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Problem with Chronic constipation
Digestive Health | Last Active: Jun 1 9:39am | Replies (182)Comment receiving replies
!'m 90 and take a diuretic, Furosemide, for blood pressure and CHF. I take Miralax but it has recently stopped working cause the diuretic dries out my colon and the Miralax needs water to work. Is there another laxative that will work for a dry colon?
Gastroenterologists have been no help and I battle constipation every day and it can only end badly unless I find a laxative that works.
tadueo
Replies to "!'m 90 and take a diuretic, Furosemide, for blood pressure and CHF. I take Miralax but..."
Try a lubricant laxative -- mineral oil or olive oil at bedtime. A well-structured study shows that olive oil works as well as mineral oil.
Mineral oil works by coating the bowel and stool with a waterproof film that provides slip. Olive oil may do the same. I have used both and both seem to provide similar benefit. Miralax doesn't work for me.
Experiment with the dosage. I take just shy of 1 teaspoon of olive oil but have a sensitive gut. Olive oil is safer -- try that first. My mineral oil bottle says the dose is 1 T - 3 T, so it should be the same for olive oil. Before trying mineral oil, check with your doctor.
Tip: I keep the oil in my mouth for 20-30 seconds so it can mix with my saliva, to make it easier to swallow. Then I do a water chaser.
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Hi @tadueo, I moved your discussion and combined it with an existing discussion titled:
- Problem with Chronic Constipation, https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/problem-with-chronic-constipation/.
I did this so you could meet many of the members in your shoes discussing what they have tried and alternatives to the things that have not worked so well. @camoriello, @heyjoe415, and @reillyg1013 have all discussed different things that have tried.
@tadueo, you mentioned your GI docs were no help, did they give any suggestions? It sounds like you may be battling dehydration or not being able to get enough fluids in your body to work with the Miralax as a diuretic, are there any foods or coffee or anything that got your body going in your past you could try introducing?