CONSTIPATION--problem with so many of our drugs
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AK - thanks for sharing your story. Glad that you found something that works - large dose of Mag. I didn't have such serious 'back ups', but that worked for me too.
Interesting - I'm mostly vegetarian too. If I eat two slices of bread (any kind), I gain two pound - but it's also enough bulk that I have happy poops.
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bumping again.
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I am just now joining this thread. This is a problem I have never in my life had and it is quite frustrating. Many years ago I had my gallbladder removed. So my issue has been the exact opposite of constipation. This is....well.....ugh....I am at a loss. A daily prune has worked for months but doesn't seem to be enough. I added a prune. Still not enough. Time to try other things.
Treatment for breast cancer is the gift that keeps on giving isn't it?
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cm - great to see you. Hope you find something that works in the previous pages. Lots of "home remedies" - and some funny jokes.
I take 250 mg of magnesium a day, mostly for leg cramps but it seems to help keep me 'regular'. I recently switched from Magnesium Oxide to Magnesium Citrate since it's supposed to be absorbed more easily. I usually do OK if I eat a salad at least every other day. But I expect I'll always have to watch it.
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MinusTwo... Thank you. I may try the magnesium (i think it helps with sleep too) once I get closer to finishing the bottle of miralax. I haven't been able to eat salad since I had radiation. I was eating a giant salad every day when I was undergoing radiation. Well radiation did a number on what tasted good and what didn't (even though it was only to my breast and lymph nodes). Even the thought of a salad turns my stomach now. I struggle to eat even most raw veggies. In order to get veggies now I make veggie soup and eat it every day. Hopefully one day I will be able to eat at least raw veggies, if not salad.
The miralax and smooth move tea worked initially but I am not convinced I am in the clear. I didn't take miralax today, but did drink the smooth move tea. I should have taken miralax too (i will tomorrow). I am also going to increase the number of prunes I eat.
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Good luck. Let us know if it works.
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MinusTwo..thanks. This journey isn't over yet. You'd think being on 1500mg magnesium citrate daily and i'd be regular. I've not had to use a fleets enema in a week, YEAH! But still not yet having normal poo...moose pellets and hard or lightly loose. Can't find normal yet. I've been told I need to eat daily salads...That seems to help when I have salad material....just normal veggies don't do it. I'm still taking 250mg colase daily and 50mg Sennekot daily!! Sheeez.This aromasin is rough stuff but better than Femara for me. No more N/V. so that is good. I'm going to add the Smooth Move tea...I've been downing a cup of prunes every couple days.
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AK - let us know. I think I read the preferred method is stewed prunes, but that was too many memories of my canned vegetables from my childhood. So I just popped a couple dried prunes every day.
Glad to see this thread active again. There are some great tips.
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I am now 6 weeks out from my last Kadcyla, started with the HORRIBLE constipation (which lead to a fissure and terrible hemorrhoids as well) during TCHP. Of course most folks getting perjata get horrible diarrhea, but I had to be different. The constipation has continued. I use loads of colace and mag citrate and dulcolax daily, and miralax mostly only on weekends, but sometimes multiple times a day. I eat a generally high-fiber vegetarian diet, lots of homemade yoghurt (no sugar) and kefir. Drinking prune juice and eating dried prunes and apricots.... and still need glycerin suppositories. Even those sometimes don't work! This week had two days doubled up in pain with bloating. At what point do we say this is not just a side-effect, and sign up for a colonoscopy? I am not even sure if I could get myself cleaned out enough for one!
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I tend toward the constipation side of any meds. It’s miserable. I had to switch from zofran to compezine that I take every week as premeds before my infusion. Ive used most of the OTC meds and agree that enemas and suppositories are not a long term solution
I didn’t know I could take two of the senna every night. That’s made a difference plus the magnesium. I also eat a couple of prunes and a handful of almonds as my nighttime routine. This seems to keep me regularish.
Otherwise I’ll add baked beans, broccoli, bran cereal or more prunes. They make a difference. My intestines after chemo don't seem to move. There is a senna with a stimulant.
I have a gf that takes 4 colace and 10 prunes a day.
As a side note. You can swap a cup of soaked bran flakes for a cup of flour when baking. I make this swap when making banana muffins.
And as always drink, drink, drink. I find it harder to drink a lot in the winter.
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Zills & Yeslama: Thanks for your thoughtful posts. I too find it hard to drink water - but for me it doesn't depend on the season. I just don't like water. Sigh.
As I said earlier this month "I recently switched from Magnesium Oxide to Magnesium Citrate". My immediate reaction was that I had less constipation with the Oxide - but now 2 weeks in, I can't make that definitive statement. Jury still out.
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Well poop. Lost my post twice. My MO recommended a probiotic. I read about one and found it on Amazon. It swung me the other direction. Back door trots for a few days before my infusion.
https://www.amazon.com/Day-Supply-Probiotic-Prebiotic-Effective/dp/B00N1G17GG
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Zillsnot4me...Did you dr give you any guidelines on which probiotic was better/what to look for in one? Did the one you linked keep giving you "too good results" or did things stabilize?
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she said any OTC would work. I picked that one because of the reviews. My system is so wonky. The trots weren’t all the time but it was mushy almost all the time.
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Zillsnot4me..Thank you!
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Stumbled on this thread. I have been using a product called SHINYALab, Intestinal Youth, recommended by another Piqray taker. It has botanical ingredients, probiotics and prebiotics. Bought it on Amazon, it has been really great in keeping my gut stable.
Best
Stacey
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Thanks for the recommend Stacey. Always good to hear about things that are working.
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OMG! I found something that works! I’ve had a bag of chia seeds in my cabinet for awhile. I didn’t know what to do with them. I made a milkshake the other night and added them. I prefer them crunchy. They remind me of strawberry seeds. I also added a scoop of protein. I feel so normal. No cramping. No wishing for poop. No in/out/in/out etc of the bathroom.Just normal.
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ZillsMeNot - thanks for the report. I'm going to add Chia to my arsenal.
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minustwo, Hey old friend. Popped into retrieve Egads007 post on Keto. Hope all is well with you.
I can't remember if I popped in to post on a product called C l e a r R e a r. It's a bidet you put on your toilet. I purposefully did the spacing so not to draw outsiders. There are likely other products. Saved me. I had a vulva condition caused by radioactive iodine for my thyroid cancer. It was horrible. Bad enough I had to have surgery. A couple of months post op, I found this product. Heaven hahaha.
Anyone wandering by these 50 some pages have alot of info on all things pooping and lots of funny stuff too!0 -
The down and dirty about a bidet on the toilet. You always feel clean. I would have loved this in the period years. Great for after sex or to freshen up pre-sex. Yup, still bumping the uglies as FuzzyLemon used to say. And if you aim just right it's like a mini fleets. Great for when your plugged, it can uncork things.
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Hey SAS - soooooo good to "see" you. I've missed you in all the reconstruction of this site. Thanks for the bidet info. I'm going to look it it up. Hope all is well with you.
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MT YaY, Glad too hear you!. I know change isn't easy, but my goodness. I can't retrieve anything.(most). Was stuff wiped? Give me details and scuttle butt(HAHA)
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I haven't kept up with the scuttle butt (pun intended) - but many of the people I enjoyed interacting with never came back after the huge, long upgrade mess. And those that did have certainly changed their habits. For example - several times a week I would read all the posts by "newbies" and try to interact or point them in the right direction. Sadly I no longer do that. Not that I'm any great expert, but the feeling of the site has changed. I have two or three threads I follow, but they are mostly social threads.
Living through the summer in Houston is my main challenge. It's been over 100 for several weeks now, with no change in sight for the near future. And no rain - only hot winds. And because it's Houston, the lows at night are mid 80s - which is actually beginning to feel cool (sweater weather at 84??)
But pertinent to this thread - I have been keeping a 'poop diary' for some time now trying to regulate my emissions. Sadly not much luck. If I take two magnesium pills, I end up with loose stool and squirts & dribbles. If I take only one, the production is hard and delayed by several days. New trial this week will be to switch from 100 mg COQ10 to 200 mg. I quit the 200 mg that my doc recommended last year because I thought it was causing the BIG D. Maybe it wasn't that?? Always something new to try.
Hope you are well.
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MT frankly, I'm bonkers happy that we live. As I wandered trying to find things, missed names, missed finding things. Phew! Sadly, climate change is a manipulation, but not to be discussed here.
The issue is all chemicals. The body perfectly wonderful in design is messed up either by us or by our docs, or outside those two i.e., everything that we take in our surrounds us. We are amazing folks to survive those three!
I'm sure some will scream.
Oh well.
I had a thread about the microbiome that I studied in 2015 here with many posts with links. It appears to have been wiped. It was a great basis for understanding the microbiome. The microbiome of the gut is the basis of health. Bold. Striking. Big Deal.
The problem is everything we take in and our genetics define outcome (Hahahah). On a poop thread, it's all comical.
Recently came across this article, when in search of Prilosec and chronic liver failure. What the article doesn't state is when a new study is done to establish a new relationship between a drug or drugs, the "Novel" new drug is always the Test drug. Because the research was based on that drug. SOOoo, the conclusions of the study can have application, questions, concerns about any other drug in that new class of drugs.
This study review shows that the microbiome altered by a Proton Pump Blocker the novel (new) drug Prilosec, alters the gut microbiome by reducing acid.
WHEN the microbiome of the intestinal tract is altered, it changes the whole of everything.
Care and tendering of the garden, meets care and tendering of the gut.
In the 70's we couldn't talk about probiotics, even though it was in our textbooks. Then as time advanced it became more main stream.
Whats important about this article based on astudy is that the relationship of a widely accepted drug and drug class for acid reflux. WELL yay it controls acid, but changes the Flora of the gut. That change in gut flora can lead to leaky gut. Leaky Gut can lead to micro endotoxins circulating in the blood stream. Those damn micro toxins attach wherever. Over time they cause disease. It's a BITCH.
I only pulled this article in a search recently b/c of my twin. It sucks, she passed. She lost her liver about 11 years ago. But there was this rare occurrence that some cells were still there and regenerated. She lived till now. But the question for me is we are twins? What is the difference between us.
Why am I still here. I drank. No clue how much my story is related to hers. But a big believer that you put two or more drugs together they can create havoc. When she was in Hospice we went through he drug stash. You know the bag or box that have drugs that have been discarded, but you may need them in the future. Besiedes you paid for them.
Hence the Prilosec question. After reading this I wrote DeSantis and Lapado as I am in Florida. I asked why isn't this a public health issue initiative.
Issue: Does the public know that taking drugs that alter gastric acids can alter the intestinal microbiome which can lead to many diseases? That this alteration can be affected by alcohol? TOO THE NEGATIVE
It's kind of a duh question that explodes in a massive explosion of WTF. How many people do you know that have alcohol and take a pill to recover from the acid?
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MT there are microbacteria that are important to the health of the colon. We can take pills that support their growth. Yes, we can. How? So much info on the web. I have not found a comfortable solid approach. Recently b/c of review, I thought Kefir was an answer. BUT it tastes so awful. Reason for Kefir is its fresh vs pills. Pills may have not be stored properly. I know there is yogurt , but Kefir has a better micro profile.
YAY MT0 -
MT - whew. You are so knowledgeable. Thanks for all the info. Interesting about the twin question. Agree about the Kefir. I've found that gin keeps me fairly regular. Must be the quinine.
Did you ask the mods what happened to the microbiome thread? Frankly I haven't really figured out how to contact the MODS anymore and get a response on a thread.
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Hi ladies!
@sas-schatzi, would this be the discussion you are referring to?: Breast Microbiome Different in Women With Breast Cancer. We've found it using the search on the discussion forums.
@minustwo, mentioning other community members or us, @moderators, is a great way to ask others to respond to a post. To mention another user, you simply add the @ symbol followed by their username. After typing the @ symbol and the first letter of a username, a list of users displays, and you can choose from there or continue to type. Once you have chosen the user you would like to mention, simply click Enter and continue your post. Depending on their notification preferences, members who are mentioned receive a notification.
Hope this help!The Mods
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Thanks Mods. Is there no longer a 'glitch' thread or a 'question' thread that goes directly to you? If there is, will you please send the link? As you may have guessed, I don't do Facebook or Twitter or any other social media and am resistant to new things.
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@minustwo, the "glitches thread" is no longer active. You can contact us directly by sending a private message (in our signature, you will find a direct link) or by sending an email to community@breastcancer.org. In any case, if you encounter a problem, there are several ways to report it. Here are some examples with the links:
- Having a technical issue? Report a problem.
- Have an idea or constructive feedback? Share with us.
- Reporting Issues
- Learn how to send a private message to the moderators.
Hope this helps!
The Mods
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