SEVERE constipation

[gindf]

I am a 37 year-old female. I've tried absolutely EVERYTHING to combat my chronic constipation- you name it, I've tried it!  Miralax, fiber, increasing water intake and activity levels, 4 or 5 docusate sodium pills/day, magnesium citrate tabs (3-4 daily), liquid mag. citrate (YUCK!), Senna, Senna-S, probiotics, Colon cleanse, etc.. Wondering if some kind of illness or disease could be causing it instead.
I usually have a bowel movement about every 2 weeks, but sometimes it is longer than that. My abdomen hurts alot because I am bloated most of the time. Help!

[patient915]

Just letting you know, I'm currently being looked after by about 5 doctors in different departments at one of the top rated pediatric hospitals in the country.  I do have a "kink" in my intestines but because of other medical problems, removing it was not the best option.  I have had every test done, I eat about 6 small meals a day and I don't eat any of the foods known to be hard to digest/cause gas.  Thanks for suggesting your ideas though.

[Morecambe]

When every remedy fails, there have been very rare examples mentioned in Medhelp whereby the treatment of last resort could be a total colectomy.  Obviously this is a major operation and should not be lightly undertaken - but it may be an option.

In case you wish to contemplate this, I underwent a total colectomy (not for chronic constipation - but for torrential diverticular bleeding) about six years ago and, in response to another Medhelp patient's question, recorded my own experiences on:-

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/show/523166

Perhaps you may wish to mention this in your next medical consultation.  If you do decide to pursue this option, I suggest that you seek out a "specialist G.I. surgeon" rather than a "general surgeon" who may have less experience and who will perform hernias, ingrowing toenails etc etc amongst the occasional major G.I. surgery.

regards
Morecambe

[ggreg]

Dear Gindf and Patient,
I thought the enema idea was a good one, to at least get things unclogged periodically.   But I think both of you should visit a doc, could be you have an intestinal problem or an endocrinological problem.  For example, if your thyroid is hypo, it slows down all the body systems.  Or if digestive enzymes aren't making their way from a gland, could have a blocked duct associated with the gallbladder.  Or if your bowel is twisted or being pushed on by some other disorder, that has to be fixed.  Another thing is, you got to eat at least three times a day, in case you both are eating just one big meal with lots of hours between the next smaller meal.  Medications of various kinds, including supplements, will sometimes stop a person up, so review side effects and only take supplements once a week, perhaps.
GG  

[patient915]

I've been though the same thing and tried all of those things too.  Another thing you might want to try if you haven't already is a fleet's enema.  For me the thing that finally helped was excessive doses of everything, meaning for a while I was taking 12 Tbs of milk of magnesia a day, doing a fleet's enema about every week, taking 10 oz of magnesium citrate a week, 2 Senna every night, probiotics, and 100 oz of fluids a day.  One other idea: for some people fiber actually makes it work, you might want to try a very low fiber diet for a while.  When I was doing really bad, I ate rice and really low fiber fruits and thats it for a week and that seemed to help.  Hope some of this helps!