Dahlek,

Benefiber has always worked well for me. More recently (long story) my Gastro wanted me to try Fibercon...capsules. Oh, boy, talk about bloating! Anyway, I stopped that and went right back to the good ole Benefiber. And I should add, I know taking fiber CAN cause further constipation with high doses of the opiates. I do try to eat some kind of fiber cereal too; about every other day. The deal I experienced with Miralax (prescription at the time) was that I was told to take 17 grams or whatever that capful is. I think it is 17 grams. Anyway, what a mistake that was!!! I cramped so bad I thought I would die. I kept taking it down and down and down until I was at 1/4 of a tsp. THEN it was okay. I stayed at that for about two weeks until I was sure I was fairly regulated. THEN I made the switch to Benefiber. But know also I have GERD, Gastritis and IBS. So, what I do HAS to treat both diahrea AND constipation. And I was taking the probiotic "Align". It works great too. I have just stopped it for a short while because I was trying to determine at that time if it was the Fibercon or the Align causing bloating and it was the Fibercon so I can go back to Align any time. However, I also know it causes bloating at FIRST then that goes away. It did for me as it was the first one I tried...before the Fibercon.

Ugh, I am rambling. But you are also right about walking...that will do it too! I know people have to try various things based on their conditions but the main thing with me is NO STRAINING WHATSOEVER...so anything stimulating can be bad for a number of reasons.

And last but not least, I could tell you all of a horror story....a barium enema impaction that sent me straight to the ER. And through no fault of my own; mainly due to a rectocele I have and another godawful story. To be honest, I wonder sometimes if THAT wasn't the cause of the fractured tailbone!!

The prune paste is a very good idea ,but Courious's
Dr. is wise lol fooled you..Been away and tired but what's
new..Even though they all the water drinking (univ said not good idea
not to drink 8 glasses of water) donlt think I agree,I think water
is a must,like the V,olive oil very good idea...Hugs to all Sue

Why K so very true/ Sue again..

Miralax has always worked very well for me. I have had impaction type problems with fiber-type supplements, as Mrs. D suggested.

I agree I also take morphine and like Susan it's really helped,I mean the morphine and what Susan recommed.lol sorry been along
hard week,I just love those legs.I am at my friends house for 2 reasons
I need help and her grandchild it about to be born. Holding a new life
for me is better then anything or med to me.

Also having you door open well I just love the birds,the spring sounds,
I took a ride in my wheelchair in a different area without rain good day.
Now come sweet baby,the midwife is wonderfull with them,new life wow.
Hugs to all Sue

I Just wanted to give my little contribution to this discussion.

And, thankfully, it involves NO DRUGS, no prunes, no nothing. I happened upon it quite by accident and even though I have posted this elsewhere, since this is a thread on constipation, and stool softeners and the like, I just wanted to make sure all of you know about this alternative.

What is this miracle of science that works in 5 minutes and let's you have a bowel movement without straining????

The HOMEDICS SHIATSU MASSAGE THINGEEE that I have on my computer chair.

Here's how I found out about it

I was walking a few blocks from my home and they were selling a Constipation Chair for $269.00. There was this big chart on the wall saying all the benefits of sitting in the chair.

I gathered that the chair moved "down there", or rocked you or whatever it did. Somebody also called it a hula chair and she walked over to me and said 'this is the one from tv". Well, I have never seen one on tv but I said to myself $269.00 for a chair (it looked exactly like my computer chair by the way.

I just did a search for Hula Chair on youtube and you can see exactly how it works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywJN2rcpEUw

So I went home and looked at the massage thing from Homedics that we had just bought from GNC for $89.99 and I said 'give this a try". It doesn't make your bottom go round and round like the Hula Chair does, but it does the trick, believe me.

I had already gone to the bathroom, BUT it was one of those days when you know you have more in you, but you don't want to spend another hour just sitting on the toilet bowl.

So I figured "kill two birds with one stone" Go on the computer and get your bowels up and running".

So I sat in the chair, turned on the power button, selected "lower back", and there is an option to keep it in one place (it normally goes up and down the back WHICH I DO NOT LIKE".

So there i was, the thing was doing its rolling thing on my lower spine. About 5 minutes passed and all of a sudden, I jumped up and I ran to the bathroom.

I could not believe it. No straining, no nothing.

I have been doing that ever since.

I usually go after morning coffee but sometimes you don't go ALL AT ONCE, and when that happens, I sit in the chair, switch it on, it does it thing, and I'm a happy camper.

I have no idea if this would work for all of you but believe me, if I had not seen that stupid constipation chair sign over the hula chair for $269.00 a few blocks from my house, i would have never known to sit in my own version of it.

Glory Be, the darn thing works.

So if you have tried everything, and you can afford it, (maybe you can test it out or something). My GNC has a model all rigged up and people sit down and love the way it goes up and down the spine.

I was in NYC the other day and there was a GNC next to Beth Israel Hospital.

I walked in and sure enough there was my Homedics thingee on some chair and I laughed and I went over to the guy behind the counter and said "you think this thing is only good for massaging the back??" and he said 'why, what else is it good for??"

Well, when I started to explain WHAT ELSE IT DOES, they were laughing all over the place and the girl said "wow, that makes sense, it stimulates the lower portion of the body". and I said 'EVERY TIME!!!

I'm telling you, if anybody has any of these massage things on any of your chairs, set it to stay on your lower back and see what happens.

Just wanted to share.

SlowMag. I take SlowMag for the magnesium, obviously. One of the sides of SlowMag, any magnesium, is a laxative effect. If I'm having issues from taking the Tramadol I take a SlowMag tablet on an empty stomach before going to bed. It works like a charm for me. Otherwise take SlowMag with food.

Adding more fiber can certainly help. There's a drink out, can't remember the name of it, it's sugar-free and has 5 grams of fiber per pouch. You don't even know you're drinking any fiber. Can't taste it, can't feel it. Tastes good too! And it's not super expensive either. If I can remember the name of it I'll let you know.

There's also Colace, a stool softener that does nothing but soften the stools. There's no cramping or anything like that with it. It works real well too.

Jarett:

Is this what you are referring to??

http://www.ndlabs.com/product/635

This stuff has sorbitol. That will make anybody go!!!!

Thanks t o all who replied.
Bought a bag of prunes today, see what does.
Drinking hot water did nothing.
Since I fart like crazy guess I don't have a lot to worry about.

I'm not sure if this is bulk forming - but popcorn is not only very yummy but lots of fiber!!!!!!!!!!