Shortness of Breath After Multiple Ileostomy Surgeries

Hi everyone i have a question for those of you who have an Ileostomy, (might also apply to anyone with a colostomy) and have had multiple surgerys done. I had three done for the ileostomy, and a couple of years ago I developed a shortness of breath almost overnight, this happened about 20 months ago and it really threw me for a loop, Couldnt even mow the lawn, well I did make it fifty feet and said the hell with this shit. When this started I suffered an acute exacerabation of my spinal injuries, this occured about 20 months ago and my left leg took on this horrible pain which I have daily, need a lot of medication which I only started taking about a month after that episode. I have read somewhere in these forums where people develop this shortness of breath. I was diagnosed with Fibro back in 1987 and never had anything like this. Has anyone else had/have anything like this?

Ed

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Hey Ed



I did go through a stage where everytnign was an effort. Short of breath, no energy etc. Quick question do you smoke? if so that may be a part of it. I smoke and I had to cut back and start going to the gym bfore I got over it. Duno if this helps but it's all I got mate

hey ed...I have had it happen where I will be sitting, watching tv or reading and i will have to take several deep breaths...it feels like i can't get enough air.

Is that shortness of breath?? I also have where my heart will just pound really quickly for many beats and then go back to normal. Is that what ylu mean?

I,m sure I replied to this but here goes again,, I too get like palpatations for about 10 seconds or so,, I have to sometimes deop to 1 knee so i dont fall over,,, weird ay,,



1 theory could be my sword

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Fortunately not had that except when in a lot of pain and sort of hyperventilating to try get myself through it.



It isn't listed on my fibro info on symptoms but rapid heart beat and palpitations are, as are pains in the chest mimicking heart attack type pains.



Sorry, I'm not being much use, and know how much you love going to the docs, but might be worth it in this instance!   xxx

Stories of Living Life to the Fullest from Ostomy Advocates I Hollister

Gus, I am ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE it is your sword!!!

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MARYALLISON!!!!! lmao!!! you naughty thang!!! Iagree, it has to be the sword...when what one is weilding is so huge..well, you can omly expect dizziness issues. lol

Sigh

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I'm hopeful

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LMAO

At the risk of getting into some sword (sort)of trouble,  I dont think its his sword.  Because if  its in his holster that shouldnt happen,  Only when its taken out and he draws his sword will his blood leave his brain/head( hence the dizziness).....So as long as its in his holster I dont think it can be the sword...............LMAO...............I hope i dont get kicked off this site now...Michael:)

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Michael,

              Seriously? have you ever READ what I have written on here? lmao

And Gus..OMG, he's positively a drunken sailor!!  jk..lol

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You won't get kicked off. OMG wouldn't that be terrible if I did get kicked off?????

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~hugs & inappropriate touches~ Hannah

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Hey Gus: Yeah I smoke but this thing that happened to me, I can bring it down to almost the minute it happened 'cause it was at the same moment my left leg gave way to this horrible pain, so methinks smoking would occur over a period of time.

Txgirl: I know exactly what you mean, my doctor, my old doctor put me on the table with my shirt off and placed a dime on my belly button and told me when I breathe he wanted to see that dime rise, after a while I could manage it so he told me to always keep that in mind. My daughter had the same thing, couldn't get enough air in her lungs so I got her to try that for a few weeks and voilà, it went away and never came back. What my doctor told me was we forget how to breathe, and you won't see a baby having this trouble as their breathing comes naturally, only when we get older we forget to get that air down to the bottom of our lungs and only to the partial lower part of our lungs. I hope this makes sense.

As for the palpitations, I remember one time in the hospital it happened to me and I called for a nurse, when she tried to take my pulse she said to the other nurse, holy f&*% its going so fast I can`t count it. I can`t remember anything being done for it but its been many a year since I have experienced it.
Don`t know if any of this helps, but I`m sure about the dime on the belly button, or where ours used to be, just try to get the air as low as you can and after a while it becomes natural. Dr. Ed

   Maybe you`re a unicorn Gus.


Back to the subject at hand. I remember back about 15 years ago I would get these palpitations at work and try to gracefully slide to the floor in case I would pass out, less of a bang on the head that way. If I tried to get up too soon the room would start spinning and I would forget what I was doing. Like today, I still have no idea what the hell happened but I`m always prepared.

Ok, I am going to get into trouble here I have really loved 1 sword  but handled many what the hell,

what was the question again Oh right SOB (that is a real medical term Ed) heart paps will cause SOB if the heart beats overly fast the heart musle requires more & more oxygen thus requiring you to breath faster and feel the lack of oxygen if this happened right after surgery you could have been over loaded with fluids

eddie

Hi Eddie, so okay, maybe I'm not explaining myself very well. On the day this happened, I was getting my mom's groceries. As I walked between the two electric doors, about halfway, I took this terrific pain in my left leg, from the hip down to my foot, and thankfully someone had left a cart right in front of me. I grabbed hold of it and was so stunned I didn't know what to do, something like having a disc go out, a grand case of stupidity ensued. I'm still hanging onto that cart for dear life. Finally, a lady behind me said, "Pardon me, sir," as I looked around, there were four people standing behind me waiting to get in the store, so I decided to go in, turn around, and get the hell out of there. Then I decided I might as well get the groceries, bad mistake. By the time I got to the checkout, my leg was dragging along with me. When I finally made it to the car, I got in and tried to see if the pain and the huffing and puffing would subside, no dice. When I got home, I had to get my wife to help me up the stairs; you would think I did the 100-yard dash. After three days, my wife said that's enough and hauled my ass up to emergency. I had another CAT scan, but be damned if they were going to tell me anything. To this very day, as I go to the grocery store, by the time I get back to the car, the pain is unbearable, and I'm still panting. The simple way I can understand this, the greater the pain, the greater the panting. It's another month before I see my doctor again; this time, I will only have one question for him: WHY, and I'll bet he will talk all around the subject.

Sounds a bit basic but could your sciatic nerve be being pinched - increased pain = increased breathing to get through it?  R xx

Well Rachel, many years ago I had sciatic nerve trouble and a pinched nerve in my neck and when I went to physiotherapy for the first twenty minutes they had me in a chin strap that went up to some pulleys to stretch my neck along with hot packs, then for the next twenty minutes they had me in a harness around my waist and the table would stretch, it took about four months and I was as good as ever, but still nothing like what I'm having now and my doc says no surgeon would want to look at me because of the two earlier spinal operations that turned into a total screw up. And I mean a real screw up, its a good thing I didn't own a gun cause two months after the last spinal op I went to get out of the car and, Holy Shit, wouldn't you know it I have a disc out, but in these cases after a week I'm back at work, but not with this baby, I feel like I only have half of my foot and I have trouble trying to stay in balance. Sorry, I babble, Ed
PS a few weeks ago I had looked up Cauda Equina Syndrome and I have most of the symptoms but my doctor just shakes his head and does nothing to help me understand what the hell happened other than Degenerative disc disease, BFD.

Hi Ed, I had that mediaeval chin strap chasity belt thing on too, but it didn't work for me eventually had to go for the surgery - my chap was used to reparing injured jockey as I live very near racing country so had every faith in him and all was fine - just  the rest of spine on its way out now after years of being dragged down by my hernia....



Whatever it is, it sounds as though you need some help in making it easier for you somehow? x

A little try at humor regarding herniated discs: One of my friends had pretty much the same problems, and after a few days in the hospital, we would meet up in the TV lounge, and then the jokes would start. One time I was hospitalized and didn't know he was in, and when we met in the corridor hanging on to the rails, we spotted each other and that was all it took. One hand on the rail, the other holding onto our stomachs, we had to do an about-face and get back to bed for a few days for fear of putting something else out of place. Today, I can still laugh at some of the predicaments we would get into, not so with this crap I'm in now; I have never had a reason to laugh about anything. Ed

So Ed, your telling me you have absolutely nothing to laugh about?? nothing at all, nada, nix,,, not a bloody thing,,,

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Well now I guess your headin to be the swabbie on my next ship mate

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But seriously mate, call me crazy but even when i was at my worst i still found things in life funny. it helped with the pain.

Well Steve let me put it this way, if I could get to talk to neurosurgeon/orthopedic guys and somebody would explain what the hell happened it would go a long way toward my change of attitude. But that is one thing I'm going all out for this year and have no illusions about that happening.



But there is one thing I always try to do and that is to try to bring some humor to those who are in our positions, that, I shall never give up on. Ed

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Sorry Ed my bad!  Ok no coment about my medical terms Ed I'm dissapointed LOL on a serious note,  I agree sounds like a nerve pinching extreme pain also caused huffing & puffing you deserve an answer from your doc even if the answer is basically beats the hell out of me!  ha  as a nurse we are always picking up the ball answering patients questions and getting information for them!  of course I always did that even when we wen't suppose too, Now they teach that in nursing schools . Then again the nursing shortage kept me out of trouble also hee! hee! Pin him down Ed!! Make him give you an answer.

eddie

Well, Eddie, you reminded me of something. Whenever I was in the hospital post-1986, I would find a nurse and tell her my doctor was in to see me and I was so full of drugs, or anything to get information, and ask her to read my chart and help me understand what he was saying; it usually worked like a charm. Pre-1986, my old doctor was a saint, at least he had the patience of one, and always told me anything I asked about. Man, oh man, I miss those days. And not knowing what the hell happened after 20 months really drives me nuts, or maybe more nuts, noimsayin. Ed