For the past couple of weeks I've had, what the Dr told me was, constipation. I've had constipation in the past - hard stools, difficult to pass, corrected with improvement of diet - but this feels different.
I don't get an urge to go anymore, when I do go it's because I've sat on the toilet and strained (almost to the point of passing out sometimes) and what comes out is pencil thin and very underwhelming. I no longer get that wonderful feeling of satisfaction.
I've improved my diet, am taking exercise and drinking water. All the usual things. The Dr sent me off with Movicol and suppositories. The movicol made no difference whatsoever (I think it's supposed to soften the motions but actually, when they come out they're soft anyway, just hard to get out) and the suppositories, well, they just cleared the immediate area I think. They didn't help to do much else.
The only relief I had was after taking two Dulcolax one evening, but even after taking those I still had to massively strain to get anything out.
It just doesn't feel normal, and it came on very suddenly. It's the complete lack of urge that's bothering me. I can compare the feeling to my two labours. With my first, I was pushing but without the urge to do so, and made no progress. With my second, my body took over and did the pushing effectively. That's what going to the toilet used to be like.
I'm going to go back to the Dr because I am concerned but thought I'd post here to see if anyone has any insights.