How can I relieve my chronic constipation?
Saturday, May 15th, 2010 at
12:12 pm
Ever since I was born, I’ve always had a chronic constipation problem. I contribute lots of fiber in my diet, lots of fruits and vegetables, grains, whole wheat breads and cereals, I take a mild laxative, and stool softener each morning to help. I also
chew fiber chews as well. I can sometimes go 14 days without a bowel movement, and it’s a very hard, dry stool which is usually quite painful to pass, what can I do that I haven’t already been doing to relieve these symptoms?
Filed under: Detoxification And Cleansing
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with all that fiber, you really need to drink more water, this is why your stools are dry and hard. The body needs a minimum of 2 liters of water daily, with all that fiber, you need at least 3 liters of water every single day. The stool softener will not work if there isn’t enough water in the body for it to pull into the bowel, and the laxative, mild or not, will make you dependent upon it to just have a movement. You answer is WATER, not coffee, tea, soda or juice, WATER. LOTS.
Drink lots and lots and lots of water. Seriously, the reason your stool is dense is because your large intestine removes water from it. Give yourself enough water, and your body will leave more in your stool, thus thinning it out significantly.
I have to half-agree with the nurse.
You are most likely getting TOO MUCH fiber. Fiber is good but you must drink a lot of water for it to really help. So what you might consider is stopping the fiber pills (or whatever they are) and just stick with food. In addition you should increase the amount of water you drink. One thing you might consider is getting some bottled water, and you can reuse the bottles if you would like, for a few days so you can actually see how much water you drink.
I would also recommend you see a doctor specifically about the problem, he should be able to recommend the best approach and you should make sure there is no underlying problem. Something like Irritable Bowel Syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) could be a cause.
There is a prescription medication called Amitiza (lubiprostone) that is FDA approved to treat chronic constipation and IBS-C. It is not a laxative and does not cause physical dependency like laxatives can. So this might be something to consider.
I do disagree with the nurse on using laxatives. It is true that laxatives can cause physical dependency but it is necessary and considered medically appropriate for some people to take them.
I would recommend
MiraLAX (polyethylene glycol)
or Senna-S, a combination of docusate (stool softener) and sennosides (laxative). If you take Senna-S you will very likely need to take it twice a day. Starting dose is 2 tablets twice daily and the maximum is 4 tablets twice daily. However some doctors may recommend using it up to four times a day in severe situations.
So lower the fiber up the water.
See a doctor, talk about OTC, prescription, and lifestyle treatments.
Since medication is most likely required (if it is as bad as you say then water and fiber alone won’t be enough) finding the best one and the best dose is very important.
And if you are even close to having gone 14 days without a bowl movement you really need to see a doctor because there could be serious complications and at that point the use a large doses of stimulant laxatives, suppositories, or an enema is going to be required. Once things are severe the problem needs to be aggressively treated. In reality you should not go for more than three days.
Good luck
I had the same problem! Fiber pills didn’t help. If I did take laxatives it’d go right back to normal after I stopped using them. Finally! I used Miralax for one week to start me off and "get things moving". After that I stopped using it took 2 tbls. of Apple cider vinegar each morning. Exercise each day. One hour of cardio and one hour of pilates. I drink lots of water and if I do have juice it’s homemade or store bought prune juice. I cut WAY back on processed foods. I mostly eat veggies, fruits, nuts, oats, and occasional sushi. I found that bread usually binds me up. Just make sure you meet your normal calorie intake and get enough nutrients. My meals are smaller but I eat about six times a day instead or the normal 3 meals. I thought nothing would ever help me but sticking to this routine has worked for over a year now.