A carer is urging people not to put off getting embarrassing symptoms checked after ending up dealing with serious consequences when her ‘insides fell out her body’. Courtney Ingham had been experiencing extreme bloating and constipation for eight months but delayed going to the doctors, despite only being able to empty her bowels once every three weeks.
The 21-year-old said she was taking laxatives daily and had tried increasing her fibre intake and drinking black coffee but nothing worked. It left her stomach so swollen she looked heavily pregnant.
But things took a turn for the worse when Courtney, from Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, told how one day as she tried to go to the toilet she heard a ‘pop’. Noticing she was bleeding she suddenly realised her anus and “insides had fallen out of her body”.
She has since undergone two operations to try and help her discomfort. Unfortunately, neither have given her relief so far, so she is awaiting specialist treatment.
She is now bravely sharing her experience to encourage anyone who might be experiencing changes in their bowel movements to go to the doctor swiftly as she believes leaving her issue so many months exacerbated it Courtney said: “I had really severe constipation for about eight months and I didn’t really think anything of it. I was just taking over-the-counter laxatives and pain relief.
“It’s been really difficult. Prior to the eight months I was someone who would regularly goes to the toilet. Then I noticed a little bit of bloating so that was really concerning and then I thought my bowel habits have massively changed.”
She said she found she was going to the toilet once every three weeks rather than her usual of up to three times a day and she was in serious pain. She said: “The pain itself was really hard to manage. I was calling into work sick all the time. One day it could be fine and then the next minute I would be really, really poorly with it.
“Every day I was using the regular sachets of Laxido because that’s what we give our patients and they’re meant to really help but I stopped taking them for a little while because it didn’t feel as if they were working. I was doing natural remedies like drinking black coffee, lemon juice, eating certain fibres.”
Courtney changed her diet by reducing portions and found exercised to help on YouTube but nothing worked. Then came the day when she decided to push a bit harder to see if it would work only for her to feel “a muscle pop”.
She said: “When I was pushing there was immense pain and it felt like I’d put something out of place. I described it as I could imagine labour being like.
“I could feel something there. When I wiped and it was blood, I was really concerned because there was no faeces but it felt as if there was. It was a little bit of spotting at first and then it was tissue filled.
“I did know something was wrong because the blood was fresh so it was coming from some type of wound. I did have to use a panty liner in my knickers because of the bleeding, it was getting a little bit heavy.
“So then I had to squat and take an unattractive photo and I noticed that it was like, I described it as somebody’s organs. It was almost like flesh. My insides had gone out. It really did frighten me.”
Courtney went straight to A&E at Darlington Memorial Hospital on June 23 where she was diagnosed with a rectal prolapse. According to the NHS, a rectal prolapse occurs when there is insufficient support of the rectum, and this results in the rectum dropping outside of the back passage.
Doctors carried out surgery to correct the prolapse but this has not been successful and she remains in pain. Speaking of her experience she told how she had been frightened as it was her first surgery.
She also was left bedbound following the treatment and relying on people to do everything – even help her shower. She said: “I think the only positive I can take out of this is it makes me empathise a lot more with my patients because now I know what they’ve been through and how it feels.”
Less than two weeks after the operation, on July 3, Courtney came back to the hospital after experiencing lots of pain and sickness. Courtney said: “Obviously with me being so constipated I couldn’t push anything through my bowels so everything was just coming up. I couldn’t keep any food down.”
Courtney underwent the surgery for the second time in August but said it has not helped and that they might need to consider a stoma bag. She said: “That really really got to me. I remember just sitting and crying because I thought I am 21 years old, what are people going to think?
“I spoke to my therapist and I said I almost feel as if I’m grieving the loss of using the toilet. That’s what it felt like.
“I’m still pooing once every three weeks. It still remains the same.
“It’s been very miserable, very depressing and it has stopped me from doing everyday things. There are certain things I can’t wear anymore because it’s too restrictive. It has affected everything.
“I know it sounds really silly because it’s just a small thing but to me it did feel like it was taking over my life. It still is until I can get some answers. I do look about six months pregnant.
“My belly bloats massively, it’s huge. It does knock your confidence because there’s things I could wear today that perhaps if my belly bloated tomorrow I wouldn’t be able to wear.”
Courtney said she has been tested for IBS and Crohn’s Disease but has not yet had the results back, she has since been referred to a specialist and is waiting for an appointment in December. She has shared her story on TikTok in the hopes of raising awareness for what has happened to her.
Courtney said: “They did say I’d left the constipation too long and it’s important that if there is a change in someone’s bowel habits to report it straight away to a health professional. I thought the more awareness out there the more people can stop doing what I did and just push it to one side and think it’s going to be okay because I think people need to be getting this checked, it’s so important.
“If there’s any change in anyone’s bowel habits or they feel that they can’t go to the toilet effectively anymore I think seek the advice of a GP straight away, don’t leave it so long. I believe if I went within the first eight months and I spoke to a GP sooner, I could have avoided all this.”