Connect
Incomplete bowel evacuation
In fall 2020, I started feeling constipated when I ignored the urge to have a bowel movement. I didn’t seek relief afterwards, and I didn’t do anything to try to relieve the constipation. Since then I’ve felt constipated, but I’m not sure if constipated is the right word because I’m going most days.
Most days I’ll have decent sized bowel movements, but when I go I feel like there is more stool in me, and like I’m not getting total relief when I go. I don’t know if constipation is the right word because it’s not like I’m not going, but when I go I feel like I’m not letting everything out, or like there is stool in me that is too hard to get out on my own.
It seems like I’ve gone through cycles with my bowels, like I’ll be constipated for a few days and don’t go much, and then I’ll be consistently going most days for maybe a week or two or more, and then I start feeling like there’s something /more stool in me that I need to get out but it’s either too hard to get out on my own or like it would hurt too much. Usually after I get that feeling, I won’t go for maybe a few days or so, and then I’ll slowly start getting back to going everyday, and the cycles repeated.
I saw a nurse practitioner spring last year, and she mentioned to try taking meta mucil everyday for a month and see if that helps, and if not then follow up with a GI doctor or someone like that. I didn’t take the meta mucil, but I’ve been hesitant to do that because I don’t know if it’d make how I’m feeling worse. I’ve been hesitant to try the meta mucil because I don’t know if it would cause me to feel like I need to go but nothing comes out. In the past I tried prune juice and maybe drinking a lot of water at once, and after I did that it was like it softened some of my stool, but like it didn’t completely solve the problem and I felt like there was stool that was maybe too hard for the prune juice to affect.
Does anyone have advice about this, or know what could possibly be causing this? I feel frustrated with this because I’ve let it go on and haven’t dealt with it, but also because I don’t know what’s wrong, and if somethings wrong. I don’t even know if constipation is the right word because I am going most days, but I feel like something else isn’t right.
Like
Helpful
HugInterested in more discussions like this? Go to the Digestive Health Support Group.
Connect
I’ve been feeling constipated since fall 2020, and I’m going almost everyday, but I almost always feel like I’m not getting everything out. Sometimes I’ve felt like I needed to go, but it was too hard to push or it would hurt too much to get out on my own.
Maybe last summer, I started having a feeling of fullness right below my chest. This feeling would come and go, and I’ve wondered if it was related to doing an exercise type activity where I was putting pressure on my back. Maybe last fall, I started having pain either in my chest or right below my chest (like near my sternum), that has come and gone. Sometimes it felt like the pain would radiate to my back, or I would feel the pain in my arm.
Since then I think I’ve stopped having pain in my chest, but there’s times when I feel like I have a pain maybe below my sternum, or maybe above my stomach but not in my chest. When I get this pain/feeling, it scares me and makes me think something is wrong. It seems like the pain doesn’t really last, but I don’t know if it truly doesn’t last or if I’m trying to get myself to ignore it and stay distracted in my mind so I won’t feel it.
Maybe 2-3 days ago I was washing something outside, and the next day I woke up with my back feeling sore, but it kinda felt deeper than just my back. This evening I was sitting and eating, and all of a sudden I felt the pain or uncomfortable feeling maybe near my sternum. It didn’t last long, but it scared me for a while after that because I don’t know If something’s wrong.
Sometimes when I have this feeling/pain, it feels like it’s more than just stress and it’s physical. Sometimes it gives me the urge to have a bowel movement, and like after having the feeling I feel like I need to go.
Does anyone know what this could be? When I have the feeling, I’ve thought about maybe going somewhere but I’ve been feeling this way off and on for months/possibly close to a year. I have a doctors appointment later this month too, but in the past I haven’t brought this up.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 Reaction@emilystewart30 start with just a teaspoon of Metamucil then work your way up to three teaspoons (one tablespoon) over three weeks, in an 8oz (250ml) glass of water. Drink it down quickly before it gels, then immediately drink another glass of water. It will take three to four days to work when you first start, then you will have regular bowel movements. At first your bowel movements will look like links, i.e., attached by string, but eventually it will look like normal stool.
As the nurse practitioner suggested, take it for a month and if you still have that “not quite done” feeling, follow up with a gastroenterologist, or even go back to the nurse practitioner who may refer you to a gastroenterologist.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
3 Reactions@emilystewart30 it sounds like acid reflux (GERD). I get those pains and a few sips of water seem to help. However, I am not a doctor or nurse, and perhaps you should see your doctor.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
4 Reactions@rashida thank you for responding. If it’s alright asking, do you have similar symptoms with the pains, like the urge to use the bathroom or like it causes fear? I do need to see a doctor though
@emilystewart30 yes, I have had GERD for many years and take medication for it, but when I get that chest pain I discovered a few sips of water ease them. I also suffer from GAD - general anxiety disorder - which can also manifest itself as chest pain, palpitations, stomach cramps, very loose bowel movements, etc. and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) which can cause similar symptoms.
You still should see a doctor to rule out any other illness.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
4 ReactionsGlad you are consulting your doctor. Just be sure to write down what you've been experiencing and timeline so you don't miss anything during appt. Good luck.
@emilystewart30
Sounds like you need a colonoscopy and evaluation of motility. There may be some spinal or small fiber nerve involvement causing the feelings of fullness and not emptying bowels.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
3 Reactions@dlydailyhope thank you for responding. Sometimes it feels like there’s truly more in me that I’m not getting out, and there’s been a couple times when I felt like I got more out that was still in me. That’s possible though, and sometimes I’ve wondered that
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 Reaction@rashida thank you for responding. I could try that. Most of the time I have regular bowel movements though, and it’s usually consistent the time of day I go.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionI have reflux,gastropresis and chronic constipation and have similar symptoms, please see a GI doctor so you can have an endoscopy/colonoscopy and get a clearer picture of what’s going on and meds to help you manage your symptoms
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 Reaction