What are non-diet causes of constipation?

Hi all,

I mentioned this in a previous post, but I ended up in the ER 10 days ago with extreme lower abdominal pain. Good news is that all it turned out to be was severe constipation, so I spent all Saturday with a bottle of magnesium citrate cleaning myself out.

Since then, I've been taking a capful of Miralax a day, but even with that, I feel like I'm starting to back up again. I do not have a lot of BMs and they are generally small and occasionally resemble the ones I had when my constipation was bad (small round balls).

I'm not sure what the cause is, especially as I have very rarely had constipation issues before and tend to swing the opposite way with my Crohn's. I also eat a diet that is low fat, high fiber, with a lot of fruits and vegetables. Liquid-wise, I probably consume at least 80-100oz of liquid per day, with the majority of that being water (the rest being tea). I haven't been able to exercise for the last 7 weeks because of chest pain but am hoping to start up again this week and am hoping that will help.

Any ideas on other things that might be the source of my bowel issues? I'm going to see my GI tomorrow, as I'm due for a Remicade infusion, and I plan to bring this up with her (she doesn't know about my field trip to the ER yet).

Thanks Kaz. It's interesting that you bring up menstrual cycles. For the last two years or so, I've been taking the pill continuously because I would get horrendous migraines every time I took the week of sugar pills. So now I take the pill for about three months non-stop, then take three days off, then start up again. I still get the migraines during those three days (even being on two daily migraine meds), but three days is better than the week plus I dealt with before.

The weird thing is that I haven't had a real period since September. My OBGYN says the lining has just gotten too thin and I shouldn't be worried about it, but it kind of freaks me out that I never bleed anymore. Kind of OT, but it also speaks to the fact that I don't have a normal cycle.

I hesitate to do so, as I have been on this birth control for most of the last 13 years and the one time I tried switching to a "lite" version (maybe 3 years ago?), my headaches got worse, as did other PMS symptoms. When I was younger, I suffered from terrible PMS and, even now, on the three days every 90 or so that I do not take the pill, my life is pretty miserable. I see my OBGYN in a few weeks, so I'll talk her about what's been going on.

Re the lack of a period. Have you lost a lot of weight or are you underweight? That's one possible cause. I lost my period at a low weight, but got it back when I put on weight.

As for constipation, it's something of a mystery with this disease, but it's a more common symptom than people realise. One possible cause is a stricture: food can't get through as easily.

If you're truly desperate, then try a glycerin suppository. I would not use them regularly, but they are good for emergencies...

I have Crohn's in my ileum and a slow moving colon with IBS-C. I'm dealing with D right now, but I think I'm in a flare or have an infection or somehting...that's another story.

Normally, I take 6 fiber pills a day (combo of Metamucil and Citrucel) and a colace. I add Miralax and eventually Senokot when I'm desperate. I do suspect that my recent Senokot usage may have started this flare with anemia...doc doesn't think so , but be careful with the Senokot. I also was exercising with cardio 4 times a week and having lots of fruit and fluids. All of that still doesn't work well sometimes. I don't think I have significant stricturing, unless things have changed and I don't know it....I was even constipated as a little kid, long before my Crohn's. Beyond all that, just try to limit junk and sugary foods as I think it makes it worse. I tried gluten free and it didn't help, but it does help some people. Sorry you are going through this!!