Severe Constipation

@ captboat - the bottle of Miralax (Restoralax in Canada) says it should not be take. For more than a week. Are you on it permanently?

The manufacturers must protect themselves. But my former doctor was a constant user. And the doctor that prescribed my formula is a gastroenterologist. So I believe I’m in good hands. The short answer is yes unless there are complications.

I do a lot for constipation.

By the way, in traditional Hatha Yoga, optimal health is considered having one bowel movement for every meal consumed.

I have never been that good, but I have tried very hard to have at least one bowel movement per day.

A doctor saying that one bowel movement per week is ok? I am not on board with that. I think that would be a serious impact to health.

I have constipation and diverticulitis.

I do a number of things.

I do a soft food diet.

Web MD on soft food diet:
https://www.webmd.com/diet/what-is-a-soft-food-diet
++++

Daily, I really have to take the following:

12 full ounces of prune juice (not a fan of the taste)
Metamucil
Miralax
And Senna.
I use a natural version.... Swiss Kriss.

In laxative trivia news the great jazz musician Louis Armstrong was a huge fan of Swiss Kriss....recommended it widely to his jazz friends and eventually wound up doing an ad for them.

I really try to hydrate well. Really try to drink those 8 glasses of water daily.

I usually do a bran muffin daily, or Raisin Bran cereal.

Milk seems to help sometimes, I don't know why.

Coffee seems to help sometimes.

Activity definitely seems to help. If I am sedentary, constipation is definitely worse. And I do think that abdominal exercises help.

Fresh fruit seems to help. For me, particularly fresh melon.

Vegetable salads, of course.

Staying away from hard to digest things. For me...definitely nuts and peanut butter. And that goes also for other nut butters like tahini. Generally, for me, red meat is hard to digest. Especially in large quantities. I have not had a steak in many years. I can sometimes get by with chili or maybe a bit of hamburger...but they are also, usually, a problem for me.

I know that rice flour products are gluten free. But they are a huge problem for my constipation, especially those rice crackers.

So, that is what I have for now.

Wishing everyone well who deals with this problem. It has been a long struggle for me. Over 20 years now...and I was in the ER once with a bad diverticulitis attack. Not fun, not at all.

So, best wishes to all you out there, to conquer this problem.

Take care now.

One period of my life I suffered from constipation. I tried everything, and the only thing that worked was eating a lot of fresh citrus. Oranges are the most effective, but you have an opioid induced issue and that can really block your system. Stay away from rice which can make matters worse.

@barbaradh thank you for the suggestion of eating oranges! And they work! Been eating one for two days (in addition to my usual daily dose of Metamucil), and finally regular the past two days!

I had been eating prunes but not enjoying that because I don’t like dried fruit, and also because the prunes were not only very sweet but sticking between my teeth, requiring more frequent flossing. I like the oranges remedy better!

I prefer colace. 2 pills one day, then 2 the next if it seems right. The right amount is learned by trial and error in my experience. Stay close to home.

I know some say don’t use carbonation! I been using Ollie pop for a few months a can every couple days as needed . If I drink it for supper my bowels move good the next day. I was also sent to a pelvic therapist after having a failed back surgery, I wasn’t a fan of internal work but found out also if you’ve fallen you should see a pelvic therapist because my fusion had cause d me to be out of alignment after she done the internal work and realigned me my bowels moved great

hello there I'm not sure if anyone has suggested this, I too have struggled with this all my life irritable bowel and a severely blocked bowel to the point of having to ingest this horrible stuff from the chemist called agarol my god hit me like a ton of bricks, coming out of both ends that day just awful, however when I had to have chemo for breast cancer I was told pear juice by one of the nurses.....yes it works a treat, also try to incorporate prunes in your diet and if you don't like pears you could try prune juice, try not to get to reliant on artificial help....drink heaps of water, yes ive been slack lately but I can consume large amounts of water and that really helps. fibre has to be in the form of fruit and veg, but research what is high fibre and be careful with fruit just because its fruit doesn't mean a lot of it is good for you and especially with the fruit sugars. and I think too you have to find foods you enjoy eating and will stick to and that will help you. Also, if you can move a little more do some form of exercise. I think someone also mentioned the same, more liquid and movement and fibre... You don't want to go passing out that's not good....Do you know why you pass out or feel light headed etc, that is because the main artery from your brain runs down the same side of your body that when you strain it gets restricted by the pressure on it and the next minute your on the ground similar to when someone puts someone into a sleep hold position around the neck, I cant think of the technical names or even the area of the body or veins at the moment really bad chemo brain tonight, I live with an RN and she was telling me this the other week!!!

I hear you. Since I went on Tramadol, my constipation has worsened. Straining to eject hard stools is like giving birth. Straining? Yes! Awful. I have begun to take Miralax twice a day and Metamucil once or twice a day, along with extra water. Even at that the "urge" to go is very slight. So, I use a medicated suppository to help things along. Usually within five to ten minutes later I get a good movement. Not hard at all, so it relieves the straining. This works for me. Maybe it will work for you.

Kiwis can help a lot.