Constipation help!

[timeisnotaline]

Might be tmi for the subject line but sums it up! I’m 11 weeks, and a bit miserable. I’m limited in what I can eat with pregnancy sickness, and said sickness means laxatives arent working very well as they don’t stay down. I’ve tried prune juice, movicol, lactulose, and they are so disgusting and when they aren’t coming back up I feel like I’m waiting for them to! I’m in the office tomorrow and pretty stressed about it, I was going to take an ondansetron but I find them a little constipating so not going near them! I’ve tried to cut foods down to suitable ones but it doesn’t leave much I can eat - I’ve had rye toast today, water, an orange and a string cheese stick as well as prune juice etc which has been a fail. Im contemplating trying a small dinner (stir fry) because I have to eat! Any suggestions before the answer is a suppository? I have awful memories of a suppository from after my first was born, the same event is why I’m so stressed about constipation
On the bright side, scan tomorrow so I can know if it’s all working out and tell work, as I’m not exactly best foot forward right now.

When I had constipation further into pregnancy due to iron tablets I drank one glass of fresh orange a day and it worked for me xx

I would just use suppositories again

I think I might end up there givemeback
mum I’m trying to have an orange or apple a day and have been having the movicol with oj, which is not endearing oj to me!

I was in your position, constipated and with HG so found taking laxatives etc almost impossible. Out of desperation I downed loads of syrup of figs and one movocol and after a few hours they began to work, and then I only managed to go by doing the following:

• sitting on the loo with feet on a box that raised my knees above my waist
• pushing on the taint to help it out, which I can hardly stand to write but it really really works.

I wish you all the best in your endeavours. And personally have found 2 cyclizine a day and one ondansetron the right balance of suppressing/limiting sickness while not completely bunging me up.

Dried apricots might work?

Good point drainingzen I am having some dried apricots every day. It’s so weird I can always eat them in pregnancy as it’s such a strong flavour, which is mostly a total no.

Very familiar littletoaster but after two hg babies this one doesn’t quite tip me over to diagnosis level, which should be amazing but it’s actually still pretty miserable . I have ondansetron, was going to take it to go to the office tomorrow but it does bung me up so I simply don’t dare until I’ve improved this situation. Cyclizine doesn’t work for me.

Lots of fresh fruit and prunes. I found kiwis really helped randomly! Apricots can cause quite bad wind so I might go easy on them if you're already uncomfortable, unless you know you tolerate them okay.

Don’t know about anything you can take as such but I have just lived off weetabix for 9 months. I have two every morning and most nights too. I have to drink a lot of water as well. To stop the sickness I had to have two breakfasts every day so I’d have weetabix (which it’s on its own I would have brought back up) then after it I’d have toast

Weetbix has been good but stopped working for me last week. I’ve given up on it after a few fails in a row - no time to try anything else to settle it, but that never works for me though. I’ve decided it is officially the worst thing to bring back up quickly, i don’t even like to think about it . That’s a huge part of the problem- I can’t eat the right foods for this!

Look up 'squatty potty'. The position you sit on the toilet has a massive baring on the bowel and ease of pooing. A regular Western toilet in a sitting position makes the bowel go into an S bend, making it more difficult. If you can raise your feet up, even on a stool, bricks, large cans, a step etc it straightens out the bowel making it 100% easier to poo.

In addition to adding dietary fibre like psyllium husks, chia seeds, prunes etc, plenty of water and exercise, raising my feet was the other thing that meant I could poo.

Not sure if this is at all practical for you, but a short run works for me- quickly becoming my main run motivation!

TOTALLY not practical juney who knows when that will next be achievable! But, I woke up, had food attempt 1, did a poo, lost food attempt 1, had food attempt 2 and that stayed down, and scan showed a healthy 11 week baby so it’s a good day! thank you all for the support, have been so anxious about this situation.

That's fantastic news about the scan- congratulations. I'm 7+3 and so impatient to get to that scan