My mom is on morphine and hasn't had a bowel movement in a week. She is in pain trying to go. The doctor prescribed Colace on Monday and she's been on it for 2 days. The nurse in the memory care gave her a suppository on Saturday and one today. After about 30 min she was ready to go but only a small amount (I know TMI). She cries out in pain when she is trying to go. Well, long story short and this is where I need your advice/experience - when I went to wipe it feels like a huge ball (like the size of a lemon) is there. How is she going to get that out?? I hate seeing her in pain. What should I do?
So sorry for your loss.
And a thousand thousand curses on any doctor who hands out a px for morphine or codeine without stapling a second px for lactulose to it. May they all poo footballs for a week so that they learn that constipation is no joke.
If you can monitor it then 12 hours should help. Maybe also a stool softener
(By the way you can not mix Miralax with a food or liquid that has been thickened with one of the food thickeners, the Miralax will thin it out right away.)
We also used Lactulose daily, much easier on the kidneys than some of the other products.
But when we needed to there were a few other remedies we used.
"The Bomb" this was suggested by Hospice. 1/4 Cup milk of Magnesia + 1/4 Cup Prune Juice + 1/4 Cup orange Juice this gets warmed up. Works pretty well.
I also kept pureed pineapple and pureed papaya in the freezer and I would mix the two together and portion it into 1/2 Cup amounts and give that to my Husband when we needed to "loosen things up a bit". This also worked pretty well. Common ingredients in a lot of the commercial "cleanses" available.
Suppository's can work well. But if there is a small impaction you may have to use a gloved hand and some lubrication like Vaseline and try to break it up. Do not do this unless you check with the nurse or doctor first.
(Oh the things we do for the ones we love!!)
Last resort was Magnesium Citrate , pretty inexpensive, under $1.00 a bottle but very high in sodium and tough on the kidneys.
Enema would work.
They were holding off giving her constulose but they sent home a rx. That works fast!
Going forward, she was taken off Vicodin, added peri Colace and started Linzess. Also got physical therapy to move around more but I’ll be darned if she doesn’t still get backed up!
or explosive diarrhea.
Also in hospital they quit giving her oral meds because she was throwing up indicating she was full to the brim! FYI
charlotte
Plus, magnesium is good for so many things!
I suppose what worked well at first was due to her hospital diet. I think the inactivity is responsible as she no longer takes any opioids.
When she ever gets her teeth working we plan to invest in a prune spree. Hope it won’t affect her sugar.
It seems to me that all daily fixes have a short period of promoting bowel activity. Her body seems to need a regular change.
Two at dinner or bed time will give the results you need.
My mom was recently hospitalized for constipation. it’s possible she was backed up for 3 weeks! We tried to treat her at home for ten days and who knows how long before that she’d last gone.
They sent her home the first day but we took her back 2 days later and she was admitted.
I was amazed how many enemas and suppositorys they tried! They kept her 6 days and withheld the constalose All that time. They were taking cat scans regularly but I guess there can be a blockage that can’t easily be detected. She finally went in the hospital without taking the constulose.
I personally had a bowel resection and had an ostomy bag for ten months. Let me tell you, it is not something my mother could handle at this age.
Since she came home we’ve been trying different medications and Linzess has helped a lot. She now has a “poop” calendar that she places “poop” stickers on each time she goes. We are watching it closely!
Charlotte
#2 Prunes
#3 Prune juice
#4 Activia
You may have to sit her on the potty soon after