Codeine constipation

[SophiaRose91]

Hi ladies 🙂 i wondered if anyone could recommend anything for constipation due to painkillers? I have tried Dulcolax and was almost seeing stars! The pain was incredible and i felt faint!
I have tried eating more fibre but doesnt seem to be helping. Any advice? X thank you in advance x

Try Ortis fibre cubes from
Amazon. They are fig, rhubarb and tamarind. Taste a bit earthy, but generally are quite effective for getting things moving. Or Kiwi ( either skins on).

Hope you get some relief soon 😊

Change to some other pain killer if possible.

Mr mums been on codeine for six months and when we tried to get her off it was diarrhoea time for days because her body had become used to the codeine and having to over compensate for the constipation it causes.

It's an awful medication.

The gp prescribed stuff. I'll try and get the name.

A gentle stool softener like Movicol or Laxido every day. Stronger laxatives just cause a swing between constipation and diahorrea.

I asked what my mum was prescribed when she had the sane codeine issues. It's laxido.

Typo. I meant Same

Although it would drive you insane lol. Hate codeine.

Probably not the best advice but sugar free sweets are a laxative.
For those advising a different pain killer sometimes codeine is the only thing that works

Depending on how long you haven’t been for… 1. Laxido to help soften the stool, but if nothings moving then 2. glycerol suppositories to help soften stool from the other direction. Senna tablets to stimulate the bowel to go. once you’re moving it I would carry on with just the laxido while on codeine .also papaya is a fruit that helps and I find apples for some reason

I've been on codeine for 7 years straight now (240mg a day),?sometimes with Morphine thrown in for good measure.

If you take Laxido or Movicol twice a day, you should be ok.

I've been bunged up badly with it before and what I had to do to solve the problem isn't worth mentioning this close to lunchtime.

Dulcoease is gentler than dulcolax, softens things up to make it easier, not a stimulant like dulcolax. Plenty of fluids.

Glycerine suppositories can help too.

Same here. It can take a couple of days to work, but is quite gentle.

Laxido/Movicol is what you need.

Dulcoease is so mild it doesn't work for most people. And increasing your fibre intake rarely works.

In 20+ years of prescribing opioids I've only had one patient manage their bowels with fibre and they were vegan and eating a huge amount of beans and green veg.

I also fainted when I took Dulcolax!

I've been taking prescribed codeine for three years now and the constipation was awful at first. I took dulcolax for the first few months, drank lots of black coffee, and ate sweets with artificial sweetener in, all of which helped. But after a few months, my body got used to the codeine and the constipation stopped. Now that I've had successful back surgery and I'm tapering it off, each time I reduce by another half tablet, I get diarrhoea until my body gets used to the new dosage. I don't like taking medication like codeine, but codeine and naproxen were the only things I was prepared to take that touched the pain with my back

Fresh coffee definitely works for me. Like a poster has said your body seems to get used to it and the constipation stops.

Dulcolax is brutal, I won't touch that stuff anymore.

Codeine is awful stuff. They actually give it for acute diarrhoea.
As mentioned above laxido daily plus dulcoease.
Also, a large glass of prune juice daily and lots of water ( this won't be enough onit's own).

My husband had to take Dulcolax before a colonoscopy. The results were-dramatic.

Codeine and Morphine can be bad for constipation- to the point of making childbirth feel easy.

Some poor souls need actual physical removal of the rock 🪨 hard poo.

That must be so grim.

lactulose and fybogel help - but Morphine/Codeine slows gut hence shocking constipation.

Lots of water- and figs.

Lots of fresh orange juice

Try Dulcoease instead of Dulcolax. It was a miracle worker when DD had spinal surgery and had to be on hefty opioid doses for a few weeks. Just softens things without any nasty side effects or urgency, it’s great stuff!

Other things that helped were coffee and as much walking as possible.

I take lactulose and make sure to drink loads of water and eat tinned pears as they seem to help
I'm on dihydrocodeine and morphine

Thank you all so much for your replies and suggestions, helped me more than you know! X

• Some poor souls need actual physical removal of the rock 🪨 hard poo.

That must be so grim.*

I've done that myself on a couple of occasions, not a pleasant thing to do, but the relief was worth it.

An Apple, pear, orange and a tomato every day.

Prune juice and psyllium husks - dissolve husks and drink immediately, follow with glass of water.

PS if you don’t drink the psy husks immediately they turn into a jelly ugh!

Another vote for daily movicol - it really helps x