Ok - I am taking co-danthramar morning and evening (double dose as prescibed by onc.) plus movicol 2-3 sachets a day but I am still suffering. Not so much down below (I don’t have hard stools) but things just don’t appear to be moving through. So from my stomach I feel bloated and sluggish.
The chemo has this side effect (taxotere), as does the lansoprazole which I am taking for heart burn
Is anyone else having this side effect? What else can I try?
Geraldine
i’ve found that starting every day with prunes really helps.
Luckily I like prunes, but I find that if the 1st food into my system each day is high roughage, then everything works better.
Love, Lynn
like you I have been consipated on tax - but with a lot of bloating … on Epi it ws just contipation - for 6 days! - no bloating though
a funny thing happened yesterday … I had this passoionate craving for crisps - and I ate a whole family pack of bacon crinkly crisps - they tasted so yummy i just couldn’t stop! and this morning …relief
I am wondering if it was just all those chemicals on an empty tummy!
I am craving everything salty - can;t stand anything sweet at all - except i have a passion for any fruit too
and I have to have 2 fried inions a day - they helped I think - and I’m even eating raw onions - which i would normally find totally disgusting
prior to chemo I would eat harldy any onions - now i just can’t get enough
my entire body is up the creek - si I am just eating what I fancy - I also smell very peculiar to me
perhaps you could think very hard what you body is trying to tell you - look at foods and see which ones make you go “yum yum” … forget what we’re supposed to be eating or what you think you like …
good luck
love FizBx xx
I craved salt too, but remember to drink lots of water.
good point!
Weird - my taste buds are very confused but I am craving salt - (salt and vinegar crisps!). But I have tried to be good - perhaps I should just give in!
I am trying linseed on advice of my mother and have bought some dried prunes (can’t bear the slimy ones!)
Will give things a try - keep the advice coming!
Geraldine
All bran, blueberries - plus any other berries - and the dreaded prunes - worked for me - in fact worked too well!! Over-compensated I think. Also have a couple of prunes at lunctime and - if really really desparate - in the evening.
Good luck!
Julia
Hi
After my first TAC I thought I was dying from the constipation! My chemo nurse suggested Ortisan from Holland and Barratt. They are natural and are like fruit stock cubes. I took half of one the night of my chemo, another half the next day and a whole one the next. It works! Had chemo on the Friday and on the Saturday I ‘moved’ a little and by Monday was normal. Worth a try.
Rebecca
xx
I am on AB’s at the moment for a whopper of an infection and to ward off the inevitable thrush my GP recommended I drank a Yakult every day, so I am. The thrush is threatening but not too bad at the moment but the effect that stuff is having on my movement is unreal. Sorry to be graphic but I cannot believe what I am producing, so there you go. As far as I know they are completely natural but maybe just run it passed your BCN first to be sure.
AJxxx
PS just to let you know they would seem to have been named after how they taste!!
lol AJ - sorry you are suffering.
FEC gives me the opposite of constipation for a few days, then constipation, and then, just as I recover normality, it’s the next FEC! Am getting really tired of it now but my spincter muscles are very very strong now!
Am changing to Tax next time, so thanks to this thread, know to start the lactulose a few days beforehand.
Like many on this thread, the craving for salt has been incredible! And have been suffering terribly with cramps in lower legs. Anybody else getting that?
Thanks for the suggestions. I am going to try the Ortisan on the next cycle - I have realy upped the amount of fruit I am eating already but it is a berry time of year so raspberries, blueberries are on the shopping list! It is the middel week of the taxotere cycle that I have real difficulty so thanks for al the ideas.
Geraldine
I keep getting belly aches and gripey pains, it feels almost like I need to run to the loo but when I get there nothing really happens. I wouldn’t say I am constipated because I have managed a “movement”. So far have been eating almost normally so shouldn’t suffer constipation hopefully.
Hi
had a major major blockage, I even thought about finding an implement to start ‘drilling for oil’ . So I sat and drank cheap value Tesco fresh orange juice, nearly puked keeping it all down but it did the trick the next day and again and again and again. Just an idea for anyone like me who struggles with medicine or prunes. I don’t even like saying that disgusting word!
Lily x
Stewed rhubarb worked for me, I have a lovely neighbour who makes me rhubarb crumble but if you are too tired to make it, stew the rhubarb and add crumbled digestive biscuit to the top and serve with custard or ice cream. If you enjoy porridge add it to that. Another thing I tried was all bran, chopped up prunes (I don’t like them) and add activia yogurt, quite tasty but not as good as the rhubarb crumble.
peacock sounds like you could be suffering trapped wind, I took windeeze (don’t know if that is correct spelling) from the chemist and it helps I’ts worth a try.
Fruit smoothie first thing: large mandarin with all its pith & strings, pear with skin & pips, 8-10 seedless black grapes, half banana, small handful frozen berries, scant tbsp oat bran, 1dsp wheat germ, scant tbsp flaxseed, half cup plain live yoghurt. Blend until smooth. I’m on my 9th week of Tax and have been completely regular throughout - neither one extreme or t’other. Gassy - but unfortunately for family, far from trapped.
My sis, who has suffered constipation all her life (though not BC), drank it with me every day she was here on a recent visit and COULD NOT BELIEVE its effects. She wrote the recipe down in her little black book, has kept it up at home, and says that she feels born again.
More great ideas - I have started to linseed as well (i guess it’s similar to flaxseed) - emelle your smoothie sounds rather nice. I ahev some really good ideas for the next round 
Geraldine
I find a black beard a day generally keeps me regular…morgans in a straight half pint glass, coke (I use diet) to fill glass to 2/3rds full, and then two seconds of guinness on top - no more, no less. If made well it shouldn’t taste sweet or bitter, just smooooooooooooooooooooth. Certainly has speeded up my motility since I started drinking it! If it doesn’t work, try two!
I didn’t take anything for constipation, just had high fibre things starting the next before. Bann white flour from your house, everything I ate was wholegrain, bread, pasta etc. I did suffer a bit but learnt to deal with it by diet.
Pauline
We only eat whole wheat/meal… when I talk about constipation I really mean it. Normally I’m a twice a day person - looking through my diary (sad I know) I went twice in 9 days!! As I said it’s not impacted - stools are soft - just nothing is moving. It got so bad this time I couldn’t eat (just felt full) and felt very sick…
Hadn’t though about alcohol though - guiness (sp.) always used to give me the runs so maybe it is worth trying - have never tried a black beard!
Geraldine
I used to go once or twice a week (unless pregnant) before I started drinking black beards, now I go every day. I have supplemented it with lactulose when required, but black beard tastes better! Give it a try!