Constipation!!!

[jstinnett]

Home remedy etc

I have had some major issues with this lately.

I have had luck with a few things that are not medical laxatives.

1. Upon waking squeeze the juice of one half a lemon in to about 10 to 12 ounces of warm water.
Drink it down, and if you can remain vertical (Standing) ,walk about for about 10-15 minutes.

This worked for me about 70& of the time.

2. My Ex-girlfriend, who was dealing with severe constipation problems steered me to the gutsense.org website, where I purchased this group of things called Colorectal Recovery Program. Sounds like quackery, but it works well. The main thing is Hydro-C which you drink when you wake up. Sound familiar? Yep it has Vit C in it just like those lemons in suggestion #1.

3. I have also been using Dr Schulze Intestinal Formula #1, which has a few herbal things, among them is senna, which I am not too happy about, but it works, and you can "tune yourself" by taking one, 2 or 3 capsules.

Water, water, water, too. The more you are hydrated, the better your insides work. Did I say, "Water"?

All the best!

[RGI]

Hi OP. Dx'd about 3-4 years ago. After being on Copaxone it made my MS worse (within about 18 months of use) and i was talking into taking Tecfidera. It changed my digestive system. My digestive system and teeth were the target for that drug. So 4 months of that and it was time to ditch it.

My teeth were sensitive as if I had them whitened everyday. I could not eat/drink anything unless it was room temp and it still hurt. My stomach ached a bit, my lower back was bothering me. After about a month of that, Pain Management Dr. prescribed me so Vicodin 7,5/300 and it helped. About the 4th month in I was needing more and more pain meds. This obviously didn't help the situation. I have never taken pain meds before so I had no idea they can contribute to the issue. I stopped all pain meds and tecfidera after being hospitalized for pain.

Dr.s wanted to blame my MS. However, while in hospital had a colonoscopy. The flush alleviated my issues. This tells me its PHYSICAL. So i have been dealing with this problem for 8 months. I seem to have to talk Milk of Magnesium about every 2-3 weeks or else pain comes back.

I do believe that Tecfidera altered my digestive system. I hope not permanently. I take probiotics for the past 10 days and things seem to be getting better.
I am looking for a good GI DR now. I believe I may have something called "leaky gut" perhaps many of us have it and its the cause of our MS?

My confidence in the medical establishments have plummeted.
The internet seems to be outgrowing the medical practitioners. I just need them to write me a script. I stay away from most drugs, except a few.
I will not be a testing specimen for these drug companies who lobbied, bribed, falsified documentation to get their drugs approved.
Flush your system out...milk of magnesium works great. It's only 1 night!
Try probiotics to see if they help you.
Eat softer foods.
Best wishes.

** Moderator's note - Post broken into paragraphs for easier reading. Many people with MS have visual difficulties that prevent them from reading large blocks of print. **

[Niknik123]

Constipation

Eat better. Your body won't have to work as hard to digest healthier foods. Drink more water and cut way back on meat of all kinds and heavily processed foods, including bread and pasta. Your body will thank you.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I had tried all of your suggestions before with no luck. I was lucky in that my MD did prescribe the brand name Cochicine, so hopefully tomorrow I will back on track.

[kebsa]

heard good reports about the flaxseed but never tried it. My problems these days is that i do not have good control and there are many things that will wok but if not careful may not leave enough warning time to get to the bathroom and i have met others with MS who have this kind of issue- can be a bit of a balancing act- Movicol is great because it does avoid that all or nothing kind of issue- what was recommended was as a background, take one sachet, but if no luck take 2 sachets, then next day take 3 if no luck up to 4- it is possible to 8 sachets but that is recommended for impaction (medically diagnosed) and they recommend medical supervision after 4 sachets basically to make sure that there is no impaction. But once i got into a pattern one sachet a day is right to keep things going OK unless something about diet etc changes

if the name movicol is not recognised in other countries, the main ingredient is macrogol and also magnesium. I am glad that you can get your colchicine again but it is a harsh way to have to deal with constipation- when people take it for gout in an acute attack they tell them to stop when it starts to give loose bowels but i guess if it works and you are under your docs supervision - its a pity to have to try to start again

[Julie Gould]

constipation

Hi all,
I am from England and have always had bad constipation as a result of my MS. Recently discovered a wonderful product which has helped enormously and it is totally natural! Flaxseed. I buy it ready ground from our local health food shop and a teaspoon a day on a bowl of cornflakes has done the trick. At first I took too much and developed diarrhoea (English spelling so apologies if not same as in USA) so adjust the dose until you find what works for you.
Good luck, Julie

[lyndsparrot]

constipation

I have ms and find that I too get very constipated. I find that by eating two licorice haribo spirals it keeps me regular and it is natural no pills or syrups.

[Leah27]

Osmolax sounds similar to something we have here in the US called Miralax ( it is available without a prescription , and generics are available). You mix one cap full or one packet in 8 ounces of water and drink daily.

With doctor or pharmacist approval, you can increase the daily dosage for indefinite lengths of time as needed.

[kebsa]

i don;t think osmolax is on the PBS but it is a good deal cheaper than movicol so paying full price "doesn't hurt". movicol is one of the 1st choices for prescrition laxative here, for patients with disabilities. thats for a number of reasons, amongst which are that it is not habit forming in the way that some laxatives are which means its not adding to the issue. Doctors will often prescribe basic bowel programs based on movicol, and unlike some programs that are complicated, these can be quite simple and easy for visiting carers to deal with. It can even be used (under medical supervision) if a person is impacted, a situation that can be very distressing.

there are others in the class of osmotic laxative too, all are very effective while being quite gentle but some are a bit more pricey

there is one other product that i have used in the past that was pretty good for occasional problems. it was called NULAX and was a not particularly appealing looking stuff that was basicall a mixture of dried fruits, seeds that tasted mainly of figs/dates- it comes in blocks and you just tear off a lump about teaspoon sized, just do not be heavy handed or cramping etc could be the result- once again i am not sure if it is available in the US- a lot of nursing homes used to use it here though

[Razgo]

it looks like osmolax is under our PBS scheme too so it can get it on a script pbs.gov.au

Movicol used to be only available by script under the guise of palliative care but is now available under "neurological disorder". not sure about osmolax though.

[samduah]

It sounds terrible. But hope you everything is ok.

[kebsa]

i was going to mention movicol too, but i note the other post was from australia too so i am not sure if the brand name is known in US, it is a magnesium based product- it is in the class known as osmotic laxatives that are very effective and used for many people with severe disabilities- they draw fluid back into the large bowel to make things easy to pass

another version i have used that is cheaper than movicol is called OSMOLAX- in some ways i like this one better as it is completely tasteless and can be added to any liquid, hot or cold, the active ingrdient in this one is macrogol (just in case the brand name is not known in US)- neither of these cause cramps or gas which is always a plus

[RSam95]

Constipation

I've been dx'd with MS for 13 years. I started having this problem after about 5 years. I use a vegetable laxitive with senna. Generic is "equate" at Walmart. Its cheap and keeps me regular. I take 2-3 pills at night before bed and in morning I have a movement. hope it helps.

[Razgo]

My wife who cannot move I have been treating for constipation for many years, so that she actually moves her bowels almost daily.

I do it by giving her a diluted mix of MOVICOL daily.

I simply mix one satchel of MOVICOL into one glass(approx 100ml) of water and give her only 20ml which is basically a table spoon.

here is an info link on it http://www.movicol.com.au/

Here in AUstralia it is covered under our PBS precription scheme so it only cost the cost of a chemist script. It is covered under "Neurological disorder"

you can take up to 8 satchels per day i think.

I found doing a small dose reguarily prevents any constipation rather than wait for constipation and then take large doses.

Talk to your doctor about MOVICOL.

[fishead]

I agree with the Miralax. Read down and saw that it did not help you. Did you try it for a few days? Try a larger dose of it? I am sorry you have to resort to cochicine.

[jmm9503]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I had tried all of your suggestions before with no luck. I was lucky in that my MD did prescribe the brand name Cochicine, so hopefully tomorrow I will back on track.