Question:
HELP!! I have

I was hoping and praying I wouldn't have to ask this embarrassing question. I read through all the questions posted about constipation. I feel like I've tried every rememdy suggested and I'M STILL CONSTIPATED!! It's not a blockage - if I take THREE laxative tablets I can go (after dealing with hours of stomach cramps and misery). I am 4 1/2 months post op and have lost 57 pounds. I do okay with liquids but I'm sure I'm not getting quite enough exercise. Constipation has never been a problem for me in the past. Two days ago I started taking "Super Colon Cleanse" that I bought at GNC. It's the same as a product called LBS (Lower Bowel Stimulant) which I saw recommended in several other posts. 2 days and 20 capsules later - still nothing except gas and bloating. I haven't tried prunes yet because they are so chocked full of sugar and calories. ARGHHH!! I know that I won't necessarily go every day because of decreased food intake. However, it can't be healthy for me to only go once a week or even every 10 days. Right now I wouldn't even mind something if it gave me diarhea every day. I'm getting blue :( about this. Can anybody help me? Thanks!!    — ronascott (posted on March 10, 2001)

March 10, 2001
My suggestion is to give your doctor a call or a visit. It sounds perfectly miserable.
   — defatbroad

March 10, 2001
I am very distal and am "supposed" to have chronic diarrhea. HELP! THIEF! I want my promised free diarrhea! BOY, do I know how you feel!!!! After that first year, I returned the family pattern of the chronic C. I have tried a coupla zillion things in the last 5 yrs. Any changes I've made work "for awhile". Then, back to misery. The things that gives me the most consistent relief are peri-colace (no cramping) and/or the Rx Mira-Lax. This is a powder I mix with 8 oz of Crystal Light---it's FINE. Honest. But the Rx is fairly new. Safe enough for kids, it is to be used for 30 days to "retrain" the bowel, in theory. Also, NO cramping. My doc had not heard of it, but checked it out. I don't think MY bowel will ever be retrained, but at least it will give me a break.
   — vitalady

March 10, 2001
You might try a tablespoon or two of mineral oil mixed with orange juice or diet Tang. Mineral oil is an inert oil and does not get absorbed, neither does it cause cramping or gas. It just makes "things" slide on through.
   — [Anonymous]

March 11, 2001
Sorry to sound like such a simpleton but do think that something you're eating is binding you up? I've heard that certain foods have that tendency as well as iron supplements. Although prunes may have a high sugar content they might just work and if you only consumed them every few days you'd be able to compensate elsewhere wouldn't you? BTW Michelle's advice is based on a vast body of knowledge and experience and be taken WITHOUT the grain of salt! :) Hope you feel better real soon.
   — Lynn E.

March 11, 2001
My Dr and nutritionist suggested eating raisin bran cereal for breakfast, and trying to get more fiber into your diet, which can be hard when your trying to get as much protein as possible. I just added the raisin bran, and that seems to have helped quite a bit. I know it has a fair amount of sugar, but they both agreed that at this point (almost 5 months post op) it shouldn't be a problem to have that 1x per day.
   — tlg6056

June 11, 2001
I have tried every, and I mean every, recommendation made on this web site. To add insult to injury I had to have fissure surgery that left me so small I have to be loose the rest of my life. Do you take vitamins with iron in them? I found out I can't tolerate iron - not even food high in iron like liver. I stopped taking a muti-vitamin because I couldn't find one without iron. I don't recommend this but it's the one and only solution to my severe problem - citrate of magnesia. I drink a 1/2 bottle every day and some days i have to drink a whole one. As I said - this is a harsh solution and I don't recommend it. It's just the only and I mean only solution for me. Absolutely nothing else worked.
   — [Anonymous]

November 14, 2003
try a suppostory lax. That help me when nothing else did. You get them over the counter. Within 20 minutes it worked. No cramping.
   — LeeAnn W.