Urgent! What works for chronic constipation to the point I simply can't go?

[Pixiedust1973]

Not been to the toilet for over a week now. Got to the stage where I cannot eat. Nothing is working I have tried exlax chocolate, suppositories, laxido (8 sachets) & dulcalax pico pearles plus lots of water. The out of hours GP prescribed the pico pearles last night & I took them about 10 1/2 hours ago as well as the max dose of laxiod again & suppositories. Supposed to work within 6 to 12 hours, still nothing.. What else can I try? I don't want to spend Christmas day on the toilet or unable to eat. :(

That's great. Hope you get on ok with your dad there. Good idea see dr when open again and see if you need the colonoscopy then.

I am glad you had some b movement, hope you get well soon.

Thanks for the congrats all.:) I have had the start of something happening in the bowel area lol. Had some hidious bitter orange juice at the mother in laws yesterday as well as more pico & ended up running to the toilet a few times. This morning I had something heading more in the direction of normal poo, but still loose. Decided to give the gp a miss & have a lie in instead. Will only get the "nothing we can do over the holidays" spiel again anyway. Am going to see how things go if if necessary see emergency gp otherwise if things continue to move will wait until my scheduled gp appointment on 2nd January & suggest further investigation then. Might look into getting a colonic too. At the moment I have what feels like a very acid tummy & bowel areas. Am hoping it is the melting process continuing. Fingers crossed. Unfortunately I have my dad staying with me now & he's a complete liability so as my partner is at work doing anything else is pretty tricky anyway so I'm glad I avoided the gp. :)

Oopps. Sorry. For some reason it reposted myvladt message. Will definitely ask my gp for a colonscopy when I go there. It is likely he will refuse to refer if there is no current obvious issue though to save money. We will see.

I don't get the 'saving money' bit - this landed you in hospital; how expensive was that??

What you are describing on this thread is not run-of-the-milll constipation as a lot of people get from time to time. You've had heavy duty laxatives including osmotic and stimulant ones with little result.
No GP worth their salt will be reluctant to refer. Nor should they.

Money! Pfffft.

Much ado about nothing.

Will push the GP for further investigation. I agree, it definitely shouldn't be a money saving issue, but more often than not with the NHS it is. Managed to eat over half of my dinner today so thats an improvement. I definitely want to get back to normal & not let this happen ever again!

This is the right time of year, though - if the commissioners have been stingy with referrals to save money they often have a surplus in January that needs to get spent before end of March!

Either way, it doesn't sound like the blockage has come out yet, and the GP can't really dispute that there is a current issue when the hospital has an x-ray showing said blockage on it.

Congrats! Hurry up poo.

What do you mean by that Jeanseaburg?? Constipation may generally be a trivial discomfort but it can actually be life threatening - so why the trite comment?

Constipation can be an acute emergency. No laughing matter. It can make a perfectly sane individual utterly deranged because toxins build up in the system.

I mean if it was so serious OP would not be on here posting about engagements.

That's not so. The OP has a definite blockage. It's been confirmed by x-ray. She posted at a time when she couldn't stomach a meal. It is worrying when you're bodily functions cease to function for no apparent reason.

Well the woman can't take a crap, she's got a lot of time on her hands to post on MN. Many of us do more with less excuse :)

Last year a poster posted about having 'period pain' and it turned out to be ectopics. Another poster posted about her DS who was 'very sleepy' - he had massive complications of undiagnosed chicken pox and was actually unconscious. People do post about things that can be quite, quite serious, so that logic doesn't hold out.

Wow Jean - you are a real joy! Are people only allowed to post if they are at deaths door - well, thats clearly not going to work, they'll be too busy dying to post!

It is a pretty nasty condition and op has a particularly bad case of it. I did feel sorry for her over Christmas and felt once they admitted her to hospital originally they could have treated her. I'm glad she posted some updates as I am interested to know she feels better, and what worked for her treatment. Also it is important she does see dr again to make sure it is simply a bad case of everyday constipation (which I think it probably is due to the codeine she was taking)and there is no underlying problem. It is certainly worth getting checked though and screening is often done to check on people with bowel problems.

Linseed. Go to Holland & Barrett and get some, its an age old natural remedy that works. Sprinkle linseed onto your food. Also drink prune juice. You can get strong medicines as you will know, but natural works just as well if not far better.

With posts like JeanSeberg's , god help her 'friends' -they've probably given up hoping for any support from her - long ago !

I'm sure they appreciate your concern.

Has there been any "movement" OP? fingers crossed for you

I was out on Xmas day having lunch and I mentioned to my teenagers that I was reading this thread (one asked what I was thinking).
When I got in I checked to see if there had been progress...
It was a bit like the feeling you get when waiting for the next episode of your favourite soap... anticipation and expectation....
Never ever had I been remotely interested in other peoples bowel movements before.......

Exactly, littlejo. I think M&S should do a commemorative box of biscuits - as they did for the birth of Prince George - when this poo finally makes its appearance. The OP has suffered greatly over Christmas and we're all wishing her bowels return to optimum health shortly.