Constipation is a form of mental and physical torture.....

[LadyTophamHatt]

especially when pregnant.

Just thought I'd tell you that.

poor you. I have been there too.

Aw

I've been there too. It's much worse than people think, isn't it?

lady are you not drinking or eating prunes!
it works

Get some linseed from a health food store. One teaspoon sprinkled over yoghurt or something and followed up by a big glass or 2 of water really does help.

tried prunes and IMO they are the vilest fruit known to man.
prune juice is even worse.

am OD-ing on grapes and bran flakes to get the system going again.

have you tried drinking Badoit?

agree prune juice is minging.

dried apricots are good, taste like shite also.

half a pint of apple juice might help

fresh figs also v good AND delicious

lady
stew them with apple and put it on ice cream or something - it will work
or porridge if you dare, i'd lay of the bran flakes

I tried them all and what worked best was linseed. One teaspoonful tonight followed by a large glass of water and it comes out mush first thing in the morning.

I give it to dd now if she gets constipated, works a treat every time.

Oh, I really struggled with this when I was pg with DS2. I found running and walking helped. Other things that help:

• raw beetroot (grated? in salad? cooked a bit in stir-fry?)
• beetroot juice
• grapes, berries etc - takes quite a bit, but it does work ...

I suffered VERY badly & found linseed fab as well.

ALthough I soaked one TABLESPOON in water for about 10 mins & drank the lot (with a juice chaser!) & another glass of water.

I did this everyday from 26 weeks.

After I had ds there was one moment when I actually believed I was destined to stay on the toilet for the rest of my life . I fully sympathise with you.

Ha, you are so right LTH.

I've done prunes, apricots, linseed, loads of water, exercise, the lot.

One solution: Lactulose - fine in pregnancy, so sweet you don't feel like eating chocolate afterwards (bonus) and works well esp if you take 3 teaspoons in the morning and another 3-4 in the evening.

The only drawback...(sensitive souls stop reading please)...if you have a tendency to pregnancy piles, you sometimes wish you'd stuck with constipation

Yeah, it's all bad - I ended up in hospital with a thrombosed pile & 2 weeks off work () mind you it was agony.

LActulose makes the poo go sludgy though & difficult to pass, the linseed, well, you try it !

also, get some suppositories for emergencies.

And germaloids for the piles....cos I expect they'll be next

Ifound Aloe vera juice helpful - you can flavoured ones, so don't taste too bad. I had Fybogel daily when pg, when I went into labour thought the pain was from my costipation as it was just as bad. Horrible.

I have been today after abowl of bran flakes and after 4..5..6....7 days of doing what feels like rabbits poos it was a huge relief. Sorry if it's TMI but I stared down the toilet and almost cried with relief!!!

I just know that this will now be the start of another 4...5...6...days of rabbits poos before I can manage it again.

I've never had constipation before, PG or otherwise and it really is bloody awful.

sorry forgot to ask, why should I lay off the Bran flakes hermykne??

will they make it worse?

I discovered that a punnet of fresh apricots had a startlingly impressive effect when I was preg and bfing ds2. Dried apricots were like leather and gave me terrible wind but fresh were the biz. I also fed a few of them to dd before realising their effect and she was up twice in the night with a spectacular nappy.... Poor you though - it is so horrid.

A pint of beer does the trick - no good if you are pg though, think its the hops or something.

lady i remeber my doc saying not to have them or weetabix - and trying porridge instead. theres of good ideas here too, the aloe vera juice works too.
sometimes the bran can clog up the system by trying to bulk the "faces" up if you get my drfit.

this is a blunt as i go

otherwise i'd have to join the do u look at your poo thread {hee hee}

another vote for linseed - I have 4 teaspoonfuls on my cereal. Also try Burgen bread with soya and linseed.