Anyone else have a Redundant / Tortuous Colon?

wow, that's a good idea, rice milk, and for enemas, I found that about the best was that thing that they sell for cleaning your ears, comes in a kit sometimes, with ear wax things, fill it up with luke warm water, maybe once, maybe twice, but that's actually a lot of water, easy to clean, easy to use and works quite well, and saves a ton of money...

it's dang difficult, and amazing that the colon and digestive system is so complicated, I never knew before. fiber, healthy fiber, if metamucil, small amounts, cut out broccoli, beans, taters, yeah, I know, think Japanese diet, which isn't bad, rice, fish, white meat, smaller amounts, more rice, oatmeal in small doses, suggest cutting out wheat until ya figure it out, olive oil, fresh olives (healthy probiotics in fresh olives), yogurt/small amounts, pre probiotics, lots of water, fluid, stay hydrated, electrolytes, magnesium and potassium, stay hydrated, fluid, and I found that a very small doses daily of Linzess, a very expensive medication, I take the caps, open them, tip of the finger and a "little dab" of the white, maybe 50 mcgs, daily seems to help the spasms, constipation in the bowel, any more than that, 145 mcg, gives me "the trots" as my dad used to call them, ya know, trot to the can, if I get a flareup, irritation, a little bit of pepto bismo, and also benadryl, occasionally, it's a histamine, but that's not medical advice, there are other antispasmodics that your doctor or pharmacist might recommend. sometimes the pharmacist knows more about the doctor, cause they deal with it day in day out, about meds. breathe, try to relax, yoga, hot soaks, hot tub, hot shower, maybe tai chi, and other folks just don't get it, "well you don't look sick" and ya wanna give them a big fat btch slap or SOCK in the nose for that dumb comment.

No, but still searching. I had a colongraphy done at Duke and even though I presented with dumping syndrome for 6 weeks and then constipation, and of course the dreaded bloated stomach, the good radiologist noted that my tortuous large intestine was unremarkable. How do they expect us to get help when they are not providing accurate direction?
I hate looking like I am 9 mos pregnant and continuing to gain weight when I am barely eating. My SIBO came back negative but hopefully, I will have better advice and direction from UVA. Good luck and am praying for everyone who is suffering.

I have been doing so well on the low-fiber diet. Then, two weeks ago, we drove to Virginia to visit our son and his family who just had a new baby, our sixth grandchild! From June of last year into January of this year, I had almost constant pain in my left side. Numerous ER visits, X-rays, C/T’s, never any real answers. Then my GI does colonoscopy and determines tortuous colon reason for pain and constipation. Thing is, the pain had already gone away the month before. I just woke up one day and it was gone. Well, I woke up the day after we got to my son’s and the pain is back. I’ve not done anything different. I am in misery. Nothing helps. It doesn’t matter if I go to the bathroom or not. My gi called orders in for an X-ray but when I went out yesterday they didn’t have them so I have to wait until tomorrow to call and have them resent. But if it’s like before it won’t show anything anyway. It is gorgeous outside and I’m lying here on the couch in too much pain to do anything.

Yes, it is good that I get some reduction in my swollen belly with the Beano.
Keep searching for answers and share them with us - we all need encouragement.

Bloated abdomen--the expansion is now at my waist. The bloat never diminishes [it is not air], just increases. It is good that yours is amenable to beano.

My bucket looks most similar to Ansino International enema bucket. There is also Gentle -L-Care and Pure Joy Planet that look like they have a blue comfort tip. The idea is not to try to clean out your entire colon, just to clean out and rehydrate the area of the sigmoid/rectum where the notorious kink is. Of all the posters, I thought that you might be interested because of your frustration with laxatives. A lot of people are squeamish about enemas. This can be done sitting upright on the commode with the bucket sitting on the tank. I am so glad a friend told me about this and the gastro doc cleared its use as harmless. The worst that could happen is that you could be impatient and injure your rectum. KY Jelly and experience will solve that. I am for what works with the least amount of side effects. Laxatives interfere with our digestion, especially fat soluble vitamins such as A, E, D and K.
I have to say that I also take one Pancreatin capsule from Allergy Research Group with each meal for better digestion. I also take 400 mg of magnesium citrate and one capsule of Life extension Daily Bowel maintenance (Bifidus probiotic) at bedtime with a glass of rice milk. Hope you get some benefit.

Is there any chance you could provide a link to "the small "bucket" enema with a very small tube" ? I find that the tubes on the standard enema bags are very uncomfotable and often painful for me to use, Which has caused me to give up on mine.

Good to hear you have no gas nor digestive problems!

I have a tortuous colon, bloated abdomen and constipation which may be unrelated. My internist taps my abdomen and declares it is my intestines "air" based on the echo she hears, I guess. I don't know what to do about it except slightly reduce my discomfort and "pot belly" by taking Beano before eating beans or cruciferous veggies. The constipation is an ongoing problem. This group is the closest I've come to find support and helpful feedback.

When you say your stomach is expanding, do you mean the capacity of your internal stomach? Or a bloated abdomen?

I talked to a general surgeon and urologist this last month and they explained that in seniors the small and large bowel tend to sag as we get older. The tissues that hold our organs in place start to lose their integrity. This is exacerbated by surgeries. In women the uterus shrinks and allows the bowels fill that space. In women who have had a hysterectomy, the rearrangement can be quite pronounced. The major place that a kink can occur is where the rectum and sigmoid join. All this things can lead to pressure on the bladder as well. The urologist said the number one cause of inability to urinate in older women is chronic constipation pushing on the urethra. In men, prostate problems and the inability to urinate can put pressure on this same area. So basically, there is a train wreck in our lower left abdomen.
What I have figured out for myself because I do not want to become dependent on laxatives or their side effects, is to give myself a 250 ml enema with warm plain water every evening before I take a shower. I found on the internet a small "bucket" enema with a very small tube for insertion into the rectum. This is far less difficult to use and to clean than the standard enema bottle and large wand. I am guessing that by clearing out and adding moisture to this area, I am relieving this "kink" area. With this method, I always have a large bowel movement every morning upon rising and sometimes a second in late afternoon. It also solves the problem of incomplete emptying. I have almost completely eliminated the agonizing left-sided pain that I have had since January of 2022. Of course, I also eat lots of vegies and fruits and whole grains etc, etc. It generally takes about 20 minutes to complete all the task including clean up. I hope that this continues to work.