Chronic Constipation of the over 65s

GoodAfternoonTea

Good morning. Over the summer I have been suffering with the most chronic constipation having to rely on prune juice first thing in the morning and kiwi fruit to get me through the day. I appear to have slow gut motility and need to visit the throne room up to ten times a day. I do have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday but does anyone else over 65 suffer with this problem and how do you resolve it?

I suggest you take the prune juice at night, so it can do its work while you're asleep. This helps promote the ideal habit of a bowel movement after breakfast.

A nurse friend advised me that pineapple juice works better. Just the sort you buy in a carton in the supermarket. Her advice was "by the time you've drunk the whole carton, constipation will be banished". It worked :-)

I find having a cup of hot water on waking helps. And having just bought a tens machine for my knee I’ve read that you can use it for constipation, too ( but not if you have a pacemaker fitted).

10 whole almonds skin on and half a glass of water after each meal three times a day. Gives you lots of vitamin E as well.

Just to say that I bought a squatty stool and it has been transformational. Really works when you think it won't. Thank you to everyone for your advice.

Sheila4483

I agree with others who recommend Dulcoease. It is gently unlike some irritant type laxatives. Nigella Lawson has a recipe for breakfast bars which contain mixed seeds. I add extra flax seeds and have one every day with my breakfast. Lots of fruit for lunch and plenty veg with my evening meal. It all helps.

I found dulcoease and dulcolax were both very painful for me.

I agree with others who recommend Dulcoease. It is gently unlike some irritant type laxatives. Nigella Lawson has a recipe for breakfast bars which contain mixed seeds. I add extra flax seeds and have one every day with my breakfast. Lots of fruit for lunch and plenty veg with my evening meal. It all helps.

When I was when I was about 7, I developed a love of liquorice. Too much so - greedy little child that I was, I demolished ‘shoe laces’ and a couple of ‘Catherine wheels’ on a trip out. Despite warnings from a concerned Nana, I carried on scoffing and made myself thoroughly sick! Serve me right! I got no sympathy from my Nana and felt ill for ages.
I haven’t touched it since. I’m not greedy now either. A valuable lesson learned, I think!

I have always loved liquorice and I used to buy pontefract cakes on the market. I do eat plenty of fruit and veg but find that liquorice can be helpful and I enjoy it too.

Taking a 350mg tablet of magnesium oxide twice a day does wonders for me.

Thank you so much everyone for you wonderful and very informative answers. I went to see my GP today and discussed at length with her my chronic constipation problem. She was very sweet, laughed, and recommended Dulcoease. So, I am to take a couple at night and see how I go. Also, I must walk more, drink up to 2 litres of water a day, and get my fibre going too.

Greciangirl

Well. You certainly wouldn’t be constipated if you had a colonoscopy.
The liquid you have to drink is vicious and you poo for England.
I won’t have one myself for that reason.

No the stuff they gave me didn't work well at all.

www.healthline.com/health/ibs-constipation

Slow motility not uncommon in older people but good to hear you have consultation with GP tomorrow to identify possibility of undiagnosed or underlying cause.
I use a combination of one or two different types of laxatives regularly:-
Bulk forming laxative
Stimulent laxative
Faecal softeners
Ostmotic laxative
[plus recommended hydration, fruit & veg]
If using linseed/flax seeds, grind it to a powder and take 30g. daily. Best of luck on Tuesday as it can disrupt the quality of life

Well. You certainly wouldn’t be constipated if you had a colonoscopy.
The liquid you have to drink is vicious and you poo for England.
I won’t have one myself for that reason.

Broccoli, cabbage and green beans are my favourite too, but if I eat too much of them I suffer horrendous smelly wind.
So, I don’t eat them every day.

Eight portions of fruit and veg seems a bit excessive to me.

Try to get a good daily walk

Yes. Still finding my way after 4 years. I’m 75. Just been hospitalised because of Covid! Worse one I’ve had. So it’s been tough.

Have you had your thyroid function tested recently? An under active thyroid can have the side effect of constipation amongst other things e.g tiredness, weight gain , lethargy, brain fog, depression, slower pulse etc. Worth asking Dr if can have thyroid function tested if you have any of these other symptoms. Otherwise more fluid and soluble fibre, knees above hips when sitting on the loo. Look up the Bristol Stool Chart so that when you see the GP you can be talking the same language when talking about what you are excreting. Hope it improves soon.

Yoghurt helps me, I do think exercise is important too.
But I had a vagina prolapse for years. I knew that I had anterior prolapse, but I didn’t realise that I also had a posterior prolapse, and my vagina prolapsed into my bowel when I sat down, which was making it very difficult to empty my bowel.
I had a prolapse repair last autumn, and I can’t believe what a difference it has made.
So, really worth getting everything checked out.

Aswell as have ground flaxseed in my breakfast topped with a mix of seeds I take 2 Magnesium tablets ( from Nutrition Geeks) one morning and one at night. They have been a game changer for me!

My dh ended up in hospital because of this. I had been telling him literally for years that he didn’t drink enough - he never seemed to have a ‘thirst’ impulse, only a ‘hunger’ one.

He told the medics that I was always telling him he didn’t drink enough, and they said, ‘Well, you should have listened to your wife, then!’

He now makes a point of drinking a lot more.

Fybogel - gentle natural and effective . Plenty of water every day.

I have suffered from chronic constipation due to slow gut motility for many years. Added fibre and more vegetables etc actually make it worse because it doesn’t move through the gut fast enough and just gets stuck.
The most effective treatment I have found is Milk of Magnesia. I had never thought of it as an option but came across several forums where people said it worked for them. I tried it and have taken it daily ever since.
I told the bowel consultant when I had my last appointment that I was taking it daily and he said it was ok. I know it’s seen as an old fashioned remedy by some but it works. I take just less than one capful each night and drink plenty of water.

I have had lots of tests done to find out why I have suffered with constipation all my life, I was found to have extra colon and a high salt content in my body, I drink lots of water eat veg and fruit every day but nothing helps so the doctor prescribed me Dulcolax Pico liquid and tablets. I now go every few days. Unless you suffer with constipation it's hard to understand how it can rule your life.

Senna is very natural and gentle, also make All bran part of your daily diet and plenty of liquids