Seriously awful thing to have...personal info so beware

[DammitJanet]

As most of you know I take a ton of medications. Most of them have the side effect of constipation listed but the very worst ones are the pain medications. However when you add them all together it is not a good thing.

I cant believe I am talking about this...lol. I always said I would know I was officially old when I talked about bowels.

I have never really paid much attention to how often I go. Well not until its too late. Last Friday I realized I hadnt used the bathroom for at least a week and it was now getting to the point that even peeing was hard. I was miserable and it hurt like all get out. I started taking all the normal laxatives like Miralax and Dulcolax. Nothing.

Last night I had to get Tony to resort to the last resort. Im sure you can imagine what that is. I was up all night screaming with cramps and feeling like I was giving birth to triplets. They dont make an epidural for home use but I sure would have liked one. I finally fell asleep about 4 am after Tony dried me off since I was drenched in sweat. It felt like I had taken a shower I was so wet. He rubbed my back until I fell asleep.

I woke up this morning and I can hardly move. My muscles from my rib cage down are so sore.

I tell you one thing, my pain doctors are so lax. The first thing they are supposed to do is put something in place for this problem the minute they rx a pain medication. You can bet Im gonna be asking for something next time. Until then Im gonna make sure I take Miralax every day.

Never let this happen to you because I thought I was gonna die. Just a warning.

 

[DDD]

I'm sorry for your pain. Only once did that happen to me and it was following my first childbirth experience. I didn't even think of potty breaks and then wowser. I learned my lesson. Personally I think the main problem is not drinking enough water every day. Increased fiber and lots of water almost always solve the problem before it becomes a problem. OTC stool softeners help alot of you miss a day or two...just to be on the safe side. Hope you feel better soon. Hugs DDD

 

[PatriotsGirl]

Agreed - I add fiber powder to my coffees in the morning. It is tasteless. That in itself has made all the difference in the world. I went from going once or twice a week to every morning.

We can talk about anything here...lol.

 

[DammitJanet]

LOL...we have talked about most everything here! Now I think from all my squinching and writhing last night that my jaw joint is inflamed. I cant barely eat anything at all and opening and closing my mouth hurts. Im heading for an ice pack and hope that works because the heating pad sent me into hot flashes...lol.

 

[1905]

Skotti, My mom has this same problem. She takes 1 or 2 spoonfuls of this prescription white powder every day and is very regular. She has been on this for 10 years. It will only cost you $4 for a big container of this. I can get you the exact name of this if you want, she is always telling me how great this is. It's better than OTC's and you take it every day, not PRN like miralax.Any dr should give this to you. Sorry for the rough night, glad Tony was there for you.

 

[PatriotsGirl]

My husband has that white powder! It does work wonders...I think it is muralax?

 

[AnnieO]

I was terrified of hemorrhoids with Inky so I ate fiber like crazy. Fortunately I happen to like it. I was fine while pregnant. And for the first few months. Then - got 'em anyway. I don't have to take any fiber supplements, but I go TOO much.

When I was in HS I got so backed up my Mom had to give me an enema. NEVER AGAIN.

 

[janie]

Hi.
I am sorry to hear about your awful experience. A natural remedy that helps me "if things are not moving through" ... is to eat raw carrots. I peel the carrots then slice lengthwise into strips. They are extra nice as a snack when dipped into natural yoghurt

 

[InsaneCdn]

Janie... that only works if you have teeth, which Skotti doesn't have anymore...

 

[1905]

The name of the medicine is Polyethylene Glycol 3350 nf powder fororal solution. $5 for medicare.

 

[soapbox]

Skotti... it isn't just the pain medications. Its the whole combo of your situation... the inactivity due to health issues, the lack of fiber due to dental issues, what you drink and how much you drink... The classical "fixes" aren't within your reach (e.g. walk 2 miles a day, eat fresh fruit and raw veggies, etc.)

But... try drinking a full 8-oz cup of water (i.e. H20, remember that stuff?) with every pain PILL. If you take three together, that means three cups of water.

 

[PatriotsGirl]

Upallnight - yup!! That is it!!

 

[Wiped Out]

easy child/difficult child has dealt with this on a regular basis. If she takes the generic of Miralex she is o.k. but it has gone on her whole life. I have her heard her in the kind of pain you are describing! Hugs to you.

 

[Hound dog]

((hugs))

With the medications you take, plus the inactivity due to health issues............this can become serious in very short order. As you recall we lost mother in law due to upper bowel obstruction caused by pain medications and inactivity.

I know you can't live without soda, but your body isn't getting the fluids it needs to keep it going with soda. Please try to drink as much water as possible at least when taking your medications.

Having went through the whole teeth/denture thing.............I turned to V8. I'm lucky because I like both the veggie version and the fruit versions......but those fruit versions are good! They provide the fiber and you don't have to worry about chewing. (with the added benefit of extra vitamins )

Changing up what you're eating and drinking will help but you must get something in place via the pain medication doctor for this issue.

Dreadfully painful. been there done that too many times.

(((hugs)))

 

[DammitJanet]

Thanks for the info UAN and Patriots girl...I will call my doctor tomorrow and see if they will call it in.

Yes IC, the no teeth thing is an issue. I really need to get the remaining 4 out so I can get dentures. Problem is I dont seem to have the free time to recuperate at any time unless I can manage to get the dentist to pull the teeth on a Wed on a weekend we wont have grandchild. And now it will have to be on oldests day off because hubby is working out of town all week and the dentist wants me to have a driver. Oh well.

Soapbox, I had to laugh at drinking one cup of water per pill. I take 9 pills at night and 4 pills every morning. That would be a heck of a lot of water every night before bed. I would be up all night peeing.

I do love the fruit V8 and get at least one bottle a week. All these ideas are great for prevention but if I ate fiber while in the midst of this I think it would make things worse because it would just add something at the top of the problem. I think I lost 5 pounds...lol. I am going to make sure I take something every day so this doesnt become an issue again. It happens maybe 3 or 4 times a year and it is miserable.

 

[susiestar]

I don't know the strength, but polyethylene glycol 3350 is what miralax is. It is on the miralax website. I was pretty sure it was, because I read the ingredients and instructions for every medication that comes into my home and my memory is strange and won't forget things like that (we call it a garbage can memory because it keeps every bit of info it can and spits it back to me at times that can be quite inconvenient).

Janet, ask the doctor for a prescription for Relistor (methylnaltrexone). This medication isn't fun, but it DOES end this problem in a day or less. Actually, it starts ending the problem in under 15 min. It is a shot that you give yourself (trust me, when you are THAT miserable, you don't mind the shot) and it works on the opiate receptors in your gut ONLY and suddenly your bowels WILL start to empty. The doctor knew I lived an hour away and he warned me to wait until I got home no matter what. Seems another patient had tried this shot in the mall bathroom and it ended up to be a MAJOR problem for her as she could not leave the mall for quite a few hours until her system was done doing what it needed to do.

It is NOT a fun thing to do, but at a week out, it is going to be very painful no matter what, so at least this gets it over a lot faster. I will say that it gets it over faster than anything I else including the milk/molasses enema that they did to J when she got impacted. The milk/molasses thing worked but it took hours and got out small amts at a time. The relistor shot worked FAST and got larger amts out than any other medication I have tried. sadly I have IBS so I can go from constipation to diarrhea and back in six hours or less if I let my body do what it wants. And all the fiber and fresh fruit and veggies in the world don't help it.

If you are going to increase fiber, look for psyllium and only psyllium in the fiber. It will not ferment and increase the amt of gas you have. Other types of fiber WILL ferment in your gut and WILL increase the amt of gas hugely. Gas X would help, but if you can take Beano iwth it, take it. I am allergic, get hot, flushed, have a hard time breathing and that was the first time (and only time) I tried it. But it seems to do wonders for my mom, dad and husband.

Another thing that will help is applesauce. i go for the unsweetened because the amt of sugar added is insane and I can add my own sugar. You CAN take a fiber supplement, just try to be sure it is psyllium. Those fiber bars taste pretty good and one a day can do a LOT to keep you moving. I see them as medicine and try to keep them on hand to help J out. thank you and husband both ate 3 one day, one after each meal as a "healthy" dessert. BOY O BOY did they regret it hugely! ONE a day is fine, but that many? We were intensely grateful that we had 2 bathrooms. INTENSELY.

I know EXACTLY what you went through and I am SO SO SORRY you had to. If it is any consolation, I spent ten hours today with severe cramps and vomiting from having my system back up and go haywire, so you were not alone.

 

[soapbox]

I take 9 pills at night and 4 pills every morning. That would be a heck of a lot of water every night before bed. I would be up all night peeing.

All 13 pills are PAIN medications? I thought you were on several different medications, with strong pain medications being one component.
And yes, the person I know who did it said that being up in the night was the worst side-effect of the water cure... but... 9 PAIN medications in one dose? Is that really the case? If so... you need a REAL pain clinic. The kind that can do up a "cocktail" for you, a custom combo, in a single "medication", often liquid...

 

[1905]

Susiestar.....you are right about it being Miralax. I think a daily rx is needed to avoid this problem. Plus it is way cheaper to have an rx than to buy large quatities of Miralax. Everything will always be regular if she takes it every day. My mom thinks this is the greatest stufc ever.

 

[susiestar]

It may work for your mom, but it did bupkus for me. Literally NOTHING happened even with THREE doses of miralax a day. About six mos later my IBS kicked in and now I would not touch miralax or another laxative for all the gold in the world. My system bounces from one problem to the other way too often. But that is my body.

I do know quite a few people who use miralax daily and have never had any real help from it. Getting it from the doctor means you can get a generic and it is cheaper but lately that is difficult. Many ins companies are not covering it any more than they do allegra, claritin, or other medications that are now OTC. At least that is what is going on around here.

The water cure can be a hassle. It also isn't always effective. Fruit juice may work, esp prune, but that isn't always helpful either. A LOT depends on your body. At one point I drank almost a gallon of water a day and it didn't help with constipation.

Janet is NOT NOT NOT taking that many opiate pills per day. She is takign that many pills total, but they are for different problems. We have talked about our medications in-depth because we are on similar medications for similar problems and I agree that her pain docs are idiots doing dangerous things, but changing doctors is NOT an option for her because this is the ONLY pain medication practice in her area. The others are so far away that she cannot get to them on a regular basis with-o causing many problems with her health and she feels that it would be unsafe to drive the distance to the doctor alone. Neither Billy nor Tony will drive her to the doctor on a monthly basis, she has already had that be a huge problem for her.

In Janet's place, the relistor shot may be the only thing to handle the situation when it gets to where it was the other day. Using Miralax, a stool softener, water, juice, fiber supplements, etc.... are things she can try, but they may not work well for her. I know she has tried more than a few of them.

I do think that a magnesium supplement daily may help her. It can cause diarrhea if you take too much, but it will help with constipation. The dose is as personal as any other medication is. At a very very low dose, 1/4 of the lowest OTC pill, I get days of diarrhea. Of course most poeple don't, but it may be something to try.

 

[helpangel]

I agree with the others about the water, fiber & miralax maintenance (Angel takes ducolax for maintenance) This has been an ongoing problem for Angel since about 6yo 5 hospital stays with- 3 resulting in trips to the OR to remove blockages under anesthesia.

I've noticed for some reason the times she has been hit the worst with constipation is when her thyroid medication is off and needs dosage changed; on that note when your doctor is doing bloodwork ask him to check how your thyroid is functioning (TSH, T3, T4)

Angel's GI doctor also looked at the blood for some antibodies to determine if she needed a gluten-free, casein-free diet ; she didn't but it was good that they looked because a lot of those high fiber things are loaded with wheat and if she had a sensitivity to it... her GI doctor said it would have made the problem worse.

To avoid a hospital stay once we used maganize citrate (not sure on spelling) it's over the counter, little glass bottle, inexpensive under $5 it works as good as the golightly they give you in the hospital; but I gotta warn you about the taste its kind of like a mix of goat spit & urnal cakes with a hint of lemon the only way Angel could get it down was mixing it with grape soda and using a straw to get it past her tastebuds.

Fleet's enema's - they make one for babies the nozzel is much smaller then the over the counter ones, another option when impacted. Angel sometimes it gets so bad that there is nothing else to be done orally and we have to approach this problem from the other end literally. (Sorry getting gross here) but when she has taken so much laxatives that she has liquid poo behind the blockage there isn't much choice.

I hope your feeling better now and one of us suggests a preventative that works for you.
Nancy