Incomplete bowel evacuation. What could be causing this? Advice?

Posted by emily @emilystewart30, Oct 3, 2025

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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peterose | @peterose | Jan 26 12:08pm

i read anything i find...... .and evaluate
https://flipbooks.leedsth.nhs.uk/LN005353.pdf

loriballesteros | @loriballesteros | Jan 26 12:39pm

That sounds really difficult and confusing I ignored my constipations years and would just try to get by ,but now that all caught up with me and I have a more serious issue because of it and I am under the care of a great G.I. team. I know it’s not fun but you might feel better to know what is going on. Don’t wait like I did. You might feel better to get more of your questions answered good luck to you.

cardigan | @cardigan | Jan 26 4:19pm

In reply to @rashida "@sfe431 do you have diverticulitis? In that case, you should not be taking any fibre!" + (show)

@rashida I have Diverticulitis and was told to eat plenty of fibre.When I have a "Flare" I cut out fibre.I think that this is a difficult ailment to manage as there is not any good advice.There has not been enough trials done but now that people are living longer with the aid of Cholesterol,Heart Medication etc.it is annoying that something as simple as diverticulitis can make us housebound.

rnewman12 | @rnewman12 | Jan 27 8:50am

In reply to @peterose "@peterose And this also............https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK546634/" + (show)

The 2nd article is more recent and so maybe more up to date. The last sentence is perhaps needlessly alarmist, or at least I hope so: "The overall outcome depends on the underlying condition's management. If the etiology is not well managed, the overall prognosis is grave." But the article cited for this statement employs a better choice of words and also reveals that the sentence in the first two papers are misleading: "Prognosis is usually serious, determined mostly by the underlying disease that led to SIBO."

heyjoe415 | @heyjoe415 | Jan 29 6:08am

In reply to @rnewman12 "@heyjoe415 Yes, and if you have dyssynergic defecation it's best to get the idea that your..." + (show)

@rnewman12

Thanks so much for your thoughtful reply. I never had a problem with constipation until I was in my mid 60s (71 now). It's easy to become fixated with going to the bathroom everyday, and if not, something is wrong.

I don't believe this to be true anymore, and I appreciate your supporting comments.

I do use Dulcolax Bisacodyl every other night, and I realize I shouldn't be doing this. And that's because my newest fixation is "going" at least every other day, which you also kindly debunk.

Thanks again. Your comments have helped me immensely in how I look at this. And to your point, there is nothing wrong with feeling a little constipated.

Joe

rnewman12 | @rnewman12 | Jan 29 9:06am

In reply to @heyjoe415 "@rnewman12 Thanks so much for your thoughtful reply. I never had a problem with constipation until..." + (show)

@heyjoe415 Yes, I used to worry that not having a bowel movement for a few days was "dangerous," but it isn't, unless there is severe belly pain, fever, or something else going on, in which case: call a doctor or go to the emergency room because there could be something more serious going on. If it weren't for my hemorrhoids and annoying dietary restrictions, I wouldn't even need to pay that much attention to my SIBO and dyssynergic defecation. It doesn't feel great to "feel constipated" but there are worse things and one can pretty much go about one's daily life. And there are ways of managing even worse... I'm 67 and it's slowly dawning on me that there is no going back to the halcyon days of youth when some of us lucky ones could feel "perfectly fine!" almost all the time.

heyjoe415 | @heyjoe415 | Jan 31 5:21am

In reply to @rnewman12 "@heyjoe415 Yes, I used to worry that not having a bowel movement for a few days..." + (show)

Thank you Newman,

Yeah when I was in my 30s and 40s i trained for and ran approx 25 marathons. The act of running started peristaltic motion. I don't think I did a long training run before I had to find a gas station, or during a marathon a portajohn. It was more of a bother! And the guys I run with it didn't much care for the delay.....

My how things have changed! And at 71 I take 3 or 4 Rxs that are all said to contribute to constipation. Lucky me.

I've tried to do what you suggest and not fixate on days I don't have a bm. I feel a little full/bloated at time, but never for more than two consecutive days. I can live with that!

All the best.

Joe

musicjewishcarp2008 | @musicjewishcarp2008 | Feb 1 3:39pm

In reply to @heyjoe415 "I don't think our digestive tract is ever completely empty, except for a colonoscopy." + (show)

@heyjoe415 The fact that I felt fullness in my rectum after having a bowel movement led me to get a colonoscopy finding I had a mass in my transverse colon unexpectantly. The ct scan showed I also had a rectocele in my rectum. That was causing that feeling of incomplete evacuation but actually saved my life bc the mass was removed before it could spread. Ask about a rectocele. Use Prune juice to keep your stools moving out. Try different amounts until you get a normal stool consistency.

rjdowdell25 | @rjdowdell25 | Feb 1 3:56pm

In reply to @musicjewishcarp2008 "@heyjoe415 The fact that I felt fullness in my rectum after having a bowel movement led..." + (show)

@musicjewishcarp2008 Do you warm up the prune juice?

musicjewishcarp2008 | @musicjewishcarp2008 | Feb 1 10:10pm

In reply to @rjdowdell25 "@musicjewishcarp2008 Do you warm up the prune juice?" + (show)

@rjdowdell25
No I drink it cold but it really doesnt taste too bad bc I know it is natural and will help me. It is worth a few minutes of distaste because I only have to drink about 4 ounces. To each his own but I haven't had anymore knife stabbing pain in navel area or blockages with vomiting.