Constipation question

[onlygirl]

Almost 24 weeks pregnant and not been for 4 days( sorry if tmi) pharmacist recomended lactulose solution but it's not helped. I've been eating loads of fruit and veg and drinking lots of water but still nothing. I need to know if anyone has any recomendations, I'm desperate xx

I am having this problem too. I am on iron suppliments and a cup of coffee a day had been helping me out... but seems to have stopped working in the last couple of days. May have to go back to the lactulose that I was one just before I got preg for my IBS

Taking on board all of this advice, I had it bad early on and now at 32 weeks come back much worse with blood :( been craving cereal which you think would help trying to eat lots of fibre and drink lots of water, have spd so excercise is difficult but will try prunes etc.
It is horrible and making me worry about the birth if constipation is so painful!
Fingers crossed and goodluck everyone who is struggling with this.

Porridge! I can't (or rather shouldn't) eat wheat either, and I find porridge does the trick - definitely makes things move along a bit better...

rRegular exercise and linseeds are the only thing that seems to be working for me - about a tablespoon in your cereal in the morning keeps things moving.

I tried prune juice, but it didn't do anything other than giving me winds from deepest hell (sorry for tmi!)...

I agree that exercise is probably the best thing, I'd even get constipated before pg when not getting enough exercise! Hard though if you're really tired and sick.

Being pregnant isn't nearly as glamourous as I always thought it is!

One more thing; you might want to think about what NOT to eat as well as what to eat if that makes sense ie if you eat red meat & a lot of dairy you might want to cut down as much as possible until your digestion feels better.

I've had bouts of constipation throughout my pregnancy (27+6 weeks) and tried dried apricots, lots and lots of water, prune juice (YUK!), the occasional sennakot and I do yoga almost everyday. Nothing worked until yesterday... I have been sleeping at my parents' house whilst we decorate our new place and I just fancied a coffee when I woke up at 4am, I hadn't been for about 4 days and within an hour I needed to go. It was just black coffee (I'm lactose intolerant) and this morning I thought I'd see if it worked again and it did, I went 4 times, bit loose at first ( sorry!).

I don't recommend it for everyday use but for a clear out (!) it's worth a try. I gave up coffee this year so not sure what made me want it but I'm glad I did. Earlier in my pregnancy I went a week without going and that was really really painful!

Good luck!

I tried the prunes and all bran route, but the prunes were foul and the all bran gave me stomach ache.

Aside from eating fruit generally, my saviour has been...liquorice allsorts! Somehow they seem to keep things - ahem - regular. If you like liquorice, maybe give them a go?

If all these great tips re exercise and eating don't work:

when you feel like going take a glass of warm water and sit in a squat position - yoga squat position found here -

www.yogajournal.com/poses/2472

• and rub/massage the left and right side of your lower back where your kidneys are (you can use one hand to hold on to something if your hips are not as crazy flexible as this lady's hips are) sit like this for at least 5 minutes and sip the warm water slowly.

If this still doesn't work, push up to standing and then down again to squatting a few times, this can send your body the right message that you would like to go.

Good Luck!

I have to take iron and it does not help. But I start the day with a smoothy (2 apples with greek yogurt) and try to drink pleanty of water. I make sure I have salad ( peppers and tomatoes at the moment) with lunch and dinner. And still have to remind myself to try and do a No 2 at least once a day.

Hope it helps!!

Thank you all for your tips i will try them but I won't give you an update xx