Hi. I'm a 27+ year sufferer of abdominal and pelvic pain, bloating and the usual IBS symptoms. I have had some surgeries- vaginal hysterctomy, myomectomy (done with the full cut, not laparoscopic), right adrenal gland removed.
None of these surgeries helped me to feel better and the gynecological ones only made things worse. I suspect adhesions play a big part in my issues since there are areas that are very tight and just don't move. It really does feel like tight rubber bands and/or crazy glue.
The first surgery I had was an exploratory lap which I was told showed nothing. The only thing they recommended was a hysterectomy due to large fibroids which I chose not to do at that time because I did not believe that was the cause of all of my pain/issues and besides I was hoping to get the pain and GI issues dealt with so I could get on with my life which might have meant having children.
What was interesting after that exploratory lap back in 1991 was that I experienced a loosening effect. The tightness went away and I had normal digestion and my stomach shrunk to nearly half its size. This only lasted for two weeks and then slowly the tightness came back along with the pain and GI issues. The doctors could give me no explanation for the brief reprieve. I did not know about adhesions until just a few years ago when a couple of physical therapists said that I had a lot of restrictions due to adhesions. I can only assume that during the exploratory lap that they might have removed some adhesions while looking around but gave no thought to the idea that adhesions could be a problem because even to this day there are many doctors who insist that adhesions cannot cause pain or problems. If I bring the topic up, doctors never want to discuss it- they become very defensive and don't want to consider them, even though based on my experience back in 1991 I have good reason to think they are causing most of my problems.
Anyway, one of the reasons adhesions often go undiagnosed/untreated has been that they do not show up on any imaging tests. I had read about the use of a Functional MRI being used in Europe for that purpose but could never find it being used for diagnosing adhesions in the U.S. I know that another reason that is given for doing nothing about them is the fact that they often come back after removal, like it did with me.
Anyway, I just saw this post on EndoTimes where they are saying that a woman who had a barium swallow had her adhesions diagnosed unexpectedly from that test. It seems odd that nobody would ever have noticed this before but I think it is great IF it is true. I also wonder if a Barium Enema would also show adhesions. I think it would be great if this were true and maybe would get the topic of adhesions out of the closet and maybe lead to more research on effective and safe adhesions barriers to allow for more effective, permanent treatment.
I'm hoping to see a new gastro next month and I hope he will be open to the topic of adhesions, as well as SIBO. Adhesions are a risk factor for SIBO because they keep things from moving properly.
So this isn't really a question, just some info.I don't know if we can post links here but this would be where the info would be.
http://endotimes.blogspot.com/2011/12/breaking-news-adhesions-easily.html