Brutal constipation. Please help!

If you don't like the olive oil try coconut oil. And add fat whenever you can! Want eggs? Fry in butter. Tuna? Full fat mayo. Full fat everything! Make that nasty protein shake with cream.
 
Sorry this is so long, I don't know what's important so I can't shorten it. But summary = "Aloe is bad, replacing with Mag Ox. See my new plan at the bottom."

Ah, poop. The subject always brings me back here where the advice is by far the best. I just read that aloe latex (the layer between the inner-goo and the outer green) is considered cancer causing. There is a solid 2 year study in rats that was pretty devastating, but didn't replicate in mice, but knowing what they know, they think it would translate to humans. :-( I've been taking Now Aloe, which is made from the whole leaf. The inner gel is supposed to be fine, and honestly, there is probably so little in the whole leaf stuff that it may be fine, but they also said that aloe latex is habit forming and needs an increasing dose over time. So, I tried stopping the aloe this week and although I didn't have constipation, I did have the 'not full dumps' problems along with bad hemorrhoids. Or maybe a fissure, I can't stand researching this cuz of the pictures on those sites give me nightmares. So it's time to redo my PPOA. (Poop Plan of Action!)

At ~2 months, I achieved poop balance with a probiotic, magnesium oxide, and generic Mirilax and Colace. I found that I had to ramp up my calcium very slowly, like maybe ~500 mg every other week. On the first few days after upping it, I would seriously up my fat. If I didn't poop in the morning, I would skip the calcium that day and take more mag ox, up to 7! If I developed a hemorrhoid or fissure or had any pain at all, I would skip my calcium and cheese. This got me up to around 1700mg of calcium a day. If I kept trying to take my calcium I would end up in so much pain that I would eventually have to stop all calcium intake for 10 days to let things heal up. Much better to pro-actively skip a day or two than end up in the hospital.

At ~6 mo I decide to redo my mix because my magnesium levels were trending down and I was having some symptoms (twitching) that could be linked to low levels, so I wanted to remove the poorly absorbed Mag Ox with Mag Glycinate, which is the best absorbed type. So, I added aloe vera and would take a Swiss Kriss Laxative if I didn't have a morning bm. I generally didn't have to skip taking my calcium, but I also switched to Jarrow Formulas Bone-Up - Three Per Day (I took 6), which has the form of microcrystalline hydroxyapatite, which is supposed to be less constipating. Nuts, especially pistachios, seemed to really help as well. Oh, a high dose of Vit-C can give me the runs as well.

After getting three kidney stones, I've dropped my calcium to 1000 mg and added more milk to my diet. My blood and bone scan were excellent and my general doc just thinks that my body is efficient with calcium. So we watch. But even with lowering the calcium, I needed to take the full regimen of Mirilax, Colace, aloe, extra C and occasionally Swiss Kriss. Sometime I stopped taking the probiotic, I think I just wanted to drop my overall total number of pills, but that was put back recently when I realized I was getting nausea almost daily. With 3 Now Aloe Gel pills this worked, but I guess I will replace them with mag ox and just ignore those pills when totaling my daily mag intake. Does this ring alarm bells with anybody.


I would love to see other people's full PPOA!

1.5 Year Poop Plan of Action:
1. Ordered a Biffy (biffy.com)
2. Ordered a Squatty Potty (amazon.com was 1$ cheaper)
3. Mirilax at lunch (dose changes to reflect my state) (I don't think the generic smells as good.)
4. Continue reduced calcium dose, check bloodwork every 6 mo, annual bone scans. Continue 2 glasses of milk a day (generally average over 2K calcium a day)
5. Start 3 mag ox a day. (?)
6. Continue 3 Kirkland stool softeners (Colace) spread through out the day.
7. Continue probiotic = BioTech Pharmacal - Lacto Pectin
8. Aloe in a decreasing dose for the next few weeks.
9. Swiss Kriss in a decreasing dose for the next month, until I don't need this kind of laxative at all. Start with 1/2.​


I appreciate all feedback.
 
I would love to see other people's full PPOA!
Mine is very simple:
Take the calcium I require...(one dose is the Jarrow Bone Up, the others are Citracal. I also take Mag Citraite. And have two butter coffees with HWC. If I go too many days without my second butter coffee, I notice it. Add a third and I get the squirts. Two work just fine with all the other fat I eat elsewhere. Been doing this now for about 2 years.
 
So there aren't hot water tanks in CA? (Who would want cold water on their warm privates?)

A cortisone cream might help. (Just use a little bit as cortisone creams applied thickly for a period of time can thin the skin and make things worse.) Preparation H or witch hazel never helped me. In fact the preparation H wipes were very irritating.

Just saw this...I just have cold water on my bidet attachment. It's actually more like room temp.
 
Sorry this is so long, I don't know what's important so I can't shorten it. But summary = "Aloe is bad, replacing with Mag Ox. See my new plan at the bottom."

Ah, poop. The subject always brings me back here where the advice is by far the best. I just read that aloe latex (the layer between the inner-goo and the outer green) is considered cancer causing. There is a solid 2 year study in rats that was pretty devastating, but didn't replicate in mice, but knowing what they know, they think it would translate to humans. :-( I've been taking Now Aloe, which is made from the whole leaf. The inner gel is supposed to be fine, and honestly, there is probably so little in the whole leaf stuff that it may be fine, but they also said that aloe latex is habit forming and needs an increasing dose over time. So, I tried stopping the aloe this week and although I didn't have constipation, I did have the 'not full dumps' problems along with bad hemorrhoids. Or maybe a fissure, I can't stand researching this cuz of the pictures on those sites give me nightmares. So it's time to redo my PPOA. (Poop Plan of Action!)

At ~2 months, I achieved poop balance with a probiotic, magnesium oxide, and generic Mirilax and Colace. I found that I had to ramp up my calcium very slowly, like maybe ~500 mg every other week. On the first few days after upping it, I would seriously up my fat. If I didn't poop in the morning, I would skip the calcium that day and take more mag ox, up to 7! If I developed a hemorrhoid or fissure or had any pain at all, I would skip my calcium and cheese. This got me up to around 1700mg of calcium a day. If I kept trying to take my calcium I would end up in so much pain that I would eventually have to stop all calcium intake for 10 days to let things heal up. Much better to pro-actively skip a day or two than end up in the hospital.

At ~6 mo I decide to redo my mix because my magnesium levels were trending down and I was having some symptoms (twitching) that could be linked to low levels, so I wanted to remove the poorly absorbed Mag Ox with Mag Glycinate, which is the best absorbed type. So, I added aloe vera and would take a Swiss Kriss Laxative if I didn't have a morning bm. I generally didn't have to skip taking my calcium, but I also switched to Jarrow Formulas Bone-Up - Three Per Day (I took 6), which has the form of microcrystalline hydroxyapatite, which is supposed to be less constipating. Nuts, especially pistachios, seemed to really help as well. Oh, a high dose of Vit-C can give me the runs as well.

After getting three kidney stones, I've dropped my calcium to 1000 mg and added more milk to my diet. My blood and bone scan were excellent and my general doc just thinks that my body is efficient with calcium. So we watch. But even with lowering the calcium, I needed to take the full regimen of Mirilax, Colace, aloe, extra C and occasionally Swiss Kriss. Sometime I stopped taking the probiotic, I think I just wanted to drop my overall total number of pills, but that was put back recently when I realized I was getting nausea almost daily. With 3 Now Aloe Gel pills this worked, but I guess I will replace them with mag ox and just ignore those pills when totaling my daily mag intake. Does this ring alarm bells with anybody.


I would love to see other people's full PPOA!

1.5 Year Poop Plan of Action:
1. Ordered a Biffy (biffy.com)
2. Ordered a Squatty Potty (amazon.com was 1$ cheaper)
3. Mirilax at lunch (dose changes to reflect my state) (I don't think the generic smells as good.)
4. Continue reduced calcium dose, check bloodwork every 6 mo, annual bone scans. Continue 2 glasses of milk a day (generally average over 2K calcium a day)
5. Start 3 mag ox a day. (?)
6. Continue 3 Kirkland stool softeners (Colace) spread through out the day.
7. Continue probiotic = BioTech Pharmacal - Lacto Pectin
8. Aloe in a decreasing dose for the next few weeks.
9. Swiss Kriss in a decreasing dose for the next month, until I don't need this kind of laxative at all. Start with 1/2.​


I appreciate all feedback.

I recently had the exact same problem and symptoms as you. Had to go to the proctologist (who, fortunately, had excellent depth perception). Turns out it was an anal fissure caused by one bad bout of constipation that left me screaming in pain, shaking, sweating and wishing for a quick death. The fissure is getting better and should be solved by using a special ointment for 6 weeks and sitz baths. If not, an outpatient procedure will get it.

Anyway, I'm also taking Miralax in the AM, a 250 Mag Ox with each calcium dose, water, fiber, probiotic and three stool softeners at bed time. Even with all that, I still don't have diarrhea. I'm wondering if I'm going to have to take all of that for life now. Once the fissure is healed, I'm going to start experimenting by reducing the Miralax and stool softeners slowly and increasing the fat. I'm hoping that simply by going from my current 150 grams of fat a day to 200 that will solve the problem. I'd much rather take an extra shot glass of olive oil a day than be dependent on laxatives.

If anyone has any experience with this let me know...
 
I feel your pain!

Miralax, high fat and 6 mag oxide and I still struggle unless I skip my iron. I've got Heme ordered to see if that helps, but dude, its not joke. Sorry you are suffering :(
 
All, just for awareness, I wanted to mention that I'm in a mom's group for kids with constipation and that has made me aware there have been a number of serious safety concerns raised with POLYETHYLENE GLYCOL 3350, the active ingredient in Miralax.

While it is probably just fine for short term use and maybe okay for more, I'd recommend researching if long term, daily use is a consideration - just to have all the information at hand.

My understanding is that the primary concern is the potential for PEG 3350 to degrade into ethylene glycol (EG) and diethylene glycol (DEG), which are known toxins (impacting central nervous system, liver, and kidneys). In addition to potential exposure to EG and DEG to through degradation, the FDA tested 8 lots of PEG 3350 and found EG and DEG contaminants in the product itself. By 2014, there were over 7,000 adult and child adverse events formally reported in the FDA system in connection to PEG 3350 products (including deaths). Upon review at that time, the FDA required updated labelling with stronger warnings and precautions for patients with certain health conditions.

Ultimately we ended up switching our child from Miralax to Pedialax (magnesium hydroxide) because it worked better in creating the desired stool texture (firm enough not to leak, but soft enough not to be painful). That said, there are many parents/patients that swear by Miralax.

Just want to share the concerns, since our son was on Miralax for 3 years before I heard anything about it. Just a factor to consider. Personally, I'm up for a colonoscopy next week and personally will be taking Golytely, another PEG 3350 product.
 
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All, just for awareness, I wanted to mention that I'm in a mom's group for kids with constipation and that has made me aware there have been a number of serious safety concerns raised with POLYETHYLENE GLYCOL 3350, the active ingredient in Miralax.

While it is probably just fine for short term use and maybe okay for more, I'd recommend researching more if long term, daily use is a consideration - just to have all the information at hand.

My understanding is that the primary concern is the potential for PEG 3350 to degrade into ethylene glycol (EG) and diethylene glycol (DEG), which are known toxins (impacting central nervous system, liver, and kidneys). In addition to potential exposure to EG and DEG to through the degradation, the FDA tested 8 lots of PEG 3350 and found EG and DEG contaminants in the product itself. By 2014, there were over 7,000 adult and child adverse events formally reported in the FDA system in connection PEG 3350 products (including deaths). Upon review at that time, the FDA required updated labelling with stronger warnings and precautions for patients with certain health conditions.

Ultimately we ended up switching our child from Miralax to pedialax (magnesium hydroxide) because it worked better in creating the desired stool texture (firm enough not to leak, but soft enough not to be painful). That said, there are many parents/patients that swear by Miralax.

Just want to share the concerns, since our son was on Miralax for 3 years before I heard anything about it. Just a factor consider I'm up for a colonoscopy next week and personally will be taking Golytely, another PEG 3350 product.
yep, ethylene glycol was a printing solvent we used years ago to dilute printing inks. It went on the carcinogen list back in the 80's so the first time I saw mirralax label I thought , hmmmmmm.
 
@hilary1617 - you might want to ask for SuPrep instead - it is MUCH easier to choke down and a MUCH smaller volume. For me, the first dose cleaned me out so thoroughly, I only had to do 1/2 of the second part.
 
Just wanted to circle back on this as I finally had a colonoscopy yesterday and the culprit of my pain is indeed a fissure. The colonoscopy must have antagonized the fissure as yesterday was one of the most painful experiences of my life (and I am no stranger to pain). I still cannot sit down today, it's either stand or lie down, and neither is comfortable. I have a prescription hydrocortisone / pramoxine I was given yesterday which doesn't seem to bhave any effect. I was referred to a surgeon. Hoping things abate a bit today...

ETA, they found a few polyps as well and "severe" hemorrhoids so the cause of bleeding is any of the above...
 
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Just wanted to circle back on this as I finally had a colonoscopy yesterday and the culprit of my pain is indeed a fissure. The colonoscopy must have antagonized the fissure as yesterday was one of the most painful experiences of my life (and I am no stranger to pain). I still cannot sit down today, it's either stand or lie down, and neither is comfortable. I have a prescription hydrocortisone / pramoxine I was given yesterday which doesn't seem to bhave any effect. I was referred to a surgeon. Hoping things abate a bit today...

ETA, they found a few polyps as well and "severe" hemorrhoids so the cause of bleeding is any of the above...

I feel your pain. Literally. But yours sounds even worse. Ai yai yai. I was also given the Proctozone prescription which did nothing. You can buy Lidocain 5% OTC which helps a little (but not much). Three weeks after I literally tore myself a new a-hole, I saw the colorectal doctor. He gave me a special ointment called Diltiazem. I have to apply it there 3X day for six weeks. He said there's a 90% chance it'll fix the fissure. If not, surgery. I've been using it for two weeks. the situation down there has definitely improved. In the meantime, I'm taking Miralax which is the only thing that really seems to work for me. Also a couple of Sitz baths a day. Hopefully, that will ensure take it easy on my wound until the Diltiazem can do its job.

Good luck to you. I'm so sorry you're going through this....
 
Ask for some real pain meds. Please. It will not get better. As many sitz baths in water as hot as you can stand (at least 3 times per day is recommended by my current CRS). Try to keep your bm to a mashed potato consistency. I have to take colace and miralax and magnesium to keep this.

Gawd, I don't wish this pain on anyone. I'm experiencing an(other) infection flareup in my fistula and having to use pain meds all day right now. It's the only way I can sit and be a functional human being. I literally stood in the kitchen for 3 hours on Sunday just to avoid having to explain why I cried when my tush hit the chair.
 

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