another new problem?

Lgw

To catch up.  My DH has vascular dementia.  In Nov. suddenly stopped walking. Then aspirational pneumonia. He has continually gotten weaker.  This was the 2nd shower by Hospice that we didn't think we would get him back into the wheelchair not to mention to the bed from the wheelchair.  Now my question is this.  He went 3 days without pooping so I gave him a pill to make him poop.  I always dread this because it usually means diarrhea and a mess to clean up.  Nothing.  Finally 2 days later a small stool.  Hospice told me to not give him another dose as this is because he eats so little.  Before the bile would just come from his liver when he didn't eat.  At lunch I gave him a sandwich and he ate one bite and said he wanted more eggs?  No eggs were mentioned.  Hospice said he may no longer be able to eat anything but soft food.  Can anyone that has been at this point tell me how long someone can go without pooping?

M1

No definite answer lgw, but in general, a LONG time.  Maybe if he will drink milkshakes, you could mix in some Miralax (generic is polyethyline glycol) powder.  Miralax is pretty gentle and works by pulling water into the stool.  But if he's not uncomfortable, I wouldn't worry too much.  Things may be gradually shutting down for him.  Hope he's comfortable and not in pain.  Hard for you though.

dhyink

Lgw,

I have no idea how long a person can go without pooping however, DH went 14 days recently without a bowel movement.  The home health care told me that this could be dangerous and he could have a blockage.  She advised me to get him to the ER if he developed a fever, began vomiting, or had severe gut pain. Fortunately, he still had gut motility sounds, so we had to manually remove some stool to get him started (TMI, I know!).    I now have to record the dates of his bowel movements, he gets generic Miralax every morning, daily Senna, prunes, and lots of fluids.   He still goes 4-5 days between BMs.