously Benefiber made my pain worse), then added Miralax. The Miralax pushed me in the other direction with diarrhea and cramping so I am now trying a low dose, starting with just ¼ of the recommended daily dose. Interestingly, when I tried Miralax and several motility drugs before my surgery, they had no effect so I guess my remaining GI tract is more sensitive. I've noticed however that even when I get relief from the constipation such as from the Miralax, or earlier from a Fleets enema, it doesn't reduce the pain. In fact, it may temporarily increase the pain due to irritating my bowel. Although I have been keeping a food diary, the pain doesn't seem to correlate much with what I eat.

Recently I had an MRI and a HIDA scan because of sludge noted in my gallbladder on earlier CT scans. Unfortunately, the results show multiple gallstones, delayed filling and only a 27% ejection fraction suggesting chronic cholecystitis. I discussed this with my gastroenterologist. He said since I was not having clinical symptoms of gall bladder disease at this point and my pain was not gall bladder - like, he was in no rush to suggest surgery. This was a great relief to me because I didn't feel I could face another surgery at this point, still dealing with the aftermath of the partial colectomy in December.
My weight remains low having lost about 30 lbs before and after the surgery. I haven't been able to regain weight probably because I try not to eat too much fearing making the pain worse although I try to snack more frequently. I am also restricting fat because of the gall bladder issues so that also makes it hard to gain weight. When I tried adding a supplement like Ensure earlier, it caused diarrhea and cramping. This has all gotten a bit overwhelming!

I also just started taking a low dose of antidepressant to see if that will help the pain. Usually they use a low dose of a tricyclic antidepressant like amitriptyline(Elavil) but since a side-effect of these is constipation, I asked if I could try duloxetine (Cymbalta), an SNRI used for other pain that may be helpful for GI pain as well, but doesn't risk constipation so I am starting on just 20 mg/day. If duloxetine doesn't work, I might re-consider the amitriptyline. I keep hoping I will find a way to reduce the pain either medically or with time but at times it is hard to feel hopeful about that.
I am keeping my fingers crossed!