Constipation- Home Suggestions
Stop taking the non-prescription medication if possible. Continue the prescription medication, and use these Home Suggestions.
1. You can use mild laxatives such as Milk of Magnesia at a dose of 2 tablespoons (30cc) once or twice daily. You should be careful when you use other laxatives. These usually contain a senna plant product (Exlax, Correctol, Sennakot, many herbal laxatives). These ingredients are harsh and can cause other bowel problems when used regularly. Just because a product has a mild sounding name or a nicely coloured box does not mean it contains mild ingredients. Often people only need help starting the bowels to move. This can be helped with a glycerin suppository, or Fleet enema. Rarely a more potent suppository is needed. Dulcolax suppositories can be used no more than once a week without a nurse/doctors advice.
2. Stool softeners such as docusate sodium or docusate calcium (Colace, Surfak) may help short-term constipation that is caused by medication, pregnancy, a new illness, a change of diet or a change in life situation.
3. To improve bowel activity in the long run most people need to add more fibre to their daily diet. The best choice is wheat bran. The secret is to add the fibre in a slow but steady fashion.Fibre is not a laxative. It may improve mild diarrhea as much as it may improve constipation. Start with one heaping tablespoon daily of raw wheat bran or 1/4 cup of an all-bran cereal (All Bran, Bran Buds and others). Wait at least one week between increases in your daily intake. If you tolerate the fibre increases, you can add 1 tablespoon of raw bran or 1/4 cup of all bran cereal to your daily dose each week. Aim for 2-6 tablespoons of raw bran or 1/2 to 1 cup of all bran cereal every day. Psyllium-containing products (Metamucil, Prodiem Plain and others) may also be used as fibre supplements. Remember that the slow but progressive increase in fibre will reduce the development of new symptoms or unwanted side effects. Adding more fibre to your diet by eating more beans, fruits and raw vegetables will also improve your general health, and will make it easier to move your bowels. Be aware that not all plants contain the same kinds of fibre and may not result in the same improvement. Some will have no effect such as oat bran; others may increase gas, such as beans. Eating a higher fibre diet with reduced fat is a good idea for all people. Increasing evidence suggests that there is a reduced risk for cancer and heart disease in people who eat a higher fibre diet.
4. The Irritable Bowel Syndrome is a condition where a persons bowel activity is constantly changing. People with this condition often have normal or constipated bowel movements, followed by diarrhea which is accompanied by cramping pain. The symptoms of this condition may respond to the fibre advice above but if there are other symptoms that do not respond you should see your nurse/doctor. Symptoms of weight loss, rectal bleeding, or severe diarrhea should be reported to your nurse/doctor.
5. Drinking more water by itself will not make passing stools easier; however, if you are eating more fibre, then you should drink an extra one or two glasses of water per day. The increased fibre will hold the water in the stool and soften it.
6. Passing hard stool may cause you to develop hemorrhoids, or cause some bleeding from the anus. This bleeding is usually bright red and on the surface of the stool, on the paper only, or drips into the toilet. If bleeding occurs frequently, or does not improve with a softening of the stool, you should see your nurse/doctor.
Try some of these ideas, and then answer the questions below to continue the tool.
After 2 weeks of Home Suggestions, are you still constipated?
