Scared to poo

[MrsLaura89]

Hiii,

So I know this is really odd but because I’ve had some spotting in this pregnancy and it usually occurs after pooing (sometimes spontaneous) but it makes me scared to poo incase it happens again. I can go days of nothing and then a full day of about 5!
I cannot take lactulose because I have IBS and it will set me off. Fybogel is also a no no for me.
Anyone got any advice on what to consume to make things softer but not too soft to make me more regular?

Lots of green and leafy veggies, baked beans and bran flakes for me!

Increase the amount of water you drink. I drank more than 2 litres and still started to have problems with my piles. Upped it to 3 litres and more and no problems in going really soft. Some of us need lots more water.

Maybe TMI but I have long term constipation pretty much all the time. The golden three are bran flakes, lentils and papaya if you can get hold of it. Prunes also work of course but they’re gross so I stick to the above three all the time and manage to keep it regular enough. Movicol is safe in pregnancy and may be gentler than lactulose for your IBS?However for Movicol to work well, you need to have the recommended amount of water with it otherwise it’s ineffective.

Thanks for replies..
As for movicol..that was a disaster for me and I almost exploded!!!!
I have to be really careful with fruits and I ate some tinned peaches and had a really upset tummy around 6 hours later.
I feel like I’m at a loss, I’m upping my fluid intake and will see how that goes and more veg as veg seems to be ok!
x

I also have IBS, branflakes and allbran makes me worse, my other triggers I've indentified are bananas, coffee, salad bar pasta/rice/potato dishes (I don't know if they add something to increase the shelf life that doesn't agree) sticky thai rice, crunchy nut clusters and alot of microwave meals (so cooking things from scratch is a must alot of the time) obviously your triggers might be totally different. x

I know the pain OP, also (and apologies if this is TMI) I also thought I was spotting when passing a BM but it turned out the spotting was from my anus, and not vaginal xxx

The things that help me are large quantities of water/fluid and eating little and often, so never going longer than a couple of hours without some food, being too full or too hungry is a big trigger for me and I am especially suseptible to a painful attack around 4 or 5pm. x

This is definitely TMI and may not be for you but when pooing after many stitches I found it much easier to pass when squatting rather than sitting. So, squatting over lots of newspaper or plastic bag or whatever and then emptying into toilet. Squatting when going to the toilet is the norm in most (?) of the world and it is definitely working with gravity and the way our bodies are designed. You may be spotting anally if straining and this could help relieve strain but you should talk to your midwife/gp about this.

Not TMI at all, IBS sufferers can be quite informative haha!
My spotting was vaginal, luckily I have had a scan and no source of the bleeding but has been so stressful.
I’m
Terms of squatting-I don’t have an issue getting the poo out, when it comes it will come but I am scared to strain. And I don’t strain a lot anyway.
I end up being blocked up then having a really painful clear out, I need more regularity so they can’t become too firm and back up.

I think the little and often and more water may be a good start as that way the internal mechanisms are always working and can’t get too lazy!

Not sure if this would be a trigger for your IBS, but cherry tomatoes/baby tomatoes work well for me.