I would stock up on miralax and benefiber. Both are easily added to food and he will not know it. Well, if you put the benefiber in a glass of liuid and it sits for 30 mins he might find it, but if you put it in with a drink that he takes any other medications with he won't see it. Or with a drink with a meal.
Miralax can be added the same way.
I was SUPER skeptical about the whole not able to notice it. Then one day Jessie asked me how I liked the cup of juice she brought to me. She had been putting one or the other in various drinks/foods for an entire WEEK! (I was having problems due to a pain medication and she knew I was postponing taking them because I am a big baby about things that taste "funny" or "artificial" or have a grainy texture.) I was blown away!
If it is REALLY bad, put a bottle of mineral oil in the fridge. Then pour it in with some juice and have him drink it quickly. It leaves a funny coating on your tongue, in my opinion, but has no real taste.
Stock up on the "granola" type bars with fiber. My kids LOVE them. The fiber one brand is not as "yummy" as the ones made by kellogs, but they would each eat as many as I would allow per day.
thank you didn't believe they had fiber, or that it would really do anything. So he ate 3 of them in one afternoon. (Need I mention he LOVES chocolate and peanuts/peanut butter??) He then spent the entire evening running back and forth to the potty. We all used my bathroom so he wouldn't have to wait.
They WILL get you moving.
Does your husband like crunchy snacks? Stock up on different flavors of mini wheats. Malt O Meal even has chocolate ones. I have NOT tried them but the maple and brown sugar ones are great! Instead of serving them in a bowl with milk for breakfast, put some out in a dish for snacking. Increases the fiber, not too much sugar, and a great crunchy snack. Until Wiz was 3 he thought that "candy" was another word for "mini wheats". No Joke! I would "ration" them so that they were treats and they worked wonders.
Make homemade granola. Use oats, bran, bran cereal, and other high fiber ingredients. Milled flax seed is good in it - adds some healthy fats and other things. I use either olive or canola oil, honey or maple syrup depending on the flavor I want, then I add protein powder (EAS vanilla flavor - it is a drink mix but adds a lot of protein to offset the sugar). The recipe I use is in the complete tightwad gazette. I can fish it out if you want the exact recipe.
If he is really uncomfortable an enema may help. Even if you don't use one get some tucks pads to help soothe when the flood gate opens. Or buy a bottle of witch hazel and have him put some on toilet paper - does the same as the tucks pads for a lot less $$. If he doesn't want that, baby wipes or moist wipes for adults will be appreciated. So will some hemorrhoid cream or diaper rash cream. Not only will it soothe the skin but it will also provide a barrier to prevent irritation from getting worse.
As the system moves, he may appreciate a heated rice bag to hold against his tummy while he is in the bathroom. It will help the cramping.
If ALL of this fails, there are 2 other things that he/y'all can try.
If the slowdown is caused by pain medications there is a medication called relistor. It is an injection that you give to yourself. It works on the opiate receptors in your gut so that they don't plug you up. Results are within 15 minutes, usually with-in 5 from my experience. It is VERY dramatic and can be quite painful as you clean out. My doctor says no more than 1 injection every 3 days. It is EXPENSIVE but not as costly as bowel surgery or a hospital stay.
The other option is a home remedy that one of the older docs in town learned from his mom. Our pediatrician chose to use this when Jessie got badly impacted a couple of years ago. It is a milk and molasses enema. You warm an entire jar of molasses and pour it into an enema bag, scraping as much out as you can with a scraper. Then you fill the jar with milk and warm that up. Add it to the enema bag and mix very well.
It is administered as much as the patient can hold at a time. You just keep administering it after each "expulsion" until the enema bag is empty.
While NOT fun, it is a whole lot better than keeping the blockage.
This may be too much information, but hopefully one or more of the suggestions will help him feel better soon.
I STRONGLY recommend stocking up on witch hazel or tucks pads and on cream to soothe the affected areas. Put some rice in a sock if you don't have a hot pack you can microwave. It is cheap and super comforting. If you make 2 rice socks/bags you can heat one while he is using the other one. (If you don't want to use socks you can quickly sew a hot bag up. I take old shirts and cut the sleeves off then sew up the ends. Or use a small hand towel.
I hope he feels better soon!
I'll try to talk him into Miralax but if he won't swallow a stool softener pill....I'm not to optimistic! Thanks, guys. DDD
