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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.
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Try daily prunes with custard..........works for me
one spoons
of Metamucil then work your way up to three teaspoons (one tablespoon) over three weeks,..............3 teaspoons at once?
@emilystewart30
if you have a narrow small intestine?.....3 teaspoons may lead to blockag
e?
@peterose three teaspoons equals one tablespoon, so when you reach the three teaspoons full mark, you just need to use one tablespoon measure.
@peterose and @emilystewart30 our small and large intestines are not rigid - I would imagine they expand with any contents that pass through them.
A tablespoonful (equal to three teaspoonsful) is not likely to cause blockage as long as you drink another glass of water after the first one with the Metamucil/psyllium fibre. Drinking that second glass of water is more important, because not doing so could cause a blockage.
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1 ReactionYour constipation issues are very similar to mine. I found out I have a tortuous or redundant colon. Weird names but it means that my colon is unusually long, loopy, and abnormal bends. A series of x rays showed that I had extreme constipation even though I was having bowl movements, (not everyday) however, like you, I never felt relieved. Do you see a GI doctor? Per my GI doctor, there really isn't a lot you can do for this condition. Even though Linzess is for treating IBS, my doctor wanted me to try it but it did help. The only other alternatives are Miralax, magnesium, and laxatives. I do not like Miralax as I have to run to the bathroom too often and sometimes don't make it! I currently take a magnesium supplement every other day (before bed) and one ducolax pill. The other nights I take 3 vegetable laxatives (senna). This regiment has seemed to help. My GI doctor told me that it is perfectly safe to increase the vegetable laxative dosage up to 6 pills if needed. On another note, with a tortuous colon, (not saying that is what you have) fiber makes it worse so Meta Mucil should not be taken because it bulks up the stool. I hope this helps you but you should see a GI doctor.
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3 ReactionsI have similar issues and I take a fiber supplement in pill form. I don't like the powder you have to mix, messy and more of a hassle. I use Yerba Prima brand at the health food store and usually take 1 to 2 of them a day and it helps me.