How to stay "regular"

[jshabanian]

 

I seem to be having quite a problem with constipation. The dr. told me I need to have a bowel movement everyday and to take what I need to make that happen.

So far I am taking stool softeners everyday and just started taking Miralax everyday too.  How much of this is okay to take?  What do you guys eat/do to stay regular?  I have never had this problem before...usually the opposite problem.

I have very little appetite lately so have not been eating much at all.  I know which foods are fibrous and good for digestion but that doesn't seem to be enough on it's own.

Idea's?

[willowtreewren]

The two things critical for regular bowel movements are fiber and fluids! Of course, getting enough fluid is difficult for those with ESRD.

So, I would suggest eating more fruit, apples, pears, grapes. They have plenty of fiber along with needed moisture.

 

Aleta

[Atooraya]

Plums seem to work for me......
And drink a tall glass of water right after an exchange.

[Cordelia]

I eat blueberries, raspberries and watermelon at night--it's the very last thing I eat before I go to bed. I put it all in a ceral bowl.........Plus, I drink a glass of water with a little lemon juice poured into the water.  The more fruit you can ingest, the better off you are, in my opinion     

Once I'm up in the morning, the bowels start moving and voila, I'm making an instant trip to the bathroom first thing in the morning before I even leave for my in center treatments, before 6:30 am in the mornings           Works for me and helps to keep me super regular because I can suffer from constipation also, esp if I'm not careful.

[ToddB0130]

I would recommend you follow the instructions for the Miralax.  It says to take it once a day (filling up only the white portion of the cap).   If you feel it's not helping you enough,  talk to your doctors.   A lot of medications have constipation as a side effect (binders like calcium acetyte),  so you have to find a happy medium.  Good Luck.

[jshabanian]

 
Thank you for the great suggestions everyone!  I do love fruit but since I have been without an appetite for so long I have concentrated on eating protein when I do eat.  I pretty much have to force myself to eat something.  I love the idea of the big bowl of fruit and the large glass of water after an exchange.

I didn't have this problem when I was on hemo, it just started with the pd. I probably need to drink more now too.   I have been vomiting almost everyday since I started pd.  We are trying to figure out why, but that could be contributing to my constipation....maybe I'm a little dehydrated or something.  I will try the water and lemon....love that too!!

[Cordelia]

lemon's great, added with the water....or you could take a slice/wedge of it and just let it float on the top.....

I forgot to mention that I also leave a mug of water sitting out overnight (not the lemon water) that it becomes room temperature and have a few sips of it the next morning, that also helps to get the bowels moving.   I think hot drinks also can do the trick too, there is something about heat that helps move the bowels also, if you wanted to try a hot drink.

Hope something works for you, good luck!     

[Rerun]

There is a tea in the "natural" section of your grocery store called...... "Smooth Move"  That works for me since I really am not a fruit and veggie eater. 

Hope everything works out one way or another.   

[tbarrett2533]

I drink coffee in the morning with my stool softner and I also take another stool softner in the pm 
seems to work for me

[mcclane]

when i was on pd, fluid restriction was #1 priority (whether i followed it was another story  ).  Anyways, the pd nurses put me on a regimen of senkot and docusate, and that worked well, primary reason wasn't for the BMs but to make sure the pd fluid would drain properly (and the pd tube won't get kinked either).

Now that I do home hemo (full 7 days), I take advantage of it by guzzling  down more fluid, and I eat alot of grains (something I couldn't do while on pd - high potassium/phosphorous).  Metamucil cookies, bread with 4G of fibre, fibre 1 cereal, and whenever it is on sale, fibre 1 granola bars (5g of fibre).  I have no problems with the back door now, in fact, I go twice a day, and no laxatives either, all the fibre intake works wonders (sometimes too well, lots of gas buildup  ).

[Willis]

I take a pericolace tab before bed and in the morning. I also take Mirilax (actually a drugstore clone which is way cheaper) every morning. This works for me but everyone is different. I tried colace by itself but it either didn't work at all or worked way too well. 

I also take iron and magnesium and those tend to cause constipation if not counteracted by something. The clinic had me stop my iron once because it got too high and I got diarrhea and had to cut out the pericolace for a few days then down to just one tab a day.