Thick, dry and painful stool.

[RobertEric]

I'm new here and I wasn't sure where to post this.  I just started a diet and quit drinking recently and ever since my stool is very dry and thick and painful to pass.  There is also blood but I don't know if it is from the distention of the anus, the stool tearing the intestinal wall or what.  I haven't gone to my doctor yet because I wanted to find out if this something that'll pass or I can change myself.  And thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

[RobertEric]

Thanks for your reply, I will definitely try all of that.  I was also told to try magnesium citrate from a friend.  From what I could find, it draws water into the bowels and pretty much forces a movement.  I will respond when I give all of this a try.

[ggreg]

Dear Rob,
Hopefully you're just a little constipated.  When a person is constipated, their stool dries out and gets stuck.  There are two things you can do to correct the problem, very easy solutions.  If these ideas don't work after a week, then see your doctor.

First, of course you need to get your bowels moving regularly and smoothly again.  Simply eating Cheerios every morning (oat bran) and drinking extra water during the daytime will do this.  You can add more fiber foods gradually, whatever you like that fits in your diet.  Salads, a couple prunes on top of your cereal, wheat toast are a few examples.  Also, in addition to adding water, you should exercise daily, even 15 minutes helps a lot, keeps the bowels more regular.

Second, you also need to pass stool without straining.  To get there right away, my doctor told me one time when I got stuck from some medications I was taking, to go to the drugstore and buy a couple boxes of "Baby Lax."  It's a little box of several tubes of ointment.  When you feel the URGE to go next time, squirt two of those tubes in there, and within minutes, you will pass stool without much pain, it will just slide out.  It might be big, and there might be a lot, so you may have to repeat if you feel the urge to go again and it won't come out.  Just keep it on hand next time you strain.

The blood is hopefully coming from the hard stool tearing into hemorrhoids (swollen veins from straining) or just tearing into the lining of the bowel because your movement is so dry.  So, I think if you pay attention to keeping fiber up, keeping water intake up, exercise up, and use the baby lax when you have trouble passing your stool, within just a few days, you'll be back to normal.  If a week goes by and you're still in trouble, then you can go to your doctor for more advice.