Body absorbing too much water

[theOcean]

AKA: Ocean returns to the forum after some regular anxiety about tummy problems.

Basically, I've posted about this a few times before when I used to be more frequent on here: I've been experiencing hard stools that cut the skin and cause fissures since August 2013 and I don't know why, and my GI doesn't seem to care enough to investigate. He seems to just want to chalk it up to constipation, but I don't want to believe that's it.

Everything else is normal: my bowel movement frequency, no cramps, blockages, etc. My stools are just so hard that they hurt. They don't even seem particularly bulky or big, and they usually look totally normal to me so it's confusing.

I take Miralax/Restoralax for it every other day or so, but it keeps losing effectiveness because I've been taking it for basically a year because my GI can't find me anything better.

Any ideas what might be causing my issues with water absorption? I have a GI appointment on December 1st, so I'll be pestering him about it again, but don't have high hopes. I wanted to at least have some suggestions for him to try and prompt some kind of action on his part.

 

[afidz]

Do you get bloated easily? Can you tell if one part of your body is puffy? Generally water retention goes to your feet and ankles first (not for me, my hernia keeps it all)
I drink lemon water when I start retaining water, but because of the acid that's not really flare friendly

 

[theOcean]

No, I don't seem to get any bloating, actually. The only time I did was when I was on IV for too long, I remember.

Something else I'm almost considering is the possibility that, other than the idea of my body absorbing too much water, that maybe my intake isn't high enough. It doesn't seem any different from how I was pre-August 2013, but I was also in flare for over a year so it's difficult to tell. I know I'm really bad at drinking, though, and that my lips are constantly dry and I'm very prone to eczema.

 

[afidz]

You are supposed to drink half an ounce for every pound you with. So take your weight and divide it in half

 

[theOcean]

If I did my math right, it looks like I should be having about 1L of water a day, which sounds pretty low! I know I'd be drinking more than that, definitely...

 

[DustyKat]

Do you know what your blood pressure is?

Do you have increased urination?

My first thought would that you aren’t drinking enough water. Firstly your dry lips but also the fact that the aperients you are using work by drawing water into the colon. If you tend toward the more dehydrated side of things then perhaps there just isn’t the water in your body to pull out and soften the stool.

Dusty. xxx