Constipation!

[NinjaKitty]

It's back and worse than ever. Pardon the TMI but it's like trying to pass bricks. I've been having plenty of fibre, eating soft fruits and keeping well hydrated. Don't really want to try Fybogel because I am prone to painful trapped wind and apparently it produces more wind. May have to resort prune juice (uuurrrkkk) at this rate. Gonna start my PG exercise drive this weekend (mainly walking and swimming) in the hope it'll shake something loose! TMI so sorry.

 

[jomc]

Try dried apriocots... my mw recommended them and apparently they work better than prunes xxx

 

[NinjaKitty]

Try dried apriocots... my mw recommended them and apparently they work better than prunes xxx

Oooooo thx, I'll give it a try.

*immediately runs out to shops*

 

[Alexandra84]

I has exactly the same problem (passing bricks ahem,..) which got so bad that I went to my GP to complain etc. Interestingly, she told me that I may be eating too much fibre and, because my digestion's slowed down with the pregnancy, my system wasn't coping with it and all the fibre compacted in my gut to produce 'bricks'.

So I was given a prescription for lactulose (as it works by keeping water in your gut) and told to cut down on the amount of fibre I was eating to see if there was any improvement. Anyway, it did actually work (though I still have to take the lactulose every day) and I really notice if I seem to have overdone it on the fiber.

So, perhaps less fibre might be a good idea?

 

[NinjaKitty]

So, perhaps less fibre might be a good idea?

Thx! I've been looking for an excuse to nerf off the bran flakes. Is lactulose only on prescription or is there anything I can get over the counter?

 

[Alexandra84]

Thx! I've been looking for an excuse to nerf off the bran flakes. Is lactulose only on prescription or is there anything I can get over the counter?

Prescription only I'm afraid. So it might be an idea to see your GP and explain what's going on and see if they'll prescribe some for you . In the meanwhile you could experiment with what types of food make it better/worse. I found a real improvement after I stopped having oats for breakfast and gorging myself on quite so many fruits (I was having 10-a-day rather than five!).

 

[Cazza]

So I was given a prescription for lactulose (as it works by keeping water in your gut) ?

Fantastic stuff!!!

I've been on it since about week 6!!

 

[CustardCream]

You've already tried what I was gonna suggest xxx

 

[Dee83]

I suffer very badly with constipation. I had a thread on here a few weeks ago telling of how i hadn't been for weeks. It ended up being 5 weeks without going at all and that was with me taking a senocot max tablet every night, Movicol 3x a day and lactulose 2x per day! I also have a very healthy diet and drink 3ltrs of water a day! I had tried natural alternatives first like prune juice but it wasn't touching it! So i feel your pain hun!!!
If it gets too bad for you, you should definitely got to your doctor. In the end mine was wanting to send me to a bowel specialist as she was at a loss as to what else she could give me. I ended up on Glucose suppositories every other evening and that eventually helped to get me moving a bit and so avoided going to the specialist.
I've been told that i am likely to suffer throughout my pregnancy and to try and manage it as best i can! So i'm now on movicol 2x a day and if i start to get too bunged up i have a suppository. Seems to be working so far. I feel better having the suppository instead of senocot as it means i'm not having to swallow terrible chemicals every night. I would ask for them instead if she offers senocot (which apparantly they normally do with preg ladies if the lactulose is too gentle to get them moving). xxx

 

[Dee83]

I've heard fybogel is really good for some people too. It didn't work for me though as i think i was actually over doing it on the fibre already which can tend to bung u up more. xxx