Constipation Better - Still Have Lower Abdominal Pain

I had a right side hemicolectomy 17 yrs ago following an ischemic event which every follow up test failed to find a cause for. No diseases, but I do lots of follow up surveillance. Constipation since then, though all of my providers were expecting diarrhea with 1/3 of my colon missing to do the job of water removal. In addition to whatever your providers are recommending
(mine recommends 1 cap Miralax nightly and a few days a week of 1.5 Oz mineral oil) I find massage very helpful. I start at the right hipbone level of my abdomen, move up to the bottom of my chest, across the chest right to left and down the left side. I repeat as many times as I want, lying down or sitting up. This approximates the path stool takes in a complete and healthy colon. It helps get things moving along. Use as much pressure as feels good to you, you need a little but not so much as to hurt when you do it. It’s trial and error but always in this path. There are massotherapists who are trained to do this as well, I’ve never gone to one but I’m open to the idea if I’d ever feel the need. You probably already know that drinking lots of water and eating lots of fruits and vegetables also helps with constipation. Keep some little cans of prune juice around and drink a couple when needed. Walking also stimulates intestinal activity, be careful not to walk too far from home after drinking the prune juice though. Sometimes it fast acting. I wish you good luck, this isn’t a minor inconvenience but I haven’t found a lot of help from conventional medicine. I think since it isn’t life threatening or a progressive disease, our system of care isn’t too interested until we hit a crisis. Take care.

I had a right side hemicolectomy 17 yrs ago following an ischemic event which every follow up test failed to find a cause for. No diseases, but I do lots of follow up surveillance. Constipation since then, though all of my providers were expecting diarrhea with 1/3 of my colon missing to do the job of water removal. In addition to whatever your providers are recommending
(mine recommends 1 cap Miralax nightly and a few days a week of 1.5 Oz mineral oil) I find massage very helpful. I start at the right hipbone level of my abdomen, move up to the bottom of my chest, across the chest right to left and down the left side. I repeat as many times as I want, lying down or sitting up. This approximates the path stool takes in a complete and healthy colon. It helps get things moving along. Use as much pressure as feels good to you, you need a little but not so much as to hurt when you do it. It’s trial and error but always in this path. There are massotherapists who are trained to do this as well, I’ve never gone to one but I’m open to the idea if I’d ever feel the need. You probably already know that drinking lots of water and eating lots of fruits and vegetables also helps with constipation. Keep some little cans of prune juice around and drink a couple when needed. Walking also stimulates intestinal activity, be careful not to walk too far from home after drinking the prune juice though. Sometimes it fast acting. I wish you good luck, this isn’t a minor inconvenience but I haven’t found a lot of help from conventional medicine. I think since it isn’t life threatening or a progressive disease, our system of care isn’t too interested until we hit a crisis. Take care.

My Doctor was/is the same. Not interested until we hit a crisis 🙄 Like you said, she thought the surgery would fix my problem. I still take Trulance daily with extra Miralax. I did a lot of PT afterwords who did a lot of the massage you described. It does help. I’m going to try the mineral oil. Oddly, I can’t eat a lot of fiber as it makes the constipation worse. After I was dismissed & discharged after surgery, I ended up back in the ER a week later where it was discovered I had an anastomosis leak. But thank you for taking the time to respond. It validates many of the struggles and fear I’ve had since the surgery. 💜

Very useful info. I never would have thought of a self massage as you describe to help with constipation. Thanks so much. Joe

I had a right side hemicolectomy 17 yrs ago following an ischemic event which every follow up test failed to find a cause for. No diseases, but I do lots of follow up surveillance. Constipation since then, though all of my providers were expecting diarrhea with 1/3 of my colon missing to do the job of water removal. In addition to whatever your providers are recommending
(mine recommends 1 cap Miralax nightly and a few days a week of 1.5 Oz mineral oil) I find massage very helpful. I start at the right hipbone level of my abdomen, move up to the bottom of my chest, across the chest right to left and down the left side. I repeat as many times as I want, lying down or sitting up. This approximates the path stool takes in a complete and healthy colon. It helps get things moving along. Use as much pressure as feels good to you, you need a little but not so much as to hurt when you do it. It’s trial and error but always in this path. There are massotherapists who are trained to do this as well, I’ve never gone to one but I’m open to the idea if I’d ever feel the need. You probably already know that drinking lots of water and eating lots of fruits and vegetables also helps with constipation. Keep some little cans of prune juice around and drink a couple when needed. Walking also stimulates intestinal activity, be careful not to walk too far from home after drinking the prune juice though. Sometimes it fast acting. I wish you good luck, this isn’t a minor inconvenience but I haven’t found a lot of help from conventional medicine. I think since it isn’t life threatening or a progressive disease, our system of care isn’t too interested until we hit a crisis. Take care.

I do this massage. And nightly Miralax. Occasionally I need a couple of Ducolax but not often. Lots of veggies as I’m pre diabetic and too much fruit raises sugars.

The massage works. Thank you.