extreme constipation...??

[PeoniesforMissAnnersley]

Have read through lots of constipation threads but feeling so miserable. Woke up early yesterday morning with bloating, tummy pain and back pain, I felt quite constipated and struggled on the loo to produce 1-2 rabbits droppings.
The tummy and back pain got worse and worse through the day and I took paracetamol/ibuprofen for pain, didn't notice them helping much, had no appetite at all and felt really nauseated. I did have a BM but it was more loose and diarhea-esque and I didn't feel any relief from it.

Late last night I took 2 sachets of movicol and did go to the loo this morning, v runny and gross. But I still feel very bloated and have pains on the right hand side of my tummy.

Took some more movicol this morning but no sign of anything happening yet.

Basically, back pain has got a bit better but am still bloated and shooting tummy cramps/pains. Starting to worry that this isn't constipation but something worse.

I have no appendix so I know it isn't that.

Have you called the doctor?

I think that movicol and the older laxatives work in different ways.

The older kind soften the stool from above a possible blockage (I think) and movicol makes the stool become softer by absorbing liquid somehow.

All I know is that my daughter had horrendous constipation and the blockage was very dry and hard and it took days to get her clear of it and a lot of pain as well. Honestly it was shocking how much pain she had.

The gp didn't quiet prepare me for how long the medication can take to work and how much pain my daughter could have to go through before it was over. I think the medicine can take a long time to soften what could be very hard compacted mass.

Hot baths helped my daughter and also I would look up what aromatherapy oils you could put in a bath, they can work quickly too if the medicine hasn't worked yet. Have you tried suppositories? My daughter had one (very traumatic for me!) and I think that helped get things moving.
Much empathy, it is horrible pain.

What MrsJavier says.

I usually need movicol 3x per day for 3 days if my bowels have ground to a halt. You may have soft stuff moving round the hard stuff.

Drink plenty.

Suppositories can help from the other end.

You need to look at your diet, toilet posture and habits etc to prevent it happening again.

Huge sympathies to you all . Constipation is awful .

Glycerin suppositories are good if you've a hard lump blocking stuff ,and as summer says you can get diareah leaking round that .

Mrs Javier sounds to me as tho your poor DD should have had the suppositories earlier .

Oh and painkillers can make the constipation worse IME .

Yes Summer, I think my dd may have started that process when we went on holiday and she ate a lot of the white yummy bread you get and too many pastries etc ice creams etc, I mean she does eat a lot of tomatoes and cucumber but I wonder whether she might have needed bulkier and more regular roughage to guarantee regular passage so to speak.

Drinking a lot is also really important.

I also massaged her tummy very very gently with massage oil (and a bit of lavender oil) after she had one of her many baths we tried to get her more relaxed and moving.

But honestly the pain is hard to even remember, I took her to a&e twice because I just didn't know what to do and the poor drs just said, you have to wait till the movement moves. They can go in with physical removal techniques but they really don't want to do that with children for obvs reasons.

ginger, I think you're right, but all these things go in and out of fashion, my sis is a nurse and she said get one in there asap but I kept hoping the medicine would work.

I think in the end it also took a really long time because the blockage was like stone, and apparently that kind of blockage isn't that rare either. But when I realised how hard the blockage was it finally made sense how much pain she was in and why it took so long to get things moving.

It was awful awful awful awful.

So much sympathy

I agree . A much under estimated problem to suffer with .

A friends dd suffered chronic constipation and had to take senna and lactulose for 3 months to clear it. It showed up on an x-ray she had done for bladder problems

It's the back pain that is worrying me the most in a way, it seems a bit random (although I have read some accounts online of chronic const causing back pain)
I am feeling a tiny bit better today, have been able to eat a bit and am drinking water, OJ, mint tea.

Thanks all sorry to hear about your DD's pain mrsj - I was rolling around the bedroom floor last night in agony, crying my eyes out, DH was distraught so I can only imagine what it would be like to see a little child in pain.

I have an appt to see Dr at 3.30, I've been having scans for gallstones/kidney stones which should be back now and have just had a DX for polycystic ovaries so I have a lot to go through with her.

Hope it goes well at the doctors - you have so much that can be causing constipation and back ache! Keep the fluid up. Hope you get some help.

Back from Dr. No gallstones/kidney stones but need a blood test to confirm what level of PCOS I have.

She thinks the back pain and constipation are from IBS, so I have been prescribed Mebeverine to see if that eases the cramps and back spasms. She doesn't think its impacted poo pressing on my back which is what the med team in work thought, but if Mebeverine doens't work then we'll try something else.

Bloods tomorrow for PCOS test (unrelated to back pain etc.!)

Just in case this helps anyone out there, my constipation (years of it) was caused by severe grain intolerance. I may be in the minority and I did have other symptoms (tiredness) but I feel a million times better now I've cut out wheat, corn and rice (was v hard to work this out!)
I no longer have lambs droppings which i'd thought normal!

I do think it's worth investigating the cause of constipation as well as helping it, in case there's something similar going on but GPs didn't investigate my unusual white blood count so for me it took a naturopath and (expensive) blood test.

Ps it can be genetic too which can be a clue if there's any wheat intolerance etc in cousins etc?

(I have PCOS too but didnt know a link sometimes?)

OP I find that just before and during my period I have no problem going however the other three weeks of the month it is hard and compacted. Realistically if I make an effort to eat veg, drink lots of water and avoid bread in favour of bran the problem goes away. I don't do that though of course. When my IBS flares up I take one ibuscopan, that relaxes my stomach enough to go but does not clear the hard blockage. That takes two laxatives and a long time on the loo the next morning.....