CONSTIPATION--problem with so many of our drugs
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And one more bump. Good to see you SAS.
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MT, Hi my friend. Missed you. Hope all is well...........
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It will be interesting to see if people start having problems "going" again now that you're back. lol
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OMD,(OH MY DOG). How funny. I was surprised how far it had fallen in the actives. Seriously. It was off the first page of the forum. Never since I started it was it off the first page. I just needed to take a break. Then the break, needed to take a break. Then heard something negative was happening. Had to come back. it's been a couple of weeks since I've been back. Then bumped things. I'm ready.
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Question for you ladies.... I am on Femara and having whole breast radiation concurrently. Can either cause constipation?
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Hi 6cats, Everyone is different with side effects (SE), that's why when you look at a list of SE it seems everything in the world is on them. Think of a SE spectrum of 0_______________________180 degrees. You can be anywhere on the spectrum. One member here had incredible constipation, really obstipation, that lasted a couple weeks. Others sail through without a problem.
In some cases, I'd look at that answer and say "Hrmphh, that didn't help", but the bottom like is you won't know until you take the drug.
Try and read from the beginning. Pass a post if something doesn't seem to apply. I do suggest the section on how to keep a poop diary will help you keep track of the goings, plus what you did to resolve it. Also, you can make up your poop plan by writing a plan at the beginning of the poop diary. That way you will know exactly what you are doing and what step you need to take next to get things moving.
This is a link to a SE list. They're many on the net
http://www.rxlist.com/femara-side-effects-drug-center.htm
sassy
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SAS - oh the famous poop diary. You won't believe but I really, truly did keep one for 3 years after treatament. It was in code, like lge/med/small/tiny, and hard/reg/soft formed/mush. I looked at it this January and thought - oh my, what will my son think if he finds these?? We used to chuckle that my Dad (his grandpa) wrote down every 'movement' w/the exact time & quantity for my Mom during the 12 years she lay as a virtual vegetable after her last stroke. (yup - twelve years of poop records that he wouldn't let me throw away after she died). My son (age 25-35) used to go down to help his Grandpa with chores (I live in a far away state) until he finally said he just couldn't deal with my Dad talking about nothing else but the color & consistency of my Mom's stools. Turn about... I remember that's what I talked about when he was my first & only baby, since like most of us, I had no clue what I was doing. But even then I wasn't quite so (pardon the pun) anal retentive.
So now, my 'diary' is just a check mark on a separate calendar if I "go". Or more check marks if it's more than once. For 70 years, my personal habit was only once every couple of days. (in spite of my Mother sitting me on the pot when I was young every single morning & telling me I HAD to 'go'). So if I don't keep track, I seriously don't know when it's time to have more prunes. TMI? Of course but this is a "going" thread. Soooo glad you're back.
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Oh MT hope you didn't mind me chuckling. My dad was anal too. I coined a word for it when I took my first psychology class 101. Let's see if I can remember the words, I played off of to coin the word.
Egocentric is the only one I can remember. But the key was the suffix or root word "Centric"
MY coined word was "Bowelcentric" My definition: The bowel becomes centermost to thought. Each day the thought surrounds bowel movements. Even to the extension that the bowel movement is discussed with anyone who will listen. Generally, confined to family, but concern about discussion to the wider community can cause alarm to the family. i.e the guys in the bar or to boyfriends brought home.
But as I grew older and grew as a nurse. This function of the Gi system can lead to much illness and disability. As a young nurse, first job 1974 after graduation. My own floor after only four weeks. One night 11pm, coming down the hall I look into a room, I see an old guy in restraints screaming and confused. He was normal when I left in the morning. After report which insufficiently described any intervention to explain his change in mental status, I went in and checked him head to toe and then for an impaction. Dug it out. His mental status returned to normal. Lesson. Yes. But I'd already worked as an aide for 5 years. Since I had listened to Dad so much, I always watched for pooping in my patients.
Always tried to stress with the aides and young nurses at the first sign of mental status change always do the basics. Blood pressure, oxygen sat, blood sugar, palpation of bladder & check catheter flow if present, do a rectal check, check for restricting garments i.e a rolled TED hose, check the bed for foreign objects. Basically, a head to toe.
By the time I relieved that poor guys impaction, his hands and feet were incredibly swollen b/c he was fighting the restraints. He needed to poop. He went through two shifts, without anyone caring to figure it out. "Just put him in restraints". Laws and rules came latter. But in the 70's mental status change meant restraints. Yeah, I can be seen as the good nurse, but it so saddened me that that guy had to be so degraded and ignored b/c all around him had no clue.
So, it gladdens my heart that Dad taught me about being Bowelcentric
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Bump
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Hi SAS - so glad you're around even if we aren't usually on the same threads.
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MT I'm so glad you are around too!. I've always thought of us as a team.
I noticed that Judi hasn't posted in awhile. Any idea?0 -
This is reposted with permission form native Mariner. I thought it was quite a nice recipe. Never can have enough recipes.
It incorporates everything we have talked about in these pages, but with it's own recipe.May 27, 2017 08:45AM NativeMainer wrote: Suems--what laxatives are you taking? It sounds like the bowel regimen piece needs to be readjusted.Does the morphine manage the liver pain? If so, then the laxatives need to be changed.If the morphine is not managing the liver pain it would make sense to talk about another pain med, but be aware that all pain meds except Tramadol cause constipation, and Tramadol may not be strong enough to manage liver pain. Call your doc's office and explain what is going on and get some help with this.As a hospice nurse I like to recommend that people take a dose of polyethylene glycol 3350 (MiraLAX) daily, and take senna (1 tablet = 8.6 mg) one tablet twice a day. If constipation still happens, go up to 2 tablets twice a day,and go up by one tablet twice a day until you have regular bms while taking the morphine.If you start having diarrhea, stopthe senna for 24 hours but continue the polyelthylene glycol, and restart the senna at 1 tablet less than when you stopped. Everyone needs a different amount of senna, some people as little as 1 tableta day, some as many as 6 tablets twice a day. It's important not to stop the morphine because then all the laxatives will kick in suddenly and make you miserable that way.
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SAS - Judi has been inactive for awhile but she promised me she wouldn't totally go away. They have been migrating from Canada to Florida the last couple of summers and & I'm not sure what her connections are down there. I need to send her a PM.
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Mt, it seems that she's on the west coast. Tell her I said Hi and send my love
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Judi's last posts was last october. Hope she still has her email set to get notices of PMs.
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I wonder, I may have her phone b/c we talk about her problem. I'll check my stuff tomorrow.
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Bump
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MT I looked for Judi's phone number. Couldn't find it. Bummer
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Oh no - and she didn't answer my PM. She PROMISED me that she wouldn't disappear. Let's hope she's just in FL for the summer. And that she is OK.
I just had a THS test on my thyroid and was reading on the Mayo Clinic site about some of the symptoms. I've always been cold and we know chemo caused the fatigue. I've written the dry skin down to aging, I have no weight gain and my hair came back ridiculously thick. What surprised me is that one of the symptoms of an underactive thyroid is....yup.... CONSTIPATION. Hmmm. There's something to think about.
My "original normal" was to go every 2-3 days. Supposedly I'm now back to my "new normal". Generally I do OK as long as I eat salad at least every other day. Or like I do on vacation, eat a couple of dried prunes every day. At least I stopped keeping a log of every poop & the size & the quality. OK - yes I'm still "anal" so I do make a check mark on the calendar when I go so I don't get too far out of whack.
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MT, bowelcentric (my made up word) Much fancier than "anal".
Actually, that is a major advancement, if now, all you have to track is a check mark. YoooHooooPooooooCongratulations!
The thyroid is an absolute bugger. The list for hypo (low) thyroid is endless and hyper(high)thyroid is endless. Then with Hashimoto's that fluctuates up and down. All the symptoms are like ping pong balls bouncing everywhere. The thyroid can mess us up big time.
The TSH is Thyroid Simulating Hormone produced by the pituitary. It stimulates the thyroid to produce T4. T4 converts to T3 which is the active component of the hormone. The gold standard for evaluation since 1975 has been the TSH alone. But that's not the whole picture. Can be. But if there are lot's of symptoms measurement of the three can tell a big picture story.
Minimum acceptable once a year testing is TSH. Usually this is included in the yearly well being exam along with a Complete Metabolic Profile abbreviated CMP or CMET, Complete Blood Count --CBC, HBA1c --3month look at blood sugar, Urinalysis. These tests done together yearly can pick up early problems that we are not aware of yet.
MT perhaps a note to the Mods to send Judy an email? I have often done this in the past. They are very cooperative about doing this
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Have to recommend Equate stool softener and laxative. My infusion center RN told me you really need both to be easier on your system and for it to work. Worked very well for me and after 2 days of my poor dad being stopped up post surgery, he was instantly relieved when prunes and other things failed. It's much cheaper than Peri-Colace and works just as well.
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I bought Target's "up & up" brand - senna laxative. Compare to "Senokot S" - stool softener plus laxative. Once you get the blockage under control, the plain stool softener may be enough, but while you're on pain drugs, the constipation is pretty standard.
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Talk about a timely thread to show up for me. I just went through 2 weeks of constipation hell. Tried everything under the sun. Ended up in the ER for a day for some intervention. Learned a lot this week for sure. Finally got some relief but a now paranoid that it will start all over. So I cannot express how much I appreciate all the "tried and true" suggestions. Will definitely stay on top of things now.
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YaY Artista, good luck
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Bumping for new members & a new week.
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When I ended up in the ER I could not get over how stumped they seem over this issue. I really stressed to my Onc's office that it was SEVERE and they were so "ho Hum" about it. Then the ER doc says he hasn't really dealt much with the issue. I asked him what I do next if it continues. He shrugged and said it could take a week or so to completely resolve. Well it hasn't. I've been battling this all week trying all suggestions and it seems to be backing up again. I am trying not to get confused on what remedy to take when. I don't want to overdo anything. But this is miserable. Guzzling water, easing in fiber, Miralax, Milk of Magnesia last night. Still nothing....
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I know how miserable you feel, artistatheart, and am so sorry you haven't found relief yet. I went through this big time after my hysterectomy nine years ago. I called my DH and told him to bring me every product on the grocery store shelf! He was on the verge of taking me to the ER when I finally.... I think what did it for me were the laxative suppositories. The doctor did not prescribe a stool softener with the pain pills. I was so pleased that my BS did. Despite taking them faithfully - and not taking many Norco - I still got a bit backed up. I found those suppositories - expired but still effective!
Post-surgery and in the midst of rads I find myself not exactly my usual self. Won't it be nice some day to be back to "normal?"
Sure hope things get moving soon
MJ
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artist - Hope you are taking Stool Softener PLUS laxative at this point. In the Target brand, the stool softener is Docusate sodium; stool softener is Sennosides. This is what the Peri-Colace box says: The active ingredients in Peri-Colace®Tablets are docusate sodium and standardized senna concentrate. II think you'll find the WalMart brand similar (Equate) Sounds like you're past milk of mag and the fiber is just adding to the jam.
Also, yes, I would go ahead and get a suppository for quick relief. Hopefully one of those will break the log jam. Just plain glycerin worked for me, but you can ask your pharmacist what the next level up w/laxative included. On occluded bowel is something you do NOT want.
Once you get 'clear', we all have different methods for staying that way. I'm usually OK if I eat a green salad every day - which I don't. And I'm better if I eat bread - which i love but try not to do because of the calories & carbs. If I start to feel 'full', I pop a couple of dried prunes or drink a small can of prune juice.
Do let us know how you're doing.
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Aristahea, Hi, Sorry you are still having problems. The key to my answer is whether you are in a normal or low immune state
Normal immune state---platelets normal, WBC's normal, and neuts normal
Low immune state--platelet abnormal which can lead to bleeding. Low WBC's can lead to infection, Low Neutrophils immature WBC's aren't being produce properly, indicates the body is not responding to signals of infection. Neuts are the back-up for the WBC's.
You are in a very blocked state. You have already checked in with your doc. This is part of your emergency plan. (all plans should be cleared by your doctor.)
Plan for normal immune state--enema or suppositories (check in on page 10 for a description of all products).
1. Fleets mineral oil --This is an over the counter product. Can be used in many ways. Remove cap and place tip in rectum and squeeze. Can use one bottle and wait for response. My two favorite approaches are a. two fleets at the same time b. two fleets 15 minute to 30 minutes apart. OR
2. Tap water enema. Warm water 1000cc's--1 quart. Difficult to do your self, but can be done. Doing it sitting on the toilet is difficult and can traumatize the rectum. OR
3.Saline enema tablespoon of salt added to 1000cc of water OR
4 Milk and Molasses enema - 8 oz. of warm milk and 8 0z of molasses. Pour warm solution into enema bag and use.
5. Dulcolax suppository, remove wrapper and place in rectum. My personal thing even on myself, is to use gloves.
Plan for low immune state--nothing in the rectum. Micro-tears can lead to a systemic problem. Generally, micro-tears are managed well by the normal immune response.
1. Mix and drink. 1 -2 tbl of molasses followed by 8-16 ounces of warm water. (UGH). Works like a charm. OR
2. Magnesium citrate I btle You can't take to many "treatments" at one time. Dangerous b/c if the blockage is not relieved from below it could create too much backpressure and hurt the colon above the blockage. OR
3. 1 -2 Tbl. of molasses followed by 8-16 ounces warm water hahah I must like molasses as I wrote it twice.
Artista, there are so many recipes and plans throughout this pages. Very worthwhile to read from page one once you get this under control.
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Tappermom - I am forever grateful that my BS proscribed the stool softener WITH laxative for the first few days while I was on the pain killers.
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