severe constipation due to pain medication

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  • Pawsforme
    Pawsforme Posts: 645 Member
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    Miralax

    A magnesium supplement taken at night. Any type, but inexpensive magnesium oxide works well for this purpose. Too much can cause diarrhea, so you want to start out at the recommended dose and increase as necessary. When you get to the point of too loose stools you can back off the dosage a bit.

    A hot cup of coffee in the morning
  • Torontonius
    Torontonius Posts: 245 Member
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    Magnesium Citrate is what you need. Start with 600 mg daily, if you don't get a reaction in a few days, up the dosage by 150 mg.

    My wife has had constipation issues for years. Started her on Magnesium Citrate 2 weeks ago, she now goes every day.
  • azulvioleta6
    azulvioleta6 Posts: 4,195 Member
    edited August 2015
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    flippy1234 wrote: »
    You NEED to take a stool softener. I had this issue with a surgery. My Dr. said a softener is a must.

    Yes.

    The thing that is usually recommended is Colace, aka docusate sodium. It's available OTC. It works, but won't do anything drastic.

    If you continue to have problems, you should be in touch with your doctor.
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    Magnesium Citrate is what you need. Start with 600 mg daily, if you don't get a reaction in a few days, up the dosage by 150 mg.

    My wife has had constipation issues for years. Started her on Magnesium Citrate 2 weeks ago, she now goes every day.

    That's me too!! This stuff is great!!

    http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=natural+calm&tag=googhydr-20&index=hpc&hvadid=47629800339&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2698807367350961069&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_72oqo3m9p9_e
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,988 Member
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    lalainap19 wrote: »
    mhooge wrote: »
    I have problems with that too. You drinking enough water? Im eating All Bran Buds with my breakfast. 70 calories for 1/3 cup. Not bad in calories but very high in fibre. But make sure you drink your water.
    I have been falling shy of my water intake thanks for bringing that to my attention.

    Since you're not drinking enough, do start with this before adding anything else. Not only might this be enough to take care of the problem, it's not good to add fiber without enough water.
  • Versacam
    Versacam Posts: 109 Member
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    I second Magnesium CITRATE < has to be the Citrate.

    Also, water, lots of water.

    Don't do what I did and ignore it, I ended up with an inside tear that took 2 years to heal :(

    Also, not sure about anyone else, but too much fiber can bung me up something chronic.. so be careful of taking to many fiber items.
  • Pawsforme
    Pawsforme Posts: 645 Member
    edited August 2015
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    Versacam wrote: »
    I second Magnesium CITRATE < has to be the Citrate.

    Also, water, lots of water.

    Don't do what I did and ignore it, I ended up with an inside tear that took 2 years to heal :(

    Also, not sure about anyone else, but too much fiber can bung me up something chronic.. so be careful of taking to many fiber items.

    Respectfully . . No, it doesn't have to be magnesium citrate. Magnesium citrate is widely believed to be the most (or maybe one of the most) absorbable forms of magnesium. Which is great if your goal is to absorb it. But that's not always the best for the laxative effect. I heard a local holistic doctor speak at length on the subject of using magnesium for constipation, and she recommended magnesium oxide. She said any form will work if you take enough. But her opinion was that for laxative purposes magnesium oxide is inexpensive and works great.

  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
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    Pawsforme wrote: »
    Versacam wrote: »
    I second Magnesium CITRATE < has to be the Citrate.

    Also, water, lots of water.

    Don't do what I did and ignore it, I ended up with an inside tear that took 2 years to heal :(

    Also, not sure about anyone else, but too much fiber can bung me up something chronic.. so be careful of taking to many fiber items.

    Respectfully . . No, it doesn't have to be magnesium citrate. Magnesium citrate is widely believed to be the most (or maybe one of the most) absorbable forms of magnesium. Which is great if your goal is to absorb it. But that's not always the best for the laxative effect. I heard a local holistic doctor speak at length on the subject of using magnesium for constipation, and she recommended magnesium oxide. She said any form will work if you take enough. But her opinion was that for laxative purposes magnesium oxide is inexpensive and works great.

    True, I just take a magnesium supplement along with my other ones and that definitely helps.
  • becalee26
    becalee26 Posts: 185 Member
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    Fiber one honey clusters have 10 grams of fiber. I have had constipation issues for years and refuse to take anything for it because I feel like that has worse consequences down the road.
  • MikeLeTwigg
    MikeLeTwigg Posts: 162 Member
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    Prune juice. I was on some serious pain meds last year that completely bunged me up. Nursing staff got me drinking prune juice and viola movement
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
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    becalee26 wrote: »
    Fiber one honey clusters have 10 grams of fiber. I have had constipation issues for years and refuse to take anything for it because I feel like that has worse consequences down the road.

    That's not very much fiber, overall, for the day. And when you add fiber to your diet to help with constipation, you need to add plenty of water as well, or you can worsen the problem.