chronic constipation--please help!

Runnermadre

I have a plan for what I'll eat for the next week--same thing every single day. It isn't incredibly balanced but I think it will do the trick! It includes plum juice, kefir, blueberries, oatmeal, flaxseed, eggs, and asparagus/tomato/eggplant (depends on cost of these veggies).

Lol, if you're not going after all of that, you really should see a doctor, but my guess is you'll be spending a lot of time in the bathroom. :-)

sniven3

As a new "post-er" and a RN, I agree with the advice of seeing your MD. There are many things besides IBS that cause constipation (and frequently IBS causes diarrhea) and symptoms like you're having. Many females don't know that feeling "full" after only eating a tiny bit and bloatedness is a sign of ovarian cancer. Many doctors don't take it seriously, either. I've had friends insist on vaginal ultrasounds to rule it out. If you have a good GYN, they may be the one to start with. The MD is at least a good place to start so they can tell you it's nothing and suggest increasing your fat intake (it is necessary for proper function), or taking a stool softener daily (miralax is a good one but takes a few days to actually work and then must be taken regularly for it to work. It's not like a laxative that you take just when you need it.); evaluate the foods you're taking in (i.e. dairy as we age can be a problem); evaluate your thyroid and hormone levels, etc., rule out a bowel obstruction. There's so much to consider but a good eval is where to start! Keep us posted!

ami814

There is a good chance that you are not eating enough, or not having enough of certain things...

1) If your caloric intake is low, there is very little "waste product" in your body. So, if you are eating a low calorie (12-1500 cal) diet, you may not be "making" enough waste to produce a BM.
2) Fat is the body's natural lubricant. If you aren't eating enough healthy fats, you may not be able to facilitate a proper BM. This may be why you still feel the need to go, but are not producing a BM.

I hope this helps!

Ami

MaximalLife

So, I have been so severely backed up and I cannot make sense of it. I'm going crazy and getting depressed because of this.

Here's some background...

Stopped running 60-75 minutes daily b/c gym closed, so instead did road running for 20-35 minutes a day (too hard on my shins)

I eat enough fiber---over enough, always have

I drink at least 60-100oz of water (I'm only 4'11 and ~100 pounds)

My weight has gone up 5 pounds despite being at a deficit

When I do poop it feels incomplete

I've tried an enema and i "pooped" out the water but barely any poop.

I am strongly against laxatives but I'm desperate so I tried smooth move tea--got it today and had a cup. I'm hoping by tomorrow I'll get relief.

Does anyone have this problem? What works for you? Eating is incredibly uncomfortable in this state and my stomach is ALWAYS bloated lately. I go to sleep and in the middle of the night it's like it gets worse NOT better. I am at wit's end and soooo down about this. Please help!

OK, we're all adults here right?
ENEMA!
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again....lol

I just had a surgery that backed me up, and it was HELL!
If this won't work, see your Doc and suck it up and take the medication.

Godspeed!

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

There is a good chance that you are not eating enough, or not having enough of certain things...

1) If your caloric intake is low, there is very little "waste product" in your body. So, if you are eating a low calorie (12-1500 cal) diet, you may not be "making" enough waste to produce a BM.
2) Fat is the body's natural lubricant. If you aren't eating enough healthy fats, you may not be able to facilitate a proper BM. This may be why you still feel the need to go, but are not producing a BM.

I hope this helps!

Ami

Not eating a low calorie diet. I could use some more fat but I probably get as much as MOST people who do follow low calorie diets. I eat no less than 2000 USUALLY...lately I've been eating 1600, still not "low" by any measure.

Blackthorne99

When you are constipated, what you need is soft SOLID waste behind the blockage to push it out, not water. The water will simply flow around it and do nothing to push on the mass. The soft solid waste will add that extra leverage to push through.

Chronic constipation requires trying things for more than a day or two. This is not an instant fix, and could be due to a number of things including slow motility, encopresis, incorrect diet. It could be vitamins or supplements that you are taking (Calcium supplements do this to me, especially if I do not have enough fat in my diet. Iron supplements are another common cause)

When you *do* go, what comes out - is it just voluminous, or is it very very hard, like a rock? Do you alternate between diarrhea and constipation? When you eat something recognizable, how long does it take to pass through your system? Normal motility would be within 24 hours, probably less. If you have slow motility, you may find it takes several days to pass through.

kagenw

I wonder if you have a food allergy. Have you been eating something new on a regular schedule since before you started getting backed up? You may try a 24-hour fast to see if that helps the discomfort clear up.

Jill_newimprovedversion

I *STRONGLY* urge you to see your doctor about this- It's not anything to let go for long- Lost BOTH my parents due to bowel obstructions ( no kidding...I don't play games anymore myself)

I have a lazy colon- and I've tried just about everything everyone else has suggested....
however, I also was diagnosed with diverticulitis...and all the seeds/fiber just irritate it worse...
*IF* by chance this *could* be an issue, you will only worsen it by some of these suggestions.

Here's a suggestion- take 2-3 days and follow a colon-prep "diet" consisting of clear broths and liquids-
then, afterwards try something like Miralax ...it's gentle on your system, and nothing that will have any harmful side effects.

I wish you well........and hope things turn around for you.......
all the crud backed-up in your system really does make you feel like crap (ha-sorry for the pun)

On a side note: Believe it or not, my doctor also increased my thyroid medication- a low thyroid can affect bowel function....who knew?

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

When you are constipated, what you need is soft SOLID waste behind the blockage to push it out, not water. The water will simply flow around it and do nothing to push on the mass. The soft solid waste will add that extra leverage to push through.

Chronic constipation requires trying things for more than a day or two. This is not an instant fix, and could be due to a number of things including slow motility, encopresis, incorrect diet. It could be vitamins or supplements that you are taking (Calcium supplements do this to me, especially if I do not have enough fat in my diet. Iron supplements are another common cause)

When you *do* go, what comes out - is it just voluminous, or is it very very hard, like a rock? Do you alternate between diarrhea and constipation? When you eat something recognizable, how long does it take to pass through your system? Normal motility would be within 24 hours, probably less. If you have slow motility, you may find it takes several days to pass through.

i don't really eat anything recognizable--most of my foods are the same on a day to day basis so I wouldn't be able to time the transit so to speak. I don't take calcium supplements.

what sorts of things are "soft solids?"

When I do go it's just not a lot. It's like normal poop but 1 piece instead of all of it.

old64mb

Glad to see you're taking the advice to see your physician, since while it sounds a lot like IBS-C, when you've been ok and then suddenly develop an acute condition that's when you want to see an MD and get screened to rule other, more serious things out.

Three other points.

1. I'd advise internal/family medicine/whatever your PCP is versus OBGYN, since primary care sees a lot more of this than the typical specialist (outside of gastroenterologists, where IBS is the #1 reason they get visited, and where you'll get referred if the primary care type isn't comfortable diagnosing you.).

2. Don't change your diet or "detoxify" or take any of the other suggestions here until you do visit them. Laxatives are probably ok for now, but when you schedule the appointment ask the assistant to describe your symptoms to the doctor to make sure.

3. One thing you can do in the meantime: start looking at your food logs to see what fiber intake you have been averaging (which is available as a display option in my fitness, just not a default one.). If it does turn out to be IBS, changes in fiber level can sometimes cause an IBS flareup. You'll also want to get very familiar with the difference between insoluble and soluble fiber, the former of which will help you more than the latter if you're IBS-C. After you finish your poop talk with them (gastros quite literally have a 'poop chart'), fiber and water are usually the first two things to be discussed with a gastro if they determine it's IBS. But clear things up to make sure it's nothing more serious first.

Jellyphant

One of my friends has almost the exact sounding problem. The only thing that helps her pooping is using miralax. She can't get her body to absorb water and fiber properly, she told me.

gbtesq

I recently had the same problem for almost 2 weeks. I know how miserable that feeling is. I urge you to go see a doctor!!! It really is a dangerous situation and could actually be a medical problem.

I did see a doctor too. He actually suggested that I use Mirilax and Metamucil. I have used Mirilax consistently and I have increased my water intake. it worked like a charm - unlike all of the other laxatives, enemas, etc. did not!!!

Good luck and I hope you feel better soon.

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

Okay, so I didn't want to leave you all hanging...

I did go to the doctor this morning and she told me to take magnesium citrate, get suppositories, and drink juice/clear liquids only for a few days. She ordered some blood tests at my request--celiac disease and a few others. She referred me to a GI specialist--I should be getting a colonoscopy soon. Sometime this month I'd think. she said she thinks I have irritable bowel syndrome...yeah, i could have told her that. Went to ob-gyn and the doctor was the sweetest lady ever. she was like a psychiatrist or something. she said i should do yoga. got a pap smear (TMI) and she ordered a PCOS lab, thyroid panel, and the regular pap stuff. I also have to do a stool sampling for 3 days to see if I have a parasite or anything. No immediate relief but at least I'll find out if something is wrong.

I will not be doing the clear/liquid diet because I do not like the thought of consuming less than 1000 calories. I will keep REALLY REALLY hydrated. Eat soft/low bulk foods and try to keep my deficit REASONABLE. I will use the products she recommended.

old64mb

Glad to hear you got some sound medical advice.

Just FYI, the reason your doctor didn't volunteer the tTG test is that while IBS-D and IBS-A can often be confused with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity, someone with IBS-C symptoms generally shouldn't be worried about it unless other discrepancies show up. (What most MDs that aren't specialists in this don't know is that most tTG tests are only about 75% likely to catch celiac if you have it - in general the people who know the disease will order an endoscopy as it's the gold standard workup.)

Do consider the liquid diet though - it's not that hard to get 1000 calories from it.

Good luck getting better!

Moonbyebye

This thread has helped so much. Thanks everyone. I was having similar problems.

TyneeKitty

I will not be doing the clear/liquid diet because I do not like the thought of consuming less than 1000 calories. I will keep REALLY REALLY hydrated. Eat soft/low bulk foods and try to keep my deficit REASONABLE. I will use the products she recommended.

If the doctor tells you to do this before a colonoscopy you really need to do it or they'll send you home

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

I will not be doing the clear/liquid diet because I do not like the thought of consuming less than 1000 calories. I will keep REALLY REALLY hydrated. Eat soft/low bulk foods and try to keep my deficit REASONABLE. I will use the products she recommended.

If the doctor tells you to do this before a colonoscopy you really need to do it or they'll send you home

it isn't for the colonoscopy...if it were then i'd follow the orders--it's just to get things "regular" again.

Newfiedan

You are going to have to do that for the prep for the colonoscopy though, I had one done not to long ago and had to do that for the 3 days prior, the last day you have to take the laxative I took pergodan, pergodan is cheaper not that it is that expensive mind you. The day you take that stuff stay at home close to a toilet and drink lots (and I do mean lots) of water if you do not you will get dehydrated pretty fast. Not fun stuff by any means of the imagination but it did clean everything out. I had more stuff done other than the colonoscopy so plan for a day post op to recover if you can.

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

You are going to have to do that for the prep for the colonoscopy though, I had one done not to long ago and had to do that for the 3 days prior, the last day you have to take the laxative I took pergodan, pergodan is cheaper not that it is that expensive mind you. The day you take that stuff stay at home close to a toilet and drink lots (and I do mean lots) of water if you do not you will get dehydrated pretty fast. Not fun stuff by any means of the imagination but it did clean everything out. I had more stuff done other than the colonoscopy so plan for a day post op to recover if you can.

yeah I can't say that the prep for the colonoscopy will be fun but it will be worth it! cannot wait for them to actually look at it and see if everything is okay.

lettydawn

HI, I have had the same problem. My mom says that I was born constipated, and as I age, the constipation has gotten so bad that I couldn't be intimate with my husband because it hurt to bad. I finally got the nerve to go to my doctor and she told me to start taking between 200 and 500 mg of magnesium and to make sure that my colon gets cleaned out do a thirty day stretch of miralax. I didn't want to do the miralax because I have taken those fiber mixes and hated it, but it was not too bad. I am a huge hot tea drinker so I added it into my tea. I couldn't taste a difference. I had tried water but I thought I could and couldn't drink it. I stopped about a month ago with the miralax, but have kept taking the magnesium and have felt so much better! As long as I make sure I drink enough, I usually have a bowl movement everyday! I hope that helps!

momma2jillian07

Have you tried Probiotics? They really do work wonders to keep things going. I have IBS and this is my only "cure". Honestly.

vs1023

I've read every post--thanks everyone for all of the ideas. MY diet includes eggs, egg whites, about a scoop of protein powder each day. 2 slices of whole grain bread, may be 1 wheat tortilla, popcorn. Cottage cheese, yogurt, and maybe 1-1.5 oz cheese. 1-2 processed snacks a day. Veggies, fish, and spices.

My suggestion, fat. Coconut butter/oil/avocado/olive oil/coconut milk


When I'm not getting adequate amounts,I get backed up.

Angierae81

try organic smoothe move tea, it works may take a day and a cup or two but works

1Timothy4v8

Fruit and Cabege (but be careful about your cabege increase 0_O) Also you really should get checked out by the dr, you never know it may be something THEY need to fix

Elizabeth_C34

Give it 24 hours and call your doctor. You could have a bowel blockage that could be very dangerous if you're not careful.

KeepOnMoving

I suffer from chronic constipation but what you are describing to me is something more serious!!!!!! Please see your doctor! Your doctor may order you a CT scan of the pelvis to look at your kidneys and colon. It is very possible you have appendicitis - which if left untreated, can be very dangerous to your health!

Please, please see your doctor ASAP tomorrow!!!!!!!!! Hope it's nothing serious. Hope you get to feeling better soon! :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

StephNE500

Haven't read all the comments, just the ones on the first page, but saw that someone mentioned dairy/gluten sensitivity/intolerance. For the last several years I have had worsening digestive problems, with constipation as one of them ... I started noticing that when I ate wheat was when the problems were the worst and they would last up to 24 hours ... and the next time I'd eat wheat they would start up again. I tried taking wheat/gluten out of my diet (I already eat vegan so it was challenging at first), and I haven't had any problems since I stopped eating wheat! I have a doctor's appointment set up for later this month to test for celiac disease and check the health of my small intestine, because my sister and cousin have celiac disease also. Estimates are that 1 in 133 people have celiac ... and often times it is misdiagnosed as IBS because most doctor's don't screen for it.

So my advice would be to avoid gluten and see if that helps. I have also read that those who are sensitive and/or intolerant to gluten may be sensitive and/or intolerant to dairy, too, since your intestines are inflamed/damaged. But once your intestine repairs itself (by staying off gluten) then you should be able to digest dairy fine again ... although, as a vegan, I wouldn't recommend it

chubbybunnee

So, I have been so severely backed up and I cannot make sense of it. I'm going crazy and getting depressed because of this.

Here's some background...

Stopped running 60-75 minutes daily b/c gym closed, so instead did road running for 20-35 minutes a day (too hard on my shins)

I eat enough fiber---over enough, always have

I drink at least 60-100oz of water (I'm only 4'11 and ~100 pounds)

My weight has gone up 5 pounds despite being at a deficit

When I do poop it feels incomplete

I've tried an enema and i "pooped" out the water but barely any poop.

I am strongly against laxatives but I'm desperate so I tried smooth move tea--got it today and had a cup. I'm hoping by tomorrow I'll get relief.

Does anyone have this problem? What works for you? Eating is incredibly uncomfortable in this state and my stomach is ALWAYS bloated lately. I go to sleep and in the middle of the night it's like it gets worse NOT better. I am at wit's end and soooo down about this. Please help!

After my back surgery I was on pain meds and they made me very constipated! I went 5 days without pooping before....but I will tell you what...I got some of that Dieters Tea extra strength and that did the trick! The very next morning I had a bowel movement, and about twice a day for 3 days after that one cup! It was the best thing ever! It will dehydrate you so it's not a long term solution, but it does help.

Sometimes if you eat a lot of preservatives like diet drinks, packaged foods, or artificial sweeteners, it can back people up because it sits in thier intestines and is not always absorbed correctly and backs everything up. If this is the first time it has happened to you, and you eat well, try a good colon clense just one time to get you back on track. Make sure you pick wisely though. Some are brutal on your organs.... If this becomes an epidemic and long term, you may want to see a doctor for possible IBS-C or Allergies. Those things can sometimes not show up until later in life. Mine started when I was 22. There are also supplements you can take which are natural and organic which help your bowels like LACT ENZYME. It helps digest the food, and makes you go more regularly. It's about $12.00. I use Standard Process and I get it from my chiropractor. It works great and is not bad for any of your organs.

Good Luck and I hope you get the needed results!

chubbybunnee

Haven't read all the comments, just the ones on the first page, but saw that someone mentioned dairy/gluten sensitivity/intolerance. For the last several years I have had worsening digestive problems, with constipation as one of them ... I started noticing that when I ate wheat was when the problems were the worst and they would last up to 24 hours ... and the next time I'd eat wheat they would start up again. I tried taking wheat/gluten out of my diet (I already eat vegan so it was challenging at first), and I haven't had any problems since I stopped eating wheat! I have a doctor's appointment set up for later this month to test for celiac disease and check the health of my small intestine, because my sister and cousin have celiac disease also. Estimates are that 1 in 133 people have celiac ... and often times it is misdiagnosed as IBS because most doctor's don't screen for it.

So my advice would be to avoid gluten and see if that helps. I have also read that those who are sensitive and/or intolerant to gluten may be sensitive and/or intolerant to dairy, too, since your intestines are inflamed/damaged. But once your intestine repairs itself (by staying off gluten) then you should be able to digest dairy fine again ... although, as a vegan, I wouldn't recommend it

YES! THIS TOO! I just started this type of diet! No Gluten, No Dairy and it has helped tremendously!!!! No bloat or huge amounts of stored water weight! I am so happy with what this new lifestyle has done for me!

YoungerNextYear59937

SMOOTH MOVE HERBAL TEA--it always works!