Constipation(7)

May flowers

I know this has been posted a few times here, but just want to see how you keep your LO regular. 

We just went 6 days without a BM (everything seems very slow even 3 weeks post op), after a couple days miralax, daily stool softeners, milk of magnesia and suppository last night and enema this morning, we seemed to have broken the “dam”. (Edited to add, I thought we had, not so sure now). So what meds/doses do you do daily to keep things moving. I take flaxseed daily and for me it works better than Metamucil.

Any suggestions welcome!

Iris L.

Chia seeds added to a soup or smoothie can help.  Don't let chia seeds sit, because they coagulate quickly.

Iris

towhee

Checking medications for constipating side effects, adequate fluids, foods high in fiber, and a little bit of prune juice daily. Also any physical movement that is possible helps, does not have to be walking. And frequency of bowel movements depends on the amount of food being eaten too.

Battlebuddy

I do all the things you mentioned and use a Sena pill too. I cut up prunes in the breakfast cereal . Also watermelon helps a lot too. Some say hot coffee or hot prune juice. Smoothies are good too with a lot of fruit.

​fesk

Lots of water, fruit, prune juice with colace in the morning and walking when possible throughout the day.

jfkoc

Medjool dates ( lots of health benefits) and coffee daily worked here.

May flowers

I’ve seen posts talking about half dose miralax and others talking about prune juice.

Would you do one or the other and not both? Do you do stool softeners with either one?

​fesk

I would start slowly and see what works. We are currently using a stool softener (liquid colace) mixed with prune juice. You may want to start with only prune juice and see if that resolves the issue. If not, a stool softener can be added.

mrl

My DH needed to take a stool softner every day-just the cheap Walmart brand. We only stopped if things were a little too soft. Then started back up again.

Michele

mommyandme (m&m)

We use a cap full of Mirilax every evening which worked fabulously.  Unfortunately she now doesn’t know when or how to push.  Even though she is not constipated we now go a few days without a real BM.  Then we have a day where she has a HUGE, three days worth, BM but at least it’s soft enough to come out.  We still use the Mirilax every evening.  

Hate this! 

Stuck in the middle

Four prunes at bedtime works for me.

May flowers

Mommy&me, I believe that is what is happening. Even after 6 days of not going, it was all soft. I was expecting something hard then a “dam break”, but it wasn’t, it was a ton of normal stool

He would even stand up halfway through going saying he was finished. 

I am not sure if he can’t feel it or can’t understand how to push. Kind of like walking for him right now. We tell him to move forward and he walks backwards. 

May flowers

Since my FIL can’t swallow pills, or gel caps, how do you give the stool softeners? Do any of you recommend a good liquid form?

Battlebuddy

I use Miralax powder which I put a cap full in his drinking water. I also add a propel packet for it to taste better. He seems to like the taste.

RIM

I bought a Brondell 1200 bidet toilet seat, following a poster’s recommendation.  I was surprised how effective the water spray solved the constipation, incontinent, problem.  Big chronic problem is no longer a problem.

MLS2021

I bought the same one as my mom doesn't remember how to wipe properly. So far it has helped with the UTI's.

​fesk

We use a liquid stool softener in prune juice. Docu Liquid can be purchased from Amazon. It was the brand we were receiving from the pharmacy at one point.

May flowers

Well, it’s day 7 and our hospice evaluation nurse came out and checked him during her visit. She believes he has some hard stool he cannot pass, and tomorrow they are sending nurses out to deal with it. She thinks (as I do) that possibly he has not fully evacuated since his surgery.

Iris L.

If he has a stool impaction, they can try manual removal.  But they should use a warm water enema using an old fashioned rubber enema bag.  Is the patient ambulatory?  Let the enema water lubricate the bowel for about five minutes before evacuating, if possible.  Does LO use a bedside commode?  I took two of my elderly neighbors to the ER for fecal impaction requiring enemas.

Iris

May flowers

Here is everything we tried this week since his last BM:

Miralax and 2 stool softeners daily, after 3rd day, added milk of magnesia and prune juice, after the 4th day added warm prune juice twice a day instead of cold, 5th day suppository, 6th day suppository and warm water enema. I was able to coax out a small amount but didn’t want to do too much without medical assistance. Yesterday, the Hospice evaluation nurse checked and said she felt hard stool and it was higher up.

She is sending nurses today who deal with this a lot and they will have medical grade enema and do manual extraction if needed. I dread today.

With everything I have given him, I kept waiting for the “dam to break” - hard stool followed by a LOT of loose stool. I have not felt like that has happened. It is like the enema softened only what was at the end but not further up.

Funair86

I take Smooth Move Tea.  It works.

May flowers

Thank you, I will get some smooth move and add it to our “arsenal”. The nurse came on Saturday and was able to manually get things going. He passed quite a bit after she left, but still nothing loose. I’m surprised.

Adding senekot now as well. I really feel he may be one of those who just doesn’t move his bowels. I know I cannot, even with Miralax, prunes, and stool softeners. I require a very specific IBS low FODMAP and soluble fiber only diet, plus flaxseed daily and MOM every night. Anything off that diet and my bowels shut down as if I had just had surgery. I am wondering if he is dealing with the same.

May flowers

This is an older thread but I wanted to update in case anyone else is dealing with this.

So, my FIL was not going on his own, and we were having to do an enema and manual extraction every 4 days.p and even then, he did not seem to be completely evacuating. We were giving him 4 senekot, a stool softener, miralax, prune juice and magnesium at night.

The doctor suggested a second dose of miralax during the day and that did the trick! He went a lot over the next few days.

Now all he needs is one cap of Miralax each day, and nothing else and he is regular - going twice/day. So, whatever was causing this issue seems to have resolved (at least for now)

toolbeltexpert

I have found out by accident that the  sorghum mollases I used in my Oatmeal every day caused loose movement. I searched for the reason and found  it's caused by  high fructose And cayenne pepper makes things move for me also. No puns intended