Constipation! (Pain meds make it worse)

I seemed to remember my grandmother taking Citrate of magnesium. She called it her "Cathartic". I guess that meant it would really "clean her out. I think it was in liquid form in a bottle. Thanks for jogging my memory. I just wish I could get by bowel to get on its own regular schedule without resrting to all these "helps".

As a recent victim of constipation 12/2023, and a trip to the emergency room,
my gastroenterologist recommended daily dosages of MiraLax and MetaMucel. I am proud to announce “I am a regular guy for the first time in my life.”

Yes, my dad used baking soda.
I also wish I could just get back to my regular self! Something about Covid really messed up my digestive system.

@ 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