General Chat

Before crippling my leg in an accident 3 years ago constipation was never a problem.
However, due to very limited movement due to the injured leg, I now experience intermittent constipation.
Grapes or prunes are a help. How log can constipation persist before it is serious ?

Check with your doctor, because other tablets you are on may be contibuting to it ( pain killers etc) he may be able to change them.

I phoned my GP advising her of the problem. At the time I was also experiencing a lot of pain RR.
She said I'll send you a prescription for Codeine. Don't bother says I, for weeks in the hospital I was severely constipated due to Codeine. Then I'll send you Senacot she says. I was thinking she's not listening. Brief conversation. Within 48 hours I received a prescription for both Senacot and Codeine.

You need to pursue it David, don't be fobbed off.

Hi David, I find Fybrogel sachets brilliant. and you can get them on prescription.Hope this is helpful.

I'll tell you a wee fact I'm concerned about. My leg injury needed six surgical operations and a biopsy spanning several weeks RR. The knee is now immobile, won't bend or flex. I sued the NHS for incompetence/ negligence about a year ago.
The pertinent details to back up my claim were absent from the file, a foreign body flushed from my knee during the biopsy that followed 2 fixators on and off again. Six weeks on a drip, they say for a urinary infection eh ?!!
Ive turned 70. My fear is if I make too much fuss about the claim I lost and subsequent things, it's the easiest thing for a doctor to call a patient demented !!
I'm safer with the occasional tin o prunes and a handful of grapes :-S :-S

In also find dried dates good too. from most health shops.

My diet is pretty much unchanged, it's the immobility is causing the problem.
Tin of California prunes is cheap and effective.

I'm surprised the hospital allowed me to go so long without a bowel movement.

David, if you are concerned that the Dr won't treat you properly because of your claim ( which to be honest I doubt would be the case) then you could change Dr?

But please pursue this, I by no means wish to alarm, but you do need to consider that there may be other causes for the constipation, most probably it is the tablets you take and nothing more, but the Dr should check it out, especially if you are experiencing any pain.

The pain was in the left knee and tibia RR
Things have to be really bad to be a pain in the rear.

Just have a Burger off the street sellers
I am sure the Salmonella in them with get you moving :-D :-D

Or some o that stuff off the rotating spit in the chippy, not sure what it is Keeboo?

Sorry, it's kebab. How come they never put it in the fridge ?

David

It is probably the pain killers that are causing the constipation, more than your inactivity.

The Senocot is a very gentle natural vegetable laxative which really does help ......... take it for heavens' sake!

You could also try greatly increasing the amount of WATER that you drink each day ........... about 2 litres a day, or 8-10 8 oz glasses as a minimum.

If your urine becomes a very very pale colour, you are close to drinking too much, so drop back to 1 glass less.

Also make sure that you are eating much more "roughage" than you used to do ........ fruit, veggies, bran flakes, etc


BUT RR is also perfectly correct ............. you're stupid to keep ignoring it and asking US for advice instead of telling your doctor how bad it is. Just in case it is more than the medications.

Thank you Sylvia.. By intermittent I mean a movement every third or some times fourth day rather than daily.
My late Father had serious problems with his bowels in his old age. He was crippled with arthritis. His inactivity meant he had a struggle keeping it moving. He was formerly an active man.
I read online a lemon squeezed into warm or hot water then drank helps move you.
Also moving you abdomen in and out while panting helps.

AnnMarieG Ive heard of them Fybrogels will try them.

Is there not a risk of making the bowel "lazy" with these aids ?

I really would ask the doctor first . Some medications cause constipation so he may prescribe something to ease the problem .or even change the meds to a different one that does the same job but doesn't bung you up !!

It's always recommended that a change in bowel habit is investigated just in case it's a symptom of something else

If all falls and the doc isn't worried I find the tablet Dulcalax has a soothing effect !!!

But taking meds too often to ease the problem can makes the bowel lazy so it won't work willingly on its own and relies on being irritated ,which is what meds do , to operate !

Finding what works for you may take time

Not everyone has a movement every day though ,what is normal for one will be abnormal for another .

Straining though can cause haermorroids so letting things build up isn't good either

Vitamins with additional iron I'm told helps.

Perhaps I expect too much ? some people sit there and read the paper until they move while others move more easily.

Actually iron tablets cause constipation :-(

Yes iron tablets can cause constipation, so if you're worried, talk to your doctor about it and take advice. If not, there are plenty of laxatives on the market for this particular problem. You should never let any medical abnormality go on for any length of time without having it checked out professionally, as meditation could well be masking a more serious problem, so if it persists once you've come off any laxatives, you really should.see your GP.