The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:
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Requests for advice and / or encouragement. On basically any topic and for any scale of problem.
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Hey chat, what's your best solution to constipation?
I'm assuming this is cosmically linked to the Philadelphia Eagles' struggles on offense (they can't get AJ "Brown" into the "endzone" for a "touchdown"), but getting the iggles' offense in gear isn't really in my purview, so I'm gonna need something more personal.
I first noticed it right before flying, so maybe it was psychological, though it might have started earlier and I just didn't notice it? It started before I flew to Green Bay two weeks ago, when I tried to make sure I emptied out before heading to the airport, only to find that I could not. Typically, first thing in the morning I wake up and drink an espresso and immediately go to the bathroom. But for two weeks now I either haven't at all, or barely manage anything.
I've tried miralax to soften stools, and that had some positive effect, but I don't think the issue is solved. I tried suppositories, which got something out, but my bowel movements haven't returned to normal yet. Everything is small and soft, rather than large and firm.
Do I need to do something more drastic and mechanical like an enema? Is it more of a diet and lifestyle thing? My diet isn't perfect in general, but there wasn't any changes leading into this.
Prune juice always worked well for my kids, and coffee for me, but if you're having a morning espresso every day for weeks and not seeing much effect, I'm not sure how strong you want to go with stimulant laxatives.
Water absorbers like fiber and miralax are good for softening stools and avoiding developing constipation, but if you're already blocked up it's too late to try to soften the culprit with additional solids. Getting yourself very well hydrated and using a chemical stool softener medicine can help even after you're already blocked up.
Are you still blocked up, though? "small and soft", as long as it's still frequent, sounds like a subtle diet change, not a still-unsolved blockage. If you're not bloated then maybe you really do just need more fiber.
If you are still blocked up, for weeks? Lifestyle changes can be subtle (travel can be a trigger for me too, though never nearly this bad), but if you're having awful constipation with no diet/lifestyle changes and you're male and you're paranoid/hypochondriac then it wouldn't be completely crazy to get a PSA (Prostate-Specific Antigen) self-test kit and then go in for a real exam if it comes up positive. Increasingly bad constipation was the first symptom of my father's cancer, and not getting it looked at until it sent him to the hospital gave the tumor time to metastasize.
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