I contracted a very nasty case of peritonitis over the holidays when I did my exchange on an airplane while flying to Europe. I ended up in a hospital in London where they gave me one dose of antibiotics, gave me morphine for three days and then sent me home with loads of pain killers. I spent the remainder of the vacation in a wheel chair. After a week and a half, we returned to the states. I immediately went to my doctor who started me on nightly antibiotics for one week. I was feeling better after three days. Now for the problem...Since the peritonitis, I have had very loose BMs, a poor apetite, and pains (similar to pains that you would get when you need to use the toilet badly) in my lower abdomen, where my catheter is (internally). When I go to the toilet, I never feel like I have actually finished the job, if you know what I mean. I love the freedom PD has given me and I never want to go back to hemo, but I am scared. Any suggestions?

Pain killers are notorious for causing lower GI distress. Usually, codeine based drugs like percodan, oxycontin percocet, or opiods like morphine , dialuaid, cause consipation, but a general inbalance in the bowel is common. If you don't NEED the painkillers you might find that stopping them might help. Talk to a doctor.!!!!

I stopped the pain killers nearly two weeks ago. The pain killers they gave me in England to take home from the hospital were codiene based. When I got back to the states, my doctor switched me to Darvaset, but I haven't even been taking it for awhile now.

Do I need to worry about something being wrong with my catheter?

Scared:

I agree with m. micone. Painkillers of all sorts, but morphine in particular, can cause upset stomach and bowel problems. They are also hard on the kidneys and liver. Talk to your doctor, but the effects can last one or two weeks after taking the drugs.

Best,
Mike

I have now been off of all pain killers for a month and am still having bowell problems. I have to take Imodium AD every day. Other than the diarreah, I am feel fairly good. My appetite is coming back. I just don't know what to do about the remaining problem.

Scared,
I assume your MD has rechecked your dialysate to make sure the peritonitis cleared up with the antibiotics you were given. If that is accurate, you may want to talk with your MD about the possibility of irritable bowel syndrome which has many of the symptoms you describe. Another thought is that antibiotics can also remove the "good" bacteria from the bowel and leads to a yeast infection in the bowel. The yeast is allowed to grow when the good bacteria is kill. Talk with your MD about a stool specimen to check for several things that can cause diarrhera, C-diff for one. In the mean time you can try some yogurt (not frozen) everyday to replace the good bacteria. A small container will be enough.