Has anyone had this condition before, and if so how long did it take to get better and what worked? My sister, Connie who has been vomiting and nauseous for 10 days, finally went to the hospital after 5 days and was admitted. After blood tests and xrays it was determined she has illeus, a condition when the stomach and intestines quit moving, therefore what won't go down will come up. One of the causes is the use of pain meds (opiates) and she uses fentayl patches and morphine for breakthrough pain, and is on PEG feeding and suffers from constipation. Unfortunately the anti nausea meds she used during treatment do not seem to be helping her now, has dry heaves up to 15 times a day is pretty much nauseated thru out too. Is on IV, because the stomach is suppose to rest, so isn't getting any nutrition and you all know how important nutrition is to healing and energy, etc. Anyone else been thru the same thing before????

Sometimes it's like one step forward and two steps backwards. I know Connie is going to get thru this and heal, but it seems to be a path with some detours.

Thanks,

Nancy

Nancy,

How is your sister doing now? I hope she is doing a little better now?

I'm sorry you didn't get any reply here from someone who has gone through the same thing. I haven't read anyone having this before. My Dr mentioned it to me when I was struggling with constipation brought on by pain meds. Once I stopped the pain meds thing went back to normal. Although during treatment I had to use stool softeners, strong laxatives and the occasional enema to keep things moving.

Stay Strong
Tim

Hello Nancy

The correct spelling is ileus.
This link will take you to a lot of information about it. I hope this helps.


http://www.ask.com/web?q=ileus&qsrc=163&o=0&l=dir

Tim and Petey,

Thanks for the replies and Tim I guess my sister will have to do the stool softener, laxative and enema route too, once she is through this. She can't go w/o her pain meds (morphine and fentayl) at this point. How were you able to tolerate the pain w/o the meds? She is still in the hospital and will probably be there for a few more days (10 days total by that time). She is able to keep her formula down, so we are increasing it everyday. Still nauseous and is passing gas, but not stool. Doctor is giving her reglan, 10 mg every 6 hours(suppose to get the gut to start moving, and helps with the nausea) and protonic, which is an acid inhibitor. You really can't let this constipation issue can out of hand, it can have some serious consequences.

Thanks again for your concern.

Nancy

Hi it just crossed my mind that your sister might have Paralytic Ileus.When i did my surgical nurse training back in the dark ages one of the major down sides from abdomonal surgery was Paralytic Ileus which was caused by the Ileum being handled.It effectively meant that the muscles that squeeze food and waste down the digestive tract became paralysed and didnt work. Hence the reason why we were always taught to make sure a patient had had their bowels open in the days following surgery and to report it if they didnt.I am not sure if what she has is a similar thing and i realise she hasnt had surgery but it might be worth "Googling"

Liz in the UK