Ideas for constipation - on Fentanyl patch
 

Am on fentanyl patch (75mcg). and other drugs. Severe constipation. Once someone had a recipe for prunes, fogs, etc. to mix and freeze. Anyone have this recipe or other ideas?
Sydney:confused:

Sidney, you're singing a song I once sang :) Until my pain doc suggested I take magnesium for muscle spasms, told me a dosage to take, and ended up telling me to take TOO MUCH! Than I found out that magnesium makes a great diuretic!

Anwyay, I'm on the 75 fentanyl patch, as well as percocet 3x's day and several other meds also...so feel your "pain" too (pun intended cuz if we don't laugh at ourselves we go nuts, right?).

I take 2 senna tablets along with my meds in the morning. At night, before bed, I take 750 mg's of magnesium. its' NOT the magnesium with the calcium, but ONLY magnesium. If I'm feeling a bit constipated, or haven't had a BM in a few days, I will increase that 750 mg's to 1000 mg's for a couple days and WELLA! A bm.

If you need relief NOW, then I can guarantee that the over the counter glycerin suppositories work WONDERS. There is one by dulcolax I believe that works in 15 minutes to one hour. The trick is to hold it in for at least 15 minutes. No matter how constipated I was, within 15 minutes, I was always RUNNING using one of those babies. It will give you instant relief...and if one doesn't do the trick, try another. It won't hurt, as long as you don't make a habit of it. I found that once I got on the senna/magnesium on a routine, daily basis, it kept me regular (and is approved by my doctor...in fact, he requires me to do it).

Others have TONS of recipes and great info, though,so you can pick and choose. and I think there is a whole thread on the chronic pain forum about it. Hope you find something that works hon!

frank has a lot of trouble with constipation...............
lisam, he has tried the suppositories, to no avail...you are lucky they worked for you....he also has taken numerous dulcolax, and they too do not work....three days later he still has not gone to the bathroom after taking them....he also has tried the bottles they tell you to drink when having a test...those don't work..................enemas, nope they don't work either...........
I told him ii would get him some dynamite, but he doesn't think that is funny....i did tho.....:rolleyes:

he has tried to eat fig newton bars....those helped a little (go figure) and now he eats raisin bran each morning and night to see if that will give him some relief.......................

i have always told him that he was full of **** but now i can prove it.............:eek:

good luck to ya sydney........

When I was on fentyl + other narcotics the only thing that helped was lots and lots of flaxseed oil. The brand I use is Barlean's. I take 6 pills/day and I'm not on any meds anymore so you may want to take more than that.

I was so constipated that NOTHING worked - no suppositories, no enemas, no smooth-move teas, no laxitives, nothing.

Another thing you might want to do is get a hydrocolonic by a reputable person. This is like a big enema machine that basically sucks the s**t right out of you.

I know this is not a pleasant subject but it is one of the side effects of opiates and many other meds.

I tried everything you can imagine and the flax seed oil pills worked the best but you need lots of them.

Peace and hope,
Lisa

believe it or not;;;;; my friend is really bad off with the constipation...tell her she is full of s--- too...she swears by 2-3 handfulls of peanuts a day plus senna... a little fattening---but worth the calories she says... good luck...linda:eek:

Hi Sydney,

there were a couple of threads, one here (RSD forum):
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/showthread.php?t=5714
and one (really good thread) on the chronic pain forum:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/showthread.php?t=4768

all the best :)

Hello,
I know being constipated is an awful feeling. When I get so constipated I drink 16oz of prune juice,eat figs and use colace stool softener that seems to help. I know its a lot of prune juice but it does get everything moving. My doctor told me to use the colace but prune juice and figs you don't have to ask your doctor about. I hope some of these suggestions help Take Care

LMJunior

Oh, also....at the pharmacy, on the same shelf as th stool softeners, is "magnesium citrate." It's in a bottle, and it's a liquid. Now, I've never tried this, but I've heard of it, and it's SUPPOSED to work well, too.

I guess, after reading all the responses, it's kind of a "try it all, see what works, and stick with it" thing. :hug:

Ok - this was a constant problem for me for the first 1 1/2 years on the patch. I am now on 75's and I found that if I use 1000mg of flax seed oil pills 2 times a day and that new ACTIVIA yogurt once a day, I am better. Not perfect by a far cry but much better than before. Hope it helps. :D Of course everyone knows with RSD you are just full of it!! LOL