I am 71! I have a bowel issue! I never feel I empty my bowels. I have to strain every morning to go and my feces comes as balls or peas, sometimes as a sausage. I never feel my bowels are emptied! I sometimes have to self evacuate! I find it extremely depressing. I do not think I have IBS as I am lucky I have no pain, no acid reflux. I do exercises to strengthen my anus. I have changed my diet much more vegetarian. I drink lots of water. I do not take any medication and rarely use laxatives! Any advice I would be so grateful. I never realized how many of us have these problems!
I have suffered with constipation, I am very careful with my diet. I massage my stomach every night and every morning. I drink a glass of hot water first thing in the morning. This I find gives me a bowel movement quickly.
I just want to go normally to the toilet like we all do!!
My problem I know is minor compared to so many here.
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Pleesee
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Hi Pleesee, I think it's probably an age thing. We aren't as active as we were so we get more constipated. Have you spoken to your doctor, perhaps just a gentle laxative would help but I remember you live in Dominica (lucky you) so I don't know what the doctors are like out there.
Hi Maureen, thanks. I am vey fit, I am very slim. I walk and exercise every day. The problem started after hurricane Maria and unfortunately has got worse. Luckily I am not constipated as I eat properly and drink a lot of water. Thanks so much for answering and caring. Have a lovely day.
(hello Maureen👍). Yes dear I'm coming up to 71 in May, I have found because on mobility issues, I can hardly go out now apart from outings on my scooter. I miss my walks as keen nature lover and bied watcher. Without the constant exersise we had when working, when retired your not quite so active, and slow evacuations are a real nuisance. Until my left hip is replaced exersise as such is a long way still. I cut down my meal sizes, because of the inactivity, and gave up mc Donald's and greasy KFC over two years now. Older life brings it challenges, but with some adjustments some decrease in certain life styles and gentle exersise can help. Maureen gives exelent advice as usual😀😀
Hi drax83 (hello), I think you intended this for the original poster (Pleesee). Easily done on here especially when you are feeling like "shit". Maureen. PS did you see my message I sent to you on Chat a few days ago!
Hi Maureen, thanks so much. I am not used to this at all! I did reply to you and thank you so much for your concern. I wish you a lovely day and hope we all feel better. Getting old is no joke. 😘
Sounds as though your pelvic floor muscles are in a constant state of high alert, ie tension and never relax. Look up pelvic floor hypertension and the relevant exercises to relax your pelvic floor. The exercises you are doing could be counter productive.Take care
You’ve been doing all the right self-help, but your age makes me feel I do think Plumt’s point is important.
I suggest you ask your GP about trying 4mg Glycerol suppositories, which help me a lot - used several times each week…my Gastroenterologist also has me on weekly Sodium Picosulphate (Picolax) bowel cleanses. I’m 68 & am diagnosed with severe slow transit dysmotility & had been managing my very early onset mouth to exit pretty much the same way you have been, but about 6 years ago, the GI debilitation lurched into its most severe phase ever so I had to be reassessed by gastroenterology + seen by specialist gastro clinic dieticians & specialist bowel retraining physio - all that has helped me a lot. But, as you know, we can never totally turn back the clock 🤷🏼♀️💞
Hello: it’s my gastroenterologist who prescribed 1 x 16.1g sachet per week after my GP rushed me to A&E last summer due to what turned out to be high colon feacal impactions.
My Gastroenterology team & GP had been expecting this sort of bowel obstruction to happen for several years, so were ‘ready’ to do the right thing, which was to try low dose gylcerol suppository (2mg) which gave no response at all, making clear this needed Emergency Dept Care. The A&E on call surgeon was so shocked by my XRay that he admitted me to surgical ward thinking it was tumours. I was on surgical ward for 6 days while they tried everything: enemas, more suppositories with only the most minute evacuations in response. I told the surgical lead that years ago my colorectal surgeon had suggested therapeutuc picolax, so, after 6 days scratching his head, he finally let me try 1 packet which got no response at all. At that point COVID was all over the hospital, so he flippin gave up & sent me home saying: sort this with your gastroenterologist & GP!
So then my GP & gastro revved into action & got me on this long term picolax + glycerol protocol, which gradually helped me become that important bit for stable & functional. Our plan is to try adding prucalopride & linaclotide if this protocol becomes less effective
Bear in mind: i’m not diagnosed with IBS. i’m diagnosed with what we informally call a crohns-like enteropathy + visceral hypersensitivity + severe mouth to exit slow GI transit most probably caused by my childhood onset immune dysfunction & connective tissue disorders. I’ve been prescribed long term Elemental Diet (Nutricia Elemental E028 Extra) for 5+ years now because my small intestine can no longer digest & tolerate food residue/fibre. So my case involves a lot of rare disease complexity due to multisystem overlapping comorbidities
I am so very sorry to read this. My situation is nothing. I feel bad for making a fuss! I fast walk every day for 20 minutes, do floor exercise, including lifting weights. The thing I swear by is massaging my tummy every night last thing at night and every morning first thing. Plus drinking a hot glass of water first thing in the mornings. This cleans everything out and usually I have a bowel movement within an hour. You can go on you tube to see how to massage your stomach. I drink lots of water. I hope this is helpful. I wish you so much luck.
That’s really great! There is lots we can do to help ourselves & you’re doing what works for you. I also have been big into self help all my 68 years, and my consultants say this has slowed down the progression of my GI tract debilitation, so I am totally relating to your reply. I learned about abdominal massage by reading a wonderful Frenchman’s book: ‘Git Instinct’ by Pierre Pallardy…& I’m still massaging now. Maybe you’ve read this book too…here is a link 💞💞💞💞
Thanks for the quick reply. Wow hope all works out well for you l am getting nowhere with doctors l know it is an impaction but no they say ibs,been on cosmocol for don’t know how long,cleared once over, but no one told me to take a maintenance dose of powders or it will reoccur as everything becomes stretched,,so l took two picolax yesterday,still not cleared so took another one this morning,still not running clear,been referred twice for a scan but that got rejected as they say ibs &anxiety if that was the case l would have been cleared with taking the picolax see how l am tomorrow will be going a&e will demand a scan not going to move until l get one.can not carry on like this taking over my life.
Am very glad you’re planning to go to A&E…they will be (or should be) very glad you’ll be able to report clearly about your normal evacuation patterns, how this crisis is different & what treatments you’ve tried. Good luck 💞💞💞💞
I hope so when it all started told doctor how l was feeling stomach was massive told ibs back & forwards for 10 weeks not one felt my stomach,went to a&e to be told by triage it’s ibs go round to see the doctor at the walk in,and besides we don’t do enemas,told her not asked for one,went round to doctor never examined me same it’s ibs,if you are going with powders stop the powders,which l did well felt worse than ever,so got appt at an out of hours explained everything to him,he examined my stomach,the pain was tht bad l grabbed his arm he said oh my you are blocked up,from right side to left side,gave me two picolax to take,done that thought great all clear,so took nothing,well all started up again,got referred for a colonscopy ,took the prep all ran clear,goes for camera what a nightmare,blown my vien with the sedation,doctor could only get to sigmoid as the pain was horrific,l have had a colonscopy years ago was fine,but this time was awful,next morning was unbelievable what passed,told my doctor he wrote to consultant for me to hv a scan,in March last year heard nothing doctor wrote again,gets a letter he will ring me in July 😡 waited 18 weeks explained to him,he said everything fine no obstructions,told him something there,he said you told doctor you had an obstruction,that’s why you had that camera,you mean an impaction,me yes thought that meant the same he said no it does not,so got put on linzess for 4 weeks that did nothing,then another 4 weeks still nothing,doctor then stopped them,the research l have done is unbelievable,but getting in to see a doctor face to face is beyond a joke But l am going to put up a fight this time just had enough now. Sorry for going on but makes me wonder how many are they saying ibsc when they are blocked up..
I totally agree with you. & me too! I could tell you terrible stories…cause I’ve had to fight HARD all my 60+ years to get the attention I need & deserve from gastroenterology.
I get the impression the medical establishment classes cases involving constipation sorta like they do back ache: until a case be comes an acute crisis, we’ll fob the ‘client’ off. Mainly cause SO MANY folk suffer from non-acute constipation that doctors just find it all very BORING & distasteful, (GRRRRR: makes me see RED…cause, obviously, the guts being clogged up is VERY BAD for us generally, & it’d be SO EASY to explain the significance of this + motivate folk via childhood education re lifestyle techniques managing GI transit effectively. Eg I’ve always taken my childhood onset slow transit v seriously cause my aunt DIED from fecal impaction.
Hi Barnclown, Sorry to hear about your struggles but glad you seem to have found a regimen that works for you. I have a prescription for prucalopride but haven’t used it yet because I get migraines and the thought of getting a throbbing headache as a side effect fills me with dread. Also I had a bad serotonin response to anti depressants some years ago and see that prucalopride might do that.I was in A&E last week with possible obstruction. They thought I was ok but gave me a CT and didn’t like it but couldn’t agree what it showed - apparently a herniation of the sigmoid colon as well as intersussepcion. I was admitted but they decided not to operate. However the first person I saw was of the impression that I need a bowel resection. I am home now in pain but on lots of stool softeners but have some outpatients appointments lined up. Another consultant thought I need referring for connective tissue disorders. It seems there are never any answers, only more questions. It is so tiring sometimes.
You’ve been through a lot & I feel you’re being very brave about it. I’m glad you’re here & I hope things improve for you
Am very much relating, because over the decades, in order to understand my version of this, gastroenterology had to put me through the usual secondary care investigations several times (gastroscopy, colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy etc with biopsies) and as my issues progressed they had to put me through tertiary investigations (video capsule endoscopy, MRI Enteropgraphy etc) and I’ve had a lot of sessions with specialist gastroenterology dietetics & also specialist bowel retraining & biofeedback physios. Also neurophysiology tests because my autoimmune neuropathy plays a part in all this, as does my hypermobile Ehlers Danlos collagen disease.
It’s all been tough to go through, but helped me & my medics a lot too. But even though no medic has ever dared give my GI probs the label IBS. Even so, I love this forum because many here are very expert at coping with the somewhat IBS-like aspects of my lifelong, progressively debilitating mouth to exit GI issues. Am very glad to have discovered this forum several years ago, just before NHS gastroenterology started running tertiary investigations. You’ve all helped me a lot to keep calm & carry on 💞💞 💞💞
Hi, Thanks for your reply. I have only just seen it. After years on this forum I still don’t really know how messages and replies work. I am suffering at the moment, had to be in hospital recently but no further forward with anything. I will try to reply more fully when I am in a better place about managing this, but thanks for your reply.
How did you know that your small intestine couldn't tolorate foods, were you being sick or was it that you just couldn't pass stool? I have slow transit for 3 years now and I can only tolorate low fibre but still not all low fibre foods, I have nutritional supplements to help with weight loss but my slow transit at this stage is in my large bowel only, but I am aware it can get worse overtime and just wondered what symptoms meant your digestive system couldn't tolorate foods anymore.
Hello orchid: before my Univ Hosp gastroenterology clinic began to do tertiary investigations inc food challenges & trials of ‘small intestine rest on predigested amino acids aka Elemental Nutrition’ I wasn’t aware there is such a thing as Chronic Intestinal Failure aka failure of the small intestine. The links below do a good job of explaining symptoms, diagnosis, treatment etc of this rare type of organ failure … much better than I can
My mouth to exit childhood onset probs tolerating & digesting food had simply progressively gotten worse over the decades, despite decades of conscientious lifestyle management Inc long term Low FODMAP diet, exercise, hydration etc etc etc. Meanwhile my childhood onset mouth to exit tolerating & transporting food & food residue had also progressively gotten worse.
Secondary care Gastroenterologists helped at various times ove4 the years, but by my late 50s they had to pass me over to colleagues in tertiary care (my Univ Hosp has a Multidiscipline Feeding Issues Unit). Now we think my mouth to exit severe slow transit has segued my large intestine unto another unusual condition called Chronic Intestinal Pseudo Obstruction. I’ll add links below
Hope that helps & that you get the help .+ answers you need asap 💞💞💞💞
PS 😯OMG: I have given you more info …about a year ago…in reply to your post here asking about Elemental Nutrition:…my reply is right at the very end of your discussion:
Hi Barn Clown, reading what you are going through daily I am so very lucky. Thank you for your advice. Everyone has been vey helpful. We are all in the same boat getting older.😘
Pleesee just wanted to add that difficulties evacuating stool are not always due to ageing, or not necessarily only that (and it sounds like in your case you have been taking care to get the right balance in terms of excercise, maintaining your mobility and what you eat etc.). I'm in my mid-40s now, but have had difficulty evacuating my bowels and incomplete evacuation as well as many other chronic GI symptoms since early childhood. I've only been able to start investigating my GI issues in the last year and a half, and it has been slow going because of the pandemic. I still don't know exactly what might be causing my evacuation problems but I have a few ideas which might help to think about in case any of thes apply to you:
1. The consistency of my stools (which are like paste) probably does make them more difficult to pass because they are sticking to my insides and are not easily 'moved along' by peristalsis for that reason... as to why they are a sticky paste, one reason could be that I'm lactose intolerant - I only discovered this recently, so I am starting a lactose free diet to see if that makes any difference.
2. I've also noticed that my stools are not well lubricated and sometimes I pass mucous on its own, like the mucous production is out of synch with the activity of my bowels. That is what is making the stools sticky, though I am not sure of the causes for this, waiting to see if it might also be impacted by cutting out lactose from my diet.
3. Something structural, e.g. a kink in my rectum, haemmharoids (I have both internal and external ones), or connective tissue being too lax / elastic (I have some bendy / weak joints too which point to hypermobility and connective tissue disorders can have this effect as well as lead to slow gut transit or inneficient peristalsis).
4. Interoception problems (interoception being the internal feedback signlas you get from your body) perhaps resulting in me not using the right muscles to evacuate my bowels, or even closing them when I think I am opening them. I'm dyspraxic and have both interoception and proprioception problems, so that is a possibility too. I've read that biofeedback with a physio can help with this, but am sorting out the other three possibilities first.
Also, you mentioned that the problem started after a hurricane - maybe you got a parasitic or bacterial infection at that time if the water quality was affected? Infections can change the composition of your gut flora which can have lasting effects, even after the infection itself is cleared.
Thank you so much for your reply. I have changed my diet now and am eating mainly a vegetarian diet with fish! This has made a huge difference to me. Also I make time to chew my food slowly so it moves into the digestive system well digested. I massage my stomach every night for 10 minutes and in the mornings. This is really magical! I drink a glass of hot water first thing in the mornings! I also drink a lot of water. You may find this could help your situation, especially massaging the stomach. It can help a lot. I hope that your situation improves a lot. Reading everyone's problems I realize mine are very minor. Have a god day.
Hi Pleesee, I have IBS-C. I take one-half cup of Black or Pinto Beans (canned) along with one pill Beanzyme (alphagalacosidase, that is Beano without the Manitol) a couple of days and it cleans me out with little side effects.
It's really a myth that there is a "normal" bowel movement (most of us have been taught to expect it to operate once per day), when the medical profession accepts that there is a "normal (Gaussian) distribution" of once every 3 days to 3 times a day; even those of us outside that "normal" range might still be "normal" for us, however awkward that might be in some cases! It sounds as if you have followed all the recommendations and not solved it, so I'm wondering if you have a condition called tenesmus, which is very common and which I suffer from on occasions. It causes the rectum to believe it's full and that you need to evacuate when, in fact, there is nothing much there. I suffer from IBS-A and in constipation periods, I often get the feeling, but find I can resist it; that usually causes no problems, because it will eventually move when its full, and is probably better than straining. It might be worth having a word with your GP about it.
Thank you so much I think you could be right! I panic and self evacuate silly right!! I am extremely happy right now on Sunday I took one Cascara Sagrada 450 MG Puritan's pride. On Monday and Tuesday perfect stools 3 times in the day! Wednesday today I have gone this morning again normally. I am so relieved! I also massage my tummy, First thing in the morning and last thing at night and drink a glass of hot water first thing in the morning. I highly recommend this! Thank you for your advice and help! Have a great day.
Also, if u are straining a lot, it might be a good idea to buy what’s called a ‘squatty potty’ which helps to stop possible hemoroids because the natural ways to go toilet is to squat, not to sit at a 90 degree angle. So a squatty potty helps with the correct posture and you won’t need to strain as much. Have a look on YouTube for a video explaining it.
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