Bowel Movement

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How can you go? I only had one bowel movement while I’m in the hospital, I been in the hospital for over a week.

I feel bad for you. Are they giving you stool softeners? Opioid based pain meds are known to be horribly constipating. You probably have what I call "shy colon". You're away from home, away from your own bathroom and it's probably very difficult for you to relax.

Do you have or can someone get you some foam earplugs? As weird as it may sound, if I'm in an unfamiliar place and I can't go, locking myself in the bathroom in the middle of the night with earplugs in, relaxing and convincing myself no one is around helps.

Maybe a suppository would help?

I hope you make it home soon!

Mother recommends drinking 8oz prune juice followed by 2 glasses warm water. Good luck.

Many times when you are in the hospital, they put nutrients into you through an IV. So if you are not eating a lot of solids in the hospital, there is a good chance that is why you are not having a good bowel movement.

Here is a list of things people use to combat constipation:
* Smooth Move Herbal Tea
* Prune Juice (warmed)
* Prunes (4 in the morning and 4 at night)
* Magnesium citrate
* Insoluble fibers (Garden of Life Raw Fiber or Renew Life Triple Fiber).
* Haribo Sugar Free Gummy Bears (but be careful with this one because it can quickly lead to diarrhea.)
* Aerobic Magnesium 07
* Ground Flax Seeds (but don’t try to grind it yourself). Use 2 tablespoons per glass of water every night before going to bed.
* Bowel Clear (herbal blend)
* The one that I use the most is to eat an apple before bedtime. But you must eat the skin of the apple in addition to the pulp for this to work. Generally I eat an apple before bedtime and I have a good bowel movement when I get up in the morning.

One other point to make is that generally when you are in the hospital, they will sometimes put you on a regiment of antibiotics. This is because there are a lot of harmful bacteria in a hospital setting. This not only kills the bad bacteria but also the good gut bacteria. Thus when you leave the hospital and finish the antibiotic regiment, it is important to reestablish the colonies of good bacteria in your gut. This is done by taking probiotics for awhile.

If you really get bound up, many of the remedies for constipation will not work. In that case you must first unbind yourself. That is done by inserting a glycerin suppository up your rear end.

iced coffee works for me.

If fibre & stool softeners don't work, an enema might be in order. This is an enema bulb:



They're used anally or vaginally for cleansing purposes, but also for severe constipation. You squeeze it and suck up some room temp water with it, insert the rectal syringe (rectally, might want to use some sort of lubricant for comfort) and squeeze to squirt water up inside. One shot might do it, but as this pic shows 3 different size options from this brand, sometimes more water is required and you can simply hold the water in, reload the bulb, and add more water up there. It'll loosen things up and then it all just flows out with ease.

Annnd, in some cases, a doctor might put a glove on and use a lubricated finger to jostle things loose if absolutely necessary - but I think that's quite rare.

Chances are pretty good that a laxative pill will do the trick. Or a glycerin suppository. But a water enema is a good option when necessary.

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No for supporting trump. Because doing so is deplorable.

I've had problems with constipation in the past & there are lots of good suggestions in this thread. I'd mention it to a doc or nurse if I was in a hospital situation but I know the OP isn't in a nursing home now. I've talked to my GP & later another GP(I had to switch cuz the 1st quit practicing at the health center) & they both recommended I eat more fiber which I started doing in addition to taking a fiber supplement & they also prescribe a stool softener which I take every 3 days instead of two as needed like it says just so I'd stay more regular.
This thread reminds me of a funny news story I heard where a guy had go to the hospital for shoving an eggplant up his ass trying to relive constipation. At least he claimed it was due to constipation. I suspect he really did it for sexual reasons.