Extreme Constipation

[daphniela]

It has been a long time since I have visited this forum. I have been gluten free for about 4 years now. I went to the hospital on Thursday because I was having major stomach problems. They gave me all kinds of medications for my stomach and pain. They even gave me morphine, not even that helped me. They x-rayed me and found that I had a ton of feces inside. I was told that that doesn't normally show up in an x-ray so it means I have a lot. They gave me this drink to get me going. I was prescribed Bentyl and stool softeners. My system is still not working properly even with these medications. I have not eaten any gluten whatsoever. I cook my own food and never go out to eat. I am very tempted to ingest some gluten thinking it may help me get things moving. I am really afraid of developing Septicemia since nothing is working for me. I may have to go back to hospital if nothing changes by end of the week. They only gave me a 7 day supply of medication.

[nicoleashley]

Have you tried mirilax? One capful twice daily in any drink you prefer. Sometimes it takes a day or two to work, but once it does, it gets you going.

Also try citrate of magnesium and dulcolax suppository.

[Bubba's Mom]

Maybe add some Kombucca to your diet? I had a lot of problems with C and once I started drinking just about 2oz. in the morning helped.

Also, do you eat raw foods? I know raw foods don't agree with some of us, so we get to where we sort of edit them out of our diets. Try a salad of apple, celery, walnuts, and some lettuce. Dress with a bit of honey/olive oil. The fiber in this salad really helps.

[IrishHeart]

Please do not resort to gluten to try and solve your constipation problem.

You can try this:

16 oz glass of water with a tablespoon of ground flax seed in it. Stir it up and drink it down.

2 times a day for a week..And drink more water throughout the day.

Worked like a charm for me and a few other people I know--even when laxatives did not work..

Hope you find relief soon. It is very uncomfortable, I know.

If you do not get relief soon, I would go back to the doctor. No one should be in this kind of pain.

Something's not right. Morphine is not a resolution; it's just throwing more constipating drugs at the problem. Thyroid disease can also cause the big C.

[Framefunnyfarm]

Try magnesium citrate. Works EVERYTIME. It sounds like you are so uncomfortable that an enema might be in order also. Step one: get cleaned out

[burdee]

Morphine, like most narcotic drugs, always cause constipation. Bentyl's side effects include constipation. Both of those drug's suppress the symptoms of pain and cramping, rather than treat the cause of your pain. If you abstain from gluten, perhaps you have a parasitic, bacterial or fungal infection in your intestines. (I had 8 over a 4 year period, while abstaining from gluten and my other 6 allergens.) If a stool test does not show any abnormal amounts of bad gut bugs, perhaps you have another delayed reaction allergy. Like gluten intolerance, other delayed reaction allergies can also cause excruciating gut pain. Anytime you have infections or inflammation in your gut you have develop constipation. However, you might also want to ask your doc for thyroid hormone tests (T3, T4, TPOab and TSH) to rule out hypothyroidism (which decreases metabolism and gut motility) as a cause of ongoing constipation.

[GottaSki]

If your pain is not helped with morphine and things are still not moving with all traditional methods....go back to the doctor. I had severe abdominal pain that came on over a two day period when I had been gluten-free for about a year and a half. My assumption was I had been glutened - until the pain became unbearable - went to ER - docs scratched their heads over my CT results - they thought it "might" be possible that I had a small bowel obstruction -- they admitted me and kept me laying there in excruciating pain to see if I got better with ng tube and pain meds -- I never thought there was worse pain than child birth - I was wrong. Surgical team finally deemed it necessary to take a look at five days into this ordeal.

I had developed a nice little lasso around a portion of my small intestine from hysterectomy scar tissue grabbed my fallopian tubes to create a nice tight rope around a loop of small intestine. The surgery was successful - docs were amazed that I didn't want pain meds afterward - ummm I had been in unbelievable pain for nearly a week...a few laproscopic incisions were nothing in comparison. I wasn't trying to be tough....an additional factor was I wanted the hell out of the hospital as they could not provide gluten free meals and I was a bit hungry after living on IV for days on end.

I don't share this story thinking you necessarily have a similar case to mine. It's more that I mistakenly thought gluten was the cause of my abdominal pain and it turned out to be something I never would have imagined - nor many doctors would seriously consider.

Severe constipation can be extremely painful - I know - but if this is a new or different pain - investigate.

PS....during this fun episode the ER docs were blaming that I had tried Mag Citrate on my pain - frustrated my husband enough that he chewed them out - finally getting it thru their heads that I had the pain BEFORE trying Mag Citrate. His small tirade may be the reason they finally admitted me

[daphniela]

I am still suffering with this problem. I am now noticing I bloat up and look 4-5 months pregnant after eating sour cream. I have tried an enema and I have been taking stool softeners and a natural garlic candida cleanse. Today I drank magnesium citrate and it has been 6 hours and still nothing. I do not have insurance so I can't exactly just go to the doctor and I am very very low income.

[tarnalberry]

Ditch the dairy, keep up on the magnesium and lots of water, and if you need to go to a sliding scale clinic, go!

[mushroom]

And some prunes wouldn't hurt, either

[JNBunnie1]

Have you tried the ground flax seed?