This post may get grotesque

One issue that people on long term pain meds (specifically opioids) have to deal with is constipation. To combat this you spend a good deal of your time either constipated or eating anything fibrous that you can get your hands on. munching psyllium husks or choking down Metamucil^® which is NASTY no matter how much orange juice you have.

For some folks those products along with a good diet will produce the results they desire. Then there are people like me where the only things those are good for are clearing out a room in .002 seconds flat. They best they do is make you run for Beano^®. Your still constipated and the longer you go the worse it gets, sometimes to the point you can no longer can go to the bathroom and then you find yourself choking down magnesium citrate which can only be described as a thick soda, syrupy type drink that has loads of salt with a very sour kick. This stuff works by clearing you out, every last bit of your colon is emptied.

Now during the period where you can go to the bathroom you will have hard stools. This can make it very difficult to go to the bathroom and at times can cause a bit of bleeding. More likely a hemorrhoid that is causing the problem but without seeing a doc it is difficult to say. Now the bleeding is more spotty then anything else, never "a lot" and not on every occasion. So while most people bleeding from going to the bathroom would be concerned those of us who experience it as a side effect of their medications more or less dismiss it unless it gets to a certain point.

That certain point would be pain accompanying a bowel movement or pain by itself in the lower back, increased bleeding during a bowel movement and so on. Of course for some of us already suffering from back pain knowing that you are "in more pain" in the lower back may be difficult to determine since you are 1-already dealing with pain in that area and 2-on strong pain meds that noticing any new pains might be difficult and I am not willing to detox just to check it out.

I have been spotty bleeding for some time and have always just chalked it up to the hemorrhoid theory. That was until this evening because I have been having a noticeable change in lower back pain (but I am not willing to say that it is tied to the bowel problems if there are any) as well for the past few weeks that "spotty" bleeding has become more frequent and more then just a "few drops." I have felt like I have had to go to the bathroom all day and as normal I am somewhat constipated not having had a normal movement in a few days. When the time came I excused myself with my new copy of Wired Magazine and headed to the bathroom. Things went normal or as normal as they do for someone like myself until I stood up. The bowl was red, not just red but a deep red and the tissue I used to clean myself was covered in blood and had several small (pencil eraser size) clots.

Of course this was enough to concern me but I am at home with just myself and the boys so I called the ER to see what their thoughts were, knowing full well that was going to result in the come in if you want. I knew when I called not to expect to much as they cannot diagnose over the phone but I think I was looking more for the "you have some time, call your wife at work and when she gets home come on in" or "no, get in hear right now". I decided instead to call my insurance company which has a 24 hotline manned by Doctors and Nurses and from them I got the answer I was looking for, they want me to go to the ER right now. Of course that means I needed to get my wife home and she is down south and it would take her a good hour or two to be able to get back here. So I called her, she just called and should be here in a few minutes.

So once again I am off to the ER, after all it has been 9 days since my last visit. I think I am the first person to wish for hemorrhoids. I hope that is all it is but we will have to see. My concern is that I am having a reaction to the Phenergan they prescribed for the migraines during last weeks ER trip. Since those are suppositories I guess it could be possible that they have irritated the walls of my rectum/colon to the point they have started to bleed. It could be a number of things though and since I have so much going on I feel that my only choice is to go to the ER as it is the middle of the weekend and my Doctor is closed.

I am sure like usual this will be nothing but we will not know that until I have been disrobed and been anal probed to check for any tears to the lining/walls of my organs and possibly had a scope driven up my butt so they can see further then they can feel. Once upon a time I might have been embarassed about this kind of visit, to the point perhaps that I might consider just skipping it and seeing if we still have the problem in a day or two. But like I said, with so many things going on and now a thousand things running through my mind I will not get a decent nights sleep until I know I am good to go.

I will drop a line when I get back from the ER, hopefully that will be in a few short hours. For those who wish to call I have sent (or tried to at least) my phone numbers, both home and phone. If you have not heard from me please feel free to give me a call.