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Grunt, groan, push-----how do you cope with constipation??
I need some help! I have had constipation in the past but not like this. Usually just very hard bm's. I was not able to produce any waste for 6 days. I wasn't uncomfortable but I was getting concerned. I upped my already high fiber (I am a vegetarian) diet by including 2 bowls of Frosted Mini Wheats along with my many servings of fruits and veg/day and I also started to drink 8oz of prune juice-which surprisingly isn't terrible. I drink a lot of water anyway, but drank more. I have finally started to go but not very much at all and I have the worst gas ever (which means at least things are moving in there). What do you do to cope with this narcotic-induced problem?
Hello i have been reading all of these posts and im ckncerned my self the thins with tmi's and stuff i have been in the hospitol before for a week straight having and enema going through me I hay four gallons of it. Being strapped to a bed not knowkng when u will go. I hadnt gone for three MONTHS the doctor told me if i hadnt came in the time i did two weeks later i would have died. I lost 25 lbs that week and i gt scared ive had this problem my whole life and it comes back soo often and i get scared. Its back again and i havent kn about six days as well. I dont want it to get worse so i drink more water i stopped soda i have started taking stool softeners 3 a night but i feel weird but im afraid to let it go because i knlw the pain that will come.
I LOVE the Three Stooges visual. LOL That would be a great episode.
I fogot to mention that my doctor also said fish oil helps with keeping things moving as well. I am taking that, too. Although I am NOT taking spoonfuls of Cod Liver Oil, just caplets. I'd rather get "extracted" by the Three Stooges!
I fogot to mention that my doctor also said fish oil helps with keeping things moving as well. I am taking that, too. Although I am NOT taking spoonfuls of Cod Liver Oil, just caplets. I'd rather get "extracted" by the Three Stooges!
I asked the pharmacist for help once when it had been 8 days of nothing. I know the pregnant feeling well. He told me it was safe to take a capful of miralax every 30 min until something happened. He said not everyday but when it's been 8 days it's time to take serious action!
You can actually take 2 full capfuls of Miralax a day until you go if you have to. Trouble is, when you're as bad off as the OP was, it just doesn't work fast enough.
I'm glad you're feeling better. I don't think anyone that has ever experienced this has any clue what it's like. They think it's normal constipation. I still laugh (bad, I know) when my BF got like that. He didn't believe me it was from the percocet. So, it happened again. Now he takes 3 stool softeners every night. But the first time I brought him all this stuff to help him feel better. I bought everything since I didn't know what would work for him. I think I bought the Miralax, stool softeners, suppositories, prune juice, and the Fleet enema 2 pack just in case (and he told me he'd let his colon perforate and go to the ER before doing that!) But he was so freakin' impatient. Couldn't grasp you had to give the stuff time to work. So he overdid it with EVERYTHING I bought. Work for him the next day was not fun. (He's a mailman :)
I'm glad you're feeling better. I don't think anyone that has ever experienced this has any clue what it's like. They think it's normal constipation. I still laugh (bad, I know) when my BF got like that. He didn't believe me it was from the percocet. So, it happened again. Now he takes 3 stool softeners every night. But the first time I brought him all this stuff to help him feel better. I bought everything since I didn't know what would work for him. I think I bought the Miralax, stool softeners, suppositories, prune juice, and the Fleet enema 2 pack just in case (and he told me he'd let his colon perforate and go to the ER before doing that!) But he was so freakin' impatient. Couldn't grasp you had to give the stuff time to work. So he overdid it with EVERYTHING I bought. Work for him the next day was not fun. (He's a mailman :)
1 ANSWER MIRALAX..WOKES TAKE 1 DOSE ADAY TILL U GO..THEN TAKE A DOSE EVERYDAY TO KEEP U GOING..THEN DRINK UP TO 2 LITTERS OF H20...
I'm not sure if it's the same form of magnesium (or if there are even more than one type) that you've been given, but I do use the Phillips Cramp Free Caplets - they are also magnesium something or other (I don't have a bottle handy right now to look at the exact name of the active ingredient), but they do help me - and without all the cramping and nausea that I used to get when I would try using stimulant laxatives. Of course, also, though, they do not work as quickly as a stimulant laxative, so you have to be a bit patient with them, but if I take them before bed (which is how they recommend doing it), I can pretty much be guaranteed of a pretty normal morning movement. It's also nice knowing that they DON'T work like the stimulant laxatives because you CAN take them any time during the day and not have to worry about sticking close to a bathroom after you've taken them. I agree totally about the caplets being a very good form - I've tried the MOM liquid before and could barely manage to get it down and keep it down - MUCH easier just taking a few caplets!
I also wanted to let you know that I STILL get a chuckle every time I picture your "invention", however, now, instead of me just picturing someone straddling the toilet with a plunger stuck to their butt, I picture a scene similar to an old Three Stooges movie/short. Of course, there wasn't one made depicting this particular "activity", but I can very easily picture Moe being the one straddling the toilet (or in some other similar position) and Larry and Curly both "being at the ready" at the other end of the plunger, so that when Moe yells "GO!", they start "plunging and extracting"!! I don't know, maybe I just watched too many old Three Stooges reruns last weekend! LOL
Anyway - I love the prototype idea and BTW, I have a good friend that used to work at the Patent Office, so he could probably help you get a patent on the thing!!
I also wanted to let you know that I STILL get a chuckle every time I picture your "invention", however, now, instead of me just picturing someone straddling the toilet with a plunger stuck to their butt, I picture a scene similar to an old Three Stooges movie/short. Of course, there wasn't one made depicting this particular "activity", but I can very easily picture Moe being the one straddling the toilet (or in some other similar position) and Larry and Curly both "being at the ready" at the other end of the plunger, so that when Moe yells "GO!", they start "plunging and extracting"!! I don't know, maybe I just watched too many old Three Stooges reruns last weekend! LOL
Anyway - I love the prototype idea and BTW, I have a good friend that used to work at the Patent Office, so he could probably help you get a patent on the thing!!
Jaybay, I will wait to post the drawings for the prototype until sometime when we are all having a group flare-up. That way it will cheer everyone up. (Hey everyone, check out my new invention! LOL)
I wanted to share with everyone that part of the reason the doctor prescribed the magnesium is that it helps combat the constipation caused by oxycodone (and pregnancy). I guess it makes sense and I just now made the connection to "milk of magnesia". I have the kind in caplet form, so it's good if someone has trouble with the liquid.
I wanted to share with everyone that part of the reason the doctor prescribed the magnesium is that it helps combat the constipation caused by oxycodone (and pregnancy). I guess it makes sense and I just now made the connection to "milk of magnesia". I have the kind in caplet form, so it's good if someone has trouble with the liquid.
I'm REALLY glad that things have "started to move" :). There's NOTHING worse than when it won't BUDGE no matter what!!
I hope that this won't back up on you again for a VERY long time. I'm like you, USUALLY only very hard BM's. But when it DOES back up the pain is terrible and the pressure is unbearable at times.
With luck you can go back to NORMALCY!! I'm very glad for your Good News.....Sherry
I hope that this won't back up on you again for a VERY long time. I'm like you, USUALLY only very hard BM's. But when it DOES back up the pain is terrible and the pressure is unbearable at times.
With luck you can go back to NORMALCY!! I'm very glad for your Good News.....Sherry
Thanks everyone :) I finally got things moving. I was so backed! I ended up taking Miralax AND doing another (cry) Fleet. I started passing mad gas, and burps that should not be legal they stunk so bad. I have gone to the bathroom at least 8 times today and every time I've evacuate more and more. I feel better, for sure. My stomach is crampy but I am just thrilled to be moving things along. I was so bloated, I looked 7 months pregnant. I am hoping everything will be out soon. I gained a good 5 pounds or crap, I've lost 3 or 4. It's amazing how much better I feel already. Yikes!
Sometimes even the fleet enema doesn't help much when you're really backed up and you may need more than one. There's also a bottle of stuff you can buy over the counter. The BF got it because no way was he doing the enema! It's the stuff they use to clean you out when you are doing a prep for a colonoscopy. It works. But you need to stay very hydrated while you're drinking it. Good luck.
Honey I know exactly what you are going through .Last week I was constipated for 6 days .I take a stool softener daily but I was still clogged up .I finally used a suppository and it worked like a charm .It was biscodyl and I had some bad cramps but I soon started to go .Also like Jaybay I must have reading material . Sometimes I feel like I should move the recliner and Tv in there and just set up shop .LOL! I hope things get moving for you soon .You may want to try the suppository .
Take care
Melissa
Take care
Melissa
I'm glad this thread has been so helpful and funny! I am STILL having a hard time. Dammit. I used Fleet yesterday and had very little success. Not nearly enough for 3 days of not going and when I have gone it has been very little maybe every 3 days. I feel very bloated and things are all pushed up. I look freaking pregnant. I may have to go ahead and use something stronger. I can't stand having so much bloat. This is driving me nuts!
LOL! Jaded, you really need to draw out the plans for the Extractor and post them on your profile. Just make sure you file the patent first! :-D
Reading material has always been an absolute MUST-HAVE in my house. My mother raised us that way - probably because the only time she had to read WAS in the bathroom. We grew up in a household of 6 people with one bathroom, so you learned pretty quickly to take charge of your own reading material to speed up the process. We also learned that when Mom headed to the bathroom with her book, there would be swift and terrible retribution for interruptions. LOL!
The practice carried over into my adult life and I keep magazines and other periodicals in the bathrooms. There is just no success without something to read - even the back of the Kleenex box if that's all that's available. My DH thought I was nuts at first, but it didn't take him long to appreciate it. :-D
Reading material has always been an absolute MUST-HAVE in my house. My mother raised us that way - probably because the only time she had to read WAS in the bathroom. We grew up in a household of 6 people with one bathroom, so you learned pretty quickly to take charge of your own reading material to speed up the process. We also learned that when Mom headed to the bathroom with her book, there would be swift and terrible retribution for interruptions. LOL!
The practice carried over into my adult life and I keep magazines and other periodicals in the bathrooms. There is just no success without something to read - even the back of the Kleenex box if that's all that's available. My DH thought I was nuts at first, but it didn't take him long to appreciate it. :-D
Well I've had many, many minutes to think about the "bowel extractor" and have formed a prototype in my head. It would be a lot like a medicine plunger. The suction part is absolutely crucial, so it would probably have an outside ring like a toilet plunger. Then all you have to do is pull and "extract", lol.
The bizarre fantasies we have when we're sitting in a little room with nothing to read.
The bizarre fantasies we have when we're sitting in a little room with nothing to read.
I have the opposite effect from the dilaudid vs my "normal" lorcet plus - the dilaudid definitely "plugs" me up a lot more - I noticed it after just one or two doses. I do sometimes have a problem even with the lorcet, but it's definitely more pronounced with the dilaudid - but I'm with you about the pain and the dilaudid - I wouldn't mind teh constipation so much if it helped more with the pain.
BTW the picture that popped into my head when you mentioned "bowel extractor" was someone straddling the toilet with a mini toilet plunger attached to their butt! I know, for most people, not a very attractive or funny picture, but it did make me chuckle, which is something I haven't done much of (if any) in the past few days due to increased pain after my cortisone injection - so I defintely thank you for that little outlet!! :)
BTW the picture that popped into my head when you mentioned "bowel extractor" was someone straddling the toilet with a mini toilet plunger attached to their butt! I know, for most people, not a very attractive or funny picture, but it did make me chuckle, which is something I haven't done much of (if any) in the past few days due to increased pain after my cortisone injection - so I defintely thank you for that little outlet!! :)
I thought I should mention that since I've been switched from oxycodone to dilaudid things have been more than regular. More the opposite of constipated. The rolling stomach cramps and running to the bathroom are something I haven't dealt with in a long time.
I don't know if it's a regular thing with the medication or because of the serious reduction in pain relief, some sort of very minor withdrawl.
The pain is the bigger problem, and it's better than feeling like I need a bowel extractor, so it's not something I've even thought to bring up.. but since we're on the topic..
I don't know if it's a regular thing with the medication or because of the serious reduction in pain relief, some sort of very minor withdrawl.
The pain is the bigger problem, and it's better than feeling like I need a bowel extractor, so it's not something I've even thought to bring up.. but since we're on the topic..
Well, the BF isn't that shy. Last week he had his physical. First one in 10 years. I always have to go into the room with him for appointments, but I figured I'd wait outside. Nope, "Mary, come with me." So, there I sat, making small talk while he had his physical, including the prostate exam. NOTHING is sacred.
ROFL! You're killing me mellie! I'll take it one step farther. "A little constipated" is right up there with being "a little pregnant." :-O
You must have the only BF in the world who is embarrassed about bodily functions. I don't think I've ever come across a person of the male persuasion who didn't think farts are the funniest things in life, and as for the rest of it... well, you get the general idea. Thanks to my father, I think all of us kids spoke the same first words: pull my finger.
By the way, DH reports that he is just fine and dandy today. (No I didn't ask!) The brat.
You must have the only BF in the world who is embarrassed about bodily functions. I don't think I've ever come across a person of the male persuasion who didn't think farts are the funniest things in life, and as for the rest of it... well, you get the general idea. Thanks to my father, I think all of us kids spoke the same first words: pull my finger.
By the way, DH reports that he is just fine and dandy today. (No I didn't ask!) The brat.
All I know, no matter how bad the cure, it's not anywhere near as bad as feeling like your rectum and intestines are filled with concrete. I was told being on narcotics, "might make you a little constipated." Right. I was regular my whole life, down to the minute. All of a sudden I got hit with this. Getting backed up by narcotics and calling it constipation is like having a migraine and calling it a headache. Two totally different things IMO.
I very rarely get caught. But the BF? What a slow learner. No one told him and of course he was embarrassed telling me. But after having 4 kids, I have no shame and nothing really embarrasses me. So I get him all the stuff and he finally is feeling better. THink he learned? Nope. It's happened about 2 or 3 more times.
I very rarely get caught. But the BF? What a slow learner. No one told him and of course he was embarrassed telling me. But after having 4 kids, I have no shame and nothing really embarrasses me. So I get him all the stuff and he finally is feeling better. THink he learned? Nope. It's happened about 2 or 3 more times.
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