HORRIBLE Constipation!

Looks like many other people have given their advice, I will add my 2 cents! I had this problem briefly last month and it was miserable...I feel your pain! I was to the point where I was digging out an impacted ball of stool myself but that and buying $30 worth of bowel meds didn't make much of a difference. The one thing I didn't buy initially that finally did the trick was a bottle of magnesium citrate. seriously....98 cents at walmart..buy a couple. Gave me some diarrhea for two days afterwards, but it worked within 3 hours and I welcomed the diarrhea because at least it was coming out!! If you haven't been taking stool softeners/laxatives you should definetly start. since that episode, I now take 500 mg a day of colace (stool softener) and try to get 1 dose of miralax in every day. good luck in your efforts to get things moving.

I am with you on this sensitive subject. I am 9 months out of RNY and it has been a habitual problem for me. No one can seem to help me not my surgeon, Primary Dr. I have tried everything under the sun as far as that goes. Thank you for bringing this topic up. Let me know please if you find an answer.

Rob9in

I had my surgery in 2007 and constipation has been an issue for me since the beginning. I take a daily pro & pre-biotic and a snack of low fat Greek yogurt - most importantly I use Miralax. I've gotten to the point that a half dose works. The situation you described of getting faint and lots of pain is all too familiar.

Miralax Miralax Miralax!!! Take it daily! I also take 4 colace, 1000 mg of magnesium oxide and a probiotic. I must have forgotten to take my dose on Friday, because Sunday, I had severe constipation, which was so painful and caused me to bleed from my hemorroids for the next 24 hrs. (I am 4 years out). I took a double dose that night and dose and half the next morning to get things back to normal.

I, too, had a terrible problem with constipation in the first 6 months to a year. I was talking to my sister who is a nurse about how much of a problem I was having and she recommended Ducolax laxative tablets, not the stool softners, to get things going. I took four and got some relief when things got really backed up. Suffice to say I understand the pain to which you refer. Then through a lot of researching and participation on some other forums I discovered that taking 1500 mg of Magnesium Oxide (NOT CITRATE) every night completely eliminated (pun intended!) my problem. It is an easy and inexpensive method compared to all the other and I had tried them all up to then. Good luck.

My mother is a nurse, so here is the last resort, from http://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/understanding-constipation-treatmenthttp://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/understanding-const ipation-treatment

The squeemish should stop reading now. This can be a serious problem and people on ObHelp have written about rips caused by constipation.

Fecal impaction is a more serious form of constipation that sometimes affects the elderly and disabled. To release hardened material in the rectum, a doctor inserts a gloved finger and manually breaks up the solidified stool. A gentle enema using warm water or mineral oil may also be helpful.Fecal impaction is a more serious form of constipation that sometimes affects the elderly and disabled. To release hardened material in the rectum, a doctor inserts a gloved finger and manually breaks up the solidified stool. A gentle enema using warm water or mineral oil may also be helpful.