I suffer a lot from constipation

Drink motor oil. Not the synthetic kind!

Miralax.

Miralax. Every day

Magnesium. The mineral, not the drug.

Butterbean! Butterbean!

Try giving up gluten for a week or two.

[quote]I suffer a lot from constipation

No shit.

What are you eating? Do you eat a lot of processed food?

Maybe you need to change what you eat. If you are eating right (lots of raw vegetables, fruits, and lean meats) you should see a doctor. Could be something more serious.

In the words of Marilu Henner "Stool's the Rule!"

yup if you don't eat foods that contain fiber you should. the stereotypical american diet is designed to give you constipation

Short term: buy some stool softener capsules from the drug store.

Long term: get more fruits and vegetables into your diet. You should also probably take a metamucil (in tablet form) every morning.

Psyllium husks which can be found in any health food store. Sprinkle it on top of cereal or on anything really.

lay off the cheese

No more painkillers (the opiate type) for you OP!

OP, you need to reset your peristalsis. You need the three-day apple therapy.

For 2 1/2 days you eat apples and drink water. Nothing else. On the third day, when you have a clear schedule, you drink a cup of olive oil. By the next morning your body will be ready for normality - just get enough fluids, fiber, and a balanced diet.

OP, I'm like you and apparently, the older you get you're probably going to get consipation. In fact constipation directly contributed to me having an ulcer.

Here's my solution: probiotic drinks, which include the folllowing

Kefir (you should make it at home, it's stronger that way), Filmjolk (Siggis has it but again, use Siggis to make your own), Bulgarian Buttermilk, yogurt drinks.

I forget which yogurt makes you go, it's the one in the green package, that will help you too. GL. Constipation causes way too many screw ups in your system, even causes weight gain.

OP if you're sedentary you need to get up and move around. Seriously That's my first recommendation. Walk. Every day. I'm more regular now that I'm older. But that's because I fixed my chronic problem. First distilled alcohol and desserts loaded with sugar. They are constipating. Red meat, fatty foods, processed meats, all bad. Stop eating them. Anything processed has nitrites and nitrates. Carcinogens. I eat smoked turkey breast and you can find bacon without nitrites but for the most part avoid them.Eat more veggies. Eat fruit that's high in fiber like apples. Add beans to your diet. White beans, pintos, Lentils, etc. Wonderful for their protein and their fiber. Take a fiber supplement daily. Metamucil , Benefiber, or something like it. Start taking probiotics. At your age one or two capsules shout suffice. Drink a lot of water. Not pop, or lemonade, or juice. WATER.. OK. That's it. Let's recap: Ambulate/Exercise. Fiber supplement. Change your diet. Take Probiotics. Drink more water. Five things. Do them and you'll feel like a new person. Seriously. Just try it for a month.

Miralax. Generic version (Target, Walgreen's have it on sale all the time). Keep a blue bottle of Phillips Milk of Magnesia handy for the big blockages. I eat a ton of fiber and veg, but still need the above to stay regular. This can, believe it or not, be partially a genetic thing but since people don't talk about it you might not know

Your diet is likely the cause. You should be eating a healthy, significant and ongoing amount of fruits, vegetables and grains--food that contain fiber. Unless your diet is already healthy, you probably don't need pills and over-the-counter remedies and drugs. You need fiber. Start your day with steel cut oats and nonfat Greek yogurt. Eat broccoli, have a salad, salmon or chicken. Eat an apple; have a banana. Lighten up on sweets and simple carbohydrates. These foods should help significantly.

You have worms in your ass

[quote]On the third day, when you have a clear schedule, you drink a cup of olive oil.

I'm Greek and Italian, and even *I* find that disgusting.

Let us know when you find a cure.

[quote] Perpetually Blocked Peggy Lee and Sada Thompson

Y'all bitches be DEAD. There is no blockage happening!

Gastroenterologist snow admit that many people lose peristalsis as they age and may require laxatives. It used tio be that gastroenterologist subsisted old people were not to "become dependent on" laxatives and that adding fiber to the diet was all that was needed. Now they know that some people need low residue as opposed to high fiber diets and that older people don't become constipated because they are dependent on laxatives -- they are dependent on laxatives because they are constipated. All the water drinking and salad eating in the world won't help some people the way Miralax will. Put some in your daily fluids.

It's likely a question of blood supply to nerve endings. Just like old people lose small blood vessels to their face, which makes their skin appear so pale, they probably lose small blood vessels to the GI tract. Constipation had plagued aging people in all cultures for eons before there was such a thing as "the American diet. " Back in the days when there was nothing but an all-natural diet, there were written mrecords of kings and queens and emperors complaining of constipation.

One thing that is for sure -- every old person has their own sure fire remedy for constipation. It's raw sauerkraut. It's prune juice. It's apples. It's lots and lots of salads. It's kefir. It's goat's milk. It's hot water with fresh lemon juice. It's fruit. It's nuts. It's vegetables. It's 300 ounces of pure mineral water every day. It's probiotics. It's green tea. It's an alternating diet of apples and pears every other day. It's dates. It's raisins.

It's cutting out meat. It's cutting out sugar. It's cutting out gluten. It's cutting out dairy. It's cutting out grains of any kind. It's not eating after 6pm.

Every old person KNOWS their solution works and everyone should use it. Until it doesn't.

Costco sells generic Miramar for a good price.

Miralax, sorry

Bad Spelkorekt!, bad!

This whole thread has turned into a geriatric check-in. How old are you OP?

Uncle Sam's Cereal with flaxseed.

Water and change in diet before drugs

Fig newtons

Miralax is a stool softerner/laxative and should never be taken on a daily basis. As someone who has suffered since childhood from chronic constipation brought on by allergies to foods I was not even aware of, and going through surgery and general agony for years, I can only repeat what I said up thread. I haven't had any problems for more than ten years. I finally figured out what I needed to do. For years I modified my diet, but I did none of the other things that help one overcome this. The reason why older adults suffer, is because they are sedentary. You have to stay mobile. Unless you are infirm and can't walk, you have to move! You have to hydrate. Drink water. Elderly people very often do not drink enough fluids, especially water. You have to avoid sugary sweets, red meat, processed foods, and distilled alcohol. But most of all take your fiber supplements and probiotics.

Eat dates - they taste like candy. Sometimes they work right away.

1. Be sure you drink plenty of water each day 2. Do you eat enough roughage each day? Include salad and vegetables with your lunch and dinner, and eat fresh fruit. 3. Avoid too many white flours and baked goods. Eat whole grain breads and cereals. Have a digestive cracker after dinner. 4. Probiotics are important to keep the good flora in your intestines at a healthy level. I recommend Bio-K probiotocs, available at health food stores. 5. In the meantime take a stool softener each day. Avoid laxatives unless you're seriously constipated.

Agree about eating more vegetables and less sugar/starch, and drinking more water.

However, the simplest thing to try would be this: chew your food properly. Chew each mouthful thoroughly until there is nothing solid left before you swallow, don't wolf down barely-gnawed chunks or OF COURSE you'll have problems (especially if your diet contains a lot of garbage). Yes it's tedious and takes some getting used to, but it's worth a shot and it's free. Most people eat way too fast.

Oatmeal keeps constipation away from me. However if you are going to drown them in sugar because you can't handle the taste forget it. You will just be creating another problem. There are plenty of really sweet fruits high in fiber like, mangoes, pineapples, apples (eat the skin), etc. You won't find these at Burger King though so put some effort and your constipation will eventually go away. Exercises also helps push things along.

OP, start on Metamucil immediately. A rounded teaspoon full after lunch and dinner in a big glass of water. It'll take your body about 2 weeks to fully acclimate to it. You'll have a good bit of gas for a while. It may take a few days after you start for it to purge any impacted matter in your colon, so be patient. But trust me, once it happens you'll think you've died and gone to Heaven. And it's not just to help your constipation. It's a therapy that reconditions your intestines over time. Once you start using it you'll never want to be without it.

Miralax is inert and works by the simple fact that osmosis is real.

[quote] Miralax is a stool softerner/laxative and should never be taken on a daily basis.

I take it every day and I'm fine.

Many people with different types of conditions take miralax every day.

Gastroenterologists say it's fine for people with chronic constipation. As with everything else, you drink plenty of fluids and you'll be fine.

Thanks for your uneducated advice, though I prefer staying out of the operating room, so I'll keep taking it and I'll stay fine.

Yes, R37. Miralax doesn't actually do anything itself. The liquid with which you drink the Miralax does the actual work on the stool, facilitated by the osmotic action that Miralax induces.

[quote]In fact constipation directly contributed to me having an ulcer.

R15, could you explain how that was? I don't see the connection.

Ich muss schissen!

I've been using squatty potty for over a year and it works great

I want one of those R41.

Do not underestimate the benefits of exercise. All these other suggestions are fine except that they don't emphasize it enough. Drink water too

Two tablespoons of metamucil may be too much every day. I would start with once in the morning. I drink a huge glass of hot Lemon water every morning and then my metamucil. Probiotics and then do as R32 suggests.

Does Miramax help?

Eat Quest bars. They have a ton of fiber and no sugar alcohol like most "healthy bars" Avoid "healthy" grains and give up wheat.

Well, just between us, I'm bound up tighter than Christian Bale in a primo Dom session--so it's the Phillip's blue bottle for me! 😡

The problem with laxatives is they upset the balance in the colon and encourage constipation. Some people end up dependent on laxatives. OP get yourself on a regimen.

What R35 said. One tablespoon of Metamucil after dinner (I prefer the Target brand) has worked for me for years.

OP if you suffer from slow emptying bowel, gastropatesis the suggestions in this thread, raw vegetables, fiber etc. will only worsen your symptoms. I know what suffering with gastropatesis is like, everyone wants to help by shoving the eat more fiber meme,till you want to scream, read the symptoms & see if it fits.

If I ever have a daughter I shall name her Miralax

Back in the day when I would go the the baths, they always offered a douche tube. If I do not have a movement for a second day, off goes the cable shower head, on goes the douche tube. Why would I spend time praying for a movement when a little warm water flushes it right out. It's just water, not some industrial lube.

[quote]Back in the day when I would go the the baths, they always offered a douche tube.

Does no one offer a douche tube anymore? Whatever happened to class?

A fish oil or flax seed capsule a day will help.

you don't need drugs or "cures". Eat right and get some exercise. Age has nothing to do with constipation. I'm an elder gay - never had any problems. If you change your habits and still no change, see a doctor.

exercise. fiber. water. enemas. butt fucking. more exercise. fibre, water. enemas and even more butt fucking.

I find that eating an orange per day works for me. Also, try just plain hot water. I know, I know, it sounds weird but my grandmother swore by it and it worked for me. When we kids were young and ate too much candy or whatever, this is what she would give us. It worked within hours, not of that overnight crap (no pun intended).

What about trying a mild version of the pre-colonoscopy prep? You can Google it. I remember using some kind of lemon-lime flavored something. I think it's called magnesium citrate. Available at Walgreens and CVS, each has their own brand.

If Miralax doesn't work, there's a new drug, Linzess. And you can take the Linzess along with the Miralax.

There's another new drug for constipation as well but I can't remember the name of it (according to my gastroenterologist).

I think the other new drug is Amitiza.

[quote]Two tablespoons of metamucil may be too much every day

I didn't say "two tablespoons". I said "a TEASPOON after lunch and dinner"

Magnesium Citrate is a very harsh laxative. It should only be used in the most extreme cases of constipation and used very seldom.

R60, I'm R56. That's interesting; I was prescribed 1 bottle of magnesium citrate and miralax powder mixed with 64 ounces of water, for my colonoscopy prep. I don't recall having explosive diarhea(sp) from it. The two did an efficient job, though. Perhaps he could try a couple of tablespoons or something?

So if you have a tablespoon of Metamucil at night, will you make nice fluffy poops in the morning?

I take Metamucil in the morning. I always poop in the morning. Like clockwork.

Doesn't it take a while to work?

Magnesium oxide has a very low absorption rate--it goes right through the system which induces bowel movements. For me it works better than Miralax, Metamucil, flaxseeds, etc. I try to mix things up so as to not become dependent on one item, but MO is really the only one that consistently works. It's also cheap as hell. 175- 250mg a day is enough to move things along. I find Miralax frustrating. If I take a smaller dose, it has no effect. I have to take the full cap dose for it to work, but for the last few hours before the BM, I'm gassy and have mild cramps.

Of course for long term solution and health, I agree with the suggestions on diet, exercise and hydration. But I find in middle age, I now need a little extra help.

Also for a small minority, look into SIBO and FODMAP. Sometimes eating lots of fiber and the "right" food can actually contribute to constipation.

daddy needs to put you over his lap and after your suppository, give you a strong enema and make sure you're clean, inside and out. then he'll tuck you in bed, you'll sleep MUCH better after a nice tuck.

I have Crohn's and practically live in the toilet, I kinda envy you OP.

it seems you have to experiment a lot to figure out what works

OP - lots of good advice in this thread. Unfortunately, what works for one person doesn't always work for you. You'll have to figure this out via trial and error until - hopefully - you land on something that works for you. I used to have a different problem. Despite eating plenty of fiber rich foods, drinking 12+ glasses of water a day, doing cardio 5 days a week and weightlifting 4 days a week, getting 7+ hours of sleep a night I was getting stuck. I wasn't constipated, but I was getting sticky, tar like shits - the consistency of toothpaste. I wasn't constipated, per se, but the consistency of my shits was making it such that going to the bathroom involved a whole roll of tp each time and a proper shower just to feel clean and I NEVER felt like it all came out - would sit on the toilet sometimes for 90 minutes straining to push that last bit out. It was awful. Then, I started eating a small bowl of All Bran Buds in the morning with a splash of half & half. Even though I was getting plenty of fiber rich food throughout the day, I found that this concentrated dose of insoluble fiber in the form of the cereal did the trick. I'd tried mixes, pills, seeds etc. Nothing worked like the cereal. I sound like some shill for Kellog's, I know! But I now have light, pluffy poops that only require one or two flushes - a few wipes with regular TP and a quick swipe with a wet wipe and I'm clean and poop free. It was such a relief. Good luck to you!!!

Why are they called buds?

R70, because they're friendly to your colon?

OP, hunny, I sure hope you got some relief. You been constipated a lonnnng time.

You in danger, gurl.

If you were a mathematician, you could just work it out with a pencil.

Make sure you're getting enough healthy fats (they provide lubrication). My friend bitched to me that she never goes, despite all the fiber in her vegan diet. It turned out that she had been told all fats are evil and was not consuming enough of them. I recommended that she down a spoonful of olive oil and she crapped 2 hours later. She now takes a fatty acids supplement and doesn't get constipated any more.

Dear Lord in Heaven!

Nature's Path bran cereal is an all natural alternative to Bran buds

Peanut butter is a great laxative, I find. But don't buy the type--Skippy is one example--that's loaded with sugar.

Peanut butter makes me constipated. Except for the all natural Trader Joe's brand. Supermarket peanut butter is poison.

OP Oded on Miralax? Stand back! We're gonna get something on us.

There's very little sugar in peanut butter - I think Jif & Peter Pan taste miles better than that natural separated crap. Reminds me of when I lived in Ireland - their peanut butter sucks! No wonder they think we're barmy to love the stuff because theirs tastes like wallpaper paste.

Eat scrambled eggs with with homemade salsa (as hot as you can stand it) for breakfast - you won't be constipated much longer. Stop eating so much rice.

Juniper berries... Not too much though!

Dayum -- I done shit me a brick.

[quote]Juniper berries... Not too much though!

They're much easier to get down as gin.

Prunes for breakfast and turnip greens for dinner and you'll be just fine.

BEETS! i cannot recommend eating beets and beet greens enough, they literally saved my ass from having to go to the emergency room, i eat them everyday. i know i definitely roll my eyes whenever anyone says "just drink more water and eat more fruits and vegetables" but that really does help. cutting back on your dairy intake should help some too, as well as starches and cutting out white bread and switching to whole wheat and whole grains. i also take 1 capsule of evening primrose oil a day and eat dark chocolate with a cacao of 60% or more.

don't use any over the counter laxatives or stool softeners, they will fuck up your insides like nothing else and you're body will become dependent on them. also, you don't want to use any over the counter fiber supplements or psyllium husks. just stay away from anything that is a stool bulkener because your stool is suppose to be no more than the size of a quarter, so trying to pass too big of a movement will tear your anal canal and give you painful internal fissures and external/internal hemorrhoids.

hope this helps, constipation is no fun for anyone.

Coffee on an empty stomach in the morning always works for me.

coffee and a cigarette guarantees a fluffy shit...

I have always been more prone to have loose to normal stools.

I'm now on Lortab 4 times a day and I'm constipated for the first time in my life.

It is maddening.

what exactly is a fluffy poop?

It's poop that's been whipped and airated. Like meringue. it should stand in stiff peaks.

They tend to float.

still with this we're talking?

Metamucil seems to make the fluffiest poops

Any nursing home attendant will tell you the fall-back method that works when all else fails - manual evacuation. Get some surgical gloves and stick your finger/hand up your rectum and pull out the poop (having applied plenty ky jelly on the glove fingers). Practice different methods - swirling around like stirring, or crooking your finger to dig it out, etc. I've heard there's some device for doing this but I don't know the name of it, but fingers work just fine. For women (and maybe Caitlyn post bottom surgery) you can stick your thumb in the vagina to help guide the poop you're dragging out with your other fingers.

If there is poop in the lower colon, then a suppository should work. I would do that before digging.

A little bit of warm water provides enough lubrication, and we are talking about a LACK, of lubrication here, to ease the refuse. No big deal and you can doe it almost every day. No need for rectal foraging.

Movantik. It's a new drug for OIC- Opioid Induced Constipation. We know a lot of people take painkillers and that fucks everything up!

r98, isn't a little water better than taking a pill for the effects of another pill?

an enema bulb with about 1/2 cup warm water usually gets things to come out

r73 Make sure it's not the pencil you use for dialing.

For occasional constipation, half of a very ripe cantaloupe will have you saying "Aaaahhhh........" in short order.

Thanks guys. I've discovered that a soapy finger does wonders. Burns like hell but man, does it work!

Ewwwww @ the manual assistance idea.

Well R103 it works.

Yuck

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