Can Tortuous Colon cayse SI dysfunction/chronic back pain?

Posted by evar @evar, Dec 4, 2022

Hello. I have a severely tortuous colon and also suffer from chronic back pain/joint dysfunction. I believe the two are directly related but of course can't be sure. My 20 yr old daughter experiences similar symptoms (constipation/bloating and pelvic/SI hypermobility). Curious how common the combination is. An MD friend told me "no surgeon will remove part of your colon to relieve your back pain" and she's probably right, but if the colon is indeed the root of my daily pain/mechanical dysfunction, I would sign up to remove part of my colon in a heartbeat. I'm 54 and my mobility is increasingly compromised and pain/instability is daily. WOuld love thoughts/feedback here. Thank you!

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Hi Evar,
I think you & your daughter should get a second & 3rd opinion if you think its needed.
I too have a very long torturous colon and had a very large obstruction which sits very high up in the area above my splenic flexure are. The obstruction which was recently blasted apart by compressed air whilst undergoing a colonoscopy. Seeing it happening on the screen took sure took some processing as there were masses of tightly, flattened, square segments of black and red tissue flying apart at great speed.

There are a lot of problem areas in my colon but having the obstruction blasted apart had eased my mid- upper back pain considerably for about two weeks.
My sigmoid is riddled with large open mouthed diverticular along with smaller diverticular. My small intestines have fallen or been pulled down through 30 yrs of acute constipation & are all bunched up & causing nasty sharp pain at the top of my vagina and deep dull pain in my rectum area and I need to lean forward to pee! The red hot, sharp pain from my severely damaged sigmoid is off the charts when I defecate. For the past 3 years I have need to defecate standing in the shower - very demoralising😢 its a very lengthy process taking up to two+ hrs sometimes then I need to take morphine and rest for the afternoon.
The colonoscopy shows such thickened walls throughout the descending colon that only pencil thin, or self induced diarrhoea (which is how I've been managing it for quite a few yrs now,) can get through it.

For a few weeks I had such relief of most back pain since that darned large gnarly obstruction was blasted apart a month ago, but the excess colon has felt like a python in there & has wound its way back to the splenic flexure but is positioned differently and digging into my lungs again. I've also developed a row of small eruptions on my skin above the line of the descending colon - I'm thinking they can only be from the inflammation of my colon.
I'm going to a GP on Thursday so will get her to check them.
Bowel problems are the absolute pitts and having to explain to people why u can't confirm outings is so embarrassing.

Do think about getting another opinion. You might need to do. Bowel transit study - they're cheap and easy to do and s much can be learnt from them.
Wishing u all the best 💞💞

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Would an obstruction be seen on a ct? I have pelvic and back pain. The Dr. Said it's due to the gastroparesis I have and basically said good luck. I don't know what to do.

REPLY

@evar @annewithane @market1979, while not tortuous colon specific, I thought you might appreciate this article:
- IBS Lower Back Pain: Causes and Treatment: https://www.verywellhealth.com/ibs-lower-back-pain-5214681

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@colleenyoung

@evar @annewithane @market1979, while not tortuous colon specific, I thought you might appreciate this article:
- IBS Lower Back Pain: Causes and Treatment: https://www.verywellhealth.com/ibs-lower-back-pain-5214681

Jump to this post

I really appreciate it, it's so hard to know what's what. I don't live in a great area for Healthcare and it's difficult maneuvering through life when you have chronic conditions, especially those not fully explained or diagnosed. I get so depressed when I'm not feeling well.

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@market1979

Would an obstruction be seen on a ct? I have pelvic and back pain. The Dr. Said it's due to the gastroparesis I have and basically said good luck. I don't know what to do.

Jump to this post

Yes, market1979, an obstruction would be seen on a CT scan even better if its done with contrast I think.
I'm going to discuss this with the Dr I see on Thursday.

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@colleenyoung

@evar @annewithane @market1979, while not tortuous colon specific, I thought you might appreciate this article:
- IBS Lower Back Pain: Causes and Treatment: https://www.verywellhealth.com/ibs-lower-back-pain-5214681

Jump to this post

Thank you, Colleen. I'm really appreciating the wealth of sharing and caring on this forum. You're a very helpful and active moderator which is much appreciated also - thank you🙂

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@annewithane

Hi Evar,
I think you & your daughter should get a second & 3rd opinion if you think its needed.
I too have a very long torturous colon and had a very large obstruction which sits very high up in the area above my splenic flexure are. The obstruction which was recently blasted apart by compressed air whilst undergoing a colonoscopy. Seeing it happening on the screen took sure took some processing as there were masses of tightly, flattened, square segments of black and red tissue flying apart at great speed.

There are a lot of problem areas in my colon but having the obstruction blasted apart had eased my mid- upper back pain considerably for about two weeks.
My sigmoid is riddled with large open mouthed diverticular along with smaller diverticular. My small intestines have fallen or been pulled down through 30 yrs of acute constipation & are all bunched up & causing nasty sharp pain at the top of my vagina and deep dull pain in my rectum area and I need to lean forward to pee! The red hot, sharp pain from my severely damaged sigmoid is off the charts when I defecate. For the past 3 years I have need to defecate standing in the shower - very demoralising😢 its a very lengthy process taking up to two+ hrs sometimes then I need to take morphine and rest for the afternoon.
The colonoscopy shows such thickened walls throughout the descending colon that only pencil thin, or self induced diarrhoea (which is how I've been managing it for quite a few yrs now,) can get through it.

For a few weeks I had such relief of most back pain since that darned large gnarly obstruction was blasted apart a month ago, but the excess colon has felt like a python in there & has wound its way back to the splenic flexure but is positioned differently and digging into my lungs again. I've also developed a row of small eruptions on my skin above the line of the descending colon - I'm thinking they can only be from the inflammation of my colon.
I'm going to a GP on Thursday so will get her to check them.
Bowel problems are the absolute pitts and having to explain to people why u can't confirm outings is so embarrassing.

Do think about getting another opinion. You might need to do. Bowel transit study - they're cheap and easy to do and s much can be learnt from them.
Wishing u all the best 💞💞

Jump to this post

Thank you so much for this response and I'm so very, very sorry to hear how you've been suffering. Have any of your practitioners recommended removing portions of the colon? Curious to know where and from whom you receive care. <3

REPLY
@colleenyoung

@evar @annewithane @market1979, while not tortuous colon specific, I thought you might appreciate this article:
- IBS Lower Back Pain: Causes and Treatment: https://www.verywellhealth.com/ibs-lower-back-pain-5214681

Jump to this post

Thank you, Colleen.

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