Aa
Long constipation
My husband has been constipated since Wednesday of last week. He tried a stool softener and an enema at home, and then went to the hospital after they failed to work. At the hospital then sent him home with Magnesium (sp?) Citrate. It seemed to work while it was in his system and then he went back to being constipated. He went back to the hospital, they drew blood, ran a cat scan and treated him for dehydration. The scan showed that he wasn't impacted and just a little constipated, but nothing is working. He's getting very scared and does not want to return to the hospital. What else is there to do or what else could be going on? He also had to drink some huge thing of powder that had to be mixed with liquid and it worked for a while. He also took a Dulcolax about 6-7 hours ago. Any help or advice is much appreciated
Just to let everyone know, my husband had a colonoscopy and everything was normal. The doctor said there was a virus, which he has since gotten over. Thank you all for the advice!
Oh, and as if I haven't said enough, you said Monday you will call and have a specialist that "worked on him before" look at him. I definitely AGREE with that plan, becuz if he's had digestion problems in the past and even an operation, could be he's developed a little stricture or perhaps a muscle hernia of some kind, that's slowing down the digestion passing like it should. So, yes, while doing all this other "natural" stuff, be SURE to go see that physician, even if your husband seems better by this evening. It will also allow him another day or two off work, which I think he could use. Ask for an emergency squeeze-in appointment, if possible... most doctor offices leave a little time every day for such things.
GG
GG
Dear Vonnie,
The best thing in the whole wide world to jump-start your husband and end the constipation is two routes. The easy one is for your husband to drink plenty of water all day, eat spagetti and a salad for dinner, and drink a half cup of coffee before he normally goes. And he's got to put plain KY jelly on the area, to make passage of waste easier.
If the stuff doesn't come out, the second way that REALLY works is, your husband should put that jelly on a damp tissue, and feel if there is hardened waste bulging where it's supposed comes out. If so, then get thee to a pharmacy and buy "Baby Lax," which is a little box of ointment tubes, squeeze two in there, and the waste will come out forthwith. Again, this is just to get him going. Sometimes he may have to repeat this when he feels the urge to go again, until it all clears up. That stuff works wonders. But after that procedure seems to have worked, he needs to put some KY jelly on there for a few days, to keep the waste moving smoothly, becuz what comes out from the Baby Lax will be hard and might have hurt him a little.
Thereafter, you can do any of the above poster's suggestions to keep him "regular." Plus keep him going with PLENTY of water. Me, I have to eat 100 percent whole wheat bread sandwiches with lots of lettuce, Cheerios and a little juice, coffee, and plenty of water EVERY DAY. That is how I combat constipation as an older person. So, he will need to figure out what foods do keep him regular and stick to it daily from now on, or at least a month, depending on if it recurs.
One more thing, you said this started on Wednesday. If he's like most people, he works like the devil up until Thanksgiving vacation. So, stress may actually be a very real factor for him getting all constipated in the first place. I know he is scared of his digestion situation, I've been scared by constipation too, but all this hospital stuff has got to stop, because that's stressing him even worse, and it's not helping. He needs to take this thing into his own hands, know that there is a whole country dealing with what he is, and do some of the stuff folks here and myself are suggesting, and he'll get better all by himself.
The things I and other posters have mentioned, they should help him gradually get back to normal. But stress, he'll have to deal with that too, whether he admits to having it or not. Every day he has got to get regular exercise, and it's got to be rhythmic and demanding. Also, a couple times a week, he should be walking with you, side by side, and for some reason men are better able to tell their truths if you are not facing them. My husband and I straightened out a lot of worries and concerns about work and other major decisions when we took our dogs for walks in the park. Great exercise, very relaxing, good for talking out problems that build up at work.
Oh, and the probiotics is a real good idea, the Activia that another poster brought up. He should definitely do that, irregardless of the milk product thing. Even if he does nothing at all that has been suggested by anyone or by me, that stuff will work wonders. See, he might have gotten an imbalance somehow in his guts, and that Activia yogurt will help restore balance. He needs to eat it for two weeks.
One more thing, anytime I eat cornbread, which my husband loves, I get constipated. Dreadful thing. Also, anytime I take antibiotics, I get constipated, and THAT type is really frightening. So, if he's done either of those two things or anything like it recently, that might be the cause. Look, people get clogged up all the time, and it's absolutely unnerving, and I think with all these suggestions here, particularly the probiotics and the Baby Lax and copious water, your husband ought to be up and running pretty soon.
And I might add that if he can take a long weekend this coming weekend, even tho he's just had a vacation, he really ought to do that. His excuse is he went to the hospital twice this weekend with gastrointestinal problems, he needs to attend to getting medical attention again next weekend. See, if he knows to himself that he's going to get a free pass in just three or four days (depending if he takes Thurs-Fri off or Fri-Mon off), well, that might help just a little with any stress he may have at work, that he's not really telling you about, so suggest it to him, and let him do what he wants with that idea.
Two other less likely things that may have caused this is vitamins can sometimes do this, especially if it has too much iron in it; and the other is he may have some intestinal bacteria or virus, but the bloodwork they did should have shown that, but keep it in mind if he goes downhill and gets pale, or starts vomiting and moans in pain, or gets feverish and chills.
Keep us posted. As you can see, lots of people can identify with your husband's health problems. We all want to help as much as we can. And we also want to know what things seemed to do the trick
GG
The best thing in the whole wide world to jump-start your husband and end the constipation is two routes. The easy one is for your husband to drink plenty of water all day, eat spagetti and a salad for dinner, and drink a half cup of coffee before he normally goes. And he's got to put plain KY jelly on the area, to make passage of waste easier.
If the stuff doesn't come out, the second way that REALLY works is, your husband should put that jelly on a damp tissue, and feel if there is hardened waste bulging where it's supposed comes out. If so, then get thee to a pharmacy and buy "Baby Lax," which is a little box of ointment tubes, squeeze two in there, and the waste will come out forthwith. Again, this is just to get him going. Sometimes he may have to repeat this when he feels the urge to go again, until it all clears up. That stuff works wonders. But after that procedure seems to have worked, he needs to put some KY jelly on there for a few days, to keep the waste moving smoothly, becuz what comes out from the Baby Lax will be hard and might have hurt him a little.
Thereafter, you can do any of the above poster's suggestions to keep him "regular." Plus keep him going with PLENTY of water. Me, I have to eat 100 percent whole wheat bread sandwiches with lots of lettuce, Cheerios and a little juice, coffee, and plenty of water EVERY DAY. That is how I combat constipation as an older person. So, he will need to figure out what foods do keep him regular and stick to it daily from now on, or at least a month, depending on if it recurs.
One more thing, you said this started on Wednesday. If he's like most people, he works like the devil up until Thanksgiving vacation. So, stress may actually be a very real factor for him getting all constipated in the first place. I know he is scared of his digestion situation, I've been scared by constipation too, but all this hospital stuff has got to stop, because that's stressing him even worse, and it's not helping. He needs to take this thing into his own hands, know that there is a whole country dealing with what he is, and do some of the stuff folks here and myself are suggesting, and he'll get better all by himself.
The things I and other posters have mentioned, they should help him gradually get back to normal. But stress, he'll have to deal with that too, whether he admits to having it or not. Every day he has got to get regular exercise, and it's got to be rhythmic and demanding. Also, a couple times a week, he should be walking with you, side by side, and for some reason men are better able to tell their truths if you are not facing them. My husband and I straightened out a lot of worries and concerns about work and other major decisions when we took our dogs for walks in the park. Great exercise, very relaxing, good for talking out problems that build up at work.
Oh, and the probiotics is a real good idea, the Activia that another poster brought up. He should definitely do that, irregardless of the milk product thing. Even if he does nothing at all that has been suggested by anyone or by me, that stuff will work wonders. See, he might have gotten an imbalance somehow in his guts, and that Activia yogurt will help restore balance. He needs to eat it for two weeks.
One more thing, anytime I eat cornbread, which my husband loves, I get constipated. Dreadful thing. Also, anytime I take antibiotics, I get constipated, and THAT type is really frightening. So, if he's done either of those two things or anything like it recently, that might be the cause. Look, people get clogged up all the time, and it's absolutely unnerving, and I think with all these suggestions here, particularly the probiotics and the Baby Lax and copious water, your husband ought to be up and running pretty soon.
And I might add that if he can take a long weekend this coming weekend, even tho he's just had a vacation, he really ought to do that. His excuse is he went to the hospital twice this weekend with gastrointestinal problems, he needs to attend to getting medical attention again next weekend. See, if he knows to himself that he's going to get a free pass in just three or four days (depending if he takes Thurs-Fri off or Fri-Mon off), well, that might help just a little with any stress he may have at work, that he's not really telling you about, so suggest it to him, and let him do what he wants with that idea.
Two other less likely things that may have caused this is vitamins can sometimes do this, especially if it has too much iron in it; and the other is he may have some intestinal bacteria or virus, but the bloodwork they did should have shown that, but keep it in mind if he goes downhill and gets pale, or starts vomiting and moans in pain, or gets feverish and chills.
Keep us posted. As you can see, lots of people can identify with your husband's health problems. We all want to help as much as we can. And we also want to know what things seemed to do the trick
GG
Thank you to both of you. I did buy prune juice for him and I've also been adding the tasteless fiber to his meals and drinks, as well as having him eat Activia. We'll see how that works out, and if nothing is better by Monday, then I'm going to have him call the specialist that worked on him a few years ago. But since you said to avoid dairy, I'm hoping the Activia won't effect him negatively. Thanks again!
My inclination would be to try and solve this problem without entering the scenario whereby one becomes dependent on chemical laxatives. In some cases, if these medications eventually fail to eliminate constipation then surgery can be the treatment of last resort.
Try a very high fibre diet to include:-
- fresh vegetables pulverised (i.e. as a "smoothie") to which organic bran has been added
- fresh fruit pulversied inb the same way + organic bran
- only wholemeal bread
- as a cereal homemade muesli (oats + bran soaked in milk to which grated fruit/nuts has been added)
- no junk food/cola/white bread
- ~ 2 litres of water throughout the day
- beans and sweetcorn (whether as pulverised or as lightly steamed fresh vegetables) are very high in fibre.
- prunes contain anthrone naturally and this is a laxative (I think it is included in the laxative Senokot) but probably better to ingest it via its natural form.
Hope this helps.
Good luck
Morecambe
try glycerian supositorys they are harmless if they are not effective they should pull the stoll down towars the anus. they are safe, even babies can use them so why not give it a try? I am assuming hes drinking fluids juices, will he eats prunes, or a good hanfull of rasins, stay away from bananas, rice applesauce, toast, white flour, all binding products.Id avoid dairy too just for a bit since his case seems severe, If his bowels dont move soon get another opinion about the impactation,that can be very serious.
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