Constipation

[Chazz1111]

Hello so I guess I just want some opinions from others. So I started a job at amazon 7 weeks ago and through those 7 weeks the days I’ve been working (10 hour days of standing up for all but an hour) I’ve been constipated or found it very hard to push the poo out. However on my days off I’m usually ok and have a normal one or two incidents (3 days off a week). I guess I’m just nervous it’s something serious but I thought I’d post here before asking the GP

[MintTeaMascara]

Hiya.. It doesn't sound like anything serious.. There's no harm in giving your doctor a call but I think doctors would only be concerned if it was over 1/2 weeks without movement and even then they wouldn't really be concerned. The real concerns are blood in stools which would indicate an internal bleed or pencil thin stools which would indicate a blockage somewhere.

Are you eating or drinking differently on your days off?

It could be diet or stress, if you're quite anxious in your work environment and tensing your gut, that could effect things.

Plenty of fresh pineapple and water can really help.

Hope your feeling better soon

[Chazz1111 in reply to MintTeaMascara]

Hi thank you so much! at the start they were pencil thin but since then its majorly just small nuggets during work with the occasional normal size and then on my days off I've kept track of the last 2 weeks or so and they have been thicker

[MintTeaMascara in reply to Chazz1111]

You're welcome!

I think they'd be consistently pencil thin if there was a blockage so I don't think you have anything to worry about. It's pebble like because your intestines are drawning too much water away from the stool. Keeping well hydrated should help, and start noticing if you're holding tention in your gut because that's likely the problem if you're not eating differently at work x

[Wulugu]

It may be something like the toilets are not very clean , private at work or atleast you think so so you dont want to 'Go' Many children feel the same when they start school so 'hold on ' until they get home . Just an idea

wulugu

[Cooper27 Administrator]

Are you drinking enough on your working days? Liquid intake is important for healthy BM.

Also consider if your diet is different on those days at all.

[SenateurDupont]

Probably because you are more active you are losing more water by sweat. Be sure to increase your water intake during the day. When you have constipation, you can use the product Lax-a-day... a powder you can mix with water, juice... no flavour at all and very soft on your digestive system.

[Midori]

Most likely you are unable to maintain a good fluid balance during working hours.

[Whydothis]

My two pennyworth:

1 - drink lots

2 - eat more fruit and veg than you ever thought you could

3 - whole grains, never white ones

4 - live yogurt, kefir, etc to encourage more good gut flora

5 - try psyllium husks - they are soluble fibre, easy on the gut, but they work. I get them from lepicol.com. They also do a version with probiotics, but I find the cheaper straight psyllium does the job for me