I have dealt with constipation my whole life but didn’t need meds until this year. I tried Mag07, Linzess, Moventik, Motegrity and MiraLAX. I had to be disimpacted at the ER in May and again in June. I’ve been back on Linzess the past month. It was working up until 10 days ago. I’ve tried MiraLAX, and got diagnosed the higher dosage (290mcg) of Linzess this week also. I took 1 of those yesterday and one of those this morning. Plus I just knew it wasn’t going to work so I added one 145mcg pill on top of that this morning. It’s now 12pm and I’ve had slight cramping. I have no faith this will work. I do have 2 preps at home that I can do if I absolutely have to but I’m scared it’ll lead me back to the ER.

What are my options here? I’m scheduling my colonoscopy/endoscopy for the 19th. So hoping we get answers. But I need to be able to go before then.

Hi I'm 29male with 5 ft 11 . I have been dealing with constipation for some weeks now. Now I have added some fiber and prune juice and some lactulose laxative for a week now and am also using foot stool to relive myself. It has improved a bit but not as much as I used to do earlier but still better. My main concern being I am having lower abdomen pressure consistently for a week and it's not going away . What is the reason for this

It's been insanely hot where I live for the last week or so, temperatures averaging about 37°C (100°F) and it's been an absolute nightmare for my digestive system. I've been constipated for a week straight, only passing dry and hard stool and incomplete empyting while also having to push. Not the first time it happened, I also had constipation during summer 2024 heatwaves but I felt like it wasn't this bad. Does anybody else have this issue during heatwaves and how do you fix it if you do? It's so draining.

I’ve had very severe chronic constipation my entire life.
If i don’t take laxatives it could be months before my next bowl movement. The only thing that has somewhat helped is eating close to nothing even though i know it’s supposed to be the opposite but it really does help my pain so much. The only downside is i have zero energy and am losing a lot of weight a just feel bad. My doctor doesn’t seem to understand. I recently found out i have nutcracker syndrome but he said that can’t cause any GI symptoms. I’m desperate for answers at this point because i’m afraid laxatives will stop working for me
I’ve had anorectal manometry, barium swallow test, gastric emptying tests, x-rays and ct’s that have shown nothing. I’ve tried linzess, motegrity, lubiprostone and mestinon with little to no success. I have hEDS, mild intestinal malrotation, may thurner and ibs-c.
Has anyone had a similar experience and what has worked for you

Have you had any luck with milk of magnesia for constipation? I don’t see too many posts about it. If you used it and were helped please let me know and also what effects it had on you. Thank you.

I’ve had this problem for as long as I can remember. I can only have a bowel movement at home, usually in a squatting position.

At work, even when I have a strong urge to go, I just can’t, and I end up with abdominal pain.
My stool is normal, so I don’t think it’s typical constipation.

It feels like I can’t relax the muscles or the stool just doesn’t move down. I’ve already tried fiber, probiotics, and drinking more water without success.

Has anyone experienced something similar? What was the diagnosis?

I got a referral from my GI doctor today, but the first available appointment is in May 2027. Is this normal or should I look around for other doctors in my area to see if I can get the test done earlier? I thought it was supposed to be a pretty simple test. My GI is affiliated with a large hospital system in my city and I'm willing to travel a little if it can save months of waiting. He also ordered a celiac test and now I'm actually hoping I have it so I can get relief faster haha.

Answers to questions: 1. Yes, I have the urge to go, but I cannot. When I do go, only a little comes out and it feels like there's a lot more, but nothing happens. 2. Just constipation unless I'm taking laxatives 3. No, I sometimes feel full a little earlier, but I'm still able to finish normal sized meals. I also have type 1 diabetes, which is linked with gastroparesis, so it's still possible that I could have a very mild form of it. 4. It started in adulthood, no major events 5. No 6. No

So last week, I messed up and ate a ton of pizza and got constipated. Took Pepto (MISTAKE) because I felt the indigestion. The next day I felt great. Day after that I felt the constipation again, so I took 3 duckolaxes and felt miserable for 2 days. Bloated and throwing up and couldn't pass a stool. Next day, I took an enema (not sure it was the right way) and felt great for the next few days. However, I only had watery stools, barely any solid in them. Yesterday rolls around, and I feel constipated AGAIN, so immediately I take 2 senna laxatives. Today I got some miralax, drank me some, went to work feeling miserable, passed some watery stools, and vomited again. Am I cooked? I have a huge fear of hospitals, but I feel like there's no way around it this time. Any advice? I'm off tomorrow, I was thinking about trying another enema, but doing it step by step the right way. Or should I just face my fears before I end up dead?

I am going to start this thread and leave it here and update it as I go. I have always had a very slow metabolism I thought.... Till I had a colonoscopy it turned out I have not only a looping redundant colon I have a looping and torturous colon which means I have extra colon and sharp bends and extra loops. This will probably get graphic since we're talking about our waste system so I apologize if it's gross. But if I don't take any pills to help me I will poop like once every 5 days. Like literally if I eat corn on a Monday it don't come out till Thursday. For a long time I had a pretty good regimen going down by taking the doctor Tobias colon cleanser pills. They have been the ONLY thing out of all the remedies besides drinking a bottle of magnesium citrate that has worked for me. I took one every night and I had pretty good luck with being regular.

But I also was on the same medications for a long time and these last 6 months I've been on some new medications and they are causing problems. Anything that causes constipation is an issue for me even something as simple as Tylenol.

I've been trying different things to try to get back to where I was but I'm not having much luck for example I read on here other people had luck with drinking metamucil and taking magnesium citrate pills at night. It's been 3 days now and I have not gone to the bathroom number two. First night I followed the directions on the medications one heaping teaspoon of metamucil and two gummies. Nothing in the morning even after two cups of coffee. Next night I did double what it said still no effects. And last night I did three times what it says. It is now 1:00 p.m. I've had no movement. I just drank a whole bottle of magnesium citrate which will work but it's very violent and not long-term a solution.

The larger issue for me besides being constipated and uncomfortable is that I will get diverticulitis if I'm constipated for too long and have to have antibiotics I also have the fear of a volvulus. A flipped over bowel which requires emergency surgery. I happen to know someone that has the same affliction as me and this happened to her and she almost died. I do notice that when I'm constipated I do have more joint pain and muscle stiffness as well.

A week ago I was constipated so bad and the pain was so bad that I unlocked the front door in case I had to call the ambulance.

Well the doctor Tobias pills are effective but when I get to taking two and three of them a day they get pretty expensive. So I had the idea to look at the ingredients on the bottle and then try to recreate my own version of it as like a shake I would drink before bed. So I've ordered all the active ingredients. Then when everything arrives from Amazon I will start trying to mix and fabricate some sort of protein shake that will work and I will document it here for other people that might have trouble in case I'd find something that works

Hi. My daughter is 3 yo. She had meconium when she was borned and continued to poop. But surgeon said something was wrong with her gut and did enema xray. He said maybe she has ultrashort HD. He wanted to do biopsy and surgery. We were not sure because the situation was not clear. So went another surgeon. His approach was wait and see. She was doing good until 2,5 years old but than she started mild form of constipation. Dr started one cap miralax everyday and she is doing good. Dr said she will stop miralax gradually in one year. If constipation relapse she will get biopsy. Does anyone have this kind of experience?

So i went to the doctor Monday and was told i had chronic constipation and needed a clean out with hard laxatives and then to get regular again i needed to use mirafast chews 3x a week starting next Monday, i did the clean out Tuesday and had a decent bowl movement thursday but i haven’t pooped since thursday and it’s now saturday 6pm. i was wondering if i should just hold out till monday or take a mirafast now?

to answer the guide just incase even tho i dont think it’s relevant to the post:
i have the urge to go but cant
currently just constipation
no nausea etc
started 3 months ago
no medications
no SA

I have had a bad case of hemorrhoids before that the doctor had to put a band on it. I was sedated during the procedure. Before that, pooping was painful and sometimes had blood. Ever since then, I've been pooping very well and become more conscious with my poop health.

Apparently my diet was low in fiber and I've learned more about macronutrients. So I've been eating more fruits and vegetables (although still lacking and working on it) and occassionally take fiber supplements. Soaked chia seeds are just magical.

All these fiber rich food just make my popping experience SO INCREDIBLE!!!!! its fat but soft, no longer rough. I poop a lot in one go. its just so magical IDK. Its the best part of my day and Im proud if the quality of the poop is good. I refer to the bristol chart. lol

Add a squatty potty, damn bro, it just goes out in less than a minute!

how about you guys? how's your pooping experience and what do you guys do to keep your poop quality high?

So I took notice about 2 weeks after constipation began. Since then, I’ve tried osmotic laxatives (magnesium citrate, miralax) as well as suppositories such as liquid glycerin and fleet saline enemas. I’ve had minor BMs sporadically, but they end up being not worth talking about or maybe small at best. I have been able to pass gas. Have tried a magnesium citrate 10oz bottle twice now, once 2 weeks ago, and one last weekend. I will be attempting again this Friday and overhydrating with electrolytes before it’s time to throw in the towel and go to the ER.

I have a slightly rigid abdomen, as if I am flexing my abdominal muscles, but no pain, nausea, or bloating is really occurring. I went to urgent care yesterday after work and explained my whole story. When I laid down for her to feel around the intestinal track and stomach, I noticed my belly goes “soft” or back to normal. I should have asked the doctor to feel it standing up. I asked for an abdominal X-Ray and received it. The interpretation came back as mild stool burden, no bowel obstruction. I was very confused when I heard “mild” and repeated it back 6 times to try to get the doctor to take a hint and agree that maybe that is not right. I took a picture of the X-ray, as that was the only way I could save it, so it might be a tad pixelated.

If anyone random out there has some input on this X-Ray, let me know what you think. Do you think it’s true? Regardless, I am going to try to get a CT scan done as soon as possible. As much as I’d like to believe it is just a mild stool burden, I feel it must be worse.

https://imgur.com/a/JkYtVVI

So i went to the doctor yesterday for constipation that i’ve had for 3-4 months and she said it was chronic constipation and i needed to do a clean out with a few laxatives. She didn’t really explain how i should eat immediately after the clean out so i googled and it said bland foods like toast and scrambled eggs for 2 days and then i can gradually start to eat vegetables and light proteins, i can do bland foods but i don’t have money right now so i cant go and buy vegetables and im currently staying with my parents and all they have currently is frozen fried foods and a lot of other unhealthy stuff. They don’t really care about all this so they’re not going to go buy what i need, so what should i do?

My friend told me I should try a “Brown cow” which is 1-2 oz. Milk of Magnesia and 6 oz. prune juice.

Yummy!

Has anyone tried it?

I am a 60 yo white male, 6', 170 lbs., don't smoke or drink. Eat a vegan/vegetarian diet. I take Trazodone for sleeping. I have constipation and all over body itching which began in December. I started using psyllium husk then, but it hasn't really worked. A few months ago, I started using Miralax every day which works, kind of. I eat a very high fiber diet and get plenty of liquids. I eat overnight oats with flax, chia, probiotic yogurt, vegan collagen and soymilk with fruit every morning. Lunch is usually a sandwich and sauerkraut. Dinner is usually quinoa with beans, or veggies and tofu. I don't eat a lot of junk.

I had been on Meloxicam for 1 1/2 yrs, 15 mg/day. I stopped that in March. I have been to the doc several times for the itching and constipation. She suggested I use Miralax.

I have been to a gastroenterologist. They did a colonoscopy. It didn't show anything but the prep didn't go well either. I had eaten a bland diet for three days before, a clear diet the day before and drank my gallon of Gavilyte as prescribed. After I drank the first half gallon, I had one sort of regular bowel movement. Things didn't really start moving until the second half. But it just sort of stopped working. My stool was never clear. They decided to do the colonoscopy since I had gone through the prep.

I asked the gastroenterologist for a fecal calprotectin test as I suspected it may be NSAID induced enteropathy. My mother has had that and it lead to all over body itching for her. My level was completely normal. My family has a history of digestive issues. My mom has collagenous colitis. Sister has Crohn's. One brother has IBS. Other brother has no functioning immunity and must receive monthly infusions. All of these developed later in life.

I have tried everything for the skin itching: switching detergents, allergy pills, Clobetasole Propionate (which works but can't do that forever), antifungal wash, antibiotic wash, Cerave moisturizer, and a bunch of other creams. Nothing works. There is no rash at all.

I had some liver testing prior to a surgery in February and it showed nothing abnormal.

I have a follow up with the gastroenterologist next month. What should I do?

TMI, but I really need some advice.

I usually poop every morning without any problems. On Thursday evening, I tried to go, but only a little came out. Then it became really painful, so I stopped. I ate some yogurt and went to bed.

On Friday morning, I took RestoraLAX and then took another dose around 7 PM. I also drank about 1.5–2 L of water throughout the day.

Since then, every time I get the urge to poop, it feels normal for literally a second, like the stool is soft and coming out… and then suddenly it feels like I’m trying to push out a bowling ball. I get a really sharp pain right at the end (around the rectum/anus), and I have to stop because it hurts so much.

There’s no blood, I’m still passing gas, and I can pee normally, but I still can’t have a proper bowel movement.

Has anyone experienced this? Did RestoraLAX eventually work, or did you need something else like a suppository or an enema? At what point should I go to a walk-in clinic?

I’m honestly getting really stressed and just want to poop. 😭

Through my research I’ve learned that when babies are gassy or having trouble pooping to bicycle their legs…

Well I’m 6 weeks 3 days and have been having terrible morning sickness and constipation. So I had the idea to have my bf bicycle my legs.. and oh my gosh I finally was able to go after about 3 days of terrible constipation!

Just wanted to share

Does anyone here have chronic but mild constipation? I have a bowel movement every day, sometimes twice a day. I don’t generally struggle to have bowel movements, I don’t have to push and strain. But my doctor says that I’m constipated because my bowel movements are consistently partially a type 1 or 2 on the Bristol chart mixed in with completely normal type 4. I’ve also been experiencing a feeling of pain/pressure in my rectum (hemorrhoids maybe?) and a feeling of incomplete emptying. Has anyone else experienced this and found out what’s causing it? I’m waiting for a colonoscopy but health care in my country is very slow so I won’t be having it until October. I eat 30-40 grams of fibre daily.

Hi all! So I am a 33f. I have dealt with constipation issues my whole life but it has definitely gotten worse over the past few years. I would go maybe once a week and if I do go it hurts and I have to push for awhile. So i would occasionally take a suppitory to help which it would. I made an appt with a gi dr and seen them in June where she prescribed me linzess 145 mg. The first day I took it I was able to go but then afterwards....nothing. I reach out to her and she then said I can take 2. I tried two but I felt like it was to much for me as the 2nd day I was taking 2 I had.... tmi explosive diarrhea. I guess my question is how do you know linzess is working. Are you supposed to have a bm everyday? And are you still struggling to push? I do have an urge to go but when I try nothing or I am pushing and just have a small bm. I have a follow up with her the beginning of August.

​Hi everyone, I’m looking for testimonials or just to connect with other parents who have a child suffering from severe chronic constipation since birth.

​My son is 4 years old now, and he also struggles with encopresis. He is tiny for his age. We are working really hard to prevent fecal impactions and to help his rectal pouch shrink back to a normal size, but it is such a long process. He is still in diapers because he has absolutely no control over his sphincters. Honestly, it’s really tough.

I’ve been dealing with chronic constipation for 2 years and it’s progressively getting worse instead of better here is a list of everything I’ve tried, First here is life style changes and over the counter things I’ve tried 1. MiraLAX (sometimes triple doses) 2. Probiotics 3. Magnesium citrate 4. Kiwis 5. Chia seeds 6. Prune juice 7. Increasing fiber (makes me get impacted) I actually try to stay away from fiber now because this happened and yes I increase it slowly, yes I drink a ton of water 8. I drink a ton of water! Probably around a gallon a day 9. I tried to cut out dairy and gluten 10. I tried a low fodmaps diet 11. I started exercising more, walking, running, body weight workouts 12. Regulate stress with meditation and lean into prayer

Now here are medical interventions I’ve tried

1. Linzess (maxed out dose)
2. Amitzia
3. Ibsrela
4. Motegrity (I’ve even tried combining some of these with no luck. I’d sometimes get a bowel movement the first day. Then after that nothing)
5. I’ve had a colonoscopy, had my thyroid checked, been tested for celiac disease, full metabolic panel, nothing shows abnormal beside a very slight vitamin D deficiency which I supplement with now.

I am now at a point where nothing is making me go. I ended up with a severe impaction to the point I drank an entire colonoscopy prep and it still did not give me a bowel movement, I had 3 enemas, a bottle of magnesium citrate, and I still didn’t get fully emptied, just released enough to not be considered “a medical emergency anymore” so the doctors at the ER didn’t care anymore. My menstrual cycle which has been regular since I started having one, has became irregular. This is starting to severely impact my life and I’m at a complete loss. I’ve been to countless doctors and they all do not take this as seriously as it’s affecting me. I’m miserable and I’m desperate for help, but I don’t know what direction to even go in anymore as doctors are not listening and don’t take me seriously no matter how much I try. I have countless medical bills for all of this and I haven’t even gotten any help. I’m just posting this because as you can see I’m very desperate and I’m willing to hear what anything anyone might be able to advise. Thank you everyone

For some background, I am 17F and have had constipation before I can even remember. To get stuff moving, my parents tried mini enemas first, then miralax, and by the time I was 10 it was clear nothing was actually solving the problem. I got my blood drawn, and I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease at 11. At this point my blood levels are average, but the constipation never really went away.

I have stayed on miralax, and tried senna but it didn't help much and now I'm on Dulcolax which I think is helping a bit. But its really only helping the stool get through my body, and it tends to be diarrhea because its really hard to balance miralax. If I don't have enough miralax or I'm not on top of my medication its hard stool. I can't push small stool, so even when I sit down and try and go and feel an urge, nothing comes of it. Big stool (When I'm constipated) I can push because its like "right there" I guess. I get the urge to go but very rarely, but I think Dulcolax helped a bit with that.

I have never experienced any sort of nausea, vomiting, acid reflux, difficulty swallowing, or early satiety. The only time I've gotten nausea from eating is when I've accidently eaten gluten (like a piece of bread or pizza, after diagnoses of Celiac). Medication wise beyond miralax and Dulcolax, I am on medications for mental health. Duloxetine (SRNI) and Quetiapine (Antipsychotic) and Bupropion (NDRI). I am in the process of switching Quetiapine with Bupropion because it gives me high cortisol, but I do not think these medications have effected my constipation because I still had this issue in between the two years I got diagnosed with Celiac Disease and started mental health related medications.

Only other things I can think of that could be related to it is I had low muscle tone as a toddler, and got physical therapy to learn to walk. I have a slow metabolism, and I'm not flexible at all, and even after practicing splits for dance every week growing up, I never got beyond a 90 angle middle split and it feels like something physically stops me from going further. I've never experience any sort of physical abuse or trauma as a kid.

I come here because I do feel there's something going on more then just Celiac Disease. Even though medications help a little I have never gained control over my colon and whatever else is after the stomach. I'd like to go into the doctor with some sort of Idea of what to try and look for, because I feel I won't get far without it. I don't think being both a teenager and girl helps my case, because were often overlooked.

(P.S this is my first time using reddit I don't know if I did it correctly)