Dear all
So after my surgery on Tuesday I was given codein, paracetamol and ibuprofen along with movicol.
I am taking the laxative as directed, twice a day, but nothing is working. I have even tried senokot, prune juice etc and still nothing. Can anyone recommend anything else has it’s now starting to make me feel sick and bloated xx
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They never let me home untill I was able to go to the toilet. I was in a week and went tolit the day I came home so 7 days. Try Weetabix or bran flakes hope your ok and feeling better soon x
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Oh no… Can I ask have you stopped taking the Codeine or are you able to stop / reduce it as the Codeine is the strongest painkiller but is also the cause of the constipation. It affects some people more than others - it affects me as well and I would not take more than 8mg of Codeine daily unless I was absolutely desperate .
I think fasting before surgery and the general upheaval may also have contributed.
I would advise seeing a Pharmacist for advice if you haven’t already - don’t just keep trying different things without knowing how they work together. There’s no delicate way of saying this and hopefully it will start to move but if it’s not clearing from the top end then it might be necessary to try from the bottom end. The idea of using suppositories might be unpleasant but would soften the stool from the bottom end and make it easier to pass - but again speak to a Pharmacist first or your surgery if it hasn’t changed by Monday .
You might not feel like doing this right now but try to keep up your fluid intake even if you aren’t wanting to eat as that may help.
.
With sympathy xx .
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Lactulose maybe?
It might take 2 or 3 days to work.
Hope you have this sorted out pretty soon.
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Drink plenty of fluids but definitely let your team know of your constipation they can prescribe something to help you 
Shi xx
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Try Dilcelax. It works differently as it stimulates the muscle contraction.
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Hiya carrying doing what you’re doing but try drinking laxatives throughout the day in a bottle, so the same dose but throughout, and take dulcolax with each meal (3 X a day), that’s what I was advised. I would then not stop taking those when you start to feel better but carrying for a couple of days. I once was so blocked after a tomato soup (following few weeks of chemo), I took that combo for about a week. Dulcolax acts as a spasme on the muscle/bowel and laxatives… Well we will know what it does! Hope you get it sorted. Do speak to your doctor asap though and check w them you can take those. Imo if you can stick to paracetamol your condition will improve xxx
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Increasing your movicol to the maximum dose and drinking plenty of fluids should help x
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Hi
Try coconut water it’s helped me in the past xx
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Movicol did nothing for me. Lactulose however worked wonders x
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Fleet makes a mini bulb enema. Less chance of damage to your rectum area. It is fairly successful and does not cause the adversity of an oral prep. Most importantly don’t try anything without your surgeon’s knowledge. I couldn’t take codeine more than 2 days or I had horrible constipation. This gave me relief. Oral stimulates didn’t help me and I was drinking a lot of water and eating apples. I hope you find something that works best for you. Take care.
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I had the same problem after surgery and found that a different position whilst sitting on the toilet helped me to get moving. It involved raising my feet on a small step and getting into a more squatting position. I found this in a google search. Hope it might help as it’s a miserable problem to have in top of everything else!
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Hi Butterfly28,
I remember this well, I tried all suggestions but still a " no go "
Finally I bought a packet of no sugar liquorice from the factory shop. Started with 3 pieces for 3 days and then 2 for 2 days and by then I had good movement and went back to this whenever I was experiencing a problem.
Good luck x
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I increased movicol and docusate but still struggled …i then tried movical just before i went to sleep and that seemed to work better . I had to use suppositories in hospital ( had to ) …is a bit of a pain but did work great …the morphine has caused the constipation for me …but i keep trying different things to see what works …hope this is helpful
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I had the same thing even without taking the strong painkillers. I was given lactose and a suppository, the suppository really did the trick. The pharmacist said change the diet for a few days, don’t eat bread, bananas, eggs and eat salad and fibre. Mine cleared up in a few days. Good luck 
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Hope you are feeling better now whatever you tried xx
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@butterfly28 Hi 
have you tried an enema if all else has failed speak to your GP. I wish you all the best.
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I really hope you’re feeling better now. If you want to try a natural approach… Definitely lots of water, and two apples first thing in morning.
It sounds strange but I’ve been using castor oil in the belly button, and then bought myself a castor oil wrap. It’s like a thin bum bag - you put a little castor oil on one side and it’s designed not to leak. Wear it over your stomach all night. I reacted very well to that…
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Same thing happened to me was like Cement and solid 
green. I thought I had that hospital bug.
No cancer nurse or support so I rang a neighbour whose wife died of cancer.
The green cement was the blue dye mixed with normal colour.
I had a bio bidet which I got for my mother. I stopped with codeine and anything remotely co proxamol.
Sat on the loo and jetted the problem away. As the bio bidet has different speeds settings for female bladder or bowel
Afterwards I have continued to eat at least three portions of fruit from M&S everyday to keep my bowels cleared.
As I now take gabapentin and other painkillers due to surgery and nerve damage in arm etc
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Drinking sufficient fluids and speaking to your GP….
I believe I may have been prescribed paediatric Cosmocol sachets?
- they worked gradually and effectively - not in a way that was harsh.
Hang on in there and all the best.
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