Magnesium Citrate

M5M

DH has always been rather constipated, I've been giving him a small dose of MiraLax daily and prune juice for months with fairly good success. ….but now he hasnt had a movement in 10 days. He doesn't eat muh anyway, but he does eat, I know something is there! The hospice nurse said to give him a bottle of magnesium citrate, I think she means the whole bottle! Does anyone have experience with a smaller amount? DH weighs about 135, gets little exercise, but is still walking with a walker and is continent so far…..

jgreen

Hi, @M5M I attached a link about mag citrate. While the site is commercial and has lots of ads, the information looks helpful.

https://swisspeakhealth.com/blogs/immune-balance/best-ways-to-drink-magnesium-citrate-for-constipation .

Hope everything comes out okay 🤣

M5M

jgreen, thank you for finding that information….it is more detailed and informative than what I had read. I will say for anyone who wonders, we bought the cherry flavored liquid and it was not bad at all….sort of like a tart cherry jello flavor, maybe? They also have a lemon flavored. I was thinking it would be like the colonoscopy drink you have to take but it is not .

SDianeL

I found that eating 6 prunes at night before bed (has to be 6!) and in the morning drinking a half cup of prune juice before coffee and before breakfast worked for my DH. Works for me too during chemo! Don’t ask me why. 🤔

Dusty217

10 days is way to long to go without a BM. Do the Mag citrate

JDancer

I find ducolax suppositories give fast, consistent results without causing a blow out or increasing the amount of stool. Unpleasant and difficult for spouse. I rub his back as he lays in bed to encourage him to retain the suppository long enough for good results. As a retired nurse, the insertion isn't a problem for me and it provides an opportunity to assess whether he has a blockage of hard stool

M5M

M5M

So as an update to the magnesium citrate…..DH drank it all between 4 and 5 PM, stayed up till about 10 PM, and at 5AM woke up for a fulllllll bowel movement. I had convinced him to wear a disposable paper brief and that was a good idea, since as soon as he stood up, the diaper was filling…… He had 2 or 3 more episodes that day so he was definitely cleaned out. He was thirsty that day as his water intake was all gone….We skipped a a day before resuming our other laxative items…MiraLax (increased the dosage), prune juice, stool softener…..and our nurse changed us from OTC stool softener to Senna, which helps more since he is taking hydroxycodone which is constipating in itself. This is day 4 after the magnesium and no BM yet, I expect another day or two. Will likely add actual stewed prunes at the suggestion of the nurse.