Anyone else dealing with constipation on weight loss injections?

[Megsdaughter]

Warning. TMI.

Ive been on WLI first MJ for 6 months then Wegovey for the last 10 months. I have lost almost 8 stone.

Constipation has been the bane of my life since then. Does not help I take medications that cause constipation as well.

Finally I gave managed with eating 5 prunes a day and making sure I drink at least 3 litres of water a day to finally be able to go without it feeling like im passing a baby.

Trouble is I now never feel like I want to go and am actually only going about every five days. Then I have to strain to go although stools are soft.

Anyone else like this ?

I take psyllium husk. Keeps me regular. Very much a part of my vitamin and supplement routine now.

8 stone is a massive loss, well done. I've only been on mounjaro 2mths and had various times of being constipated and feeling terribly bloated and back-ed up. Things I do to help:

-Use a squatty potty or anything to lift your feet up. It can make much more of a difference than just diet alone
-Plenty of water. I try to have chia seeds and pumpkin seeds on my morning yoghurt. Kiwi can help too
-I drink a sachet of movicol if I feel I haven't been for a few days
-Twice, at extreme times, I'd use a suppository

Are you getting enough bulk forming food, food volume - veg, salad, fruit? Maybe oats/lentils. If not I’d try to gradually add more. Some people on WLI switch to meal replacement drinks etc instead of whole food which can cause problems. What does an average day of food look like?

If you are unable to get enough food volume in, perhaps review your dose?

I find Magnesium citrate every night and plenty of water helps draw water in, but prunes have a similar effect. Also a couple of skin on kiwis tend to work better than psyllium husk capsules for me.

Get into a habit of going to the toilet everyday at the same time whether you have the urge or not. Time it for after eating when bowel is more active (preferably breakfast), raise feet and lean forward. If you can get a walk in beforehand even better to stimulate things, Allow yourself 10-20 minutes but avoid straining.

Have you tried speaking to your provider they should support issues with the medication like this and may be able to give advice/tips.

Is part of the issue that you are simply eating so much less food now that you don't need to go every day so yoru bowels aren't getting the workout they used to get?

Can you eat lots more fibrous food - veg and salad?

I take a spoonful of lactose every day and that keeps me pooing daily.

constipation is a big issue on the wli. Once every 5 days is not within the normal range for pooing.

an incontinence nurse I have contact with says adults and children should be pooing no less than 3 times a week

You need soluble and insoluble fibre every day (if you google it there’s loads of examples. As you said lots of water. You also need to walk and be active. Re foods I find kiwi fruits, vegetables, salads, other fruits, grains and pulses are very helpful. I’ve been on MJ since Oct ‘24 and was constipated at first and have changed all my foods to optimise fibre as well as protein and good fats with each meal. The Zoe podcasts have some which are helpful talking about fibre.

I eat loads of salads, veg and especially fruit.
I have tried senna, lactalouse and Movicol, it did absolutley nothing. Duolux made me violently sick.
Not very good with grains and oulses as I dont really like them.
I'm only eating 1100 calories a day, which id right by my TDEE.
Im disabled and cant walk far so maybe its that Im just not getting enough exercise.

I am on MJ prescribed for T2D - I saw a "wellness coach" , used to be called a dietician... she advised foods to eat, and said that chia seeds are a good source of fibre, and to add them to meals like cereal, porridge, smoothies/juices etc.

I eat some fruit, but not any salad, veg or pulses, nuts etc. I eat more oranges now than I used to. I have weetabix for breakfast every day.

I take 3 Fybogel chewable tablets a day, bottle says 6 but I find 3 works for me.

The GP prescribed Laxido for when I really can't go for days.

1 coffee with breakfast often helps.

Another thought OP, have you asked whether your other medication that causes constipation could be modified or changed to a different one? I realise this isn't always possible, but might be worth speaking to your specialist/GP/Pharmacist.

Laxido helps me.. think its the same as movical though.. but you can have quite a few of them. . I just have 1 a day now when I feel im gonna need it. For a couple days, usually sorts me out.

A lot of tablet based medicines and supplements are held together with some sort of caking agent, are you taking everything at the same time? They could all be caking together in there! I had to space out meds and supplements throughout the day to get back to normal, also cut a couple of things out to lessen the overall load

Absolutely. If you're not eating much in the first place then there won't be much waste to pass. I've thought about trying the new Wegovy pills but have heard stories of upset digestive systems so it's put me off. Sickness and feeling generally unwell

You're definitely not alone. shemed with Wegovy helped me stay on top of hydration, fibre, and gentle movement, but if you're only going every five days and still straining, I'd mention it to your prescriber to make sure nothing else is going on.