I had damage to my lumbar vertebrae, over many years, and finally had spinal fusion. After that things happened more quickly. Every single one of my internal abdominal organs prolapsed in one way or another. This time last year I was in hospital having three repairs and a hysterectomy. Then post op, my bladder refused to work properly for about 6 months. Then my bowel ground to a halt. After a whole years of physiology tests to that area, to test the strength of the lower colon, they decided I neede to have an implant sacrally to give electric shocks to that area to provide peristalsis. (this is nothing to do with Spinal cord stim, I must add. Before that could happen however my bowel prolapsed. The doctors I was seeing seemed to think that all of this was caused by damage to the spinal nerves via the autonomic nervous system. Two weeks ago I had to go into hospital to have that repaired. I expected to lose about 5 inches, but the surgeon actually took out several feet. (4-5) He said it was not doing anything, and therefore surplus to requirement. Sad thing is this may likely not cure the problem, but will make it easier to manage when and if I get the implant.

Meanwhile I'm home. I have the beginnings of an obstruction, which I am hitting with Movicol, My sciatica is worse than usual. So you see, although you can take stool softeners, and colonic stuff, (I think Macrogol is same as Movicol) its not necessarily solving the problem.
Good luck, and look after yourself.

The nervous system is divided into the somatic nervous system which controls organs under voluntary control (mainly muscles) and the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) which regulates individual organ function and homeostasis, and for the most part is not subject to voluntary control. It is also known as the visceral or automatic system.

The ANS is predominantly an efferent system transmitting impulses from the Central Nervous System (CNS) to peripheral organ systems. Its effects include control of heart rate and force of contraction, constriction and dilatation of blood vessels, contraction and relaxation of smooth muscle in various organs, visual accommodation, pupillary size and secretions from exocrine and endocrine glands. Autonomic nerves constitute all of the efferent fibres which leave the CNS, except for those which innervate skeletal muscle. There are some afferent autonomic fibres (i.e. transmit information from the periphery to the CNS) which are concerned with the mediation of visceral sensation and the regulation of vasomotor and respiratory reflexes, for example the baroreceptors and chemoreceptors in the carotid sinus and aortic arch which are important in the control of heart rate, blood pressure and respiratory activity. These afferent fibres are usually carried to the CNS by major autonomic nerves such as the vagus, splanchnic or pelvic nerves, although afferent pain fibres from blood vessels may be carried by somatic nerves.