Constipation 😖

Earlier this year my 8 year old granddaughter had to see a paediatrician because of impaction. She was prescribed the children’s version of Cosmocol. It worked for her so I tried the adult version and it has helped me a lot.

Prune juice would possibly work better, but higher in sugar for taking each day

I also recommend Dulcolax .
Include fibre in your diet as suggested .

And very sorry , I'm going to be frank here , but three members of my family have had impaction .
Two of them have ended up in hospital .

Take a walk /exercise or dance , then run a warm bath and give your tummy a nice long massage .
This will stimulate your intestines .

Gently insert a glycerine suppository allow it to melt and very gently push onto some loo paper soaked in olive oil -holding it against your anus , relax and very gently push again and repeat until you pass a poo 💩 !

Each time you relax the oil will be drawn into the rectum making it easier and less painful to pass a poo .
Always wash your botty afterwards .

Believe me this works !

My mum was prescribed 'laxido' by the doctor when she hadn't 'gone' for 10 days or so - worked overnight for her. He is a geriatric specialist and described it as a 'game changer' in care.

I think you can buy it at a pharmacy but use with caution if you have a heart condition.

So much excellent advice!! My DH spoke to our local pharmacist yesterday who recommended glycerin suppositories. Happy to report it worked!! Thanks to you lovely people, I feel better informed to cope with this if/when it happens again. Merry Christmas

Excellent. They are a game changer.. and quick. Changes to diet etc etc are importamt but when you need help you need help today not next week. Happy Christmas

Grandyma

Thanks for all your suggestions. I haven’t been taking cocodamol or anything. I probably need to drink more.

I probably need to drink more.

That's a bit of a give-away Grandyma!

You absolutely must drink plenty of fluids. The recommendation is 6-8 glasses a day (how big is a glass though?) - otherwise your constipation might get worse.

Peppermint oil can help. It relaxes the muscles in the digestive tract making the bowels looser. A friend of mine swears by a morning coffee with a few Mint Imperials which she says always helps to get things moving.

Constipation is miserable. Please do make sure you are drinking enough - preferably water for the main part.

My poor little granddaughter had terrible constipation - sat her on the potty, gave her warm water to drink and when she eventually went, it looked liked it was from an elephant’s bottom , not a 3 year old’s 😂

I do sympathise nothing’s worse. I take fybogel, which is fairly gentle and works well if taken regularly . I agree with Granny23 about a squatting position - try putting your feet on a small stool/step while sitting on the loo. Apparently that’s why the French use those squatting loos!!!

Glad to learn your problem has passed. I find that a scattering of pumpkin seeds on my morning cereal or porridge is a good preventative. Tasty as well.

Prevention is better than cure.

I use Movicol sachets, bought from Boots, and Psyllium husk capsules, bought online. Codeine is bad news for me and so are anaesthetics. I had an operation with general anaesthetic on Wednesday and have only just returned to normal, after some very unpleasdant experiences.

I try to drink plenty of water and eat two dates a day but in extremis, I find a handful of dried apricots usually does the trick

>Drink lots, up the lactulose.

Sounds painful!

Oh how I am jealous, normal for me is 3 to 4 and as much as 8 to 10 times a day and nothing is ever solid. Yes I am seeing gastro and my GP knows

Movicol is much kinder than lactulose which can cause a gripey tummy and wind. Just mix with any liquid and drink.
Used in hospitals as more effective and you can easily adjust dose. You can get in pharmacies.

Try taking senna tablets

Liquorice!

I have had this problem on and off for years and tried most remedies, including prescriptions from the doctor. Recently I started adding a small teaspoon of flax seed to my breakfast cereal. The best results I’ve ever had. Now going regularly with no difficulty.

I too add flax seeds (milled), eat an apple a day and drink prune juice if necessary. I should drink more water.

You could just try good old porridge or pure orange juice or prunes. Medication I take always used to make me the same way. Since I have a bowl of porridge everyday never had an issue

Hope things are better for you now but I just wanted to say that I have this problem occasionally and find the best solution is to eat oranges - preferably the extra large ones from M&S but any oranges will do. If I'm having a lot of trouble then I'll eat two. Works every time.

I take co codamol and it gives me constipation, I take sodium docusate to counteract it, but I've just had a bout of it not working. I doubled the dose, then added in Laxido and when that still didn't work I finally added in Senna. I really don't know if that is against medical practice but after a week of 'not going' I was desperate. It worked!!

Prunes or dried apricots,plus drinking alot of water,and going for a walk every day gets things moving

My father was a GP of the school that held that laxatives are potentially likely to solve the immediate problem, but at the same time cause a new one in that your system grew accustommed to the help and didn't work well thereafter.

Any time we were constipated we were made to drink a lot of cold water, not drink milk, or eat milky things, and instead to eat apples and prunes.

Usually this worked. Exercise can be benificial too.