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Posted 9/11/2016 4:16 AM (GMT 0)
Hi everyone, this is my first post on this site. I was hospitalized about a month ago for a partial obstruction in my ileum. The CT scan showed narrowing in the terminal ileum. When I got out I was taking 40mg of prednisone, flagyl, and cipro. I have now tapered to 5 mg of prednisone and I have been constipated and haven't gone to the bathroom in a week. I have never gone this long without going before. I have been getting some pains but nothing too terrible as of yet. I am bloated, have some nausea after eating, and don't have much of an appetite. I also have some back pain on lower left side. I called my doctor. He didn't seem too concerned and told me to try miralax, so I tried it and it hasn't done anything. Before calling him I had already tried metamucil, stool softeners, and prune juice. I have also just been trying to drink tons of water. Nothing is working and I have absolutely no urge to go. How worried should I be and what else should I try? I'm on a low residue diet so i'm wondering if it's from having no fiber in my diet or the narrowing that I have. confused

Post Edited (rainbows1) : 9/11/2016 12:07:11 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 9/11/2016 12:38 PM (GMT 0)
I think it might be a combination of no fiber and the narrowing. I would give your GI a call again and say that the miralax didn't work. It might be worth it to pop a couple of dulcolax tablets. But I've never had narrowing, so I'm not sure about protocol on that.
Posted 9/11/2016 7:07 PM (GMT 0)
I agree with scifigal. you need to keep on top of it and contact your doctor. I have had major problems with constipation in the past and it was due to a mix of the lack of fiber and probably was influenced by a stricture at the terminal ileum that was only found a few weeks later. i still have a bit of difficulty but at its worst i had to go to the ER with it and that was after not going for ONE day! I had used miralax and suppositories but neither worked for me and i ended up in intense pain. With the fact you have narrowing, you should definitely take it seriously and make sure you don't have a blockage.you could try suppositories or enemas but if you have no urge to go it'd be more concerned about the narrowing.
Posted 9/11/2016 9:36 PM (GMT 0)
Your constipation is typical if you have narrowing. It could be simply dietary though as mentioned.

Have you had any diagnostic imaging done on your TI? Hopefully, you only had inflammation, and not scarring. Also, are you passing gas?

A week is the upper limit for not having a BM. I would try Dulcolax at this point. It should work, and is gentle enough. In the future if you don't go for a couple of days, you could try Senekot S. You can use that almost as often as you need to.

Agree with giving your GI a call. You should get some diagnostics done to see what's going on in there.

It might be nothing at all, but better safe than sorry.
Posted 9/12/2016 12:55 PM (GMT 0)
I'm not sure how many doses of Miralax you took but I know myself and several others who have had constipation issues took it every day for months (1-3 doses) to try to ease constipation. Miralax is one of the slower drugs in that group, so a single dose may very well not help.

Regardless, you should talk to your GI. That's a long time for anyone to go without a BM. And don't feel like you're bothering the GI; it's all part of their job.
Posted 9/13/2016 10:22 PM (GMT 0)
WATER!

There have been times when I have to go, and simply cant. Even while on the toilet, drinking ALOT of water seems to do the trick for me. Maybe its mental, but its like the warden opening the gates and letting the prisoners free.
Posted 9/14/2016 3:04 AM (GMT 0)
Water just makes me pee....it has never helped constipation. Theoretically I guess it would help if the reason you are constipated is due to dehydration.
Posted 9/14/2016 4:00 AM (GMT 0)
Yeah, I wish water worked well. For me, it usually just increases the bloating and puts more pressure on everything and makes me even more uncomfortable.
Posted 9/14/2016 10:48 AM (GMT 0)
More water - in conjunction with extra fibre - helps to prevent constipation, but it doesn't treat it. Constipation is an absolute bugger to treat once it has passed a certain point. Glycerin suppositories used to work wonders for me, but probably won't work if the backed up stool is too high up in the colon. Alternatively, I would try the maximum dose of miralax - that's like 8 sachets, but the box will have instructions.
Posted 9/15/2016 4:12 AM (GMT 0)
I apologize, I guess everyones situation is different. My constipation is at the very end, where I can feel I have to poop, but that final push never comes, but once I drink ALOT of water, its all good.
Posted 9/15/2016 2:29 PM (GMT 0)
I don't think you have to apologize @billo, some things work for some and not others, but everyone's experiences is still valuable!...(never thought I'd be writing that about bowel movement experiences haha)
Posted 9/24/2016 2:02 AM (GMT 0)
I don't have narrowing but I had a similar experience not too long ago (I tend to have constipation more than diarrhea). I would suggest trying an enema and manual extraction (gross but it helps). With the narrowing, I would say don't be afraid to go to the ER if the pain becomes unbearable.
Posted 9/27/2016 3:46 AM (GMT 0)
I have had the same problem. I now take magnesium citrate in capsule form every night to keep constipation under control. At my worst my doctor prescribed Linzess which definitely did the trick to get things moving.
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