Awful constipation help please!

[Needingsupportplease]

From last Sunday (week today) I've been the the toilet once I feel so so rubbish, chest pains, sick, lethargic and so fed up. No idea whats caused it i have stopped drinking and am on the pill which has made me constipated in the past. Didn't go to the loo at all from last Sunday until Friday when I took 2 dulcolax tablets which made me go, gave me horrible cramps but I still felt I hadn't finished my poo, took movical yesterday dinner time and still nothing. Tried orange juice, fruits, black coffee and i drink 3L a day anyway. What on earth can I do? I've stopped taking my pill aswell incase its that.

Check with your GP. You may have a prolapse. It can cause constipation.

Sorry @Needingsupportplease I’ve just spotted this pop back up on my active threads. I think you might need a bit of support from the NHS, its worth asking your GP if your area has a bowel specialist nurse you could be referred to. They are incredibly experienced in getting people back on track and narrowing down any other problems that might need to be referred upwards.

I’m just paraphrasing the particularly passionate gastroenterologist I used to work for who believed constipation was the root of a lot of problems but you may be compounding the problem with too much fibre now. If you’ve been backed up it can stretch your intestines slightly and injure the muscles so consuming too much fibre just gives you bulkier stools (from absorbing more water) which in turn are much harder to pass, especially if your muscles are still recovering and/or you have something else going on. A proper laxative should help balance water absorption and bowel stimulation so you can still go to the toilet regularly.

Sometimes IBS or IBD presents as constipation rather than the more well known Diarrhoea so it is important to consider your diet too.

Again I’m not a healthcare professional but I would take a gentle laxative daily for a month or so to keep things moving easily and seek more support from my GP. You’re a long way off becoming laxative dependent and like a lot of things that can be fixed (usually by weaning off and exercises) . If there is a physical problem you need to keep yourself from becoming more constipated anyway.