Impaction Help/Question - Has Anyone Successfully "Dissolved" One?

By the way: I know it sounds like I'm being a baby about this, in fact mentally I know that I am. But the pain and trauma I experienced from the 3 prior incidents was unbearable, to the point that I think I'd rather actually just die then go through it again. This time when I realized the impaction was there, my heart started racing and I immediately shut down/slowly got off the toilet and haven't been back since.

In other words... this anxiety is crippling. Luckily I work from home, and I haven't moved from my bedroom/computer in the 4 days since this happened except to urinate/take Miralax/drink a small amount of coffee. All I've eaten is a yogurt and a small TV dinner.

My mind is pretty made up and no matter how hard I try I can't unmake it: I'm not doing an enema or a suppository. The only way this thing is coming out is naturally/painlessly, or not at all.

I'm really scared, and I pray that one of you is going to tell me "oh yeah, take Miralax for a couple more days and your stool should come out smoothly/painlessly."

But please give it to me straight/honest. If you're someone who was able to pass impacted stool without pain simply by taking osmotic laxatives like Miralax, your story/advice will be a godsend. By the way the reason I'm relying on Miralax is it has greatly softened my stool before/made things pass easily and doesn't give me the "urgent need" to go: but I've never tried using it to clear an impaction.

Hey Ryan,

I currently am having the same issue! Except living in Uni dorms is absolute torture when this happens!!

I've also been impacted three or four times before. And I have really bad anxiety around pain in my anus which is the main preventer for me.

The last few times i've been impacted after about a week of 8 sachets of macrogol a day, and finally an enema, i relaxed and everything came out, but i dont remember much pain - if any.

Being in uni dorms and having a shared bathrooms has meant that i am not able to adopt this technique as it is rather messy and smelly, so i have been relying on doing an enema every day and trying to hold that back in to allow it to soak into the stool as much as possible. I have also been lying under the hot shower with my stomach.

At this point - a week later, i do feel like i will be able to go but i am just butt terrified of going to sit on the loo to do a poop. Even though i know technically it is much more worth to just get it over and done with, but for some reason I just can't get myself to do it.

So i guess my answer is this: enemas have definitely given me the most relief by dissolving the hardest and largest lumps of my poop, but no matter how hard i've prayed and hoped nothing has ever fully softened one of my impactions into a normal poop, it has always been that my mother forced me to sit on the toilet until i physically couldnt hold it back anymore.

Im sorry,

i know what this feels like so i do sympathize immensely.

you have got this!

Hello

Firstly, I really hope you'll respond as I'm feeling pretty desperate & FULL of anxiety over my current situ with a faecal impaction/constipation. I'm not sure how or why this has started up but things haven't been right since I had an episode with pitted prunes two & a half weeks ago. I ate 7 prunes & within 3 hours I was sick 5/6 times & had a similar amount of of diarrhoea episodes. This all lasted for 8 hours. Needless to say afterwards I was severely dehydrated & in hindsight, should really have been hospitalised. I ate only white toast/rice (after leaving off food for 36 hours & only drinking cooled boiled water/using 4 electrolyte sachets, spacing doses) for a day & a half. I then tried eating a small meal of rice, vegan sausage roll, with pastry removed & boiled carrots - felt awful afterwards, although no vomiting/diarrhoea. I phones my Doctor's the following day & got triaged over the phone by a Nurse. She said I'd probably set myself back & said to carry on with toast/rice for next 2 days. So, I did this & then tried to return to eating normal (albeit small) meals at the end of the week, a week after the prune incident. In this time, I had one bowel movement consisting of two little 'rabbit droppings'; kind of expected, given what I'd been eating prior to this. The following week I started to feel bunged up & at the start of week 2, I ate some dark chocolate, 76% cocoa, to try & get things moving. The next day I had 3 or 4 bowel movements. However, not at all normal in that they were loose & every time I pooped, within minutes, I felt 'full' again but found it hard to pass anything. At the time, I put it down to the eating of chocolate. The next day I couldn't go once more & then didn't go 'properly'; I would maybe pass a little lump, or some faecal jelly like substance. I spoke with Doctor again on the Thursday (2 weeks to the day after prune nonsense) She was really unhelpful, even said she didn't know what I expected them to do about it! I also got told to take loperamide - obviously she hadn't listened to a word I'd said.

The weekend just gone, I had an out of hours Doctor visit at 3am, prompted after I felt my lower abdomen & feeling hard lumps on both sides. He said it was faecal matter, high up & I needed to take macrogol powders. I asked about using suppositories (I've never used before) & was told this would only clear anything in my lower bowel. He told me a regime for the powders, which I stupidly didn't write down. He said I should open bowels by day 3 & if not, to carry on with powders (think he said something about upping dosage at this point). As soon as he left, I took a sachet & then 1 again in the evening. I've had 2 bowel movements this morning BUT same thing with feeling full again, seconds/min or so later - its now nearly 2 pm & this is where I am currently at. I guess there is still faecal matter that is making it's way down to my rectum & hence, the feeling of needing to go still. I've tried a couple of times to poop since my last bowel movement but no luck. I've now got some odd pains radiating right up my whole back area. I'm tempted to use a suppository but really scared about it also, especially after reading your post about your experience with them. I am wondering if an enema would help - however, I wouldn't even attempt this myself due to possible infection if equipment is not properly sanitised.

My query is I know I need to carry on with the macrogol powders but how many (I was on 1 morning & 1 evening for a day before opening bowels this morning, although as stated, I'm still not completely cleared out) do I take daily now? I was thinking of just the one but is it best to take this in the morning or evening?

Unfortunately, I'm on opiate based meds & obviously, this is no doubt the possible cause of all of this. I've been on these long term (years) & I have NEVER had ANY issues with faecal impaction etc. In fact, I have always pooped daily in the morning without any issues. Prior to the prunes, about a month before, I had an incredibly painful (large) poop, which required my having to initially pull the matter from my anus. It made my anus bleed a little & due to anxiety levels (pretty sure this was the cause), when I stood up, urine was emitted. This episode scared the life out of me & may be this has caused some deep seated anxieties around my toileting habits(?)

About a year and a half ago, I developed intermittent pains on the right hand side of my tummy. It felt like an inflammatory type pain. I thought it may have had something to do with my sugar intake so I cut back on this. It seemed to help but the pain has come and gone over the months with my last episode around 2 months ago. I didn't speak with a Doctor about this until the out of hours Doctor saw me. He informed me this is where the small bowel is located. Of course, I'm now increasingly worried I've diverticular disease/have bugs left in my system from off prunes 'IF' this was ever the issue in the first place! I have wondered if the fact I ate 7 prunes, my gut couldn't handle the speeding up process of it all & went into overdrive. It's of course, a well known fact, gut motility is severely slower when opiates are involved. I did ask out of hours Doctor about possible diverticular issues. He said the only way to diagnose would be exploratory camera work via a Specialist. Thankfully, I've an appointment with a Gastroenterologist this coming Friday afternoon.

Are you now back to your normal? This is what I gathered from your last post. I hope you are as these incidents are truly AWFUL. I can completely relate to the anxiety & distress it causes.

I'm so sorry for the lengthy response - I would be grateful for any advice you could offer, especially in ref to the macrogol powders - I've not yet taken one today. Like you said with eating habits, all I've had in the last day and a half is plain yoghurt (vegan) with seed mix, dried mulberries & honey, a slice of brown toast/orange marmalade & some digestive biscuits. I've become too scared to eat too much tbh!

In this case the following procedure will be successful:

• Early in the morning, not having breakfasted, take 1 oz castor oil.
• Half an hour later take the second dose of 1 oz castor oil.

  One to two hours after having swallowed the first dose castor oil the bowel movement will begin.