AIBU to go to A&E??

[Namechange1922]

I am extremely constipated to the point where I simply cannot go. I have been this way for maybe 3 years.. Numerous trips to the doctors and sent away with different meds, diet change (tried wheat free, gluten free, dairy free, all of the above free!), prune juice etc, movicol, laxido, different toilet positions, every single type of 'Dulco' form, senna tablets, sennocot etc. You name it, I've tried it! Some laxatives are effective and work within a few hours but as soon as the next day comes I am back to being constipated to the point I feel sick and have chest pains. A few months back my doctor finally referred me to a clinic, I moved house around the same time and apparently a letter was sent to my old address of my new appointment which was back in September so obviously I missed this, i phoned the hospital I was due to have the appointment who told me I will need to get back in touch with my doctor and ask them to refer me again. I phoned the doctors, explained the situation and arranged a telephone appointment.. Waited until late evening and still no phonecall, arranged another call, I answered just as they hung up (phoned back within seconds couldn't get through). Constant phone tennis and all I need is to be re reffered to the hospital! This issue is really affecting my life, I'm in pain all the time, miserable as I constantly feel full up and needing to go to the toilet, I can't lie on my stomach or back as the pressure is too uncomfortable, sex is out of the question as it has become painful. The tablets are now having less of an effect and I have to overdose on laxatives to get anything to come out and even then it is just watery and the relief only lasts a few hours (sorry way too much info) I am fed up quite frankly and I most likely will not get another appointment now for a good few months. WIBU to take myself to A&E? Would they be able to do anything? It's been a good few days now of passing nothing.. Please help!

My aunt went to a&e with severe constipation and it turned out to be bowel cancer. It can sometimes be serious

@marmitegirl01

I love that someone thinks thin porridge will solve this 🤦‍♀️

or prunes...

You say the laxatives work for a day then the next day you’re back to how you were?

You need to take the movicol for a considerable length of time to keep your bowels moving after you’re fully cleared out and then you can taper down to a maintenance dose.

It sounds like you’ve got overflow.

So the solid stool is sat there and all that can get past are the runny bits.

Have you tried inserting your fingers into your vagina and pushing back on the vaginal wall?

Also when trying to poo if you can raise your legs so you’re knees are higher than your midfriff this also helps to get things shifting.

Failing that if you’ve and absolute keeper of a DP they can pop a finger in your behind and try to manually evacuate.

@sexnotgender Yes I mean the gentle 'overnight' laxatives which are meant to work over a few days. I have tried movicol/laxido have been on a course of each for weeks but nothing has worked

@singlebutmarried I have tried all of these. Apart from asking partner Hahaha! He did say if I was crying in pain then he would but would rather not. It is higher than this though I honestly think I finger wouldn't work.. I pretty much spend my whole life Googling ways to get rid of it and have tried absolutely everything

I'm torn with this one.

When you take laxatives a lot, or for a long time.
Your bowels eventually give up trying at all.
So you end up needing more and more to get the job done and eventually end up in a right old pickle of not being able to go at all.
Your trigger muscle is kaput for a bit.
This could or could not be caused by an underlying issue, but either way the reliance on laxatives needs to be reduced and stopped and a different management (and of course investigation) put in place.
One of the options to help undo this issue is a 'wash out' type of devices which basically does exactly that.
You have community nurses who can do this.
I guess that's part of the referral process though.

There's also the option of bowel prep.
Have they tried that?

Have you tried a manual evacuation?

OP I had to call an ambulance fir my mum recently

It’s a long story but one reason paramedics wanted her to go to hospital was that they said she was unlikely to get help any other way.

This turned out not to be true, but given all the delays in your situation, I’d be concerned about some sort of blockage and I think you should go there.

All the best

This will sound mad,but I've been where you are and the only thing that works for me apart from an enema steriod bag was eating lots of liquorice,I've had IBS since I was 2(so 43 years now)and I've had ulcerative colitis for 22 years now and eating lots of liquorice is the nicest way I've found to get things moving.

I have gone over a month once without a bowel movement(idiot I know)and it did make me so so ill,I hope your able to get things moving soon.

You do need to be seen OP, I would try your GP again tomorrow though as frustrating as it is though just as I think it'll probably be more fruitful in pushing things forward.

Have you tried manual evacuation yourself?

Someone recently died because they ate lots of liquorice in a short space of time, so I'd go easy on that one.

Which one?!
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4069053-aibu-to-go-to-a-e?watched=1&msgid=101432043#101432043

I had this situation a couple of years ago. It was bloody awful, you have all my sympathy.
The only thing that worked was Movi prep and a colonoscopy. Twice. Movi prep is the devil's work, but bloody hell it gets things moving.
When they did the colonoscopies they found that I had a very long bowel which was the cause of the problem.
I have been very careful ever since to ensure I go everyday.
Good luck.

Please do go to A&E, OP. I don't want to alarm you, but I lost one friend to a perforated bowel, and another almost died when his bowel perforated when he was actually in A&E, because he left it so late - he has been left with a stoma bag as a result. Constipation can have serious consequences, and it's better to be safe than sorry. I hope you get this resolved.

I'm so sorry to hear about your problems. I could have written your post myself 15 years ago - being able to go only after taking laxatives once a week. I was so miserable.
Eventually I switched to high in fibre foods, which I noticed you haven't mentioned (although maybe an oversight).
Twice a day i would have a portion of
Tesco High Fibre Bran (22g of fibre in 100g) with yoghurt. Also I switched to brown rice, wholemeal bread, pasta, digestives instead of other biscuits, etc. It helped! My diet is boring now and not the tastiest but it's such a relief now. It took a few weeks to work but it did. I didn't use any laxatives in the meantime because, as someone else posted, I was worried that my intestine was working only because of them.
I understand that this won't help you right now but I wanted to share this as these changes to my diet have helped me immensely.
I hope that you will get help you need. Good luck x

I was just going to say bran, different people need different types of fibre a gp told me. I tried all bran and worked (not had anything as serious as you though)
Hope you feel better soon

Has the gp carried out any investigations?
Do don't have to be referred to gastroenterology to have a ct/ultrasound scan, a gp can refer you.

My grandmother was admitted to A&E with this. Turned out to be impacted poo, which was caused by a blockage. It can be serious - go.

Prunes always work for me, you’ll need half a tin.
Also keep yourself well hydrated, as while your poo is sat in your bowel your body absorbs the fluid out of it if it needs it.

It's awful to be suffering as you are. Yes there is covid going on, yes you should be being helped by a specialist referral from your GP etc but you're not and this is your health. Don't doubt yourself for a second that you need to demand this is investigated ASAP. If that is A&E then so be it. Imagine what you would advise your mum or partner etc if it was them with the problem.

What did you decide in the end OP? Are you ok?

@musical frog I will phone the doctor again in the morning and hope for a telephone call on Friday. I may also phone 111 and see what they suggest. Currently sitting here feeling fat and heavy. I am giving up with trying to mix laxatives/senna/stool softeners 😔 I feel sorry for my partner as he has had to deal with my grogginess for so long! It has hugely affected our relationship

111 will tell you to go to A&E, they tell most patients to go to A&E in my experience.