I've won, but at what cost (semi joke)

CatsWithHandsAreTrouble

So I was right on the donepezil was causing mom chronic diarrhea. Pretty much as soon as she stopped taking it, her bowel movement became regular. But then this past Friday was the last time we saw any bowel movement. 

Monday I mixed some prune juice with her regular juice and tried to give her more fibrous foods and let her drink whatever she wanted. I told my sisters about it. Still no bowel movement. Well today I mixed more prune juice with her regular juice. Still no bowel movement, kinda.

She's been on the toilet for about half an hour now. I'm very concerned about her straining and sitting on the toilet for too long, among other things. I gave her straight prune juice, water, and a stool to prop up her feet (she thought it was a baby when I did that). I keep telling her that I can try and get it out for her, that we can go walk around and try again later. She says no and that she wants to stay right there.

So basically this is just a vent, semi joking about the situation, not really able to do much beyond that. She's a trooper about this though, grumbling in between joking herself.

CatsWithHandsAreTrouble

Just some clarification, we stopped the donepezil about three weeks ago.

Mom's finally off the toilet and it was full but she's still backed up. We're going to walk around outside and see if that'll help loosen her up.

Jo C.

You may want to ask your mother's physician about using the OTC Miralax; that is what was prescribed for my LO.  It pulls water into the stool to soften it and have it pass. It takes one to three days to have results, but they were easy and good results and no cramping.

There is information about it on Google and the physician can approve or decide to have something else used.

J.

Iris L.

Or ask about docusate, generic for Colace, a stool softener, not a laxative.

An adult glycerin suppository can be inserted into the anal area to promote an evacuation within a few minutes if there is a small impaction.  Ask the doctor about this.

Iris

CatsWithHandsAreTrouble

Thank you Iris but we're most likely not going to do a suppository again since the ordeal we went through back in April. Mom got no sleep for over a week with the suppository we used and dad's not letting us ever use one again.

CatsWithHandsAreTrouble

Thank you Jo. We have some type of otc miralax in our cupboard. The problem with that was mom couldn't drink it within the time frame it says to do so. We're still struggling to get fluids in her but thankfully she is eating better now so I suppose we have to give her her fluid intake via eating.

mommyandme (m&m)

We use generic Mirilax daily, it’s a regular part of our routine.  I put it in her dinner drink. She’s got no idea.

Olly_Bake

Right there with you. Dad was about to be four days in without a BM so we went hard to get one yesterday. We have tried prune juice off and on and it does not work for him. I pulled out a stimulant laxative (rarely used now). Purchased at wal**** a while back (reminds me of exlax on the inside and easy to cut in half). He took one around nine yesterday morning. Then I fixed the first dose of Miralax and tried to make sure he had it down by 11. Then around noon I fixed another dose of Miralax and tried to make sure it was finished by two. By six o’clock, he was good to go according to the aide and sister.

Hospice, regular home health, and his primary said if needed, it was okay to do a laxative (half only) and Miralax on a daily basis. One to soften and then a laxative to help with muscle force where he may no longer be able to do so. Most weeks we can get away with just the softener,

Dad didn’t handle an enema well last year when administered by home health. I cannot answer why but don’t want him or I to ever go through that again.

Think this is an interesting read if the link works.

https://medicine.umich.edu/sites/default/files/content/downloads/bowel-function.pdf