Constipation :-(

[Clarabell78]

19wks + 6 here and have tried lactulose and fybogel so far to no avail. Can anyone recommend anything effective to 'unbung' (sorry!) me?

Prune juice? My friend had it terrible whilst pregnant so had 1-2 cups a day

Hope you feel better soon

I will give the prune juice a try! Thanks! :-)

Second vote for prune juice! It's the only thing that works for me. Hope things are moving for you soon

Try making a conscious effort to drink more water too that helped me

How long did you try the lactulose for? I found it worked but it took approximately week of taking morning and night to get it started . I'm now taking it once per day (at a lower dose) and its still working.

I've been taking it morning and night for 2 weeks now. Along with plenty fruit, veg, fibre and water! feel horrible :-(

If its been going on for that long and you feel totally stopped up get your midwife to prescribe you some glycerin suppositories. One of those and you will be pooing for England in half an hour!!!

I'm on double doses of iron and I've basically been constipated since September. Prune juice if you can stand it. 2 liters of water a day and pears. Pears will set you free!

Apricots, lots of! Carry in taking fybogel as well and drink plenty of water

Pears?! That's a new one on me but I will be pickin some up on tesco tomorrow. Failing all of the good suggestions above I'm seeing midwife next week so suppositories as a last resort!

I feel your pain Clarabell, I had this problem before I even got pregnant because I'm gluten-free... so at nearly 9w I am having lots of fun at the moment! I just eat as many apricots and prunes and drink as much water as possible, plus fybogel. You could also try linseed (flax) if you can maybe find bread with it on, or you can also sprinkle it on cereal. My slightly leftfield suggestion though would be to get gluten-free bread because they stuff it full of extra fibre :)

oooh, i've had some bouts during this pregnancy and it's getting worse at 31+3 weeks now.

however, my better weeks have been where i managed it carefully with diet - ie NO white carbs, only brown rice, wholemeal bread, brown pasta, nuts, seeds, loads of fruit and veg, dried apricots, prunes (or juice), pears, fish and cheese as protein, no red meat (i'm pescatarian anyways, but it does bung you up) and the full 2 litres of water every day (try to have more in the daytime then in the eve to avoid more night time loo trips).

My other top tips is antenatal yoga, walking, swimming or just simply leaning on a wall and rotating your hips one way then the others - exercise and appropriate abdominal movements really helps keep things moving.

HTH.

I'm using Lactulose and I definitely experience the difference when I consciously make an effort to drink water. If I wait to drink till I'm thirsty it just seems to have no effect whatsoever. Also: kiwis.

try a good quality probiotic. i have one by biocare, its their antenatal probiotic and it def keeping me regular and poos are sooo much softer and easier to pass. im just back from hospital today after being admitted on tues and so didnt have them with me and today was first i had a poo, which felt like a fking bowling ball but was malteser like lol (sorry if tmi).

Porridge. Might sound silly but if I'm constipated I find eating my fibre in the form of a hot meal rather than a cold meal or snack works better.

Water, water, water! Keep drinking don't stop.

I am SO scared at the thought of having piles I am making a conscious effort to not get constipated!
Fail safes for me are dried fruit, especially dried mango or apple, and making sure breakfast is very fibrous! Muesli or bran flakes.
Oh and as people have said, plenty of fluids!

Have you tried fennel tea? Had never heard about until I went into the health food shop the other day, and apparently it's known for it (as well as helping labour along - all things contraction I think). Tastes good and it does work