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Fecal incontenience- spouse
Hello. My husband has fecal incontinence so I am joining this group for support, advice, and understanding. He has not been officially diagnosed, but he is now having weekly episodes.
He has a lot of health issues that could be contributing or the culprit.
Age, scoliosis, cognitive issues, does not drink enough water, too much caffeine, multiple surgeries, acid reflux, hiatal hernia, bad circulation in his legs, and more.
He refuses to wear pads or diapers.
After three episodes this week - he may be ready to accept my advice.
Did I say he is opinionated and stubborn?
I read a lot of your posts and thank you. Some of my research says he should eat more fiber. Does that help?
He says he will cut down on soda and will buy lactose free milk. Does Metamucil help?
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Metamucil might help. Many of us with chronic diarrhea take psyllium husk - which is essentially what Metamucil is - to control it and it does work. More importantly, however, your husband needs to see a gastroenterologist to determine the cause and determine appropriate treatment.
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3 ReactionsDefinitely needs to see a gastroenterologist. If there is a long wait due to insurance approvals and availability, perhaps the primary care doctor can do some basic preliminary testing, such as a fecal specimen, urine, and bloodwork, to get a jump start on a proper diagnosis. Good luck!
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3 ReactionsHas your husband had a biopsy with a colonoscopy? About two colonoscopies ago I had a biopsy that diagnosed collagenous colitis. I had been having liquid stools and infrequent minor fecal incontinence for a few years before that. As symptoms got worse my doc suggested psyllium capsules and imodium which helped for a little while until it didn’t. After a major incidence of fecal incontinence earlier this year I decided to attack this problem a little harder. I started an elimination diet - limited foods, no uncooked fruit or vegetables, lactose free, no caffeine or alcohol, limited sugar - and started to see some improvement. After a couple weeks I started adding in a food every 5 days to see how it affected my colon. I’ve been doing pretty well and I’ve learned a lot about what my colon can, and can’t, tolerate. All this to say that, first of all everyone is different and what works for some won’t work for others; and second, medical intervention will help determine your best course. Best of luck to you - this is a difficult journey.
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1 ReactionI think the best thing for him to do is get his doctor to refer him to a Gastroenterologist.It may be worth while getting the muscles of rectum checked as these can get loose as people age.This can be done while he is getting a colonoscopy which can be done under anaesthetic.
Hi, @minniem - wondering how it's going with your husband?
Good suggestions are getting your primary to start ordering some fecal and blood testing and radiology tests. It’s easier to get into see a gastroenterologist if you have abnormal test results. Your primary may have to call to push for an early appointment. That’s what I suggested to my primary and my rheumatologist also called. Suddenly an appointment opened up that very day, imagine that. It seems GI doctors make a lot of money from uncomplicated colonoscopies. As soon as my Crohn’s became complicated with extra GI seauelae they weren’t as eager to schedule me even though I had been a patient for 15 years.
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1 Reaction@skypledger Yes you are correct is saying that Gastroenteroogists run a mile when there are complicated results from Colonoscopies.In my area there are many Gastroenterologists who seem to just do Indoscopies when requested by a General Practitioner and send back the results directly to the Practitioner and have very little conversation with the patient.