Trish, I have had constipation problems since childhood. My Father
used to make a milk of mag milkshake for me...I loved em...lol.

Since I've change my diet to lean cousine dinners and taking a
Green coffee extract diet capsule every day, for the last 3+
months, I am no longer constipated.. As a matter of fact
my stools have softened. TMI!!

I have had chronic constipation for 20 years largely because of anti- depressants which then set the chronic problem in motion (no pun intended!).

What has worked for me is Magnesium every night (which gets my colon moving) and the Vitamin D (oil in capsules works like Colace as a stool softener). Ironically, it wasn't until I got diagnosed with MS 6 years ago and then started taking vitamin D and magnesium that the problem mostly went away! If i forget the Magnesium I notice!

Pre- MS I struggled and had to use enemas a lot. I found that Probiotics helped more than anything else besides laxative drugs which I worried about getting addicted to.

You all have some great ideas!

I forgot about canned pears. They always seem to work well for me but since my transit time has slowed it may take another day before I see the effects.

I used to have fast transit time. Omgoodness! But since my flare last September, that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. Also, my BM used to be loose quite a bit until my September flare. Something changed in that flare and now I am the opposite.

And, Sally, this is the "pooping" thread so generally nothing is TMI.

Probiotics help. I started drinking Kefir again which is loaded with probiotics. Since my transit time is slow, I don't drink it every day. I like it because it has vitamins and nutrients in it such as magnesium, calcium, and vitamin D but I can tolerate it better than milk and even some yogurts.

i take miralax daily, sometimes twice. i have a slow transit as others have said too. i believe its because i'm not very active? also i dont eat very much as i'm doing my best to lose weight since i got out of the nursing home...

Hi Clarkstar! How are you doing? How is your recovering going? It's good to see you posting as that says you are feeling well enough to do so.

to add to what others have already said: I also find a bowl of steel cut (Irish) oatmeal helps get things moving. I have to rotate what "tricks" works often - almost as if my guy gets used to one thing and needs to be surprised in order to get things moving

So true Jane. Sometimes chocolate acts as a laxative and other
times it binds be up??? I wouldn't think of cutting my chocolate.
Adding something else, like brocolli to the mix, once in awhile
is a good thing.

my recovery is going well, thanks! sometimes i am able to walk into the kitchen and bathroonm leaving my walker in the hall, although my balance is still not good, but as long as there are things i can catch myself on, i'm ok.

pain is my biggest challenge right now, have pretty bad shoulder blade pain, as well as leg pain. the avonex pen really does a number on my thighs, hurts for a week or 2 after each shot!

i bought a homedics massager to see if it would help my back. it felt good as i was using it but afterwards my shoulder blade was killing me, i think from using that arm to hold the massager to my back...

also medicare is being a pain, not wanting to cover cymbalta which my dr prescribed for pain, and raising the price on my lidoderm patch to $400 for a 30 day supply...

Clarkstar - Glad to hear you are slowly improving. I don't like those massagers. I tried one once and it made me hurt more too. Never again. And, I'm sorry about the Avonex. I don't take it so I've never experienced what you have described. I can't remember but are you just starting Avonex? And, I wonder why Medicare won't cover Cymbalta. I only took it for 3 days. It was awesome for nerve pain but horrible for my emotions, in fact, it was pretty scary.

As of the cost of meds, do you qualify for extra help through Medicare for your prescriptions. It's an awesome program and has totally saved me. This is the link to the program. http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Eligibil...Cov/index.html