Chronic small bowel obstruction from adhesions

I feel for you both, and can relate!
I think I've finally realized that the problem is more mechanical than anything else, and that it matters less WHAT I eat than what form it's in. I hardly eat during the day, and when I do eat I try to stick with things that could get through a small straw. So I've become the Smoothie Queen!
You can buy good pre-made smoothies, but they're expensive. So I have a bunch of ingredients on hand to run through the blender. I'm going to list them here if it helps; pretty much any combination tastes good and is healthy:
--milk (cow, soy, oat, almond, etc.--they all have different nutrients)

--protein powder--I prefer whey, because it makes things creamier

--Greek yogurt

--bananas!

--frozen berries of all kinds

--peanut butter

--kale and or spinach (you hardly taste them when they're blended with the other stuff)

--canned coconut cream (yummy!)

--rolled oats and flax meal

--firm tofu

--carrot, prune, and other juices

That's all I can think of for now. I'm a vegetarian (not vegan), so that helps. And, not to be gross (but I think the people here will understand!), I keep in mind how various things would taste coming back up again...so meat and seafood would be out anyway. 😱😱

I have been having bowel obstructions for almost 4 years. No one could tell me what was going on. I was getting them almost monthly. Worst pain I've ever gone through. At one point I lost 17 lbs. In October 2015 I finally ended up in the emergency room. This is when they finally found the small intestinal obstruction. The thought is that they are caused by abdominal radiation I got back in 2003-2004 for Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.
I sometimes go 3-4 months without an attack, but that is rare. They are part of my life.
The surgeon told me that if I end up back in the hospital, it's NG tube again. If NG doesn't work its emergency surgery.
The problem with surgery is that there is a 60% chance of it creating more adhesions, hence I'd be worse off.
I try to each low fiber even though I am a vegetarian. I cook my veggies. I don't eat any raw. No corn. I peel fruit like apples. Honestly, I feel I never know what helps and what doesn't. It's beyond frustrating and not an easy way to live. I've gotten attacks on vacation (totally bedridden in Paris!). I am in horrible pain for 24-48 hours. Then I'm sick for 4-5 more days. I feel for everyone battling this.

Same issues here. My question adhesions are incredibly painful. The attacks last a long time for me. Dr says go liquid but also states narcotic pain meds worsen this condition? Ive been hospitalized and given morphine drip. Everything I eat seems to hurt my tummy. How do we manage pain when it’s severe?

I sure feel for you. I struggled for years with constipation and the ONLY solutions I have found are these: Miralax every day, Agiolax (Amazon) every day, 1 stool softener every day, MINIMUM of 1 liter of water every day, the FODMAP diet which takes a lot of study online and stopping the foods that they say to stop, no milk products and lastly being as close to an entirely vegan diet as possible. I eat as many fruits and vegetables that I can always mindful of the low and high FODMAP foods. Personally, I also have to only use Tylenol and not the Advil type drugs since they also constipate me. When my gut is OK, I am OK. It sounds simple but it is not easy. One choice at a time.

I too was advised by the hospital nutritionist to eat nothing with more than 2 grams of fiber. So for the past 2 years that's what i try do. If its something I like such as oatmeal and the label says that 1/2 cup is 3 grams of fiber I use 1/3 cup which I hope cuts the fiber count down. And I cook it until its like a soft pate. Its still good!! Its still hard to manage my diet though. I eat a lot of white rice and white bread and white potatoes for some bulk plus of course acceptable veggies and fruits but I miss things like baked or refried beans and lentils. Being a long-time vegetarian those foods were a large part of my diet. Eating low fiber though has cut my stomach attacks down to about 2 per year. The attacks, when they come, are after my succumbing to the urge to eat something higher in fiber that is tempting me and a very painful reminder to cut it out and get back with the program. My adhesions started after 25 days of pelvic radiation and they aren't going to go away. I am trying to stay low fiber and welcome any food suggestions that this old vegetarian might add to perk up my diet.

Hi, I am new to this group and am finding it very helpful. I am a seventy-eight year old maleI had a hemi-colectomy/appendectomy twenty one years ago and had my first partial SBO six months ago. It was cleared in the hospital without surgery but I have continued to have abdominal and back pain. I recently went to a colorectal surgeon and had laparoscopic surgery. He said I have a lot of adhesions. My stomach and part of my transverse colon were adhered to the abdominal wall. He freed these and some other areas with lysis. I am still having pain, both from the surgery and the adhesions, but can tolerate a low fiber diet most of the time. When I have a flare-up I drop back to a liquid diet until it passes. My doctor says we won't know if the surgery was successful for six months or so.

Every doctor that I have seen says that I should be able to tolerate a regular diet but I find that to be untrue.

My question is does anyone take Miralax ? I have been taking Miralax daily to keep things moving and find that it works pretty well but I'm having trouble determining when and how much to take.

I would very much appreciate any advice I can get.

docm

Hi! I’m so sorry that you’re having SBO and pain. I have had 10 abdominal and pelvic surgeries and I’ve had two small bowel obstructions and two small bowel resections. I’ve had multiple surgeries for Lysis of adhesions and the adhesions seem to reform worse than before. I’m prescribed Lubiprostone and I use Miralax too.

Hi llcc8800. I have lost twenty pounds since I started this process and I'm having to deal with periodic diarrhea and inability to eat a normal diet. Everything has to be liquid or pureed. How do you handled these things? My doctors are very little help in these matters. Thank you for your advice. I hope that you're doing OK!