sorry to mention it but... constipation!

[xfingerscrossedx]

Help. I'm 19+3 and starting to feel hugely uncomfortable. Have had constipation pretty much all the way through, but it is getting worse! Am also now on iron tablets for mild anemia, which also causes constipation! (Deep joy). Has anyone got any magic remedies? Is anything safe to take for it?

Thanks x

Eat loads of fruit and veg, they contain fiber which will help with the constipation.

I have a super dooper breakfast that sets me up for the day. If I ever have something different then I'm bunged up till the next morning.

It is:

a couple of tablespoons of porridge oats, soaked in milk for about 15 mins, to which I add:
4 dried prunes, cut up
4 dried apricots, cut up
a couple of weetabix.

Plus I drink a lot of water, go for regular walks and try to eat lots of fruit and veg at other meals.

But, for me anyway, the key is breakfast.

I feel so sorry for you. I had really really terrible trouble with this on my first pg (now 22 wks on 3rd). Fibregel you can take morning and evening and softens, as much water as you can bear and lots of fruit and veg. Green veg particularly good.

I would say though that you really should keep an eye on this and do everything you possibly can to help yourself. I had really low iron levels with 1st pg and ended up having bi-weekly iron injections, the results were horrendous... TMI alert coming up...

Morning after giving birth, had such bad pains, knew I needed to go, which involves of course, leaving your newborn baby by the side of the bed and going down the ward to loo.... 1 1/2 hours later, I was stuck, literally couldn't move from loo as was half way through going but too hard to push out (sorry) and had to pull the emergency cord. One of the nurses had to manually remove faeces. Seriously, the most humiliating experience I have EVER had and am only mentioning this here because I wouldn't want you to go through a similar experience. I think because its so gross people just don't talk about it v much. But, constipation is a huge issue and if not managed appropriately, you could have the same thing happen .

Prunes prunes prunes - lovely Agen ones from Waitrose. They are really soft and squidgey. And a nice cold glass of prune juice with lots of crunchy ice cubes in. Totally does the trick without you even realising.
I didn't even like prunes before pregnacy. Love em now !

Oh - and figs too !

All Bran - pregnancy essential IMHO. Also for me dark chocolate has always had a laxative effect (in fact since pregnancy I can barely eat any chocolate).

Wanting to help CantThink feel less alone, it's worth saying pooing after giving birth is a nightmare even without her dreadful experience so well worth doing what you can. Can you take Movicol in pregnancy?

Thanks for the advice ladies... bit scary Can'tthink, but thanks for the heads up! Will get on the case. Think things have been made worse by everything I went off during first trimester... only just getting back to normal eating.

It sounds such a silly thing to winge about, but it hurts so much and my back is hurting too! Will go with the fibregel now and shopping for prunes in the morning! xxx

just to reiterate on the PRUNES front!!!! I used to suffer in 'normal' life with const. very, very badly before I was diagnosed as hypothyroid, then it cleared up with the thyroid meds, so I was utterly dismayed to find it back as a pregnancy symptom! My mum's friend recommended prune juice when I was about 15 weeks and in pain from the const. and I got several bottles of it straight away it cleared it up within a couple of days. now I have half a glass every day or every other day and it has never bothered me again (32 weeks now). I can't recommend it enough. I knock back half a glass chilled first thing in the morning, its not the best tasting thing in the world but it is the only thing that works... constipation is horrific, but prune juice will be your saviour I promise you

cantthinkoffunnyname - That happened to me too but thankfully it was at home after I had been discharged. I once spent 5 hours sat on the loo trying to get the poo out. I then developed such a fear of trying that I ended up going a month without attempting it again.

I can remember thinking when ds was about 3 weeks old that I would never put myself through that pain again but hear I am 9 weeks pregnant. Both pregnancies I had constipation between weeks 7-8 but not as bad as after the birth.

"here" not "hear"

Up your intake of the most laxative fruit: at the moment there are lots of plums (greengages are fabulous for this) and figs in the shops, which are great remedies for constipation.

Hi ya,
I have had issue with constipation even before i fell pregnant. It could sometimes be at least a week before i went. I went to my GP about it when i found out i was pregnant as i knew that one of the syptoms was constipation. Anyway he has put me on a repeat prescription of Lactulose that you can take as much of as yo like, and the best thing about it is that its free!!!!
I also eat tonns of fruit and found that if i eat bran flakes routinely that helps too. I have a big sports drinking bottle that goes everywhere with me and i try my upmost to drink at least 2 of them a day!!!
Good luck X

I wonder if you can try those bowel cleansing water packs you get with fasting packs? You know the ones where you lie on the floor while water, erm goes up your bum. You then literally explode on the toilet.

And could try lactulose nearer birth - soften up the stool and can help to avoid CantThink's horrific experience in hospital. You'll probably still need the other stuff to keep you regular but lactulose is fantastic at keeping the whole thing pain free.

As well as the prunes and figs etc a good remedy is linseed, sprinkle on cereal or if you are hardcore leave to soak in water and then down neat. When soaked they are like frogspawn, yuk..but super effective. This is nice and cheap too, buy a bag from a healthfood store for little more than a pound, you only need a teaspoonful a day.

Also, and this is just my own experience, steamed courgettes, have a bowlful for dinner and poop in the morning.

In terms of medication you can use preparations containing senna in pregnancy. So that includes sennakot and you can buy herb teas for this and they usually contain senna too.

All of this needs to be combined with upping your water intake. And I would stay away from anything too violent right now like enemas or suppositories, you are trying to re-establish regular bowel movements not rip yourself a new one.

Also iron tablets give you nasty tarry stools. Perhaps you could ask for a prescription for something more bowel friendly if you are struggling with constipation. Floradix and Spatone are good too and dont have this side effect.

Adding three kiwifruit a day to your diet is going to help constipation considerably because they are excellent natural, gentle laxatives. Also, the very high Vitamin C content of kiwifruit means that you can absorb more of the iron from your food and any supplements. So that would help with the anaemia at the same time.

lactulose is fab but be sure to drink loads and loads of water with it. It makes you really thirsty

all bran
prune juice