I need serious TMI help, ladies!

CeltiCutie

I am SEVERELY constipated. Like I just sat in the bathroom crying. It was right there and just wouldn't/couldn't come out. I even took dulcolax the other day and it says it works in 8-12 hrs and nothing. So laxatives obviously don't work. I eat tons of whole grains, & though I've been sorta lacking on veggies lately w/ the weather being the way it is, I drink apple juice, water and eat fruit every day. I never had issues w/ this before in my life. Even when pregnant before, no issues! What can I do? More fiber? Prunes/Prune juice? What's the sure fire way? 

Soyager

Oh, man. I forgot you were pregnant. I'm trying to think about what I did... of course, *TMI ALERT* going less than once a day was "constipated" for me

You could try some of the teas like Traditional Medicinal's "Smooth Move" or Yogi "Get Regular." They usually say not to take while pregnant or nursing, but I think it's an FDA/Big Pharma-required scare tactic. If you look up the herbs in most teas, they are safe.

Other than that, yeah, try keeping some of those orange-flavored prunes in the fridge and grab them as a snack. Keep drinking water! You might want to try adding more oils to your diet or try eating an avocado. 

Good luck! Hope everything comes out alright (ba-dum-dum). ;p

littleanomaly

Um. If you saw it, then there you go, but I've decided it was far too embarrassing.

Go with Aspades suggestion! 

aspade

The surefire way, and I know this because I once dated a doctor who had been popular with the old people during his internal medicine rotation as the guy who could help them go, is to go to the pharmacy and buy two things: the waxy/oily old-school suppositories and the chalky crappy drink whose name is escaping me.  Drink a full dose of the chalky stuff and *stuff* (for lack of a better term... insert, lol?) a suppository up there.  You should go in within an hour, and it will be uncomfortable.

By the way, a full daily load of fiber for adults is about 25 grams, which is much huger than people think.  If you're vigilant, it should help.  And when I was pregnant, I swear that the iron I was on kept me regular.  Counter-intuitive, I know.  The other trick was first thing in the morning, hot tea or plain hot water with lemon, without any food, wait a little bit.

GL!! 

lulu3061

Totally TMI response but the first poo post baby was horrendous because of all of the iron I had to take.  I made the mistake of trying to "correct" the constipation by eating more fiber...umm, fiber just bulks *things* up so when you do go, it's like 3x the normal size and results in less than pleasant feelings in the butt area for a loooong time afterward.

When I mentioned to my OB that I had "done everything right" (eating fiber, extra water, stool softener, etc) he said "well your first mistake was the fiber."  He told me to drink a lot more water than you think you need, cut back on the dairy for a couple of days, take the maximum amount of stool softener, drink a cup of coffee and go for a walk.

CeltiCutie

littleanomaly:

Um. If you saw it, then there you go, but I've decided it was far too embarrassing.

Go with Aspades suggestion! 

 

Aww! I did. Thank you for sharing, mama! Hey listen I won't even tell you everything I just did before busting into tears... I was *this* close to getting a butter knife, let me tell you!!! 

sophabelle

oh god that's awful!  i'm by no means regular.....  have you tried drinking a cup of coffee?  i swear to god that 99% of the time if i really needed to go and nothing else had worked, that would do the trick.  of course lately it hasn't been helping me at all. but w/my last pregnancy it worked like a charm!

 drink TONS of water, like way more than you think you need/want to drink... 

have you tried miralax?  i'm thinking since regular laxative haven't worked, a suppository is probably going to be the way you have to go at this point... or an enema.  

my mom is pretty much immune to laxatives bc she has taken them for so long, and now pretty much the only thing that works for her is to use an enema. 

on the bright side, an enema should work pretty much instantly.  at least they do for me!

CeltiCutie

sophabelle:

oh god that's awful!  i'm by no means regular.....  have you tried drinking a cup of coffee?  i swear to god that 99% of the time if i really needed to go and nothing else had worked, that would do the trick.  of course lately it hasn't been helping me at all. but w/my last pregnancy it worked like a charm!

 drink TONS of water, like way more than you think you need/want to drink... 

have you tried miralax?  i'm thinking since regular laxative haven't worked, a suppository is probably going to be the way you have to go at this point... or an enema.  

my mom is pretty much immune to laxatives bc she has taken them for so long, and now pretty much the only thing that works for her is to use an enema. 

on the bright side, an enema should work pretty much instantly.  at least they do for me!

 

I didn't know if miralax was safe because I can't find it on safefetus.com... I just got dulcolax overnight laxative or whatever was a Cat B on there. I was shocked when it did nothing! 

 

I think the enema or suppository might be necessary. I'm going to pick up some prune juice and prunes tomorrow and see if I can get it on track that way first though and go from there.

 

Thanks ladies for sharing your experiences. This is seriously traumatic for me as I have never had issues. I go daily/twice a day with no issues normally. I don't know what is going on right now!  

Soyager

Ya know what? I drank this every morning, now that I'm thinking of it, and it helps keep you regular (and healthy, of course). Works like a charm, actually. The chocolate flavor is fantastic.

CeltiCutie

Soyager:

Ya know what? I drank this every morning, now that I'm thinking of it, and it helps keep you regular (and healthy, of course). Works like a charm, actually. The chocolate flavor is fantastic.

 

interesting... are probiotics an option when pregnant? Do you think that'd help? I have a bottle of those too.  

njh514

What about a spoon? Have you tried a spoon?

 

(but make sure you mark it somehow so it doesn't get put back with the good spoons)

 

 

lytedark

I had issues in first tri and third tri too. i eat a fair amt of fiber so for me the solution was way more water than i thought i needed (midwife told me to aim for like 60oz??) and when the uh, going got tough i would start taking a stool softener or two till i went.

ditto trying a warm beverage and walk trick too.

tummy troubles suck. :-( 

Lotte134

Oh honey!  I hope you get relief soon!  For the future I swear by dried apricots and tons of water.  I was just thinking I need to go pick some up.  Last pregnancy as long as I ate 2-3 each day I was good.  If not, I started to get backed up.

sophabelle

oh if you go the prune juice route, try it warm.... its supposed to work better that way.

jennterrell

I'm so sorry you are dealing with this. I had the same problem when I was on the Zofran and it was absolutely awful for me. I am usually a 2x/day gal, and I would go 4 days without a good BM.

Water, warm liquids, dried fruits, prune juice, a little caffeine, a little black licorice, moderate exercise, cut back dairy, warm compress on the belly, trying to relax/meditate....  For me, the dulcolax just made it more uncomfortable, but i still couldn't go.  I also tried doing some yoga twists, which I think would only be advisable in first trimester.

I hope you find some relief soon.

ETA:  DH would KILL me for telling anyone this, but he was very constipated after having his wisdom teeth out. The combo of pain pills, antibiotics, lack of exercise, and changes in diet really did a number on him. He was in so much pain - tried suppositories and even an enema with little or no relief. One day he actually punched a hole in the wall panelling next to the commode. What finally did it for him was walking. Luckily we live in the woods, and he just kept walking around until he finally went. I was _THIS.CLOSE_ to taking him to the ER that day, thinking he had a blockage or something.

blissfully_caffeinated

Tons and tons of water. When you get that bad you just have to do the suppository. Yeah, it sucks but it's so totally worth it! I think it's really hard to fix things when the problem is so... uh.. extreme? I don't know. It's easier to keep things coming out regularly than fix em when they're backed up. Do the suppository. You won't regret it.

satreece

Well... First of all, let me say I feel your pain.  As this is a TMI post, I'll be frank.  I have never resorted to disimpacting myself, though I've been tempted.  I've always been more prone to constipation, even when I'm not pregnant.  I take colace daily when I'm pregnant and sometimes when I'm not.  I eat salads almost daily for lunch and drink 2-3 liters of water a day and that doesn't cut it (for me).  I go days without pooping and it's TERRIBLE.  So I feel ya!

I posted some of my personal tips on your thread the other day - I love the orange and cherry flavored sunsweet prunes.  What does the best for me, honestly, is drinking something on a fairly empty stomach (could be coffee or tea, but sometimes cold/decaf stuff works too) and sitting for maybe 30 minutes - just on the couch, not running around.  It seems counter-intuitive because you're told to increase your activity to get things moving.  Well, I literally run around all day at work and never sit down and most days, I don't have a BM. My body really needs that time to sit and think and work on it, I guess!  LOL.  Prunes, sweet potatoes, extra oil is a great tip from soyager, and squash all work well fiber wise for me (where as oats and whole grains not so much - because as pp said - it just bulks things up).  TONS OF WATER!!!

Now my tips as a nurse (and I'm not sure which are safe during pg because I don't give advice to pg people at my job and the only medication I've ever taken when pg is colace) - warm prune juice (safe obviously - our first line recommendation to our patients), colace, senna (senekot/senna-s), milk of magnesia... when those all fail, the big guns are magnesium citrate - which is a nasty, super sweet soda type drink (not unlike what we drink for the glucose tolerance test) - might be behind the counter at the pharmacy, but IS over the counter.  Try half a bottle first, sometimes that does the trick - usually within an hour or two.  If not, drink the other half.  Try miralax (if it's safe).  I have no experience with suppositories or enemas (we don't recommend those to our patients because they're on chemo) - but I remember from the hospital - they seemed to work pretty well!

Good luck, mama.  Once you find something that works, stick with it!

OctoberBabyH

Oh no! I know what you mean! When I was pregnant, oh boy - not fun!

What worked for me was eating a huge salad, drinking tons of water and taking Colace. 

Good luck! I hope you find some relief soon. 

CeltiCutie

Ok am I crazy but when I look up colace it's like a C... but apparently it's safe??? This stuff just confuses me! LOL Which is better the miralax or the colace? I'm scared of the fiber... haha I'm gonna try the prunes/juice for sure though! 

OctoberBabyH

CeltiCutie:

Ok am I crazy but when I look up colace it's like a C... but apparently it's safe??? This stuff just confuses me! LOL Which is better the miralax or the colace? I'm scared of the fiber... haha I'm gonna try the prunes/juice for sure though! 

I only took Colace bc my dr. said it was safe to take. And I bought the Target brand, actually. It usually would work within an hour for me.

kissntell

As an RN, I deal with this all the time.  Try a glycerin suppository first, if you feel it right there and it won't come out.  Try to hold the suppository for at least 20 minutes.  If that doesn't work, you could try an enema...lay on your left side for a while after doing it.  Satreece mentioned a "Brown Cow," warm prune juice w/ Milk of Magnesia.  That would probably work, and you can add butter to it to help if needed.  Good luck!  I was terribly constipated after having DS, I feel (felt) your pain!

littleanomaly

kissntell:

Satreece mentioned a "Brown Cow," warm prune juice w/ Milk of Magnesia.  That would probably work, and you can add butter to it to help if needed.  

*gags*

The only way I could get the prune juice down was putting in the freezer and doing shots. Yep. Prune juice shots, that's how I roll. 

CeltiCutie

littleanomaly:

kissntell:

Satreece mentioned a "Brown Cow," warm prune juice w/ Milk of Magnesia.  That would probably work, and you can add butter to it to help if needed.  

*gags*

The only way I could get the prune juice down was putting in the freezer and doing shots. Yep. Prune juice shots, that's how I roll. 

 

LMAO! I love it!  

satreece

That's strange that colace is a C on your list.... it was the one listed in my doctor's "safe list."

humynone

While you are trying to get things moving...remember to stay away from the stuff that binds you up even more (BRAT diet...bananas, rice, applesauce, carrots and toast are great for the runs but not when bound up). I do prune juice, and pears as well.

littleanomaly

Here's the approved list c&p'd from my OB's website.

 

ConstipationTo help combat constipation, try to drink at least 6-8 glasses of water per day.  Try to eat foods rich in fiber such as high fiber cereals, crackers, beans, fruits and vegatables.  Prunes and prune juice are also helpful.

Approved medications:  Metamucil, Citracil, Colace, Perdiem, Konsul and Fiber-con.  Milk of Magnesia and Ducolax pills or suppositories may be used for severe cases. 

CD+AL

The only thing that ever helped me was more water, which it sounds like you're trying to do, and a nice long walk.  I had tons of trouble with constipation while pg with DS, so I resorted to taking a 3mi walk pretty much every day, which was good for me anyway.  Hope it gets better soon!

blue goose

prunes and prune juice worked wonders for me (quickly, too)!

good luck!

mrs.a.butler

one thing that will usually do it for me is nesquik.  Not sure why...or yoohoos (only the premade stuff...not the powdered nesquik.)  

oh, and no bake cookies (I assume because of all the oatmeal in them)

 

crunchyNMmama

have DH give you a foot rub too!  There are nerves in your feet that can help with constipation!

kdello

I bet it's the Zofran. They're magic on the hurling, but man they stop you up. (My hubby suggested that perhaps the pills were actually concrete in your stomach- nothing comes up, nothing goes out!)  Drink a ton of water, take Colace, if that doesn't work try Dulcolax (sp?). That was the official advice. What worked for me was a nice hot cup of coffee on an empty tummy! Good luck!

MissyOlivePants

I think you should stay away from the apple juice. Switch to prune juice or pear juice.  And get yourself a jar of psyllium husks and mix with some prune or pear juice. Drink a couple times a day until you go.   NO bananas, but also eat some raw broccoli.

MissyOlivePants

Oh - and see an acupuncturist first thing tomorrow if you can! 

Dork_Fish

Late to this convo but taking a bath or swimming always helped me feel better.