No poop for 4 days...wth?

[CaptainMurphy]

I've always had problems with bowel issues. Sometime I'll go for months with what I call "voluntary diarrhea." I'll feel the need, leisurely  stroll to the commode and void 70% liquid. Sometimes I'll be constipated for months and it will take 2, 3, 4, maybe 5 days until I have a BM. I've gone for 7 days before... SEVEN DAYS with no pooping. That was almost 10 years ago though, but I still can't "go" more than once every 2-3 days.


Recently I've added fiber to my diet, a magnesium complex 2 pills 2x/day = morning and night, and I'm drinking water and diluted tea all day long and peeing very often. Within a week now I've gained a dress size and I know it is  physically and feasibly impossible to gain fat pounds that fast (4-5 days and a whole dress size bigger? Common!) It's all the fecal matter packing up inside me. I'm afraid that my intestinal muscles have grown weak as I cannot physically strain anymore.

I'm terrified of what may happen if I don't void soon! I feel sick, headache, nausea, cramps, MAJOR bloating, and body aches.

PLEASE PLEASE HELP!
How an I make myself go??

(yesterday I ingested 35ish grams of fiber throughout the day, a heaping doase of miralax, 2 magnesium complex pills, plus the two I took this morning and just now at 10:30 at night.!!!!!)

[aggypantha]

3 days now help what if i get an obstruction??

[FurballsMom]

My naturopath had me start taking Oregon Grape.  The instructions say to take one with each meal.  This works more as a stool softener.  Then, when I need more laxative action, due to IBS-C, I simply take Cascara Sagrada--again according to directions.  How much magnesium citrate are you taking?  Again, you may need to take more than the 500 mg that the bottle says.  My neurologist wants me to take between 400 and 800 mg, because it's also helpful for migraines.  My naturopath says I can take as much as 1,000 mg.  The magnesium citrate that I take comes in 250 mg doses.  Taking 1,000 mg was too much for me, since this caused diarrhea, which we all know is much worse than the constipation is for the reasons already stated.  So, I've stayed at 750 mg and will 'til I figure out the right amount to take when I add calcium back in.  

The trick with the calcium is two-fold.  My neurologist told me to take the magnesium separately from the calcium and at different times.  Both minerals should be taken with food.  Vitamin D is necessary for the whole mix to work.  The other thing about calcium supplementation is that calcium causes constipation.  So do iron supplements.  So, getting the right balance can be tricky.  

Anyway, you can take more than 500 mg of magnesium citrate.  Citrate or malate forms of magnesium and calcium are the healthiest forms of both minerals.

Hope this helps someone here.  I'm still working on this right balance myself.  It's a little different for each one of us individually.

[cortex_toom]

it could be ibs, i went for 3 months without pooping and was still healthy as i was never before...however i didn't eat because my mind tells me i will explode..., i lost weight obviously, and i was in pain. constipation makes you gain weight but if you don't eat that's natural that you will loose weight, but also you won't have more poop sitting on your colon and making your abdomin hurt, so it's obvious if you are not pooping just stop eating and try some over the counter stool softeners first, if they don't work try laxatives, mild laxatives if not , i would do an enema.... any of these should work, if not then there must be a blockage.....and these require abdominal x-rays..., if your tummy hurt, i would try to go to the loo and see if i can go, for me it happens after sometimes, because in ibs getting a bm is not easy...the feeling might go away if you don't have a nearest bathroom and for those with diharrea they would have a bad accident in that case...! but intestinal blockage is a serious matter and requires hospitalization, did you have a colonoscopy to rule out malignancy and colitis, guessing you are male you don't need smear , or cA125 blood test with ultrasound , but an abdominal ultrasound is a must to determine if you have intestinal blockage or not! i was an inpatient when i had it, so i spent all day doing abdominal ultrasound but were all normal; that's how then you are diagnosed as ibs, if both colonoscopy and abdominal ultrasound/ct are normal....if it's a severe case of ibs the doctor must decied which best laxative is good for you...good luck and write back and let us know what happened!

[CaptainMurphy]

I've been taking magnesium pills all week and nothing has come out. I'm eating high fiber foods and drinking lots of water. Fecal matter actually can pack up inside you, look up MegaColon on wikipedia or a medical dictionary.

What works for one person does not mean it will work for all. I do not smoke, consume alcohol, excessive cheese or milk products, or excessive breads. I've been eating fibrous vegetables and fruits, granola, high fiber soups, lots of water and weak tea, and magnesium complex pills (4 a day since monday April 27th) and still nothing but gas and mucus have come out. Gas and the natural mucus in the colon can pass through cracks and crevasses in the hard dry fecal matter.

My problem is this: my abdomen feels tight, my intestines hurt, my tummy is distended, and I'm starting to feel sick (presumably from having fecal matter sit and rott for so long without passing)

Anyone have input on this? Should I go to the Dr and get it taken care of? Are there other things I can try short of dynamite?

[dkknight593]

Fecal matter does not pack up inside you like they say.  It could just be abdominal distension or water weight.

You should eat a well balanced diet.  What were you eating before?  Do you consume alcohol?

The only time I didn't poop for 7 days I was on a 7 day fast.  Drinking only water.  Bowel movements start right up after you start eating.  By then the stool is reduced in size and kinda like rabit poop and inert.  Point is having poop in doesn't lend necessarily to toxins.  It's the food.

Liquid stool not good.  You lose fluids and electrolytes.

You could try probiotics.  I herd they may help soften stool and stimulate peristalsis.