Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

General health

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Flip

Original poster

Constipation issues long term

25 replies

Shell449 · 30/10/2021 21:15

Has anyone had constipation issues which they have resolved?
I have been suffering for years but my Dr just says to take movicol- I find this only softens things but it still won’t come out. If anyone has any tips on this subject I would be interested to hear. Has anyone been to a specialist ? Thanks so much.

OP posts:

PeachesPumpkin · 30/10/2021 21:17

Coeliac disease?

NessieMcNessface · 30/10/2021 22:06

I have struggled for years. It’s got much worse with pelvic floor issues as I’ve got older. If I’m really honest, I could eat a better diet than I do because if I really try to eat a diet that is full of fibre, it does help, but I have to eat far, far more than normal people for it to have any impact. I haven’t seen a specialist because I suppose I just live with it. I’ve found exercise definitely helps; just walking makes a difference. You have my sympathy because it does wear you down over time.

Amundo · 30/10/2021 22:11

My dr recommended fibrogel, which sort of works. Also plant based diet can help. In the early days of IBS, they used to describe it as the muscles in the colon not moving the food down. They move the wrong way. But gluten definitely makes mine worse. They don't do much for it in the way of treatment.

Rainallnight · 30/10/2021 22:15

You might need a stimulant laxative - to give things a push - as well as a stool softener, which is what Movicol is.

Senna (Senocot) or sodium picosulfate. Ask your chemist.

HotPenguin · 30/10/2021 22:17

Yes, Ive found GPs to be very dismissive, I got good advice on here and from a physio I was seeing for pelvic floor issues. My problems started after childbirth, I'm loads better now, it's been gradual improvement over years.

The most important thing is to try and go every day. I found lactulose was the best laxitive for me, as it's easy to take and tastes ok. Exercise also really important, and cutting down on caffeine.

But when I couldn't go I used glycerine suppositories. It's not glamorous but they do work. If you can go every day your bowel/rectum will start to recover, if you spend days not going it becomes more and more stretched.

Rainallnight · 30/10/2021 22:21

Also, drink lots of water. Way more than you think you need. DD, who has chronic constipation and is only 5, was advised by her consultant to drink 1.5 litres a day

Also, sit on the loo half an hour after every meal. That’s when peristalsis in the gut is most active and you’re most likely to be able to poo.

Dilbertian · 30/10/2021 22:25

Do you take a regular small dose of Movicol, or have you ever done a disimpaction using it?

LuluJakey1 · 30/10/2021 22:27

These chewy fruit cubes. I chew half a one at night and they make me go to the loo. Recommended by a bowel surgeon.

Clementineapples · 30/10/2021 22:29

Ask for sodium picosulphate. It stimulates your bowels while you sleep so in the morning everything should be ready to come out.
If you’re still struggling keep going back.
My son has had constipation his whole life. After years and years of movicol, picosulphate, enemas and hospital stays he’s had to have surgery once and is now waiting for surgery for a mic-key button to flush him. The years of constipation have left him with megacolon, no feeling and he gets really really ill.

sageandbasil · 30/10/2021 22:43

I saw a specialist and he said I'd have to take Movicol for life. Complete waste of time

Strangevipers · 30/10/2021 23:47

Camomile tea

Hot water bottle while on the loo and have your feet raised and read

Warm baths

Stomach massage

Water water water and then more water

Prunes, dates, fruit and stay away from too much iron

Worst comes to worse a curry or a kebabs to get you going

gingergiraffe · 31/10/2021 18:44

My daughter, long term issues with sluggish bowel. Tried most things mentioned here. Now swears by lots of lentils and Holland and Barrett ‘Slimma Tea’. They are herbal t bags, not very nice tasting, but they do work. Take before bedtime, try one at first and gradually increase until you get the desired effect. This should ensure you manage to go every morning and stop that horrid bloated feeling of needing to go but can’t.

ABitOfAShitShow · 31/10/2021 18:48

@LuluJakey1

These chewy fruit cubes. I chew half a one at night and they make me go to the loo. Recommended by a bowel surgeon.

Was trying to remember the name of these. They’re great. I also rely on glycerin suppositories a lot of the time and a colorectal specialist has told me there’s no harm in it and it’s not something that affects your own motility like stimulant laxatives can. The other thing that could help - but you’d need a specialist to prescribe it - is a motility activator like prucalopride.

ABitOfAShitShow · 31/10/2021 18:50

Oh also - PP mentioned having your feet raised. I have a squatty potty - which does exactly that.

You have my sympathy. It’s a nightmare and I’ve damaged my pelvic floor by not doing something about it when I was younger so it’s really much more important than GPs make out.

Original poster

Shell449 · 03/11/2021 04:12

Thank you all for your replies I really appreciate it.
I have tried most of the things mentioned they usually last for 2 weeks then they stop working. I am at the stage where I am thinking to get poo analysed to look for anything.. has anyone tried this? I am not sure who does it probably private companies- not sure if GP does it. I also have been told I have a “redundant colon” so that could also play a part. I drink 3 litres of water daily which does not help anymore. Does anyone take prescription laxatives? I also get bad heartburn when I am really constipated. I wish there was a “constipation bootcamp “ where you could book in for a month and get full support from a team of clinicians ! Sorry I am just over it and in pain as I type. Keep any suggestions coming… thanks

OP posts:

jclm · 03/11/2021 04:39

Maybe there is a constipation bootcamp elsewhere in the world!!

My son has terrible constipation. He hasn't been in 10 days, right now, and each time this happens his behaviour gets hard to manage and we start to panic about how we are going to get it out. My son has a genetic condition and constipation is a part of this. He has learning disabilities and he has started to refuse to sit on the toilet at all from fear that it will hurt.

I have no advice other than to keep on trying different combinations of medicine - a softener and a stimulant.

NadiaVulvokov · 03/11/2021 05:04

Worth looking into IMO- intestinal methanogenic overgrowth. Other signs are a tendency to gain and hold weight easily.

The Fast Tract Diet can be really helpful for managing that. There are also options for antibiotic and prokinetic treatment to clear it.. NHS awareness of IMO is patchy though as it’s very recent research, it’s possible to get treatment for it through the NHS if your GP is sympathetic and your local GI specialists are on the ball, but going private might be necessary.

For some people Biogaia Protectis drops work. It’s a specific strain of probiotic called L. reuteri DSM 17938.

If you want to research it, names to look out for are Dr Mark Pimentel and Dr Ruchi Mathur.

Londonnight · 03/11/2021 05:44

My son's chronic constipation turned out to be crohns disease. GP's were very dismissive of his symptoms, just kept upping the Movical. At one point he was on around 12 sachets a day --- he was 6 years old!

This went on for two years before a GP finally agreed to send him to a paediatric gastroenterologist for further tests-- stool and blood sample, then when his calprotectin [ stool sample ] was through the roof he was sent for a colonoscopy he had severe crohns.

I can't help with a private recommendation, but keep on at your GP and ask for a stool and blood tests that look for inflammation.

MintJulia · 03/11/2021 06:24

Nothing from the gp ever worked but changing diet did.

Home made chunky veggie soups with fresh chillies. Dried fruit salad for breakfast. Stoned fruits. Switch to wholemeal everything. Go for a run or at least walk a few miles at lunchtime.

RKoychev · 16/12/2021 13:58

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

sageandbasil · 16/12/2021 19:31

I saw a specialist and was told to just keep taking movicol forever. Lactouse really helps but it's so sickly

sageandbasil · 16/12/2021 19:32

Sorry didn't realise I'd already replied further down

northernstars · 16/12/2021 19:44

Mine has improved the last two weeks so I'm putting it down to all the satumas I'm eating!

Aggy35 · 16/12/2021 20:13

My mums constipation improved when she reviewed her diet.Lot more fiber and water was needed

Redlocks30 · 16/12/2021 21:44

@Shell449

Thank you all for your replies I really appreciate it. I have tried most of the things mentioned they usually last for 2 weeks then they stop working. I am at the stage where I am thinking to get poo analysed to look for anything.. has anyone tried this? I am not sure who does it probably private companies- not sure if GP does it. I also have been told I have a “redundant colon” so that could also play a part. I drink 3 litres of water daily which does not help anymore. Does anyone take prescription laxatives? I also get bad heartburn when I am really constipated. I wish there was a “constipation bootcamp “ where you could book in for a month and get full support from a team of clinicians ! Sorry I am just over it and in pain as I type. Keep any suggestions coming… thanks

I feel like this-I want to do something to have it investigated. I feel like I constantly need to go, but then poo nothing more than rabbit pellets. I have loads of gas and bloating-and a really noisy stomach/bowels-I think it’s slow transit but it’s been going on for years. Decades even. I plucked up the courage to go to the GP once but he laughed. Stopped after a few seconds but still. He gave me Fybogel but it didn’t do anything much.

I’m going to try those fruit cube things posted upthread. I hope they don’t cause more wind though

Flip