Bowel Kinking

Bowel kinking is a thing and I have been in the past hospitalised for it; for me personally it is the worst pain I have had since having my ileostomy formed 4 years ago. Don’t get me wrong I have had some nasty blockages especially the partials which come and go over a few days and I have had a particularly nasty stomach bug which also landed me in hospital! So for me to say these kinks are bad for me they are hella bad!

I have no idea what kick starts them off as there have been different situations the one that lasted a week we have absolutely no idea and I had x-rays and a CT scan! It came in waves but the pain was high up on my left hand side under my ribs – it was excruciating to the point I rang 111 who rang an ambulance who took me into A&E. At first they thought it was gallbladder but nothing showed up on the scans, the stoma nurses thought it could be my bowel and that was that. I guess there wasn’t anything else thy could do and I haven’t had that one since thankfully!

The most common scenarios are I have bent forward and it has just decided for whatever reason to kink and it feels like the worst cramp you have ever felt tripled! The first few times I remember vividly:

1. I was tidying stuff up under my bed and I lent forward and I felt and I swear I heard a twang or a snap and then I’m in so much pain I am laid back trying to “stretch” out part of my anatomy that doesn’t do that!
2. I was leaning forward slightly to remove my skinny jeans after going to a gig and eating chinese from my favourite take out in Leeds when once again the pain, the noise, the stretching. The difference with this one I ended up covering the hotel bed/bathroom in output as it came out like a fountain. I have never been more embarrassed I even had to shower twice!
3. I was laid in a bed getting fluids in hospital chatting to one of the junior doctors when the cramping came out of nowhere. This time I ended screaming in agony but I was experiencing the gastroenteritis bug which I feel exacerbated it a lot more.
4. Trying to do floor exercises with 00Steve and having to give up because the risk was too great in my mind that it would prolapse or pop into a hernia.

Dr Google says bowel kinking is called voluvus and describes only the serious scenarios where the blood is cut off and surgery maybe needed if a colonoscopy doesn’t work. Mine haven’t been anywhere near this but until I can speak to my surgeon I will just go off what the stoma care nurse (who is also a specialist) says.

Have you ever experienced bowel kinking or something similar? Do you know what it is that sets yours off?