constipation!

[Bob]

For those of you who need to take pain meds and struggle with constipation (OIC - opiate induced constipation) : What can a doctor do to help you if you have tried EVERY (Literally every) OTC and Pharm med and yet, remain constipated?

This has gone on for a long time for me (even a month or more). At one point I though I had it beat.  I was taking Amitiza and Relistor and was getting to be pretty close to normal. However, at that point there was a snafu with insurance and I was 2 or 3 days without.  Ever since then I have been stopped up like a dam.

My pain doc directed me to the Gastro doc (who I had been intermittently seeing through this) and I met with a Nurse-Prac who came in the ofc and said: "Well it looks like you have been through everything we have to offer.  she then allowed a pregnant pause and I asked: "So, are you just going to let me die?" she chuckled.  However she didnt offer any other options and I left there with the advice to "keep on trying".

So I need to know if there are ANY options left out there.

thanks!

[wmoore]

I find that taking fiber powder helps keep the IBS scurge at bay. Seems to work either way from diarrhea to constipation. I take three heaping teaspoons with breakfast, actually I'm supposed to take two teaspoons at each meal, can't remember to take often so I do all at once. Green fiber not orange.(containers)
I know it's a little expencive at about nine bucks a container. But it does help me... hope this helps.

[denny]

Coulda swore I posted this already,but,water.
If I don't drink enough after just one day I'm constipated already.

[Bob]

I am taking a fiber suplmt (why green not orange) and have been drinkking a boatload of water each day.  from the day that I started taking pain pills I have been taking Miralax 2x/day - daily.

I do appreciatee your input!

[denny]

That's the problem:your suppose t to put the water UNDER the boat.

Good luck. Mom was constipated till the day she died,I know the discomfort,and from me too.
Last resort for me is fleet enigma.sometimes takes twice.
Yuck,but worth it.

[foxgrove]

I imagine the next time I won't have constipation will be the day I have my colonoscopy... something tells me that even constipation can't hold back that stuff they give you.  I seem to remember someone giving me the advice to be ON the pot when you take it and stay put until it's all over!

Other than that, it's bran flakes and oatmeal, with raisins and prunes as an encore.    Here's hoping your pooper works today!

[Robby]

something tells me that even constipation can't hold back that stuff they give you.

The first one I had, of course I had diarrhea to start with, then I took that prep they give you, and when I went in for my colonoscopy it couldn't be done because I still wasn't cleaned out. That's just the way I roll... defy everything.

[foxgrove]

Well... I guess it's not quite as roto-router as I figured it was.  The real trick is that diarrhea can go around a blockage in a lot of cases but it still leaves it blocked up.  Not very helpful!

[Barberian]

Last month or so I had the worst constipation in my life. I tried everything - laxatives, fiber, stool softener, water, and enemas. I was compacted on my left descending colon. It was so bad for almost a week I couldn't even sit up, I had to stay laying down in bed. I did get some relief as the diarrhea that was backed up from behind the blockage did bypass the compaction every other day or three. I used a freshwater enema to help this along usually. After a week and a half, I went to the emergency room and was basically ignored and sent out with a prescription for fiber stool softener and antibiotics  .

It took around a MONTH to get back to close to my normal of alternating constipation and diarrhea. I don't take opioids often enough to case the cycle. Just sitting at a supported 45 Degrees is as good as my Tramadol for pain usually. I attribute it to just plain old fibro and I get dehydrated easily due to poorly controlled Type 2 diabetes.

As for what I do, is make sure I drink at least a gallon and a half of water a day ( I have a Coleman water jug, 1 1/2 gallon so I KNOW how much water I've drank per day) and then there is my two Mtn. Dews also. When the constipation gets really bad I use a laxative and increase my water intake (I also have a 1 liter water jug for measuring the extra water), and it usually helps. That is a lot of water, but that is what works for me usually. 

I hope you find something/ a routine that works for you.

[foxgrove]

As for what I do, is make sure I drink at least a gallon and a half of water a day ( I have a Coleman water jug, 1 1/2 gallon so I KNOW how much water I've drank per day) and then there is my two Mtn. Dews also. When the constipation gets really bad I use a laxative and increase my water intake (I also have a 1 liter water jug for measuring the extra water), and it usually helps. That is a lot of water, but that is what works for me usually. 

I hope you find something/ a routine that works for you.

Now having that 1.5 gallon jug is a GOOD idea!  I often lose track of how many bottles I've drank in a day.  Thank you for that Barberian.  I imagine that you haven't seen yellow water in quite some time.   

Nice to see you again.  Missed you, brother. 

[Barberian]

Nice to see you again.  Missed you, brother. 

[ronr]

I've had pretty good luck with raisins and cranrainsins, usually, and then bananas for maintenance diet.

I use the small boxes of raisins tho so that it's easier to judge how much s enough or tooooo much.

[denny]

After 20yrs of multible/day loose stool the morphine gave me sudden relief! Only after yrs of near normal BMs did i start having serious constipation.
Sorta kinda your problem in reverse. Until it wasnt. nuttins free!

[looneylane]

Honestly I am on the other end of the spectrum I am very rarely backed up but the one time I was ( they pumped me full of meds for a few days to try and break a bad cycle I was in due to surgery rebuilding my shoulder) lets just say they flushed it out. I make sure to take in lots of fiber if they increase my meds..

[foxgrove]

I use the small boxes of raisins tho so that it's easier to judge how much s enough or tooooo much.

Good idea Ron!!!  I'm finding that I'm going through my bags of raisn's a bit faster than intended and I sure don't need the extra calories, just ask anyone in my family. 

Denny... that's bizarre but there you go, just proving that everyone reacts differently.  It might have been something else in your diet or med regimen I guess.  Sad to hear you now have joined the backed up club.  Oh well... here's to more raisin bran.

Looney... that's exactly how it gets you.  Kinda sneaks up on you and once you tip over that edge, everything comes to a screeching halt.  Nasty ain't it.  Fibre sounds good no matter what.  Gotta keep the line moving... nothing to see here... move along, move along. 

[tojo]

Having Lazy Gut from a mistake at least I hope it was a mistake on a doctors part (and just  recently found out I can make the V.A. rate me and pay me more money each month due to this) I mentioned that I was having some problems since I started on the hydrocodone. So yeah this was a long, long time ago. He put me on a stool softener, not a bad idea but instead of "as needed" he put "once daily" and I was on that stuff for so many years at once daily when  I tried to stop at a different doctors request I plugged big time and real quick. I now am still taking a stool softener every single day and I am also on the fiber supplement to try and keep the plumbing moving period.  I still get plugged up and with a gut that moves like Moses walking through molasses it become a real problem and from what I understand it can even be dangerous. They do not want your stool to stay in side you for too long because you can have problems I guess with some kinds of bacteria that can develop. So I am in a world of pickles. But I remembered an old solution that my mom used and had me use when I was younger. She said that it was a secret passed down from her mother, from her mother, from her mother, well you get the idea. Prune juice! was always the magic weapon! I have not needed it in along time but I am sure that if I did it will work. Does not make you regular but you will go, just make sure you have plenty of paper when you get there and once you drink the bottle do not venture far from the can.