laxative dependency

I am a 65 yr old female.  I have suffered from constipation most of my life and getting older I guess it is getting worse.  I recently had rectocele repair which was successful and without much pain.   When I first got the rectocele two doctors told me to take laxatives everyday to keep it from getting worse.  So I did take the laxatives for 2 years.  I'm very glad I had the rectocele repair but now I would like to gradually get off the laxatives.   I realize I will have to take them some but is it possible?   I admit my diet has been lousy and I have really paid for it but now try to do better and I am.  Rather than take the laxatives I used fleet enamas a lot but not since surgery.  I switch from one kind to another as one will stop working and only take them every other day along with stool softeners.   In my opinion I'm doing much better but what is the safest to take and is it possible to get off of them.  I take Miralax some too and drink fiber.   Milk of magnesia just doesn't seem to work for me.  I take Perdiem mostly.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  

[ggreg]

I wonder if the docs meant for you to take laxatives for the rest of your life.  Maybe next time you see your regular doc, you could either ask them or ask for a referral to a gastro doc, and see what they say.

As for switching from laxatives to some new ways of getting similar effects, cutting back very slowly is generally the way to get off any medicine.  But before you do that, let me tell you the basic threes for preventing constipation:  Exercise, fiber, and water.  I might add that if you're on any medicine for another health issue that has a tendency to give you dry mouth, you are going to have constipation almost no matter what you do.

With that said, and if you already do some of these tips, just ignore me, but exercise can be really simple, an easy walk thru the neighborhood four times a week or a short morning stretch warmup will help your bowels move more strongly.  The fiber can include not only vegies, but also oat cereal, whole wheat bread, or salad, and this must be daily.  Some people think prunes are a good idea, but I find they can be a bit much on a regular basis, but you can try them out, just one to begin with.  The water is probably the most important thing you can do to help digestion move smoothly.  See, constipation comes from, among other things, dryed-out waste that gets hard, so if you drink extra water every day, your waste will be easier to pass.  Some people say you gotta drink eight glasses a day, but that put me peeing almost every hour, so instead you can gulp down a whole glass of water each time you eat, like when you brush your teeth.  I might add that you should add these new lifestyle choices slowly.

Once you've noticed a change in how well your bowels move, then you can begin to slowly wean yourself off laxatives, very, very slowly, whilst simultaneously adding perhaps more fiber, more exercise, maybe an extra glass of water.  One easy "take-out" food is Subway sandwiches, choose oat or wheat bread, lettuce, tomato, and onions (onions and garlic are good for digestion), chew whatever meat thoroughly and drink water with the sandwich.  Don't rush around while you eat... relax.  Hope some of this helps, but do talk to your doc first about this.  You don't want to wind up in surgery again.