Obsessed with bowel movements!!! Hypochondriac!!

[allecw]

I have been taking Subutex for about 8 months now. I started at about 2mg a day. Now I might take four or more milligrams a day.

I have had a problem with constipation my whole life so opiate constipation was nothing new to me. I never really put that much thought into the constipation. It wasn't painful and didn't seem to bother me.

So in the last couple of years I have turned into a severe hypochondriac. I meen severe! It has ruined my life!

So this past November I noticed my bowel movements were becoming harder to come by. It was to the point where only an enema would work.

Then in January I found Milk of Magnesia would work for me. Yet ever since then I have become obsessed with my bowel movements! Once I get focused on something to do with my health I obsess over it.

I used to be ok with a couple of bowel movements a week yet now I feel as though I need to have a bowel movement almost daily. Otherwise I assume I have a bowel obstruction or I am becoming severely constipated.

I know it's all in my head but I can't help it. My doctor told me I have the worst case of hypochondria he has ever seen.

Like now for instance. Yesterday i began to get pretty bad intestinal cramps for no reason. Almost like trapped gas. I cant fart sometimes! I had a bowel movement two days ago and this morning I had a small bowel movement. Tonight I felt like I needed to use an enema to get it all out of me. Well I used the enema and nothing came out except the enema. I am freaking out. Shouldn't I of had a bowel movement?

I'm sure it's not possible yet but I think I have a bowel obstruction now. It's all I can think of! I can't relax or anything. I take Klonopin and these last couple of weeks they have done nothing for me. I get extreme anxiety and my face gets all hot. I just know something is wrong with me. I have went through periods like this before but never this bad. First I thought it was my kidneys and now it's my bowels. I just had a basic health blood test, with a thyroid and h pylori test. All came back good. I'm still freaking out!

These subs used to be the best thing that ever happened to me. Great for anxiety and all. Now nothing helps my anxiety and I'm always freaking out. I feel like I need to be put in a mental hospital sometimes. I am also extremely depressed because of this. I am thinking of going back on my old antidepressant celexa but I think right now the initial side effects would freak me out too much. I used to be nothing like this. I hate it!

How do I stop worrying about my own health so much? Any ideas? Please don't just say stop taking the subs. They saved my life and as of now I have to take them.

 

[comatoserct]

You really need to calm down, and in my opinion, you are taking way too much subutex. 2mg should be plenty to hold anyone with an opiate addiction. Any more is going to cause more medical side-effects and make it last longer. I would recommend starting to take Miralax (Polyethylene glycol) daily as well as a couple Dulcolax (Bisacodyl) as needed for bowel movements. The reason you didn't have a bowel movement when you used the enema is probably because you aren't getting enough fluids or your stool is far too hard to be relieved by the enema. The Miralax will help to gather liquid into your stool and soften it, as well as force it to come out, giving you the "have to go" sensation. Try and only use 2mg of subutex in the morning, and before you take your next dose, try and wait till your bowel movements come.

That being said, I've gone at least 40 days without a bowel movement, so a couple days really isn't anything. Just take it easy, drink lots of water, try my remedy, make sure you are getting enough vitamins, and try eating fruit (BESIDES bananas) and green vegetables (like kale, collard/turnip/mustard greens, spinach, etc)

 

[allecw]

I know I was overeacting. That's my point. I cant help it.

I agree that I take too much Subutex. In early january I started getting the tiny arrow 8mg Subutex pills. That's when I started taking too much. .5mg from one of those tiny pills is almost invisible. I felt better and more stable on a smaller dose. Yet I can't stop making more either! I don't get it. I get addicted to anything I touch and once I started taking 2-3mg at a time that's what I was gonna take from then on.

Like my klonopin. I have only taken 1mg a day for the last two years. Normally 0.25mg at a time. Yet last week I started taking an extra .5mg pill. Now I feel like I have to take that extra .5mg. Getting seriously addicted to opiates doesn't scare me that much but I'm seriously scared of getting addicted to a high amount of Benzos.

I did have a bowel movement this morning though. After using Milk of Magnesia for a few days my stomach was bubbling this morning. Although with the severe hypochondria in the back of my head I'm thinking that's just stool that's below the blockage.

Sometimes when I'm wondering why I am depressed and have extreme anxiety I have to remind myself that Subutex isn't an antidepressant. It works some for that but that's not what it's made for.

I have to get on some kind of medication that stabilizes my mood or I'm gonna end up in a mental hospital! Or at least that's how I feel sometimes.

 

[allecw]

Dude you seriously went forty days? That seems impossible!

Were you in the hospital?

I have gone maybe two weeks at the most. Lately the longest I have gone is one week.

(also how did you know I was eating so many bananas? Seriously! How did you know that?)

 

[BrokedownPalace]

Bananas actually can add to your constipation issues. Also avoid a lot of fibrous foods, as well as bulk-building laxatives.

Check THIS out. It is a very informative, though slightly dated .pdf all about opiate constipation. It is very informative and has some great info.

I had similar issues as you when I first started taking methadone. I would shit like twice a month, and fecal impaction is no fun. I was also undergoing chemo therapy at the same time and some of those drugs made constipation worse. It was horrible. Luckily my body got used to it, and now I am basically regular. I may not go every day, but i don't go longer than 2.5-3 days without a movement.

You do need to calm down, you are no doubt (but with good reason) over reacting. Just focus on maintaining a healthy diet and keeping hydrated, and taking a stool softener. Avoid excess fiber and bulk building laxatives.

Constipation is a SHITTY situation, and it sure does feel good once you get that CRAP out. AHAHAH

 

[tylers0913]

I am pretty sure that i have have the same problem, hypochondria tricks your mind into making your body do thing. I know I am a hypochondriac but I still can't help but think i have an obstruction or impaction or something like that. Laxatives usually work for me but i just get constipated again as soon as they're over.