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Sorry but BM questions !!!

Posted , 6 users are following.

Bunky
Bunky

Sorry to lower the tone and prob way tmi ! But how has everyone been with BMs !?

I have had trouble ever since surgery (lap for oophorectomy and 3 vaginal repairs main problem tho was posterior repair). I was kept in for 3 nights and was back in 3 days later having 2 enemas as the first one didn't work things were that bad. Ever since then I have been on all sorts of laxatives/stool softeners ! I even was prescribed micro enemas for me to use when I felt too much pressure in the rectum.

I am 6 weeks post op tomorrow. When I saw the consultant 2 weeks ago he prescribed me docusate sodium and suggested I come off everything else ! I have except for the Movicol !! I am just terrified about getting constipated again but I am drinking loads of water and eating well ! My real problem is I still don't feel fully in control !! With having a posterior prolapse for more years than I would like to say I have been going for a BM by pushing the bulge in vagina so I've not been used to going to the toilet 'normally' for a very long time !!!

I am terrified that I have some weakness or damage there that maybe isn't allowing me to go easily !! My consultant said to just stop obsessing and let nature takes it course. But I get so uncomfortable when I haven't been for a day that the little bits I do go just aren't enough so I end up doing an enema !!

Very lucky I know but first day at home on my own looking after myself and 7 month puppy !! Stupid I know but it feels very daunting !

1 like, 29 replies

29 Replies

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  • Jan999
    Jan999 Bunky

    Posted

    Bunky please don't worry. What is happening is that your bowel is having to retrain itself following having it's job done for it basically. The muscles have become lazy so your consultant is right, let nature take it's course and in time you'll find you will go normally.
    • Bunky
      Bunky Jan999

      Posted

      Thank you Matron ! That would seem to make sense !! Just it's the ongoing fear isn't it of never wanting that pro lapse to return but I just don't feel right depending on so much medication and the enemas !
  • doris29
    doris29 Bunky

    Posted

    Stick to the movicol once a day in the morning and exercise your pelvic floor.

    Good luck x

    • Bunky
      Bunky doris29

      Posted

      Thanks Vicky !! Yes definitely guilty on not doing the pelvic floor exercises as much as I should !! But to be fair it's only been the last 5 days I would say that I have finally been able to sit on a chair without it being uncomfortable! So no excuse now !!
  • sueStace
    sueStace Bunky

    Posted

    Glad I read Matrons reply! Am 12 weeks post op and was worried op not worked, but am finally feeling there us an improvement in my toilet habits! There is light at the end of the tunnel, just looks like we have to be patient! I'm going to continue with fybogel tho, as don't want to get back to old habits!
    • Bunky
      Bunky sueStace

      Posted

      Oh lovely to hear that !!! 6 weeks just seems like such a long time that I am guilty of thinking that there must be something wrong with me as I should be fully fit and everything working fully by now !! It is I know a long recovery but some days it's hard to find the energy to sieve through it all to find some reasoning !! But it is great to hear that you can relate and have continued to improve !

      I do worry tho about taking these bowel meds permanently tho !

    • sueStace
      sueStace Bunky

      Posted

      I know what you mean! I have just started taking a product called Flourishe, you can add it to a hot drink or sprinkle over your cereal and its ok for long term use! Will see how that goes! X
    • Bunky
      Bunky sueStace

      Posted

      what is flourishe !? Is it fibre based ? X
  • chris00938
    chris00938 Bunky

    Posted

    I was told to take Movical twice a day.  Is that what you've been told?  Please don't apologise for bringing up the subject of bowel motions:-))))  This is just a normal part of being human and something that affects a lot of people, so it's good to bring it out in the open so people can feel they can ask about it:-))))  I've always had constipation so still use the Movical and always will, and this has the effect of noticeably softening motions - much better than anything I used in the past.  I wonder if you could use this three times a day, but I think you'd need to ask either your GP or pharmacist.    It's all very well your GP saying you're obsessing about it but the last thing you want is to be straining and getting a prolapse again!  If your motions aren't really soft so you can go without straining then you need a product to make them that soft, as far as I see it.  I'd start with phoning the pharmacist and asking them - they are often very helpful, and they can tell you if you can take more Movical.
    • Bunky
      Bunky chris00938

      Posted

      Oh and one point Chris I was on Senna before bed ! Movicol with breakfast, 15ml of lactulose in the morning and afternoon and then another movicol in the evening !! Consultant was horrified !!

      Consistency is definitely not an issue at the mo - just almost the physical capability to pass the motion.

      From what the others have said tho it does seem to make sense that the muscles have got to learn to work again and yes I think you are right - patience is the key here !!! Just hard isn't it !?

    • Bunky
      Bunky chris00938

      Posted

      So have you been told it's ok to stay on the Movicol indefinitely !? X
    • chris00938
      chris00938 Bunky

      Posted

      Before they put me on Movical when I had my op I was on 7 Senna a day and it wasn't working.  But it sounds as though consistency isn't your problem then, but I wonder if anxiety is making you clench the muscle when you want to go, so maybe if you can relax a bit it might help.  It is hard, yes, but once you've got this sorted you'll be so pleased it's behind you (no pun intended LOL!).
    • chris00938
      chris00938 Bunky

      Posted

      Yes, I have.  They shouldn't have left me on the Senna (that was on prescription) for all the years that they did, but the hospital picked it up and put me straight on Movical.  I have a connective tissue disorder that has meant I've had constipation from a very young child (my mother used to give me liquid paraffin) so it's always been an issue but the straining over the years certainly didn't help the prolapses, so the main thing is to avoid straining at all costs, and with the Movical I sit at the computer first thing every morning and then feel I want to go, off I trot, and it takes no longer than doing a wee.  There is no straining at all, despite having a posterior prolapse as well.  Movical is one of the solutions that is safe to take long term.
    • Bunky
      Bunky chris00938

      Posted

      Haha !!

      I have wondered about if I'm stressing and then causing everything not to work as it should !! I know it was suggested to me to sit for a while but until recently it was really uncomfortable to just sit let alone stay a while !!!!

      Oh this op really doesn't leave you with any dignity does it !!! Hehe !

      But love this forum ! It has been a mental life saver xx

    • Jan999
      Jan999 Bunky

      Posted

      It's not a good idea to stay on any bowel medication indefinitely because your bowel will become dependent on it. In your case Bunky is your bowel learning to allow you to have you BO naturally. I had the same problem following my rectocele repair and I stopped all medication and did intensive pelvic floor exercises to strengthen the muscles in the bowel. So it's pulling as if you want to stop yourself having a BM. I did that every hour on the hour 10 times just whilst sitting down. 
    • chris00938
      chris00938 Jan999

      Posted

      I just thought I should point out that Movical isn't linked to 'lazy bowel' like Senna and many other products are.  If you have to use something for constipation (and some people do, permanantly, for one reason or another) something like Movical is much better than other products around.  If you are someone, like me, who doesn't have a normally functioning bowel history and something is needed to help that, it's better, rather than straining (which I'm sure must have been involved in my developing anterior and posterior prolapses), to take something like Movical.
    • Jan999
      Jan999 chris00938

      Posted

      The point I was making is that any medication should only be taken long term under medical supervision. I hear so much about GP's authorising medication to be obtained monthly and only reauthorising them annually (if then). Bunky's problem is highly unlikely to be long term condition so she won't need Movicol. I was responding to her question regarding long term use of it.
    • chris00938
      chris00938 Jan999

      Posted

      Oh I agree - I was only meaning that if you do have to take something, then this is one of the safer things to take.  I'd been left on Senna for far too long and there was concern that it would have caused the bowel not to be working properly at all because it wouldn't manage without the stimulation, rather than just using a softener or stool 'bulker':-)  So it's deemed to be safe for me to keep using Movical and I'm much happier to be using that rather than the Senna which was working less and less by the month:-)
    • Bunky
      Bunky Jan999

      Posted

      Oh fantastic ! My gut instinct (now I'm making jokes) was/is that everything needs to learn how to react to signals from the bowel etc so that does seem to make perfect sense that the muscles need to be strengthened and almost woken up ! I am weaning myself very slowly off the different meds but it is scary because i don't want to get constipated again like after surgery ! That was an experience I never want to repeat - having that enema gave me flashbacks to childbirth !! Haha !

      But it is so reassuring to hear that you've been through the same !! I am on those exercises xx

    • Bunky
      Bunky chris00938

      Posted

      I can hear what you are saying with regards to the use of Movicol in your situation ! This is something you have been dealing with for most of your life by the sounds of it and taking that is a 100 times better than the alternative !!

      It sounds awful but it is good to hear about your experiences and hopefully it will start to settle soon xx

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