Does anyone suffer from Constipation??

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Crohnzie Girl

Crohnzie Girl

Joined
Jun 18, 2013
Messages
142
I noticed a lot of ppl w/ Crohns and UC suffer from diarrhea and having like 15-20 BM a day... feels like sometimes I'm the ONLY one w/ Crohns that suffers from chronic constipation. Am I the only one??:confused2:
 
When I still had my colon I would have bouts of constipation quite often. Most of time my disease was in my rectum. I was told that is what caused me to be constipated. Even now with my ileostomy I have already had a few times were my output was really thick and I had to drink grape juice to get it thinker, but I have no signs of active disease at present.
 
No, I actually go back and forth between the two. My Crohn's is mostly in my colon though. I have a lot of the extra intestinal manifestations of Crohn's. I also think that my meds have caused some of the constipation issues. Have you talked to your GI Dr. About it?
 
My children never had diarrhoea as a symptom of their Crohn's and my daughter definitely tended toward constipation.

It isn't as uncommon as people think and I personally believe that it, and a lack of blood, can lead to delay's in a diagnosis. Again my children had neither.

Dusty. xxx
 
Thank you for your posts at least now I feel like I'm not alone. Yes, my disease is in my colon and the worst is right at my rectum. Constipation is what I suffer meaning weeks not having a BM. It's extremely painful and accompanied by bloating fistulas and bleeding. I tried to compare my symptoms with other Crohnies but none had mine symptoms to share with. I have tried milk of magnesium, laxatives, prunes, no cheese, to something I jus learned and not sure it works, peppermint extract oils on my tummy. Lol. I kno it sounds silly but not going and desperate for a solutions you try jus bout anything.

This is for Dukeis, was getting the ileostomy the best decision for you?
 
You might find it helpful to include soluble fibre in your diet if you can tolerate it.
There are a few brands avaiable like metamucil, inulin fibre, psyllium and psyllium husks.
Oat bran is a good source also,(not to be confused with bakers bran which are red flakes)
and also oatmeal.
I have the same problem but not any fistula, but bleeding occurs at times. I am doing quite well with oat bran for breakfast,for now anyway.
Your GI might be able to help you..
Feel better soon
Hugs and best wishes
Trysha
 
Crohnzie Girl said:
Thank you for your posts at least now I feel like I'm not alone. Yes, my disease is in my colon and the worst is right at my rectum. Constipation is what I suffer meaning weeks not having a BM. It's extremely painful and accompanied by bloating fistulas and bleeding. I tried to compare my symptoms with other Crohnies but none had mine symptoms to share with. I have tried milk of magnesium, laxatives, prunes, no cheese, to something I jus learned and not sure it works, peppermint extract oils on my tummy. Lol. I kno it sounds silly but not going and desperate for a solutions you try jus bout anything.

This is for Dukeis, was getting the ileostomy the best decision for you?
Click to expand...

I had precancerous dysplasia in my cecum is the reason I had the total proctocolectomy. So it was the best decision for me. It wasn't done per say for the Crohn's, but they said the repeated inflammation contributed to the precancerous dysplasia. Ileostomy or cancer the choice was easy. I'm still getting use to the whole ostomy thing. It has only been 3 months. I have to say being able to leave the house without worrying where the next bathroom is, is really a big plus.
 
I have constipation as well. I never dealt with the diarrhea aspect. I take stool softeners every day to help me go. I hate the feeling of being bloated and just yucky from not going. The stool softeners seem to help. I take 2 per day and if I take pain meds I take 4 per day, 2 in the morning and 2 at night.
 
I've only been diagnosed with crohns since may, but have been experiencing the symptoms for a long time. I have not had any diarrhea, mostly all constipation. I will go 2-3 days without going. I will feel like I have to go, but don't. Also alot of abdominal pains and blood.
My crohns in in my terminal ileum-for now. I am told it is narrowed, when my GI did my colonoscopy he couldn't even get into the ileum. I'm not sure if not having the diarrhea and having constipation is good or bad. Although neither is good, I don't know which would be more dangerous
 
Hey cdavisdon, what kind of stool softener do you take? I used to have a tablespoon of Miralax every morng w a cup of coffee. In the past it worked well and was regular. Had constipation problems maybe once a mth. But now, I can't even do the Miralax it cramps me up bad and I can't be feeling like that at work. So now, I'm looking for a gentle form of relief and hopefully helps me go.

@summerbaby, I totally feel what you mean. Id hate to have either. But the feeling of not going for weeks at a time is so painful. My longest is 2 1/2 weeks no BM. Talk bout being grumpy! Lol but then I suffer from incontinence from the Miralax that fluids would jus come right out and its so freaking embarrassing. Good news is, once I'm able to go, I feel like a whole new person again. So weird. One day I feel like I'm on my death bed. And next day, I'm back to work w energy and playing w my kids. It's def a rollercoaster of a disease for me. Lol But to answer your question, idk I guess sometimes I wish for the diarrhea than the constipation.
 
I use the store brand. It is Kroger Stool Softener capsules. It has Docusate Sodium 100 mg. You will just have to see which one works for you. I have tried different brands and they have cramped me up really bad. I take mine at night before bed with a bunch of water. I would get constipated because I ate too much cheese, drank too much soda and didn't drink hardly any water. Now I drink at least 4 bottles of water and take my stool softeners and I am good. If I do get constipated I will do a Ducolax suppository to get me going.
 
My son has constipation as well
mainly due to rectal inflammation.
when the inflammation down less of an issue
currently we are waiting for humira to kick in so he had to have a clean out.
A capful of miralax a day works typically
not sure what the new plan will be.
 
I'm so sorry to hear that you're poor son has Crohn's at the young age of 9...poor thing. I sure hope he can be in remission soon. For awhile that would be my stategy until recently I guess my belly can't take the Miralax bc I would bloat up really quickly and then have the sudden urgency but then nothing. It's so painful at times and I'm stuck at work and I just wanna crawl under my desk and wished I was home. Such a horrible feeling. :(
 
I can say when he was on remicade
No miralax was needed
Granted he needed three things of juice a day
And three containers of pears but....
No drugs to keep things moving.
For him the key is the rectum
If its inflamed then nothing moves which leads to rectal prolapse
Which = more inflammation -= more prolapse
And ultimately severe constipation.

Good luck
Hope you find a meds that relieves your inflammation.
 
I have a lot of constipation and then will have smaller bouts of diarrhea, then back to the constipation. It's been really challenging since I am in the early stages of learning what specifically my crohns looks like (I have had most of my inflammation in my Cecum, but I am having really terrible left side pain along with rib pain and stabbing pain! I have a GI follow up on monday after a thursday trip to the ER.)

I was put on lialda on the lowest dose and also take Docusate Sodium 100 mg x3 and miralax x3 per day along with hydrocodone for pain at this point.

I would love to touch base with people who also have primarily constipation, where their disease mostly hits them, and what has been helpful for them, so I can keep it in mind.
 
Hi Concertina,
I'm so sorry sounds like you're getting hit hard w the disease. Miralax every day helps and I love that it dissolves in anything u drink and the taste is tolerable. Unfortunately, for me I can't stomache it anymore. Meaning, now everytime I drink my dosage, I'm cramped up so bad and interferes w my work.And now I was supposed to take my lil girl to the drive in and Bam! I'm curling in a ball in pain. I'm also on hydrocodone for it but I try not to take it and drink as much water as I can bc they cause constipation. My disease lies towards the end of my rectum all through out the sigmoid colon. However, I'm going for my colonoscopy in Sept to see how far it has traveled. I wish I had a routine or some type of drink or pill to help w the constipation but after 18 yrs of dealing with Crohn's, I have yet found relief. :(
 
yeah Miralax is pretty magical I am having a decent amount of relief from constipation from it but I worry about my ability to maintain this level of relief with it long term (excluding the bloating, cramping, feeling of knee inflammation, etc!).

I was put on it after putting put on oxycodone (because the constipation got worse with the narcotics) after both a laparoscopy (for an endometroma, was also diagnosed with endrometriosis at that time) and Percutaneous nephrolithotomy on June 3rd of this year due to an infection stone from proteus mirabilis after exposure to E. Coli in December.

I know prior to going into surgery that I was still experiencing symptoms related to crohns and so I have to wonder if my body was just like NOPE. I have previous diagnoses of celiacs (which I hope might actually just be crohns/ gluten intolerance since I only had the blood test years ago due to celiacs running in my family.) and also lichen sclerosis and hypothyroidism (unsure if hashimotos). Most all of those conditions also lend themselves to constipation so I have to wonder if there is some complication due to that.

I'm sorry you have a lot of pain and fatigue as well, I'm really learning that there is a lot of stuff I'm not able to do anymore (like even bend over my sink while brushing my teeth). It's really an eye opener.
 
Unbelievable how much we can put our bodies thru. But read cdavidson post. I jus re-read it and noticed that the active ingredient in her stool softner is a lot higher than mine. I'm gonna have to check out my pharmacies store brand stool softners. See if maybe I can find some temporary relief. If you see anything else that may seem to help please let me know. :)
 
You can also create a cocktail stool softener but talk to the pharmacist to make sure it's ok. Example you can take Miralax and Magnesium Citrate together. I did that for my colonoscopy.
 
Heads up on those cocktails. Please please if u suffer from painful constipation like I do. Go a day on fluids before drinking it. I learned the hard way eating dinner the night befre and drinking those cocktails the next day. It was excruciating. But yes, if all else fails and need immediate relief those colonoscopy preps do work! :)
 
You're definitely not alone! I get severe constipation which causes me to gain a lot of weight, so it took nearly a year to diagnose me because they didn't believe that I could have Crohn's and constipation/weight gain. I think a lot of doctors think unless you're going 20+ times a day and look emaciated you can't have Crohn's!
 
Nope, not the only one, just the rare 10% or so.

I've done both. Diarrhea from baby to about 30. A short period of normal until about 40. Some constipation until about 49 when I got extremely touchy about constipation.
It was that constipation that I credit with causing the bleeding to get too bad to ignore and I decided to give Gastro another chance to torture me and finally got diagnosed.

Warning about fibers like metamucil, start slow. They can make it worse and tend to cause a bloated feeling.
My sister never gets used to high fiber, it's just more bloat on top of bloat. She introduced me to taking magnesium before bed.
 
I had a really awful go on Metamucil and I had to stop taking it completely. I know we are all pretty open to talking about bowels but oh man, just gross.

I guess it can happen to some people what I experienced with it.
 
I take Miralax as constipation seems to be the norm for me. It works well and the store brand I use is flavour free so you can mix it with anything. I drink a lot of water but if I don't take something like Miralax, I still can't go.
 
Nope your definitely not alone Crohnzie, I get constipated quite a bit, the longest I have ever gone without a BM is 3 1/2 weeks, my doctor says the Crohn's is in my rectum but he seems to think it could be spreading, I was diagnosed at the age of 3, it doesn't run in my family though.
 
Summerbaby84 said:
I've only been diagnosed with crohns since may, but have been experiencing the symptoms for a long time. I have not had any diarrhea, mostly all constipation. I will go 2-3 days without going. I will feel like I have to go, but don't. Also alot of abdominal pains and blood.
My crohns in in my terminal ileum-for now. I am told it is narrowed, when my GI did my colonoscopy he couldn't even get into the ileum. I'm not sure if not having the diarrhea and having constipation is good or bad. Although neither is good, I don't know which would be more dangerous
Click to expand...


This sounds like me. I have a narrowing of scar tissue in my ileum, they couldn't get through either. I've rarely suffered from diarrhea, I'm usually constipated. I have to start a low fiber diet now...I wonder if I should start on a stool softener as well?
 
Not alone! I have really bad constipation it is actually what lead me to the hospital for my week long stay that ended with the diagnosis of Crohn's. I was diagnosed with IBS with constipation when I was 13 because my Crohn's does not act as they think it should... now my new Doc says I have both Crohn's and IBS, and the diet to treat them is completely opposite so I have to choose which pain I want less. I am often Constipated with diarrhea it takes days for me to go, and LOTS of straining but when i do go it is all Liquid and HURTS like I am tearing.
 
My son has Crohn's, and his regular pediatrician was shocked when he was diagnosed because he has always tended to have more constipation than anything else.
 
Constipation is what first led me to the doctor. I could not go without using a drug called Amatiza that pulls water into the intestines and basically liquefied everything. I just couldn't go without it. Then I went to the general practitioner and that led to a scan, then colonoscopy then surgery. I am now fine and for the first time in years can go normally.
 

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