Tips for managing chronic Small Bowel Obstructions

Hi, I just came across your post and it is identical to what is going on with me. I just had my 6th SBO/w hospital stay and NG tube. This last one told me it had to do with adhesions, not the 2 hernia's I also have from previous surgery. If you find out how to prevent them, let me know and vice versa. We are looking at Mayo and Cleveland Clinic for possible surgery to fix the hernia's (one could possibly make me have a colostomy bag the rest of my life since it is at the site of a temporary colostomy) and remove the scar tissue/adhesions to see if this helps. I am tired of living life like this - afraid another SBO is around the corner if I eat something decent.

I'm sorry you're going through this too! Just a word of warning/advice. A few years ago a laparoscopic surgeon assured me that he could remove my adhesions so that the SBO's would stop. I will try just about anything except for that Clear Passage thing (which sounds to me like a scam), so I went ahead with the surgery. It broke my heart when I had several SBO's after that!
So I would ask a LOT of questions--how likely would the colostomy bag be (that would be awful), and do they really think that they can remove ALL of the adhesions? The other thing to consider is that from what I understand surgery to remove scar tissue can sometimes cause MORE scar tissue, especially if they end up having to do open (instead of laparoscopic) surgery--and sometimes they don't know if they will have to do that until they've already "gone in."
I'm not saying that you shouldn't consider it, but ask a lot of specific questions about efficacy versus risk.
Good luck, and keep us posted!

The more surgery, the more scar tissue. I had surgery 8 months ago for excision adhesion's & there was a tear in my small bowel so the surgery was not completed. Now I'm suffering more pain than ever. Be careful & I wish you the best of luck.

Hi! I am so sorry that you are dealing with this as well. It is not fun. I've had two open bowel resections with removal of adhesions. My last surgery was in June of 2018. They spent 6 hrs removing every adhesion they could find. I have had 7 SBO's since that surgery. I have seen 2 GI docs, a motility specialist, and 4 surgeons. All of them have told me that surgery to remove the adhesions will only make the problem worse because it will simply cause more adhesions to form. I will be traveling to Mayo in a couple of months to see a battery of specialists there who, I am hoping, will help me figure out how to live with the condition I have and hopefully prevent more surgery. Ask lots of questions! And fight for yourself and your care! I have had to push to get as far as I have and I WORK in the medical field. Good luck and keep us posted.

I had surgery at the Mayo Clinic last year for excision of adhesion's but mine are so bad. They are thick & dense & plastered in all different directions on different organs. as careful as the dr. was there was tear in the small bowel & I had to have 2 stitches. I'm worse now than I ever was & now I have feet & leg neuropathy on top of it. Surgery only causes more scar tissue & I have had plenty in my life time bc I also have a history of endometriosis.

Your right. I don't want any more surgery. Thanks for the info. Best of luck to you & keep me posted.

You have no idea how kind and helpful people are here. You can learn more from us, than your doctors. Good luck with your pain. Feel free to share anything you want. I have neuropathy in my feet, and live with pain, day in, day out. Looking forward to your posts. Lori Renee

Hello pain sufferers. I'm brand new to the mayo connect groups. I joined after accidentally finding the " SBO " discussion while doing my own research. When I clicked on " join a group " and typed in " SBO " and small bowel obstruction, I discovered this group and I'm looming forward to reading about your experiences and thoughts about " PAIN " and pain management.
Now I'm going to continue to search for the SBO group but I'll be back.

Hi @stuckonu you may have noticed I moved your post to this existing discussion on small bowel obstruction so that you can learn and connect with others who have similar experiences. Simply click VIEW & REPLY in your email notification to get to your post.

I'd like to thank @lorirenee1 and also tag fellow Connect members @tigreyes2004 @jljacoby and @nancybev as they have experience with small bowel obstructions and may be able to offer you support and share their experiences.

Back to you @stuckonu are you comfortable sharing more on your experience with small bowel obstruction?

Hello once again Ethan and TY for moving my post to the correct place. I responded to your reply on hypnosis.
Before I posted anything I sent a “ private message “ to Theresa’s email ( I’m speculating that “ private messages “ go to ones email but at this time I’m not sure how things work here, hence posting in the wrong place. I’m sure with time I’ll learn the ropes. And yes I have had my own experiences with SBO that I’d really like to share here. As I replied to one lady who’s posted several times there: “ I don’t want to hijack some else’s post to talk about my own experiences and thoughts. As of yet I haven’t figured out how to do that since there is no “ group “ here called “ SBO “ for me THAT would make it easier to figure out. Does that make sense? I hope so
Thanks once again