My wife has had chronic constipation for years

[sa183]

Hi,

My wife has an incredibly difficult time passing bowels for as long as I have known her (9 years). She takes Miralax daily, and if she even skips one day she may not poop for several days in a row.

I wish it were as simple as that. Unfortunately, Miralax won't clear everything out, it will just make her pass enough to not feel so bloated she can't eat. The remainder of bowels stays in her, and she quite literally has a permanent visually obvious bloated state.

We have done a colonic cleanse one time in the past, and it was very effective and cleared everything out. Her abdomen was dramatically flatter and for the first time looked like the abdomen of a healthy person (she is not overweight). Unfortunately this only lasted a few days before the bowels built back up inside her.

She has tried high-fiber diets in the past with few results and she always drinks an incredible amount of water, so its not a matter of lack of fiber or dehydration. She simply doesn't poop and its been a mystery for almost her whole life. Has anyone experienced or heard of a situation like this?

[Charmainefrisch]

I have the same issue. As I’m typing this it’s now day 4 for me. I’m super bloated and uncomfortable. In the past I had a colonoscopy but unsuccessful due to impaction, so had to have an nasal gastric inserted to have upper GI cleanse….. horrible. Then they did the colonoscopy and it revealed that I had a CURVATURE in my bowels. After that they started me on laxatives but that failed. I was not provided with anything else. Today, I’m researching and believe they can remove or even correct the bowels with surgery. I’m thinking I need this but terrified as I only had one surgical procedure on my foot and that was a botched surgery, so I’m skeptical. Hope you find this helpful

[Mary1415]

Have you tried fiber one bars those help me. I have this problem.

[hppy2019]

Maybe she can try using some probiotics? These have actually been found to help with conditions like constipation. Probiotics are basically good bacteria that will facilitate digestion and support gut health. Maybe she can try eating more of yogurts, kefir or drinking fermented milk. Or better yet, perhaps try a probiotic supplement. For example, Flourish Probiotics by Eu Natural is a natural probiotic supplement that has a wide variety of health benefits. But which I think is most important for you is the presence of Acidophilus, Plantarum, Rhamnosus, Reuteri strain, these are bacteria that help provide relief and fix constipation.
Good luck

[Kirstie_MHModerator]

Has she seen a doctor about her issues?  It could be a physical abnormality, such as narrowing of a section of colon, that needs surgical treatment.  Unfortunately, the simple fact that she's a woman increases her likelihood of having chronic constipation.  

There are so many potential causes (and remedies) that it's impossible to list them all here, but you can check out the list provided here: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/constipation/symptoms-causes/syc-20354253 and see if any of the risk factors sound like a culprit.