Hello I have been dealing with what I think has been an intestinal obstruction for about 18 months. It has been going on for some time, and I have been trying various diets and physical therapies to get rid of the blockage. Nothing worked. Over the last two weeks, I have been taking sports drinks (I'm a regular at the gym). These have caffeine, sugar and other ingredients to boost your energy for a full gym session. I work out from Monday to Saturday with a break on Wednesday; have done for a long time. After my gym session on Saturday, I went to bed and had a craving for something sugary so made myself a chocolate milk drink. This also has a lot of sugar. When I went back to bed, I was falling asleep and the blockage on my right hand side suddenly moved. I could feel the blood returning to that area of my abdomen and "stuff happening". The next day I was still quite blocked. I had read online to chew sweets so I bought a few bags of Haribo. Throughout the day I chewed the sweets after each meal. Last night stuff really started to happen. My sense of smell returned (which I hadn't even noticed had gone) and I found it easier to breathe. This morning I had one very large solid movement and then quite a bit of diarrhea. However my whole body feels better, and I could taste my breakfast for the first time in a long time. My reasons for posting are to share the experience, but also what to do next? Why did I lose my sense of smell and taste? What can I do now to keep the system healthy and give it what it needs to recover from what was going on? Thanks in advance