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Constipation that’s lasted for years, but going most days
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.
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@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.
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3 Reactions@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.
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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
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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.
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1 ReactionThis is similar to what I'm experiencing and after visiting a GI doctor, I just chalk it up to " my new normal." He did suggest that women who gave birth to big babies, with or without an episiotomy often have this complaint years later. If that's the case, I'm not sure what the cure is.
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2 Reactionsemily, I have read your message about what you’re going through and I must say that it sounds a little bit like a problem I’m having for about 2-3 months, I have some more symptoms but I do have the same feeling of having a bowel movement and not feeling that everything came out. I also tried Metamucil but it made me feel bloated all the time, you’re required to drink copious amounts of water with this product otherwise it can cause blockage, I did use Restoralax for a week and it worked but once I stopped it came back, the symptom I’m having trouble with is a constant burning sensation in the rectum, it’s so frustrating and makes sitting down very uncomfortable, I have a colonoscopy booked in a few weeks and I’m very nervous to get the results, sometimes too much researching is not always a good thing.
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