I was in hospital yesterday and told I have a fecal impaction and given laxido, told to take 8 sachets in six hours. I am on my glass now and already starting to feel the effects. I had imagined that it would just soften the blockage enough for me to pass as a type 4 stool? I currently have diarrhoea instead but only small amounts and I am very bloated with abdominal pain and gas. I’m supposed to have the 8 sachets every day for 3 days to clear the blockage.
How will I know when the blockage has passed? Will the diarrhoea prevent me from sleeping? (From the fecal impaction I have been woken up in the middle of the night with diarrhoea and vomiting)
Is there any chance I will have type 4 stools with this? I am not planning on continuing treatment after this as the constipation is a result of not drinking enough and being immobile for a long time.
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Chloeanzani123
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In my experience whilst you are taking the 8 a day it is more likely you will have type 6/7, it may wake you up in the night as your bowel works to clear it out .Sometimes what comes out first is overflow from behind the impaction so stick with it as it needs to break the impaction down.
Personally and especially if you are less mobile, I would continue to take them for a while to make sure you are regular. One in the morning and one at night should give you type 4. Hope you feel better soon.
Thankyou so much, I woke up twice during the night with it. TMI but for some reason it’s yellow? There’s nothing solid there at all either. My plan is to continue with the 8 a day for another two days and then continue with two a day until they run out and then amend my lifestyle to prevent this from happening again.
Mine is often a yellow colour when I take the Laxatives. I’m not sure why. I was in hospital a few weeks ago, I had a lot of constipation high up so I was taking 4-6 a day. The first week none of it was solid, after that it was more like type 5. I’m taking two a day to maintain for now.
I’m hoping the 3 days of 8 sachets does the trick, I really don’t want to keep having disrupted sleep for this. I never normally suffer with constipation, I think it’s a lack of fibre and fruit in my diet and also a lack of mobility as I have been doing all of my college work from bed, it’s hard not to though haha. Definitely need to get daily walks in again. I had no idea that it would be so often that I’m in the bathroom, it’s been about 5 times in an hour atm.
Unfortunately I can't answer your question directly.
However, I might have some tips to avoid impaction in future:
I have IBS-C (constpiation dominant) and have been prescribed Linaclotide for it and I am also taking Alflorex probiotic which has been scientifically studied for IBS. These in combination have reduced the pain I am in considerably and I have been able to tolerate more foods so that I am able to consume the extra fibre I need to have a BM. Linaclotide is meant to increase transit time and help with pain. Linaclotide reduced my pain by 50%-60%. When I added in Alflorex, the pain reduced to zero and only comes back when I am reintroducing foods back into my diet and before my body adapts (or I have to give up on that food).
To improve constipation in the short term you can try ground flaxseed on your breakfast, starting at 1 teaspoon and increasing at 1 teaspoon every 2-3 days - you'll need to consume extra water with it.
This is what I have for breakfast: 75g oat bran, 50g of all (wheat) bran soaked overnight in water plus 10 almonds & 1 tablespoon flaxseed ground together, 2 tablespoon chia seeds and 9 prunes plus homemade oat milk - all soaked for a further 15 mins (so the chia seeds form a gel).
Note that any increases in fibre need to be performed on a gradual basis.
There is also Shredded wheat (or GF version: Nutribrex) .
Before lunch I have 1 orange (which contains a natural laxative).
Before dinner I have one of these high fibre fruits:
2 small hard pears
5 dried apricots
90g Raspberries
2 kiwi
I bulk buy fruit and freeze where necessary to allow me to have this variety.
At other meals I have:
Quinoa
Wholewheat bread
Whole grain pastas (Spelt or GF: Buckwheat)
If you eat potatoes, you can try sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes since they have much higher fibre content, plus they contain a natural osmotic laxative (mannitol).
I also take 30 drops of ginger extract before bedtime to aid motility. You may need to work up the dose to say 7 drop increments each night.
I have been giving Optifibre a go, which has been helping but I need to be careful with the amount since it gives me gas.
Exercise can help with BMs. The government recommends 150 mins of moderate exercise (e.g. walking as if you are late for an appointment) or 75 of intense exercise (e.g. jogging) per week. I also have a bit of a walk around straight after breakfast to get things moving.
You need to ensure that you are drinking enough fluids (2 litres of fluid per day).
There is some good advice about constipation here:
I too highly recommend milled flaxseed (Linwoods) and also have soaked chia seeds on my breakfast. I exercise daily too. I’ve taken Biolglan probiotics for a few years now, it’s always worked for my stomach issues, but will read up on Alflorex. Thanks for your sound advice.
Hello, thank for your information, it is greatly appreciated. I have 3 queries - what brand of ginger extract oil do you use (there are lots of different brands on the market). +Alflorex, is it tablets or liquid form you take? +Do you have any side effects on Linaclotide? Many thanks from an IBS (dominant).
I take Nature's Answer Ginger Extract 30ml in a little water.
Alflorex is the form of small capsules.
When I first started with Linaclotide initially I found it difficult juggling taking and weaning myself off Magnesium Oxide to help with BMs and increasing fibre. At times I would get diarrhea whilst juggling all of this. Once all this settled down and in the end the Linactlotide didn't help with the constipation for me. 10 weeks of it is the maximal effects for intestinal pain and by that time I was getting the 50% to 60% reduction in pain, so I carried on to keep getting that benefit. Alflorex made the pain go away, but I haven't tried coming off the Linactlotide to see if I get pain relief from the Aflorex alone. If I could do it all again I would try the Aflorex first on its own (for 2-3 months) and see if I get pain relief from that, then try the Linaclotide to see if it helps with pain/constipation (if you still need pain relief at that point). Linaclotide does help constipation in some people, just not me. The great thing about Linaclotide/Alflorex is that they have allowed me to consume a huge amount of fibre to allow me to have BMs - without these I would have been in too much pain to have the fibre - this would have left me relying on Magnesium Oxide to have BMs.
I have read a lot about the way Linactlotide works. I don't like taking drugs, but this one's action seems to be mainly limited to the intestine and it gets converted to natural peptides and is eliminated in the stool.
Many thanks for your info - your a Star, it is greatly appreciated. I’m going to try the Alflorex first, as you stated. Also looking at the possibility of my constipation problem being due to a bowel stricture as I also suffer from bile reflux which accumulates when constipated and makes me vomit yellow bile. Fantastic you’ve been able to resolve your constipation problem.
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