Gerry
that might be worth a doctors visit for something that specifically starts the peristalsis (bet I spelt that wrong), the waves that move the food along. it is a natural thing that happens even if you are upside down, fascinating, not!
Good luck
Lily x
Just bumping to the top as I can see I’m not the only one!
no Gerry - me too. look at laxative ideas- thread a few below this one
Hi Gerry
My total sympathies - I suffer dreadfully with every chemo and still can’t get it down to a fine art.
Which meds are you on at the mo? The reason I ask is that the anti-nausea tabs (ondansetron and domperidone) make you constipated, as do the steroids and the chemo. Similarly, painkillers like codeine are lethal for constipation - basically they’re numbing the nerves and your bum forgets what to do and you don’t get the urge to go (periwhatsisname as Lily mentions). I now stop the anti-nausea tabs after 3 days cos it still takes another 3 or 4 days for my bum to even begin to regain its memory.
However, it’s getting that first one out that’s the problem! I think it’s important to move around - especially if you’ve been lying down feeling nauseaus etc - so that things get moving. Strong, fresh coffee definitely starts to wake things up for me and as soon as I feel the faintest sensation I commence a ridiculous performance consisting of drinking lots of hot water with lemon, pacing up and down the flat mumbling to myself and cursing, alternating pacing with some squatting which seems to get the poo all aligned and remind it there is such a thing as gravity, hot water bottle on tummy for when the head engages, and then lots of waddling like a penguin back and forth to the bathroom for false alarms (loads of pain and zero gain). Make sure your phone is switched off as there’s nothing worse that some well-wisher phoning to ask how it’s going when you’re mid-flow. After a couple of hours of this (yes, really) I find that my bum remembers its job description and eventually, after an Olympian effort, I manage to deliver a 10lb turkey (well, that’s what it feels like). It’s absolute hell, but the relief is immense once the floodgates have been opened.
Wishing you loads of luck! Apologies if information overload.
xx
Oh Ripley
I finished my chemo in March and you have put into words exactly what it was like for me. it was like a huge log when it emerged.
Keep going girls!!! - or trying to
Mary
xx
Ripley
is someone recycling these damn things, because I swear I had that SAME POO!
Poo alignment I am going to be sick laughing when I try to go to sleep and remember it, only just pipping the thought of you doing the penguin parade round your flat. Fantastic! Oh no you have SO GIVEN ME THE GIGGLES, I AM SITTIING HERE LAUGHING AWAY TO MYSELF!
By the way I always take the phone in with me to avoid being interrupted in those critical 40 seconds that either make or break these world breaking efforts and hope the big splash does not hit while someone is talking to me!
Lily x
OMG - you all make it sound like giving birth!!! Thanks for the memories…NOT! Thank goodness I’m not that bad, yet. I get constipation for a few days, but nothing like the major league tournament you ladies are in! All the best to you, keep laughing about it all!
hi. when I was having chemo I was constipated but also had slight diarrhoea! Was told it was overspilll, sort of slips round the sides of main blockage so tummy is not cleared and still feels awful.
I mention it because sounds like some lades are also experiencing this.
Margaret
Well done for brightening my day Ripley. How well you describe that dreaded POO. I have a bran parkin cookie recipe if anyone wants it. just holler and I’ll type it
Cheers for the laugh.
Bridie